As I’m sure many of you might have heard, Applebee’s Restaurant has launched a new line of DEEEEE-LICIOUS new Weight Watchers Menu Items! (Applebee’s refers to them as their “Under 550 Calories Menu”) Currently, the nutritional information isn’t available online, BUT the calorie count for each dish is available at all California Applebee’s Restaurant locations. Well, guess who’s located in CA, folks? That’s right…ME! As soon as I heard about the arrival of these fabulous new dishes, I ran on over to the nearest Applebee’s and gave them a try. I took my friends, and we each got one of the new Weight Watchers meals. And I made sure to snag the calorie counts while I was there too! Read on to get the scoop for each dish!

Ok, here’s the skinny on Applebee’s new meal items. It’s pretty much impossible to get the Points values, because Applebee’s doesn’t list the fat or fiber grams in their meals, but I’m working as hard as I can how to find this out. So I’ll keep you posted if I make any headway.

Grilled Dijon Chicken & Portobellos (450 calories) – Grilled chicken topped with portobellos, roasted red peppers, cheddar cheese, and a Dijon sauce. Includes steamed herb potatoes and a side of veggies.

Spicy Shrimp Diavolo (500 calories) – Shrimp, spicy tomato-basil sauce, veggies, and whole-wheat pasta sprinkled with parmesan cheese

Asian Crunch Salad (490 calories) – Greens, sugar snap peas, roasted red peppers, and cucumbers, topped with grilled chicken, sliced almonds, and an Asian vinaigrette dressing

Asiago Peppercorn Steak (390 calories) – Grilled sirloin with cracked peppercorn and melted cheese, served with sides of veggies and potatoes

Grilled Shrimp & Island Rice (290 calories) – Skewers of seasoned shrimp over tropical rice, with a side of veggies

As many of you diet-foodies know, Fiber One has ROCKIN’ 0 Point Yogurts (1 Point for 2 yogurts!) that are so yummy and delicious, and yet nutritious and low in calories and Weight Watchers Points! So when Yoplait contacted me to tell me about this awesome Fiber One Yogurt giveaway they were having, I was super psyched to share it with all of you. Read on to find out how to get your free Fiber One Yogurt 4-Pack!

First of all, in case you happened to never ever hear of Fiber One Yogurt, here’s a little bit of background:
• Yoplait Fiber One 50-calorie yogurt is the only leading nonfat yogurt with 50 calories and 5 grams of fiber.
• Available in four flavors – Strawberry, Vanilla, Peach and Key Lime Pie – Fiber One 50-calorie yogurt is a delicious snack that is good for you, contributes 20% of the recommended daily value of fiber and is a good source of calcium as well as vitamins A and D.
• Instead of munching on boring lower-calorie foods, you can now snack with zero guilt on Fiber One yogurt, a tasty way to help watch waistlines and keep calorie counts in check.
• Yoplait Fiber One 50-calorie yogurt is available in the yogurt section of grocery stores nation-wide

Ok, so now that you are excited to give these yogurts a try, just be one of the first 50 readers to sign-up to receive a coupon for a free 4-pack of Fiber One yogurt! Just click on this image and learn how to score your FREE Fiber One Yogurt:

Enjoy! Oh, and PS: You can also download a coupon for $1.00 off a Fiber One Yogurt too!

As the New Year comes upon, this is a great time to make a commitment to healthy eating choices. And if you are currently a Weight Watcher or are thinking about joining, now is the time do it! They have just started their new Weight Watchers Momentum Plan. Before the Momentum Plan, Weight Watcher members had two plans to choose from: Flex and Core. Now, everyone will be on the same plan: Momentum. Which is really the best of both Weight Watchers plans combined together to create Momentum. The whole philosophy behind this new plan is, “Don’t eat less, eat smarter.”

The New Weight Watchers Momentum Plan

The new plan still incorporates a lot of the favorites:

* The Weight Watchers Points System
* The weekly Points Allowance
* The Good Health Guidelines
* The Filling Foods List

The new aspect of this plan is the Filling Foods List. The concept is that if you choose foods that are higher in fiber and water content, they will keep you fuller for longer than if you eat other foods. There are studies that have found that people will eat the same volume of food every day. The actual space that the food takes in your stomach might have more to do with how full you feel than the calories, fat, or protein. And of course, you can still use Weight Watchers Online as an incredibly helpful tool to help keep you on track and provide valuable information and fantastic low Points recipes. The best part of the Momentum Plan is that it’s new and different and there is a whole new set of materials to get every week right when we need them the most: right after the holiday season. There couldn’t be a better time to get yourself motivated and give this new Weight Watchers Eating Plan a try!

Yes, the Gods have finally answered my prayers….a ZERO calorie pasta has been created! When I first heard about Miracle Noodle and their no-calorie Shirataki noodles, I was hesitant to believe it was possible to have pasta that has no calories, yet my interest was piqued. I knew I had to try it. After reading through Miracle Noodle’s website, I learned a lot about these special Shirataki noodles. Unlike typical pasta noodles which are made from grain-based flours, and thus loaded with lots of calories and carbohydrates, Shirataki noodles are made from yam flour. So you wind up with gluten-free, calorie-free, low-carb pasta! Granted, the texture of these noodles is a bit different than regular pasta, but the taste is good, they are quite filling, and you can use these in a such wide variety of recipes. And when you think of the calories you’re saving, it’s a fantastically fair trade.

In order to satisfy my curiosity, I decided to give these Miracle Noodles a try. So this weekend, I tried their orzo pasta with a recipe I made from scratch. It was DELICIOUS!! Because you wind up saving so many calories with the pasta, you can afford to add in some full fat versions of other ingredients (like cheese!), thus enhancing the taste and texture without blowing up the calories and Weight Watchers Points value of the dish. The orzo is extremely versatile and can used in many, many recipes!! And I would also recommend the orzo pasta as a great substitute for rice. Miracle Noodle also offers a great variety of different zero calorie pastas like angel hair pasta, fettuccini noodles, rigatoni, lasagna noodles and A LOT more!! All of the noodles absorb much of the flavor of the other foods that you are cooking it with, so feel free to add extra salt or seasonings to your dish. Based on what I’ve tasted of their noodles so far, I can’t wait to try the others and see what astounding recipes I can whip up! I believe that these Miracle Noodles are going to be an AMAZING tool for anyone trying to lose weight.

You’ll be reading a lot more from me in the future on these little bags o’ wonder, as I am excited to experiment and de-calorize some of my favorite pasta recipes! They are easy to work with, and the recipe possibilities with these babies are endless…I am already fantasizing about the tasty recipes I can create! They can be used in soups, casseroles, traditional pasta dishes, stir-fry’s…..and so much more!

As of right now, these noodles are only available online at: MiracleNoodle.com

Make sure to check out my first ever, and super delicious, Miracle Noodle Recipe!

Surely you’ve heard about Pinkberry. Everyone is talking about it. It’s known as the “real” frozen yogurt, and it’s all the rage in Hollywood. With US franchises only in New York and California, Pinkberry is definitely setting the trend for frozen yogurt. You gotta give props to the Pinkberry marketing team though…. Load all your franchises in the two most celebrity infested states, get it into celebrity hands, get a picture of that and voila – you’re business explodes. Here’s an example of what I’m talking about…I found this photo of Kirsten Dunst getting’ her Pinkberry on in LA. I’m sure the Pinkberry marketing execs were just loving this.

After hearing everyone go on and on about the almighty Pinkberry, I knew I had to give this stuff a try and satisfy my own curiosity, at the least. Even if it is another overrated trend (complete with celebrity endorsements), I’d still like to try it for myself. So I kicked it on over to the Pinkberry on Ventura Blvd in Studio City and dragged my trend hating fiancé along with me. Much to our dismay, there is a line out the door and halfway down the sidewalk. And it was cold outside! Granted, to us Southern Californians, anything below 70 degrees Fahrenheit is cold, but nonetheless, I was praying all the hassle would be worth it.

So how was it you ask? First of all, Pinkberry only comes in two flavors: original and green tea. Now I was excited about this because A.) I often get overwhelmed by too many choices and B.) I LOVE anything Green Tea flavored, so I was psyched. Fortunately, the line moved quickly, and after about 20 min, I was getting close to the front of the line. I caught an eyful of all the toppings and they looked so pretty and healthy – a colorful display of fresh, healthy looking fruit, granola, and coconut shreds! I was starting to get pretty excited now…green tea frozen yogurt and beautiful, yummy looking fruit – I’m thinking, “Pinkberry RULES”!!! So, I ordered the medium Green Tea with 3 toppings – kiwi, raspberries and pomegranate seeds. My fiancé got the original flavor with mango, strawberries and coconut shreds – we had a good array of flavors covered. We scored a table in the uber trendy, fluorescent modern looking space age café and dug in. My first reaction? “AHHHHHH!!! What the HELL is this!?!??!?” I felt like a baby who was given a pickle for the first time. It was pretty darn sour. I tried a few more painfully sour bites. Bleh. Then I tried my fiancés….bleh again. A little sweeter than mine, but still, the sour prevailed. Thank GOD there was yummy fruit to help mask this super tangy yogurt delicacy. I honestly don’t know how anyone could muscle down the Pinkberry without the fruit. Ugh. I was so disappointed.

My friend told me that Pinkberry is an acquired taste, and that the second time around you’ll love it. I was doubtful, but I mustered up the courage to give it another go. Not good. It was NOT GOOD.

I guess that if it’s that healthy for you it’s worth the not so pleasant taste, right? WELL…it turns out that Pinkberry may not even be real yogurt!! A dairy disillusionment. It turns out that Pinkberry is being sued for allegedly passing off instant powder as yogurt. The following is from a press release issued by the plaintiff’s lawyers: “The suit alleges that Pinkberry has unlawfully capitalized on the health-consciousness of the California public by falsely calling its product “frozen yogurt.” Plaintiff contends that, in direct violation of California law, Pinkberry’s product is made from a powder base, mixed with water and/or milk on site, and then sold without notice to consumers of its ingredients. The plaintiff contends Pinkberry’s dry powder mix lacks the bacteria or bacterial cultures that define yogurt and create its health benefits.”

Wow.

If the Plaintiff’s claims turn out to be true, I have a feeling that Hollywood’s hot affair with the Pinkberry trend will come to fast, cold end.