Glucoholic - Sugar Free Snacks

You say tomato, we say tomato. For obvious reasons, we don’t normally spend a great deal of time in the Italian food section of the grocery store. Pasta is not altogether diabetes-friendly. We’ve seen all the low carb pasta ads, and have plans to review some of them; but on average we stick with “better safe than sorry.” As a result, we really haven’t looked at any low carb sauces for some time. We were pleased to find Ragu Light No Sugar Added Tomato & Basil Sauce. We were looking for a quick and dirty tomato sauce for a chili recipe, and this sauce worked just fine.

The flavor is somewhat less sweet than your average tomato sauce, but that is to be expected from a sauce that is this low in carbohydrates and fat. The taste is mellow, and the basil is not overdone like it is in some tomato sauces. We added a pinch of oregano to our chili recipe and it seemed to be a great compliment to this sauce. If you have picky eaters who don’t like vegetables in their sauce you might want to steer clear, as this sauce is pretty chunky. We didn’t notice the vegetables, and they did not take away from the tomato flavor in any way. We’ve made our own sauce from paste for this recipe before, and we definitely prefer the flavor of Ragu Light No Sugar Added Tomato & Basil Sauce.

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We’ve been so busy with all the sugar free snacks and sugar free drinks coming onto the market that some of you have been asking if we’ve abandoned sugar free and low carb foods. We’re here to say “no way”, and to bring you Mrs. Dash Lemon Herb Peppercorn Marinade. This is a great little product. One of the things the bottle describes is a ten minute preparation process, and truthfully we were a little skeptical. We used half a bottle of Mrs. Dash on four boneless, skinless chicken breasts in a marinating bag for ten minutes. We put them in the oven at 350°F, and an hour later the kitchen smelled wonderful and we had four beautiful chicken breasts.

Now if you don’t like lemon, you should stop reading now. The lemon flavor injected into this chicken was impressive. The herbs and peppercorn were not overpowering, and were a very nice complement to the lemon flavor. We’ve had marinated chicken in restaurants that did not have this much flavor. We recommend this over boring old plain chicken breasts any day.

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One of the first things that goes out the window when you choose, or are forced to choose, low carb foods is breakfast cereals. After seeing an advertisement for Glucerna Cereals on DiabetesControlForLife.com we decided to give the Crunchy Flakes ‘n Almonds a try. Glucerna claims to provide a specialized blend of carbs that will not spike blood sugars. We thought we would put them to the test.

To kick off our review, let’s start with a grade of A+ for taste. Truthfully, we didn’t expect much in the way of taste, and we were very surprised. The taste is similar to Corn Flakes, and the almonds are very complementary. We tried the cereal with low carb soy milk and skim milk, and both were very enjoyable. If one has a particular taste for really sweet cereals, the addition of Splenda or some other artificial sweetener can make for a very tasty breakfast or evening snack.

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It should be obvious by now that The Glucoholic loves peanut butter. Finding an acceptable low sugar option for peanut butter has been a challenge, but we’re glad to share that we think we’ve found the solution - Smart Balance Omega Peanut Butter. This great product looks like real peanut butter, spreads like real peanut butter, and tastes like real peanut butter. Like other natural peanut butters, if it has been on your shelf for a long time some oil might have separated. A quick stir will return this peanut butter to a beautiful creamy texture, just waiting to be enjoyed.

The taste is incredible. It comes in two varieties for those of you who have chosen sides in the “Creamy vs. Crunchy” peanut butter battle, though the “Chunky” variety might be harder to find in stores. Try it however you normally use peanut butter. Our favorite was a classic PB&J made with low sugar jam.

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After finding good products in South Beach Diet’s deli wraps and peanut butter cookies The Glucoholic was pleased to find South Beach Diet Pepperoni Pizza at his local grocer. In a crowded market of personal sized frozen pizzas, this pizza is a serious contender for best in show. Of course, it’s real benefit is competitive taste without supplying more carbohydrates than a person should eat in a week!

Regarding taste, this pizza is on par with most other frozen pizzas. The wheat crust is somewhat different, but rather tasty. The sauce, cheese, and pepperoni are comparable to the same ingredients in other frozen pizzas as well. If you like a crispier crust you can heat this pizza in the oven, but whether you prepare it in the oven or the microwave be careful with your first bite because the toppings will be plasma hot.

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