They have this "Bavarian Rye Bread" that used to rock. They changed the bread, sliced it slightly differently also, but kept it in the same package. The hippie chick who worked there told me they just sliced it different. She lied. The bread sucks now.

That is all.

organic ginger snap cookies. these suckers are awesome. super crispy with "air holes" for texture. the flavor is driven by GINGER, not sugar. it doesn't taste like gingerbread, cinnamon, or something sugary like that. it has a nice, spicy ginger taste that's simply topped off by some thick-grain sugar. the two tastes are totally separated. 4 cookies will run you about 130 calories. most of that is chalked up to the sunflower oil and butter probably, but it's well worth it.

Astro - those are really good. There are also these Caramel Wafer Cookies that come in a blue-ish bag that are awesome. Moist and delicious.

-Al

Just had the bean, cheese and rice burrito. It's delicious, with a bright tartness running through it elevating the flavor of the beans.

a couple new finds from a few minutes ago:

soy & flax clusters cereal. high fiber, high protein, omega-3, low fat, delicious. awesome semi-nutty aftertaste, tastes sweet like a nice cereal (as opposed to tasting healthy like a healthy cereal). goes great with tj's organic soy milk.

dried berry medley. mix of dried cherries, blueberries, and strawberries. i dig all 3 but dried blueberries are the only thing i can eat a lot of by themselves. in a mix these are perfect. decent serving size for 150 calories, and 3g of fiber.

i won $50 from my roomate today after betting the price of TJ's bbq chicken pizza. i set the o/u at $3.30 and he insisted it was higher.

real price: $2.89

astro,

"dried berry medley. mix of dried cherries, blueberries, and strawberries. i dig all 3 but dried blueberries are the only thing i can eat a lot of by themselves. in a mix these are perfect. decent serving size for 150 calories, and 3g of fiber."

That sounds great. On the list for this week's trip!

i'm changing my tune about the strawberries, i think. i could probably dig them solo. they're the thing i look forward to the most in the bag and i now wish they were more common. they're not ultra-dry like the other ones you (kinda rarely) see.

The word "flax" above reminds me. Whenever I need to lose six or seven pounds quick (like right now) I go on Atkins. With hard core early stage Atkins comes constipation. High fiber, zero net carb solution is to get the ground flax seed (usually sold near the cereal) and the ground psycllicim husks sold in the vitamin area. Mix a tablespoon or so of each up in the morning with a couple glasses of water and you'll be so bloated you won't be hungry until about six hours into the day.

This combo works even if you aren't on Atkins and just want to start your first meal later in the day.

~ Rick

Astro,

Is the soy & flax clusters cereal you bought from Nature's Path? Nature's Path makes some really good cold cereals that are really healthy for you. Best part is that they don't charge $4+ a box like most regular supermarkets do for a box of regular cereal.

astro,

I'm not very much of a bean guy, so I grabbed a Charbroiled Chicken Burrito yesterday. It was pretty good, but a little on the bland side. A little salsa or hot sauce does the trick.

Re-reading your description, I'm gonna have to pick up one of those bean and cheese ones.

I also got the berry medley. I like it a lot, but I think the strawberries are too sweet. I would like this better without added sugar, I think. I'm going to try the no-sugar-added cherries next time. I also got some dried cranberries which are pretty good.

Also picked up some cut up butternut squash to roast; that will be delicious.

The Frozen Fruit Bars are AMAZING! I go through a 4 pack in no time flat.

Unsweetened Cranberry juice. The flavor is extremely tart but the juice is very good for the prostate and I drink gallons of the stuff per month.

Bart,

I like Ocean Spray 100% Cranberry Juice.

El D,

I just did a quick google search and only found 100% white cranberry. Usually you can find 100% cranberry juice blends but Ocean Spray's stuff is normally Cranberry Juice Cocktail. I have never seen 100% unsweeetened Ocean Spray red cranberry juice.

Bart,

100% Juice Ocean Spray Cranberry

You are correct, their 100% juice drinks are cranberry w/ some other juices added, I imagine to make it less tart. Very tasty stuff, though. I like tart/sour stuff, so I'll give the TJ cranberry a try. I remember going through this analysis before but then not getting it because it's in a heavy glass bottle.

Most mornings I take two tablespoons of Red Mill Flaxssed Meal (2.99 per one pound bag) combined with two tablespoons of "Secrets of the Psyllium" super fiber ($3.99 per 12 ounce but big can) combined with a huge glass of water washed down by three more glasses of water. The stuff is like a liquefied sponge that eventually fills every part of your intestinal track, making it nearly impossible to eat until late that same day. I think it has something like negative zero calories and -5 net grams of carbs.

Probably worth a thread of it's own under "super foolproof diet tricks".

One drawback is that it makes it impossible to smile.

~ Rick

Edit to mention I think prostate is somehow related to digestion.

Rick,

"Most mornings I take two tablespoons of Red Mill Flaxssed Meal (2.99 per one pound bag) combined with two tablespoons of "Secrets of the Psyllium" super fiber ($3.99 per 12 ounce but big can) combined with a huge glass of water washed down by three more glasses of water. The stuff is like a liquefied sponge that eventually fills every part of your intestinal track, making it nearly impossible to eat until late that same day. "

At this point, there's no shame in just shooting yourself and getting it over with.

But this is like the world's best diet trick (and healthy I think but I should do more research). Formally fat people all over the world would see a friend they haven't seen for a while, and when the friend asks "How did you do it?" they could/would wink and respond "Rick's trick".

Unfortunately I think I read about it first on some Atkins web site.

~ Rick

Dried strawberries have been typically nasty, in my limited experience.

astro,

Just had a sandwich made w/ Trader Joe's sliced pork loin cold cuts. Wow, that is some damn tasty sandwich meat!

Joes spiced tortilla chips -10
Joes queso dip - 1

astro,

Soup report. I got three of the boxed organic soups.

Carrot-Ginger
Creamy Tomato
Butternut Squash

The Carrot-Ginger was very bland. I added salt, pepper, and red chili flakes and topped w/ a small spoon of creme fraiche. That made the soup pretty tasty.

The Tomato soup was much better, but I still had to add some salt and pepper.

Haven't tried the Butternut Squash soup yet.

El D,

Do you make your own Creme Fraiche?

Italian spiced turkey is also good. It's the one loosely sealed in a tray, not the suction wrapped type. Of course I can't eat it until I'm eight hours into the day.

~ Rick