Ain't Worth the Whiskey

To quote the Cole Swindell song, some things just ain’t worth the whiskey.  This year, I’ve definitely been able to discern the difference between what’s worth it and what’s not.  I’m not a wasteful person (especially when it comes to whiskey!) and would never waste my calories, carbs, sugars or fats on something that’s not worth it.  Burger King breakfast, not worth it.  Momma’s chocolate chip cookies, worth it!  I bring to you on this Wednesday several food finds that are worth it and several that are just worth purchasing because they’re not “bad” for you and are ON POINT!

My sweet momma was kind enough to make me my very own dessert for Thanksgiving to enjoy while everyone shoveled pie and cheesecake.  Jerks.  She mixed sugar-free vanilla pudding with pumpkin and cool whip, layered it with cool whip and added a sprinkling of graham cracker.  This delectable little cup was heaven.  She’s so good to me.  After eating one the night before Thanksgiving, I decided to calculate the carbs and sugars.  They were a little more per serving than we would have liked but did save me on calories and fats compared to pumpkin pie.  Regardless, this dessert was definitely WORTH IT.  

A lot of those I follow on IG talk about Complete Cookies by Lenny & Larry.  ONE cookie is TWO servings, which equates to a cookie of 58 carbs, 32 sugars, 16 proteins, 14 fats and 6 fibers.  I quoted the pumpkin flavor as that’s the one I purchased.  These vegan cookies are dairy free with no animal products and no preservatives.  This cookie was AMAZING!  It was soft and had a buttery texture.  If you’re going to have a cheat cookie, it might as well be one of this brand.  WORTH IT!  I got mine at Vitamin Shoppe but you can check out Lenny & Larry here.

I successfully made sugar-free instant pudding with almond milk.  Not supposed to be a thing because it’s missing enough fat to make it pudding-like.  However, if you use 1 cup plus 2 TBSP almond milk and 2 TBSP water it totally works!  This is exciting science news because it severely cuts down on the carbs, fat and calories!  This photo looks like green snot because I made pistachio flavor pudding but it tasted pretty good.  Pistachio was a good experiment flavor because the almond milk just enhanced the nutty flavor.  Also, I added peanut butter and whipped cream like I do to all things.  WORTH IT (as in eating what looks like slime).

I discovered ThinSlim Foods the way I do most things, through Instagram.  This product line boasts everything from bagels, breads, cookies, muffins, brownies, sweet squares and pizza dough.  I ordered a random sort of foods to sample.  I purchased a pack of the Love the Taste Bagels in everything flavor, which has 16g carbs, 0 sugars and 14g fiber.  Again, net carbs are carbs minus the amount of carbs with no impact on blood glucose levels, therefore many would subtract the fiber to gain 2g net carbs.  However, I’m under the impression that you’re still consuming 16g carbs and the same amount of calories regardless.  The fiber is an added bonus.  Either way, I’m okay with the 16g carbs for a bagel.  I toasted mine and added some veggie cream cheese and it was tasty.  It was a little dry but I may have over toasted it because I wanted it to be crunchy.  I’m still experimenting.  The brownie was decent (again, added PB and whipped cream, duh) and was very moist (barf, I know but I have no other word for it).  I had a chocolate chip muffin that wasn’t as good as momma’s but nothing is.  The double chocolate muffin was pretty dry, though.  Obviously, all the things I’ve tried are not replicas of the real thing but they are extremely good substitutions.  You can check out ThinSlim here.  Bagels get the thumbs up.

While in Orlando for Thanksgiving, I made it a point to go to Whole Foods to get some Halo Top Creamery ice cream.  I’ve heard good things.  I bought the lemon cake and strawberry flavors.  The lemon cake was so good!!  For ½ a cup you get 12g carbs, 4g sugars, 7g protein, 3g fat and 4g fiber.  The strawberry, however, left something to be desired.  It was nowhere near as good as the lemon cake.  I will for sure buy lemon cake again but probably not the strawberry because it’s ‘spensive for a pint.  On the lemon cake, I drizzled some almond butter and added whipped cream (y’all know by now that this is my M.O.) on top.  

Also, while browsing Whole Foods, I found my new favorite thing of life- SUGAR COOKIE SLEIGH RIDE tea.  I’m not exactly sure what a sugar cookie sleigh ride is but I want to go on one and never leave.  This tea is amazing AND caffeine free.  Hallelujah!  I also purchased a few other flavors but the sleigh ride tastes just like a sugar cookie.  Mix in a sweetener and a dash of almond milk and you have Christmas in a cup.  Promise.

Choices these days are all about what’s worth it and what’s not.  If you’re going to eat a treat, you might as well enjoy it and have it taste good.  There’s nothing more disappointing than giving in to a craving and having it totally suck.  I’m still trying to figure out what’s not worth drinking whiskey over.  I’ll continue to ponder…

Please be warned that when you finish the pint of Halo Top and attempt to take a photo of the carton for your blog that an unsuspecting doxie will sneak in.