Category Archives: Food Find

Healthy Aldi Charcuterie Board

Leave a comment Standard

The holidays are rapidly approaching, which usually means a rapid decline in my healthy eating habits and bank account. The #Charcuterie Board made entirely from Aldi products is not only economical, it also has many healthy options and is totally delicious!

There are a ton of things you can do with these boards, and Aldi has really upped their game. This is not the Aldi my Mom went to get canned goods once a month!

What I love about these is it’s very easy to be inclusive to everyone that may have diet restrictions or are just trying to eat better. There are also options for people that are saying “It’s the holidays! Screw it!”

Here is how my wonderful niece from The Cookie Bake Shop put one together with only Aldi ingredients!

Mini Naan bread cut into quarters, some brie cheese, cheddar stuffed olives, blueberries and strawberries.

Pretzel Slims, Live G Free Multiseed crackers and butternut squash crackers (my favorites) pack a punch points wise if you follow WW. Most are around 20 crackers for 3 points.

Red Grapes, black olives, Happy Farms cheese wedges, truffle cheddar cheese, Irish cheddar cheese, and Honey artisan cheddar.

Garlic Hummus, almonds round out the charcuterie. Not pictured is the prosciutto, as my little nephews decided it was delicious 🙂 That’s the beauty of these boards, there was plenty left to fill in the holes with the leftovers, and you can refill it at least a couple of times in a night!

My favorite style of board can be found here, but you can use anything to make one of these. Use your imagination and creativity and people will be wowed! It really is easy so give it a try this holiday season!

Be sure to follow my blog for healthy holiday ideas all season long! Would you all like to see a sweet charcuterie board?

To keep up with me:

New! Subscribe to my YouTube Channel

Follow my blog with the link in the left hand side bar (or bottom of the page if on cell).

Follow the My 30 Point Life Blog Updates on Pinterest

Follow and like me on my Facebook Page.

Join my Instant Pot Healthy Recipes group on Facebook.

Need a kick in the pants with your hug?  Join my Weight Watchers Tough Love Group on Facebook.

Like my blog?  My first and second novels have been released!  It’s set in a small, holiday obsessed town, and if you love Hallmark movies you’ll love this book series!

Going_Home_Final_Front SMALLs

The first book in the series is called Going Home. Becca, our heroine,  returns home after a 25 year absence to reclaim a sentimental family heirloom.  She hopes to go in and out unnoticed, especially by the man she’s loved since she was eight years old.

The odds are stacked against Becca, small towns being what they are.  Her 25 year old secret is about to be exposed, and she just might get a second chance at love.

Click here for a look inside!

Follow my Author page for updates and links to my books.

Disclaimer: As an Amazon associate I may make a small commission off links in this blog at no extra cost to you.

Costco, Trader Joe’s and Other Various Food Finds

Leave a comment Standard

I’m still busy as hell but thought I’d drop a quick post with some new food finds!  You can click here to see all my posts about various food finds I’ve had

Costco Food Finds:

cost4

All yogurt is not created equal in my eyes, and Fage is the BEST.  It is also EXPENSIVE. Costco has a 3 LB tub for $5.99 which really puts the price in line with regular yogurt you find at the regular grocery store! Score!

cost2

I love these things on salad!  15 are 3 Smartpoints but totally worth it for me.  They also have these at Trader Joe’s, but Costco is much closer to me and I only do Trader Joe runs every other month or so.  It is nice to have another place where I can get these!

Continue reading

Food Find: Enlighten Me

Comments 3 Standard

So I’ve heard about these broad beans in my meeting for awhile now.

Why haven’t I tried them?

Weeellll I’ll admit I don’t always trust the opinions of my fellow Weight Watchers.  There seems to be a Smartpoint-to-amount-of-food ratio that comes into play, meaning that if it is low in Smartpoints some Weight Watchers think it’s delicious.

Or maybe I’m just a food snob, which is probably very true.

Take for instance that nastiness that is Arctic Zone Ice Cream.  At one of my meetings this lady was going on and on about how great it was and you could have the whole pint of ice cream for like 8 Smartpoints of something.

That should have been my first clue.  I took one bite of the flavorless frozen water and threw it away.

So I’m a bit skeptical when it comes to recommendations, more so when they are low in points.

I mean I don’t like Halo Top but I don’t say that out loud because I’m afraid they’ll kick my butt in the Weight Watcher parking lot.

When I saw these broad bean things at Costco I decided to take a leap of faith and get them.  People go on and on about them at my meeting, and they were all happy as hell that they were back in stock last week.

They are good.  Like really good.  And only 2 Smartpoints!

enlight

They are gluten free and packed with protein and fiber.  These would be delicious on a salad.  I wish I would have got them earlier!

Continue reading

Food Finds – Costco

Leave a comment Standard

I have a love hate relationship with Costco.  I mean, you can get some great deals, right?

Yeah, but then they can make you fall in love with something and then BAM it’s GONE! Not cool Costco, not cool!

Anyway, here are my favorite things that I always get from Costco!

fitcrunch

I’m so not a protein bar kind of person.  What I am is a candy bar kind of person, and when I just want a candy bar these are my go to.  Robert Irvine Fortifx Fit Crunch Peanut Butter Bars are 6 Smartpoints but you would swear they are as much as a regular candy bar, which is 1,294,089 points.

Make sure you get the right one because there are others that are way higher in points.  Scan your packages people!

Continue reading

Food Finds – Add Ins

Leave a comment Standard

So there are a few items I use a lot to add flavor to different things that are lower in Smartpoints and help make a dish feel more satisfying.

Butter Buds

butter

This is a throw back to my Mother.  I remember her using this all the time.  I’m not that big of a fan, but I use it for things like Mashed Potatoes and it kicks up the butter taste without kicking up the Smartpoints. To just sprinkle it on a baked potato – no way – but to use it in recipes it works great.

1 Teaspoon is free, or you can get a Tablespoon for 1 Smartpoint!

Continue reading

Food Find – Bread! Yes!

Leave a comment Standard

Ooooh that white stuff.  Carbs.  The reason why I could never stay on point with a low carb diet.

Bread.

I love bread.  Sandwiches, croissants, toast, deli rolls, pitas…I love it all.

Now yes you can have bread following the Weight Watcher’s plan, but you shall pay for it in Smartpoints, oh yes you will.

The beautiful thing is there are a lot of options that are more point friendly, and when you want something like an Italian Beef Sandwich you can just budget your Smartpoints so that you can have that awesome deli roll with it.

Here are some of my favorite Smartpoints friendly options:

thomas

Thomas’ Light Multi-Grain English Muffin = 3 Smartpoints

I love these for breakfast sandwiches.  An egg, some Canadian Bacon and you have a 5 or 6 point breakfast that will stay with you.

Continue reading

Food Find – Trader Joe’s

Comments 7 Standard

I love Trader Joe’s.  I’d love it a lot more if there were one close to me, but as it is I have about a 50 minute drive to get to the one closest to me.  Armed with my insulated bags I stock up on things I consider essential to my success.

Stuff is going to happen.  Things will not go as planned.  I love to cook and don’t do processed food to much, but when life happens you need to be prepared.  Most of any “convenience” type foods that I eat are in my freezer from Trader Joe’s waiting to save the day.

ever

I love this stuff.  It is good mixed with cream cheese on a bagel thin, awesome to use to season eggs, chicken, and many, many other things.  It’s 0 Smartpoints to boot!

chicken

Did you all know that I will not post a recipe on My 30 Point Life until I make it 3 times?  I probably could be a bit more prolific in the recipe area if I didn’t follow that rule, but I want to make sure everything is tight in case you all decide to try it.  Food is expensive and ruined food is no good.

Anyway I have one more go-round with a creamy Spicy Chicken Sausage and Potato Soup that is to DIE for before I’m ready to post.  I used this chicken sausage and it is delicious.  It’s 3 Smartpoints a link.

Continue reading

Food Find – Garden Style

Leave a comment Standard

So all my veggies are coming in something fierce right now.  In a week or two I should be posting my recipe for an awesome marinara type sauce that it out of this world!

All the fresh picked right from my yard get me in salad mode.  It’s so delicious and good for you, and it has the added benefit that I know what was and was not used on the veggies.

No pesticides in my garden, thank you very much.

Salads are mostly full of foods that have 0 Smartpoints, so they are a no-brainer, right?

Wrong.

Salad dressings and topping can kill you.

7 croutons can come out to 4 Smartpoints if you aren’t careful.

Now there are times that I splurge on my salad toppings and dressings.  That’s the beautiful thing about Weight Watchers.  It’s all about balance.

Will I have croutons and nuts and full fat dressing every day?  No.  Will I have it once in awhile?  Definitely!

So when I am in point savings mode here are some of the things I like to use on my salad.

cil

Trader Joe’s Cilantro Salad Dressing is Ahhhmazing.  I almost like this better than full fat dressings!  It has such a delicious flavor that you will find yourself using it in your regular cooking or on a sandwich too!

bolt

Bolthouse Farms has a line of reduced fat dressing.  I don’t care for their vinaigrette dressings, but these two yogurt based dressings are decent.  I won’t say it has magical properties that will make you forget about a good full fat blue cheese or ranch dressing, but it is pretty good and good for you.  They also make a great marinade.

Continue reading

Food Find – Snack Attack!

Leave a comment Standard

There are times when you just gotta have a snack.  I don’t mean an apple, or a banana, or a bunch of celery sticks.

A SNACK.

Crunchy, salty goodness.

I have two favorites that work with well with my Weight Watcher’s Smartpoints.

Capture

Skinny Pop Popcorn – 3 SP a 4.4 oz bag

I know I can make my own, but it usually ends up being about 25 Smartpoints because have you ever made Popcorn with garlic infused oil?  Yeah,  it is amazing and something that I do every once in awhile, but that’s the thing – you can only do things like that once in awhile, not every night.

This gives me my fix for 3 Smartpoints and is really good.

cape

Cape Cod Chips – 4 Points a serving

I am still mad at Costco for not having my serving size individual bags of these anymore, but the big bag works too.  I bring the bag home and portion it out immediately into zip top sandwich bags.

For me this is an important step because they are seriously good and you would never guess they have 40% less fat.  I’m not a huge chips person, but when I get the craving I try to have these on hand.

Food Find – Werther’s Original

Leave a comment Standard

So it’s no secret that I have a sweet tooth.  More like Teeth, like all of them are sweet.

Those sugar cravings are way less now, almost non-existent.  One of my secrets to staying on track is having these Werther’s Original Caramel Coffee sugar free candies on hand.

You get five of these babies for one Smartpoint!  One!

I try not to make it a habit, but when I’m having a really hard day these help big time.  It takes a long time to eat five of these, so I’ll spread them out through the day and have one whenever I’m really getting a craving for something that is outside my point range that day.