I love salsa.  But I am picky.  Until now I have only liked salsa I have gotten in Mexican restaurants.  I don’t like chunky salsa and I am not a big fan of onions.  Salsa that I get at Mexican restaurants is usually not chunky (at least in my neck of the woods).  So I have not had good luck at finding a salsa from a jar that I could eat.  Most of them are either chunky or oniony or both.

But it didn’t keep me from looking for that elusive creature - a non-chunky, non-oniony salsa.  I finally found it at Trader Joe’s.  I should have know. Trader Joe’s rocks!  Trader Jose’s Salsa Autentica is a non-chunky, non-oniony salsa.  It does have onion it it.  It would be perfect if i didn’t actually see a few onion pieces floating in it, but I can manage with the little bit there is.

The best part is that this salsa is fairly cheap for jarred salsa.  A 12 oz jar is $1.69 at my local Trader Joe’s.

And it is only 10 calories for 2 Tbs.  That means I can eat 1/4 cup for 0 Weight Watcher points.  A bargain all the way around.

I’m not crazy about most bars, protein, meal replacement, weight loss or
snack bars. I think most of them either taste funny, taste bad, have
no taste or give you bad gas. And they are usually expensive. and have
all kinds of weird ingredients. Or have a ton of calories in them. But
I keep looking anyway, hoping one day I will find one I can tolerate and
that is cheap AND low in calories and Weight Watcher points.

I thought that I had found it in the FiberOne bars. They tasted pretty
good and were only 2 Weight Watcher points. They did give me bad gas
but hey what’s a little gas, right? But I didn’t think they were great
and sometimes they seems a little sticky. And the first ingredient is
Chicory root extract. What? That doesn’t sound appetizing. It also
contains 2 types of corn syrup.

Then I found Clif Kid Organic ZBars. They are appear much smaller than
FiberOne bars, but that is because they are more dense. They are not
that much smaller in weight. the Clif Kid Organic ZBars weigh in at 36
g and FiberOne bars weigh in at 40 grams. Clif Kid Organic ZBars are
also pretty cheap for a bar. I can find them for 59 to 69 cents in my
area. They also come in several flavors; Chocolate Brownie, Chocolate
Chip, Honey Graham, and Peanut Butter are flavors I have seen. Their
website also lists Spooky S’mores, Apple Cinnamon and Blueberry.

I have tried Chocolate Brownie, Chocolate Chip, Honey Graham, and Peanut
Butter. The Chocolate Brownie is my favorite. It tastes chocolatey and
has the texture like a very dense brownie. It doesn’t have any weird
after taste or strange chemical flavor and best of all doesn’t give you
gas! the first ingredient listed is Organic Rolled Oats. I can
pronounce and have heard of all the ingredients.

Most of the bars range from 120-130 calories and 2-3 g of fat and have 3
grams of fiber making them 2 Weight Watcher points. Except for the
Peanut Butter one which is 140 calories and 4 g of fat which makes it 3
Weight Watcher points. Which breaks my heart - I love peanut butter
stuff. Why can’t you be like your brethen Peanut Butter Clif Kid ZBar
and have only 2 points?

Trader Joe’s is one of my favorite places to shop. Its like an adventure to go to Trader Joe’s. You are full of anticipation, yet fearful your haul will not live up to your high expectations. Most of the time, you are pleased. Once in a while you might be disappointed, but then there are those times that you come across an item that supersede all the others.

For me it was Trader Ming’s Mandarin Orange Chicken. I’ve been a fan of Trader Ming’s Boneless BBQ Teriyaki Chicken for a while. And for just as long I have been eyeballing the Mandarin Orange Chicken that lies nestled in the freeze along side the Teriyaki Chicken. And I always picked the Teriyaki Chicken. Why? Because I am trying to lose weight and the Teriyaki Chicken had 65 % fewer calories. Don’t get me wrong, I really like the Teriyaki Chicken, but I have always been a fan of the deep fried chicken Chinese dishes like General Tso’s chicken and Sesame chicken.

So the last time I was at Trader Joe’s I took the plunge and bought a bag of the Mandarin Chicken. Then it sat in my freezer a month. I finally got around to trying it. Wow. It is good. It reminds me of good take out. Now its not quite as insanely quick to prepare as the Teriyaki Chicken which is completely microwaveable but it was still easy. You have a choice of baking the chicken or frying them in 1/4 cup of oil. I virtuously chose to bake the pieces. I spread the frozen breaded pre-cooked chicken chunks on a baking pan and baked about 20-25 min. The chunks ranged in size from small kidney bean shaped nuggets to the size of a Roma tomato. Most were somewhere in between.

After baking the chunks, I then had the choice to heat the sauce that comes with it in a skillet or microwave it. I microwaved it. At first I was concerned that there wasn’t enough sauce to coat all the chicken. My fears were unfounded. It was just enough.

The chicken was tender. The sauce had a nice citrusy tang to it and it was not overly sweet as a lot of take out Chinese is. My only complaint - a serving is not that big. A 14 oz bag has 3.5 servings. Really though, 2 of us can easily split it in half. I could of ate a lot more, which of course is why I need to diet. As much as I liked this chicken I will probably not buy it as often as the Teriyaki Chicken as it does have a higher calorie content which makes me feel guilty about eating half the bag instead of a “real” portion.

One bag costs $4.99 which makes a serving $1.43. Can you make or buy cheaper entrees? Of course. But to me part of the frugal journey is allowing yourself small indulgences here and there so you don’t feel deprived. The same could be said for a diet. Missing your Chinese take out? don’t want to shell out the cash or the calories? Then pair this with some of Trader Joe’s egg rolls, make your own rice and a veggie and you have your own version of take out for a fraction of the cost and the calories.

Nutritional Information:
Calories: 230
Fat: 8 g
Carbs: 19 g
Fiber: 0 g
Protein: 16 g

5 WW points

Trader Joe’s has a line of frozen Chinese food called Trader Ming.  I’ve tried several items from this line and so far everything has been tasty.  These egg rolls are no exception.  They come frozen and pre-fried and all you have to do is bake them for 20 min.  Each egg roll is about 5 inches long and weighs about 2 3/4 oz.

Now  you might be thinking “How do these egg rolls compare to take out Chinese?”  Well they don’t.  They are good but not quite the same thing as a hot crispy, ingredient packed egg roll, filled with bits of mystery meat from your local take out.  The Trader Ming’s egg rolls while an adequate length seem to be wrapped a little loose.  And while you can get them nice and crispy from baking, there still seems to be some residual water/juice inside the egg roll.  And one of 2 things can happen: 1) you can eat your egg roll while it is still hot and crispy and have hot water squirt on you or 2) you can let it sit a few minutes and the liquid will absorbe into the egg roll but now the outside is no longer crispy.

All that aside, I will always have a package of these on hand because they are much tastier and oh so much easier then making my own egg rolls.  And while they are not health food, they are much better for you then take out Chinese egg rolls.

A package of 5 of these egg rolls cost me $2.99 which is 60 cents for one egg roll.  Yes I know you can  make your own egg rolls much cheaper or just go without but I think 60 cents is a great price if it prevents you from picking up that phone and ordering take out which will hit you both in the wallet and your waistline.

Nutritional Info:
Calories: 110
Fat: 4 g
Carbs: 16 g
Fiber: 2 g
Protein: 5 g

WW Points - 2 each

Laughing Cow Light Wedges are one of my favorite versatile snack foods.
They come in a round container that has 8 wedges. Each pre-wrapped
wedge is 3/4 of an ounce. That may not seem like very much but it goes
far and it is packed with creamy flavor. The original flavor is called
“Swiss Flavor” so its not pure Swiss cheese but a combination of
cheeses, or cheese-fusion. To me it tastes like a blend of Cheez Wiz
and cream cheese. There are also Light Garlic and Herb and Light French
Onion flavors.

Most of the time I just like to spread a wedge on some crackers. But it
also makes a nice addition to spread on bread, tortillas, pitas or the
sandwich wrapping of your choice, instead of mayonnaise. I have even
melted a wedge in a serving of pasta for a quick cheesy lunch. Or used
it as a dip for raw veggies.

But my favorite think to do with these fun little wedges is to make
grilled cheese. I spread 1 wedge on a slice of whole wheat bread, top
with 2 slices of fat free American (I usually detest fat free dairy
products but this the one way I like it and I usually keep a pack on
hand just to make these grilled cheese) and a second slice of bread. I
heat up my skillet and spritz both sides of the sandwich with butter
spray and grill. This makes a cheesy gooey rich grilled cheese for only
3 Weight Watcher points - you can’t beat that with a stick!

The average price for a container is $2.99 in my neck of the woods, but
I have seen it range from $2.29 to $4.99. If you can get this at the
lower price range then a wedge could be as cheap as 30-40 cents. Not
bad for a delicious cute little treat.

One wedge has 35 calories, 2 g of fat, 1 carb, and 2.5 g of protein, or 1 WW point