Calorie Bargain: Green Mountain Gringo Mild Salsa
The Why: We get all kinds of salsas to sample around here, but Green Mountain Gringo Mild Salsa is pretty darn amazing and among the best we've tasted. It's so tasty you'll be searching high and low for more veggies to dip in it.
The Health Bonus: There are ONLY 10 calories per 2-tablespoon serving. Wow!!
What We Liked Best: The wholesome ingredient list. The nutrition panel is so clean that even your fifth-grader can pronounce all the ingredients.
What We Liked Least: If you want to place an online order through the company Web site, you must purchase at least 12 jars of salsa per order. However, it is available at most Whole Foods outlets.
What It Replaces: High-calorie veggie dips.
Ingredients: Ripe tomatoes, fresh onions, fresh tomatillos, fresh pasilla peppers, fresh jalapeño peppers, fresh cilantro, apple cider vinegar, fresh parsley, fresh garlic, sea salt, spices.
Nutritional Information Per Serving: (2 tablespoons): 10 calories, 0g fat, 2g carbs, 90mg sodium, 0g protein.
The Price: $3.00 per jar on Web site (must buy 12 jars).
Where to Buy:www.greenmountaingringo.com
Calorie Bargain: Recipelink.com
The Why: This amazing Web site has more than 10,000 links to just about anything related to food: recipes, nutrition information, daily menus, food forums – you name it.
The Health Bonus: With so much information about nutrition on the Web, it can be hard to find exactly what you want. Recipelink.com provides a one-stop shop for all your nutrition needs.
What We Liked Best: The gigantic list of links to hundreds of your favorite national brands. You can easily look up product ingredients, nutrition information and product offerings.
What We Liked Least: The site has so much information that navigating through it can feel a bit overwhelming. The excessive number of ads on the site is also distracting.
What It Replaces: Wandering aimlessly around the Internet trying to find the Web site for your favorite product and then giving up without getting the information you were seeking.
The Price: Free.
Where to Find:www.recipelink.com
Calorie Bargain: Ak-Mak Whole Wheat Sesame Crackers
The Why: These scrumptious crackers are made by an Armenian family that has been using the same recipe for four generations. The wafer-like crackers are made with stone-ground whole-wheat flour and only a handful of ingredients (all of which are easily pronounceable). They are delicious, low-fat, low-calorie crackers.
The Health Bonus: Throw on some hummus or low-fat cheese and you've got an excellent snacking alternative to chips.
What We Liked Best: They're 100 percent whole grain – nothing else. The crackers have no preservatives or bleach, and they contain a decent amount of both protein and fiber.
What We Liked Least: As with any food, it's easy to get carried away and eat too many in one sitting. Make sure to keep an eye on portion size while you're snacking.
What It Replaces: Less nutritious crackers that may contain heart-unfriendly trans-fat.
Ingredients: 100 percent stone-ground wheat flour, water, clover honey, sesame oil, butter, sesame seeds, yeast and salt.
Nutritional Information Per Serving: (5 crackers) 116 calories, 2g fat, 0mg cholesterol, 213mg sodium, 19g carbs, 3.5g fiber, 4.5g protein.
The Price: $2.79 to $3.99 for a box of 20 crackers.
Where to Buy: Trader Joe's, organic grocery stores, Amazon.com.
Calorie Bargain: The Pritikin Edge: 10 Essential Ingredients for a Long and Delicious Life
The Why: The Pritikin Program, pioneer for the last 50 years and proven in more than 110 studies in leading medical journals, is a must for living the healthiest life we can. After years of helping celebrities and CEOs, the Pritikin Program is now neatly packaged in a fabulous new book, The Pritikin Edge.
The Health Bonus: This book is packed full of information and tips you can (and will) actually implement. Besides helping you lose weight, the Pritikin Program can also help you reduce your risk for heart disease, diabetes and a host of other mostly lifestyle-related diseases.
What We Liked Best: We don't want to forget to mention the recipes -- they're awesome. The book contains more than 75 recipes for delicious and satisfying dishes so that you will never feel deprived.
What We Liked Least: The Pritikin Program is primarily based on a low-fat, low-calorie diet that may not be appropriate or healthy for some people (such as athletes).
What It Replaces: Diet books with crazy fads that at best don't work and at worst are dangerous to your health.
The Price: List price: $25.00.
Where to Buy: Amazon.com, BN.com, and traditional book sellers.
Calorie Bargain: Manduka eKO Lite Mats
The Why: First of all you can use this yoga mat for any exercise or stretching routine, not just yoga. So what usually happens when your yoga mat flakes, fades and ultimately loses its life? Straight to the landfill with all the other trash — not so great.
But get this – the eKO mat is biodegradable because it's made out of non-harvested, natural tree rubber. These 100 percent natural mats won't flake, fade or leave footprints in landfills, and will completely decompose at the end of their natural life.
The Health Bonus: You can get a Recycle Your Mat Kit, which includes a shipping bag and a prepaid UPS shipping label addressed to Recycle Your Mat, an organization dedicated to finding an end use for yoga mats. This kit provides you with an easy way to recycle your old mat (so that it doesn't end up in a landfill), if you are replacing it with a Manduka mat.
What We Liked Best: Comfortable mat that's environmentally friendly and comes in loads of colors (seven).
What We Liked Least: The cost of recycling your existing mat.
What It Replaces: If you're already a yoga aficionado, it replaces non-environmentally friendly mats. If you're a first-time mat buyer, you're getting one of the best mats.
The Price: $42.00, plus $8.50 for the mat recycling kit.
Where to Buy:www.manduka.com