Brown Cow brand non-fat yogurt – specifically, vanilla

A few weeks ago at the Burlingame street fair I was enlightened to the best darn yogurt I’ve ever tasted – vanilla non-fat yogurt from Brown Cow. It’s different in that it has the most amazing texture of a non-fat yogurt — it’s stringy it’s so creamy. Simply amazing texture. Plus, it has enough flavor to carry itself on it’s own, without the aid of some fruit (although, it tastes even better with fruit!)

Anyway, I really recommend trying this out. Note though that only two of the non-fat yogurts I’ve tried have this particular texture – vanilla and lemon (both are good, vanilla is better). I’ve also tried the non-fat chocolate, blueberry, strawberry, and apricot mango and all of those don’t have the same stringy/creamy texture. They’re good, but not great. I’d rather have my regular non-fat Yoplait “thick and creamy” style (which has fewer calories to boot).

But rock on Brown Cow – your non-fat vanilla is seriously my favorite yogurt going!

I’ve found this stuff at Rainbow Grocery, Whole Foods (new one in Potrero Hill has large and small containers), and Draegers (Safeway carries Brown Cow too, but not this flavor… or any non-fat variety for that matter).

• Brown Cow Non-Fat yogurt nutritional info.
• Rainbow Grocery, San Francisco.

Dr. Praeger’s Sweet Potato Pancakes

We found these really delicious sweet potato pancakes (more like a patty) in the frozen section of Rainbow Grocery (Folsom St, San Francisco). And they are absolutely fabulous, especially with a bit of fat-free sour cream on the side.

A tip – cook them for a bit longer than the instructions until they’re slightly browned (for us, about 10 or 11 minutes per side).

We also tried the Dr.Praeger spinach pancakes as well – they’re not good, neither of us liked them. I didn’t even finish mine, but the husband finished mine and is in fact cooking another one right now. But they weren’t too popular – not nearly as good as the sweet potato ones.

Update: We tried the Brocolli pancakes – they’re quite good (not as good as the sweet potato ones – but close). We’d definitely get them again.

Dr. Praeger’s Sweet Potato Pancakes

Rainbow Grocery, San Francisco

Mac and ChReese – Vegan low fat mac and cheese!

So I’ve always loved me some Kraft Mac and Cheese. But after going on a low-fat diet, it was off limits.

So recently I found this Mac & Chreese stuff (Road’s End Organics) – vegan mac and “cheese” – at Rainbow Grocery (1745 Folsom St, San Francisco). We tried the “Shells and Chreese” first and this stuff is really tasty, and low fat. I dare say it might almost taste better than the product they’re imitatin’! We made it with 1/4 + a splash of skim milk, and a bit of Promise (fat-free-margarine). And it ROCKED. It was creamy, flavorful – almost tasted like a real white cheddar on there. It didn’t have any odd, soy-ish, non-authentic after taste at all (like some of the fat-free cheese products do…)

We tried another flavor, the Mac and Chreese with the whole wheat elbow macaroni – it wasn’t quite as good as the Shells and Chreese.

But I absolutely recommend finding this stuff, especially Shells and Chreese, and trying it out. Again, we found it at Rainbow Grocery in the pasta aisle.

Road’s End Organics – Mac and Chreese

Rainbow Grocery, San Francisco 

Halvah bars – possibly the best tasting fairly healthy food

Camel Halvah Bars (Noble Foods). These amazing bars are not the lowest in fat, but at least they have healthy fats (and are very filling – watch the serving size tho), no additives, and barely any sugar in ‘em. And they (when fresh) taste out of this world.

Halvah bars are made mostly out of sesame seeds. The ones we’ve tried have varied in taste and texture, depending on how fresh they are. When they’re fresh, there ain’t anything better. When they’re not as fresh, they can still taste pretty great, but are prone to stick to your teeth a little.

We have tried Pistachio (amazing), Chocolate (my fave), and Marble which is a mix of plain and chocolate.

We have found Pistachio and Marble at Rainbow Grocery (1745 Folsom St. San Francisco), Chocolate at Whole Foods (4800 El Camino Real Los Altos), and most flavors are available online (we get most of ours from Amazon).

Update: The Deluxe flavor arrived from Amazon – and these ones are great too. They have pistacios, sunflower seeds, raisins, almonds mixed in the plain flavor. They aren’t quite as fresh as the chocolate and pistachio flavors -it’d rank right up there with pistachio if it was!

But remember, these bars, while healthy and containing healthy fats at the same time aren’t very low fat or low calorie – so watch your portions people