Not to dis Yoplait or anything…
When I hear the phrase “Low calorie dessert” I immediately picture pie that looks like pie but isn’t pie because it has no sugar. Or one of those lame 100 calorie cookie packs that taste about as good as the wrapper.
Speaking of those low calorie cookie packs, do the people at Nature Valley think we’re stupid? They tout their new 90 calorie granola thins as, “delicate squares of granola” which is true but has anyone besides me figured out their scam? It’s 90 calories because it’s half a freakin granola bar pushed thin and flat!
A regular Nature Valley peanut butter granola bar is 190 calories while the thin version is 90. Seems pretty obvious to me. I wonder how many people actually think it’s some new magical granola recipe? Sorry for the mini-rant. Lets return to the post.
I recently lost 65 pounds and it quickly became apparent that I needed to find a realistic way to satisfy my craving for sweets. Berries were a no brainer but I needed something to kick them up a notch.
One afternoon I was roaming the aisles at my local grocery store trying to find something sweet that wasn’t loaded with calories when I made a discovery.
At the far end of the salad dressings on the next to the bottom shelf was something so incredibly perfect that I can’t believe I hadn’t thought about it before. Pudding.
Who would have thought the answer was so simple? And who decided to put the pudding next to the salad dressing? Seriously.
I picked up a few flavors and found that they were all either 110 or 120 calories per cup. My brain instantly began devising a recipe for a tasty dessert under 200 calories. As soon as I realized I could have one or two of these bad boys in a day and still lose weight, I said, “Hell yeah!”
Besides being lower in calorie than other sweet options, pudding cups are relatively inexpensive. I can almost always find my favorite, Snack Pack Ice Cream Sandwich, for around a buck a four-pack. I like milk chocolate so I really like that this is creamier than a normal chocolate pudding. Grab whatever kind you like and move over to the berry aisle.
For purposes of this post I’m counting the pudding cup as 120 calories since that’s how many my favorite has. I absolutely love boysenberries but can rarely find them so I usually pile raspberries, blackberries, strawberries and from time to time, blueberries on top of the chocolatey goodness.
The above picture is not at all representative of how we usually eat this dessert at my house. Normally it goes in something like this. Pretty sad, huh? That sticker has been on the bottom of that bowl since I bought it last July and it’s in no danger of being removed anytime soon.
A cup of blackberries is around 60 calories while raspberries average about 55 or 60 per cup. A whole cup of sliced strawberries is about 50 calories and blueberries are the killer at around 80 a cup.
In this glass are less than a half cup of blackberries so I’m adding another 30 to my total. I also used less than a half cup of raspberries so I’ll tack on another 25 there. I sliced up three decent size strawberries and found that they were only about a third of a cup, so lets round up and call it 20.
Normally this is how I would eat it which would give me a grand total of 190 calories. I say “around” and “about” because every store and brand differ slightly. And because I’m giving you tips on how to eat better and not counting calories for you.
Because I knew company was coming today I used the margerita glass to serve my dessert in and I added about 15 blueberries which puts this glass at just over 200.
Not to dis Yoplait or anything, but this seems to be a tastier swapportunity than low calorie yogurt.
Now it’s your turn. What would you put on yours? Different fruit? Chocolate cake? I want to know.
Yum! I’ve dipped strawberries in pudding before…but never thought to make it like a parfait or sundae. I think the presentation is beautiful – makes it seem more sinfully delicious! Yummmo! Thanks for sharing this!! Good dessert for kids too!
Thanks for the compliment. If you put stuff on a fancy plate or in a nice bowl kids seem to think it’s better than what it really is. I just grab a bowl, throw in some berries, take two pudding cups (usually), use the spatula to make sure I got every last drop out and eat up.
Yum, I also love fat free cool whip
Dude, this is an awesome idea! I just add a dallop of cool whip on my pudding or jello cup, but i love what you are doing here – it’s a sweet treat AND healthy because of the berries. 🙂
Everything’s better with berries. Chocolate pudding too.
I never thought of using pudding either. Great idea, and so many more flavors than yogurt.
Thanks Tara. It’s amazing what you find when you consciously seek out things that are healthier.