LC Pepperocino

Yesterday, one of my student's parents brought by a new LC dish for me to try... ( I told her all about my diet because she was interested in how I was losing so much weight ) I tried it and went that night to the store and bought all they had! Here is the review!

Product Name: Konyaku Pepperocino Pasta

Maker: Nakagawa Shokuhin

What is it: Peppercino is usally a high carb pasta dish that is simple to make. The sauce consists of garlic, salt, hot peppers and EVO. The pasta is dropped into that sauce and mixed thoroughly. Some people add some fresh grated Parmesan cheese or fresh green herbs to garnish. Nakagawa has replaced the pasta with Konyaku which is technically less refined Shirataki Noodles to create a low carb pasta.

Taste: WOW! I was always wondering if I couldn't make a good pepperocino out of shirataki noodles and this answered it for me! Very authentic Pepperocino taste. Passed the kid test, too!

Volume: Well, for everything it packs in flavor it comes up short in volume. It would take two packs to make a stand alone meal. But the thing that is neat is that there is just enough volume that if you added some fresh veggies and meat.. that you have a perfect LC meal. (check out my dinner pics)

Price: Regular price is about $1.50 a pack. ( I found mine on sale for 100 yen or about $1.00)

Verdict: Would I buy again? Absolutely! This fits the bill as a great side for a nice piece of protein or as a base for a more elaborate dish! In fact, I went to the store and bought the rest of stock they had as the shelf life is long!

oops forgot the info... 60 calories and 3.8 grams of carbs :)

Amino Calpis Zero

What is it:

Calpis is my favorite milk based beverage in Japan. Unfortunately, in its original form it contains way too much sugar and is non conforming to a LC lifestyle. That is where the Amino version comes in! It contains zero sugar and is sweetened with erythritol :) and unfortunately, the normal cocktail of artificial sweeteners that I am finding more and more often with sugarless products are also listed on the ingredient list.

Taste: Tastes very much like a light version of the original.

Price: Costs the same as the original. ( about $1.25 for 16 ozs)

Verdict: Although Amino Calpis is fortified with 6 different Amino acids and is a natural probiotic. The cocktail of sweeteners does this beverage a disservice and takes away from the from the overall health benefits of drinking this beverage. Therefore this is regulated to the drink as a treat once in a blue moon arena. If you love Calpis and need a fix give it a whirl :)

Just the Cheese Crackers

Product Name: JUST THE CHEESE

Flavor: Crunchy Nacho Cheese

Carbs: .5 gram per serving

I was really excited to try these crackers. One of the things I have missed since changing to a low carb life style is chips, you know any and all kinds of chips, with my favorite being Doritos and Cheetos. I was hoping that this product would be similar to those. It was not. The serving size is small only half an oz and there is not enough to be satisfying treat or snack by itself.

Now, this is where things get interesting! These salty but tasty crunchy little nuggets lend themselves in making other things that are drab by themselves spectacular. They can be used as croutons, ground up over vegetables to give your veggies some pizazz, mixed with your kind favorite nuts to knock the taste up a notch etc. I am looking forward to trying the different varieties to see how they can spice up my everyday dishes.

Taste: Rather salty. I could not tell it was nacho cheese flavored.

Ingredients: Cheese, powdered cellulose, maltodextrin, onion powder, spices, natural flavors, garlic powder, oleoresin paprika, citric acid.

Price:$ Not too expensive

Verdict: As a stand alone snack to satisfy a serious hunger pain..not even close. The show ends before it begins. As a salad topper, or addition to nuts, cracked on top of veggies etc. or other endless ways that you can use this product absolutely delicious.

So put some crunch back in your life again and try some. I will!

Flavors: Classic White Cheddar Cheese, Zesty Pizza Cheese, Crispy Cool Ranch Cheese, Crunchy Nacho Cheese, and Kickin' Jalapeno Cheese

website: www.specialcheese.com

Lotte O ZERO Non sugar chocolate

I found this new product as I was shopping for some snacks for a movie. The thing that really caught my eye is that this chocolate is fortified with fiber. ( One 50 gram box contains the same fiber found in 3 heads of lettuce) So I decided to give it a whirl and tossed it in　my basket along with the cashews and almonds.

Taste

Wow, if Milk Chocolate is your thing than this is for you. The taste was rather sweet, and was similar to Swiss or Austrian chocolate rather than a Hershey wannabe. If I did not know better I would have thought that this chocolate contained sugar as there was no after taste. Texture wise again, very similar to a good Swiss Milk chocolate.

Sweeteners

hmmm... this is where we run into some problems. There is no Maltitol but the chocolate is sweetened with a cocktail of Lactitol, Aspartme, L-something and sucralose.

Verdict

Yes, I would buy this again on a special occasion. But due to the innovative use of sweeteners I think that this is something that I will eat every once in a blue moon even though it is a good source of fiber and wonderful tasting product.

Tamari Shoyu (Tamari Soy Sauce)

The other day I went looking for a new soy sauce to use in an oriental dressing that I thought up. I was looking for a Tamari soy sauce because it is lower in carbs and is made by collecting the liquid that comes from making miso (fermented soy bean paste). Why is this important? Most soy sauces are made using wheat in the fermenting process but in a true "Tamari Shoyu" there is no wheat involved so it is gluten free and lower in carbs.

Tamari is much darker than regular soy sauce and has a richer and deeper somewhat smokey flavor. In fact, one of my favoite cocktail sauces is made using Tamari shoyu.

( Take 2/3 cup of ketchup, 1 T of Tamari Shoyu and 2 tsps of raw ground wasabi and mix together) Grab a bowl of iced boiled shrimp and enjoy :)

Tamari can be used in marinades, stocks, dips, dressing anywhere that you would normally use Soy Sauce. I went to three different stores before i found what I was looking for.

Although rather pricey, @$6.36 per 500 mil bottle I found exactly what I wanted with the added bonus of it being organic. I used it in a new sesame dressing that was just divine. This Tamari shoyu has a deep rich flavor and is great for adding a little extra flavor to hamurgers, pork chops, chicken and steaks. This product is exaxtly what I was looking for and I will definately be buying this again.

PS Make sure read the label carefully when looking for Tamari Shoyu in the United States as there are many Tamari Shoyu wannabes..if you catch my drift :)

Another Jelly :)

Time for some more product testing :) For those of us residing in the far east, especially Japan we are blessed with a plethora of different types of Jello like drinks, desserts, and supplements.

The pictured product spans the spectrum and is a no calorie grape flavored Jelly drink fortified with co-enzyme Q10 and 4 B vitamins.

The base for the Jelly uses Konyaku flour, (the same ingredient that shirataki noodles is made from and also qualifies as being vegetarian safe :)) so the texture resembles a softened Jello. Taste..hmm was actually quite tasty. Nutrition wise, it is fortified with with four B vitamins along with the Q10 enzyme and because it is made from konyaku flour it is also a good source of fiber. For sweetener it uses three; Sucralose, Stevia and Acesulfame K. Total carbs came to 5.2 for the 180 gram (about 6 oz.).

So where to classify this? A dessert?? A supplement? A Snack?? I am going to place it in the healthy snack department. I find it lacking to be a supplement and not sweet enough to be a full fledged dessert.

Overall, I would buy this again when I was on the road or needed something in a pinch. It would also be good for a break during some kind of sporting activity.

Zero Calorie Kanten Jelly Sweetened with Stevia

I found this product in a local convenience store so I thought I would give it a whirl. I glanced at the ingredient list and saw that it was made from Kanten(agar agar) and was sweetened with Stevia.

I was really excited about trying this new LC product because it fit my needs of being LC, high in fiber (kanten is 80% fiber)and sweetened naturally. However, upon tasting it..I found it to be rather bland and the texture was a little off. There was also a strange LC aftertaste that I usually find with products sweetened with Splenda. So I double checked the ingredient list and sure enough farther down the list I found sucralose, aspartame and one other sweetener that ends in a K that I don't know the English for.

After eating the jelly I was satiated for quite a while as Kanten triples in size once ingested and absorbs water. Overall, it's not something I will eat regularly but if I am on the road and I need a snack, well, its a safe bet to tide me over till I can get some real wholesome LC food.

A little about Kanten(agar agar)

Kanten is a gelatinous substance derived from Tengusa seaweed. That has been used in many Japanese desserts for centuries. Kanten can be used as a laxative,thickener for soups or even a vegetarian gelatin substitute. Because of its natural ability to triple in size once ingested it has become a very popular fad diet here in Asia.

I am going to come up with some new recipes to use this product(kanten not the jelly) that I hope will tickle the taste buds and be wholesome as well. One can only stand so much psyllium husks while living LC.

New Natural Sweetener

Since I live in Japan, I thought I would start showing some of the LC products that are available here in the land of the rising sun. I found this natural sweetener.. (I have not tried it yet) I am waiting until next month. The product is called LakantoS and it is now available in the US as well. http://www.lakanto.jp/english/ It seems like a really good product. Please check it out and post what you find here. Tell me what you think :)

o.O and just to make sure I am in no way affiliated or have anything to do with the makers of LakantoS.