Ooooooo - zukes!!! DH won't let me grow them in our garden (even one plant tends to overload us) - the only way he'll eat them (and only maybe twice a year) is if I grill thick slices (after tossing in olive oil & crushed garlic, s&p)...the only other way he likes them is if I stuff them with tons of sausage/cheese....kinda defeats the purpose of healthy... Sigh...

And this is a guy who would normally eat anything as long as there's garlic on it...!!!

1/4 cup of whole-grain cereal, a few bites of sauteed veggies, or a handful of raw veggies :)

LoriBell - My grandfather has been drowning in summer squash & zucchini this year, too! I had to learn several ideas for cooking it earlier this season, love it! I do the same thing you do with the tomato, onion, squash, zucchini... yummy... I have to plant some myself next year, can it grow in a container or would I need an actual garden plot? Hmm...

On the diet snack question, I just tried the light laughing cow swiss with sliced up apple today and it was fabulous! I have had the regular swiss before, and this tasted no different for less calories!

Fresh fruit that are in season like peaches....or plain rice cakes!!

Oh and 1 cup of blueberrys with 1/2 c plain yogurt....frozen and eaten with a spoon....YUMMY!

I've never tried to grow them in a container, but I don't see why it wouldn't work...as long as it is a pretty big pot. My sis-in-law grows a few plants in her flower garden in Dallas. If you have a hunk of dirt...grow a zucchini seed. :D

Ahhh peaches! My favorite fruit. When we were in MO last week we drove out to the country near Lexington to a peach orchard we went to a lot when I was a kid. We bought a bushel of fresh picked peaches. They are giant and so sweet and juicy! Our boys can't stop eating them. They are to die for, and one of the lower calorie fruits to boot. Seriously, nothing beats a Missouri peach!

Yesterday I found this trail mix-type snack on Woman's World or whatever the magazine is called..

1/2 cup air popped popcorn
1/3 cup whole-grain cereal
2 tbs. slivered almonds
1 tsp. semisweet chocolate chips (i'd probably even do dark chocolate)


mmmmm :hungry:

I count Calories and will limit myself to 2 bananas a day and the whipped cream only has 5 calories per serving. A banana has 140 calories per banana.
I also don't eat any other Carbs so I get what little Carbs from the bananas.

DUCHESSAMMI ~ a small banana is only about 100 C's and I love to put a tbl of lite sour cream (1% or 5%) on top with cinnamon or maple extract & 1 tsp honey or maple syrup. You can mix it together and it is delish; the same goes for combining it with nosugar apple sauce, and peaches would be great too.

-- I also like apple chunks in low cal yogurt; strawberry and nectarine are nice, and this is very filling (I use source yogurt/ only 35 per serving).

-- caramel rice cake (50 C's) with 1 tbl PB / 150 C's or less

-- lite cream cheese or laughing cow cheese (but cream cheese is better price here & you get more for your money too) on 12-grain melba toast.

-- turkey bites or pepperettes /only 50 C's each

-- cheese slice /60 C's

-- 8-10 almonds /100's

-- 1/4 cup raisins /about 120 C's

-- whole grain cereals; small serving is very filling

-- whole grain english muffin w/pb or cheese

-- 1 oz cheddar cube

-- hard-boiled egg

-- baby cuke sliced, with 1 tbl lite ranch dressing; yummy!

-- baby carrots and celery sticks dipped in lite ranch dressing; yummy!

-- 1 bran toast with PB; always satisfies me with a cup of tea!

-- polar ice cream bar / only 110 C's

-- chocolate lowfat yogurt ice cream only 90 C's for 1/2 cup; pecan praline is only 120 C's for 1/2 cup; vanilla is low too.

-- popcicles only 60 C's each

fresh fruit, wheat crackers with laughing cow cheese and Lara bars.

Jamiewyn--thanks for the info on the Creamsicles! I'll have to get some!

Snacks that I'll allow myself in moderation that aren't part of my daily plan:
Sugar-free Jell-O (10 calories)
Sugar-free candy (8 calories each)
Carrots (or other raw veggies)
Crystal Lite Slurpee (50 calories)

Favorite snack: Microwave a small amt of almond butter on a plate for 30 seconds. Then slice a ripe banana on top. Drizzle lightly with honey. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Yummmmmm.

As for how it fits in with a diet plan (per someone else's response to the banana with whipped cream): I count calories and when I come in too low for the day, this makes an awesome snack. I had this tonight and it was 148 calories total (92 cal banana, 42 cal almond butter, 15 cal honey).

sugar free jello or chocolate pudding, and crystal light popsicles are my favorites. =D

Oh, and when I'm feeling especially hungry I'll pop some of that 94% fat free butter popcorn...cause to eat an entire bag of it would only be 2 points, so i know i can eat as much of the bag as I want...lol

I'll give another vote for the laughing cow cheese. I love it with wheat thins
I also loooove strawberries (and recently into cherries too)
I don't usually care for popcorn too much, but as DivineFidelity said it's a lot of food for few points, so it's helped me out in a few binds

I love to eat frozen fruit ... bags of frozen mango slices, bags of frozen blueberries, bags of frozen peach slices, and bags of frozen strawberry slices. Most of the three-serving bags are 200 kcals or less ... and there is nutritional value as well. I usually buy Dole, but will slum for Great Value brand if the Dole are out-of-stock.

And, yes!, I pretend they are ice cream!!!!!