Bagels. Sandwiches. Who doesn’t love them? No matter the time of year (it’s not always New Year’s Resolutions!), eating healthy foods is always a good thing. As someone who truly enjoys breads in all forms, I was happy to be introduced to Toufayan Bakeries Smart Bagel and Smart Pockets. The family owned bakery has been making breads since 1926 offering Gluten-Free, Low Carb, Breakfast, Flat Breads, Pita Breads and Snack Breads.
Toufayan products (http://www.toufayan.com/products/) are made with quality ingredients and offer a healthy base for your breakfasts, lunches and snacks. Over the years, I have found some low calorie breads to be tasteless and have the consistency of cardboard. Not appetizing at all! But, I didn’t experience that at all with these products. The whole wheat flavor came through as a positive taste adding to the creamy, sweet curry in the egg salad sandwich I made. Yum! I also noticed that the pita shape was a bit more rectangular than what is typical for a pita bread making it easier to fill. It also held together really well. Makes eating lunch at your desk a lot less messy. Tomorrow’s lunch is going to be a hummus and vegetable sandwich made with the Smart Pockets. Looking forward to that!
The Smart Bagels are a little less “bready” than typical bagels but it really didn’t make a difference at all in the final product. They still have the bagel’s golden crust and the boil and bake taste of traditional bagels but without all the calories. If you are a pizza lover, you know there are a million ways to make a pizza. Have you ever tried it on a bagel? Talk about a way to manage a craving but to not eat a whole pizza with all the calories and fat. Use a Smart Bagel, add some marinara or tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese and some seasonings and put it in your toaster oven to bake for a few minutes. Easy and delicious. If you have kids, this is a great cooking experience for them to make their own type of pizza with whatever veggies and meats you have available. Plus, you can make sure they are getting their vegetables in and not filling up on all the crust.
You can find this brand all around the country at your local groceries. Here’s a little more information on the two products I mentioned above:
Smart Pockets Smart Bagel
100% whole wheat Whole wheat
80 calories 100 calories
4 grams of fiber 6 grams of fiber
5 grams of protein 5 grams of protein
Some examples of the Gluten-Free wraps that they make:
- Original Gluten-Free Wraps
- Savory Tomato Gluten-Free Wraps
- Garden Vegetable Gluten-Free Wraps
- Spinach Gluten-Free Wraps
Since we are talking about Gluten-Free wraps, I thought I would share a brand of Gluten-Free cookies that I recently learned about. Although I am not maintaining a Gluten-Free diet, I do like discovering products to share that helps those who are watching this aspect of their food intake. Finding desserts that offer full flavor, taste delicious and are Gluten-Free is a challenge according to my friend who eats a Gluten-Free diet. So, I am very glad that I was able to introduce her to Goodie Girl Cookies. They are made with rice flour, no preservatives and no hydrogenated fats. But, they are made with lots of things you want to eat including chocolate chips, quinoa, oatmeal and raisins. They have five flavors to choose from:
http://goodiegirlcookies.com/gluten-free-cookies/
Quinoa Choco-Chip Quinoa Chocolate Chip Cookie
Crunchy Chaos – marshmallow, corn flakes and chocolate Crunchy Chaos
Midnight Brownie Double Trouble Brownie Cookie
Oatmeal Raisin Oatmeal Raisin Cookie
Mint Slims – think Girl Scout Cookies Goodie Girl Thin Mints
I had the first four flavors for our visit. Let me just say how delicious these cookies are. You would never know they are Gluten-Free. Filled with rich flavors of chocolate or cinnamon. Sooo good. Whether you are Gluten-Free or not, try Goodie Girl Cookies. You are going to be very glad you did. What’s your favorite flavor?
Enjoy!
We love Smart Pockets and Bagels in our home. The pizza is a great idea. I haven’t thought of that one. Thanks for sharing!
Those Smart Bagels look awesome! I am a huge fan of bagels but not so much a fan of their calorie count. This is a great healthy alternative!
http://www.skinnybelle.com/?p=488
I personally LOVe to make my own GF cookies and wraps – but for those who are short on time, I am thrilled that there are more and more products in this world coming up for them/us! 🙂
I haven’t tried a bagel before…. Looks yum!
This is a great low calorie idea, I am have always looking for low calorie options and this recipe sounds great and simple to make. Thank you.
My daughter and I are huge smart pocket fans!!! Thanks for sharing!!!