Product Review: Wheat Thins Fiber Selects

I know you value my opinions...about everything. So based on that, I decided to sample a new food product and write about it. You're welcome!

Have you ever had Wheat Thins? Sure you have. Everyone's had Wheat Thins. 

Do you like Wheat Thins? I don't--not really, anyway. I suppose I would eat them if I were starving, or if I ran out of popcorn and there was something good on TV (is it possible not to eat while watching TV? I really need to find out.)

Still, they're not my favorite cracker. They're kind of anemic tasting. (Can something taste anemic if it doesn't have blood? What does anemia taste like, anyway? Don't tell me if you know.)

Well, in spite of my lackluster feelings about Wheat Thins, I decided to give the new Fiber Selects 5-grain version a try. It helped that I had a good coupon that made them cost $1. 

Guess what? They're tasty! I really like them. In fact, I will certainly buy them again (no, I am not on the take from Nabisco). They have a nice, nutty crunch. I like the large grains of salt on the surface. (I'm a fan of salt.)

What about nutrition, you ask? Be patient! I'm getting to that. 

Here's some of the nutrition info from the box:

1 serving=13 crackers

Per serving:

4.5 grams fat (no saturated fat) 

30% of calories are from fat

22 g carbohydrates

5 g fiber

2 g protein

What's exceptional about those numbers is the fiber gram count. 5 grams of fiber is a lot for a serving of crackers. Most crackers have little or no fiber, even those with "wheat" in the title. (Did you know that? Does it annoy you like it annoys me? Are you annoyed that I'm annoyed by  stupid things?)

For example, regular Wheat Thins have 1 gram of fiber per serving. Wheatsworth crackers (made from stone-ground wheat!) also have 1 gram of fiber per serving. Multigrain saltines have NO grams of fiber per serving. Triscuits are better than most, with 3 grams of fiber per serving (and, they are delicious)(also, never try to eat them without a drink at hand--they will always get stuck in your throat).

What's so important about fiber? Well, that's a subject for another post. I could go on and on about fiber. I love fiber. What can I say? I'm just a regular girl. 

I love you, Skinny Mom

My Momma: circa 1970s

Is it too late for a Mother's Day tribute to my mom? Of course not! Nothing is ever late in Holly Land. 

My mom is skinnier than I am. In fact, with a few brief exceptions, she has weighed less than me for the past 15 years. I'm the only one in my family of origin with a weight problem, but that's a subject for another lengthy post in the future (Title: Holly's Family: Skinny Candy Junkies). We are both 5'9" tall, so comparing and contrasting our weight load is fairly easy. 

Guess what? Mom doesn't spend every waking hour at the gym, nor does she fight weight gain at every turn. Do I sound jealous? I am...just a little, but I also recognize that she is not a glutton and that is probably a big part of why she's not fat. In fact, she kind of eats like a bird a lot of the time (she's on the worms and seeds diet!)

As much as I struggle with losing weight and keeping it off, I do have a good nutritional foundation, thanks to my mom. I am grateful to her for teaching me what healthy eating is from a young age. 

Thanks, Mom, for:

*buying only wheat bread. I yearned for squishy Wonder bread like all the other kids, but I know now how disgusting that stuff is (if you can mush a piece of bread into a tiny ball, there's something seriously wrong with it)

*making me eat my vegetables. I could have done without the cardboardish frozen pea-carrot-lima bean abomination, but hey, it was the 70's and that's what was available. 

*growing a garden and cooking stuff like beet greens, chard, and mixed garden vegetable stir fries. I will never, ever thank you for the squash, though. 

*stocking our cupboard with Grape Nuts, shredded wheat, raisin bran and Wheat Chex. And not allowing us to dump sugar all over them. I'm fairly sure that I could survive on handfuls of bark without too much damage to my digestive tract, thanks to my fibrous upbringing.

*canning fruit in the summers so we could have peaches year round. I don't think I appreciated then how good home-canned peaches are, but I do now!

*not making me eat the wormy cherries that Grandma canned. Sterilized worms are still worms.

*making do with little to no money, and making sure we didn't go hungry

*all the times you said you weren't hungry and let us finish what was left of dinner (I know you lied sometimes)

*bringing me orange juice in bed to help me wake up. Sorry I was such a lazy bum of a teenager!

I love you, Mom!