100-Calorie Packs are the new Starbucks Skinny Latte. They are taking over the world, one grocery store shelf at a time. Though these snacks are making bank for Kraft Foods, Nabisco, Frito Lay, and every other conglomerate on the single-serving bandwagon, there has been some recent media backlash, which brings to light the fact that:

a) The 100-calorie packs are often more than twice as expensive per ounce as the products they mimic.

b) In meeting the 100-calorie limit, the snacks or sweets inside the packs are sometimes pale imitations of the originals. The 100-calorie Oreos, for example, are 20 mini “chocolate thin crisps.”

c) Smaller portions don’t make snacks good for you, especially when they are as highly-processed as 100-Cal Packs.

Still, as Americans, we have issues with self-control. I can go through a box of Cheez-Its in three days and think nothing of it, until I look at the box and realize I averaged about 5 servings of Cheez-Its a day. So, when a small package helps me know when to stop, I dig it. I do agree with above comment on the 100-calorie Oreos: these are a waste of money. So, friends, what follows is a list of my top five picks. All of these are so tasty, I thank my lucky stars that they are measured out for me in 100 calorie intervals. Read More »

Hmm. What can I complain about today?

I KNOW! Snacks!

100-Calorie snacks are ridiculous, and while it seems like complaining about 100-Calorie snacks is stupid, and yeah, it probably is, it’s not just about the portions-for-p*ssies-packaging that gets me - it’s what these things represent.

Nabisco has all sorts of them - chips, cookies, crackers, whatever. I went to the store one day and saw a box of 100-Calorie Cheez-Its. “Cheez-Its!” I exclaimed in the aisle. “Cheez-Its are a delicious treat, and they’re only 100 calories, right here in these little bags that have been portioned for me? Yes! I shall purchase these Cheez-Its at once, and they will be enough to satisfy my hungry stomach.”

I bought them and it was very disappointing.

There were, like, 7 and a half Cheez-Its in the teeny-tiny bag, and no, I was not satisfied. Not only that, but that feeling of disappointment when those 7 and a half Cheez-Its were in my still-hungry stomach, only made me feel worse than when I originally bought the Cheez-Its because I felt bad about myself in the first place! It made me think to myself, “Wow. This bag didn’t do a very good job in satisfying me. I must be a whale. Must. Have. More.” Read More »