Versus - vs

Nestles NesCafe vs. Startbucks Via

Have you tried Startbucks VIA Instand Coffee?  It's interesting to see Starbucks come up with Instant Coffee after dominating the Coffee shop market.  Well let's test the Starbucks VIA vs. NesCafe.  

I picked Startbucks VIA colombia and new NesCafe Colombia coffee.  Both of the Coffees were "on the go" packs.  By the way, the Starbucks VIA comes in two flavors. One is Colombia - Medium Intensity and the other is Italian Roast - Extra Bold Intensity. 

The directions for both coffees are pretty similar.  

Step 1) Pour the coffee into the cup

Step 2) Add 8 oz of water for Starbucks VIA and 6 oz of water for NesCafe

Step 3) Stir the coffee and taste

I personally can't drink black coffee.  It has to have milk.  Even cream won't do it for me.  So after preparing the two coffees, I decided to add some non-fat milk and a one pack of Splenda each.  

After tasting both coffees, I must say they were both DELICIOUS, but there were some differences that I noticed.

I decided to rate the coffee on several criterias: 1=bad/weak  5=good/strong

Starbucks VIA (Total = 19/25)

Smell = 5

Boldness = 5

Flavor = 4

Smoothness = 3

Aftertaste = 2

NesCafe (Total = 23/25)

Smell = 5

Boldness = 4

Flavor = 5

Smoothness = 5

Aftertaste = 4

From my comparison, NesCafe scored better than Starbucks VIA.  Although, both of the coffees are delicious and perfect for on the go type people, there was one major difference. 

For my taste, NesCafe had a better flavor of coffee and there was barely to none aftertaste, were as Starbucks VIA was a bolder coffee with some aftertaste.  If you are a big coffee fan and like your coffee to be bold and strong than you should go with Starbucks VIA.  I personally like my coffee to be smooth with no aftertaste, therefore I would pick NesCafe.

Currently, Starbucks VIA is only available in Seattle, Chicago, London and online.  It is a bit exensive.  For a pack of 12 servings, it's $9.95.  That comes to $0.83 per cup.  On the other hand, NesCafe comes in variety of sizes, prices and flavors. 

TIP: A GREAT SUMMER HOMEMADE ICED LATTE IN SECONDS

At work instead of drinking hot coffee with milk, I have been making Iced Lattes.  They are absolutely amazing. 

Step 1) Pour the Instant Coffee into a cup, glass, etc

Step 2) Add a very small amount of hot water. (0.5 oz)

Step 3) Stir and add in non-fat milk, ice and spenda or sugar-free vanilla.  

Try it and let me know what you think. 

Vanilla Pudding vs. Vanilla Ice Cream

Are you craving some dessert? I am actually craving one right now while sitting here and writing this post.  I have a no sugar added - light ice cream in the refrigerator, but is there a healthier alternative to a dessert?  

I decided to make a quick trip to Safeway just down the street from me in search for another alternative. This is what I found: A sugar free – fat free vanilla pudding.   Sounds very delicious, but more delicious than no sugar added – light vanilla ice cream?  Let’s figure out which one is healthier and yummier.

While shopping at Safeway for a second alternative dessert, I also grabbed fat free milk for the pudding. 

In order to decide which one was yummier, I had to prepare the pudding.  The pudding took me about 1 minute to prepare and then about 5 minutes to refrigerate.  

Trick to preparing a pudding:  Put milk and the pudding powder in the blender and put it on high for about 1 minute. No need to stir. It comes out perfect!!!!

To test the yumminess of the pudding and ice cream, I decided to rate them on my top 5 criteria for a delicious dessert. (See chart below) The two items were rated on the scale of 1-10 (1 = low/not yummy. 10 = high/very yummy.)

To test the healthiness of the pudding and ice cream, I decided to refer back to the nutritional facts. (See chart below)

Green means good. 
Orange represents a little high. 
Red represents bad.

From the nutritional facts, it shows that both the ice cream and the pudding are pretty close in calorie count.

As far as my opinion on five dessert factors and the overall rating, they also came in very close. 

Since the taste rating and the calorie rating are both similar, I need to find something that will help me determine which one is the better choice. 

Sodium in the pudding is very high.  The recommended amount of daily sodium intake is 1500mg - 2300mg which includes added sodium (salt) and already what's inside food. 300mg of 1500mg  is 20% of the daily recommended intake of sodium.

If you are going to eat the pudding, make sure the rest of the day’s sodium intake is low.  The ice cream has very low sodium in the ingredients. On the other hand, ice cream is higher in total fat, carbohydrates and sugar.  Even thought the ice cream doesn’t have any added sugar, there is still a small amount.  

My overall option:  If you are looking for a healthy dessert, both Sugar Free - Fat Free pudding and the No Sugar Added - ligh ice cream are  good choices as long as you stick with the serving amount.  If you want to pick one, then I would pick the ice cream. However, if you are planning on eating more than one serving, then stick with the pudding.  But make sure to watch the sodium intake for rest of the day.  

The pudding is extremely fast and easy to make and it tastes great - which makes pudding a wonderful dessert dish without a strict limit on the serving size. 

Prices:

Pudding 1.5 oz pack is about $1.50.  Makes 6 servings

Ice Cream 1 pack is about $5.50.  Contains 12 servings

Feel free to tell me which one you prefer.  I would love to hear your opinion. 

Healthy Fats vs Unhealthy Fats

Do you know which fats are good for you and which fats are bad for you?  We all know trans fats are bad, but is that it? 

Recently, I discovered the difference between good and bad fats to only determine what I was eating frequently was considered to be an unhealthy fat.

Unhealthy fats:

All saturated fat, trans fat and foods already high in cholesterol such as liver, organ meats and egg yolks are unhealthy fats. 

I am sure you have all heard that trans fats are very bad for you.  However, majority of the products don't even use trans fat anymore in ingredients. So, that's pretty much out of the question.

What about saturated fat?  A saturated fat is one that turns solid at room temperature and is found mostly in foods from animals and a few plants.  I would like to emphasize this post on saturated fats. 

Saturated Fats are:

• meats
• lard 
• the skin and fat of chicken 
• butter, cream, milk, cheeses, ice cream 
• coconut oil 
• palm oil  

For example, chicken fats are unhealthy fats.  If you cook the chicken without removing the fats, then the chicken will absorb it.  After the fat is already absorbed by the chicken, it doesn't matter if you cut the fat off the chicken before eating it.  It's already too late.

Have you ever tried the whole roasted chicken from Costco, Safeway or another grocery store?  Every week, I bought the Costco roasted chicken, which to me seemed pretty healthy.  Before eating the chicken, I would remove all the fat.  I figured if I removed the fat before eating the chicken, then I wouldn't be eating the fat.   Less calories for me.  This is far from the truth. The chicken cooked with the fat and the skin, is almost the same as eating the fat from the chicken. 

So if saturated fats are bad then what are the good, healthy fats?

Healthy fats:

Unsaturated fats are oils such as canola, olive, peanut, corn, soybean, sesame and sunflower oils. Nuts, olives and fatty fish including salmon and tuna are also unsaturated fats.  These fats are much better than saturated fats, but in moderation.  

This was another interesting fact for me.  I am not a big fan of cooking with oils or using it in my food, but it's great to know that unsaturated fats are actually healthy for the body.  The body needs a little bit of fat as part of the diet, so why give it healthy fats vs. unhealthy fats. 

Here are some tips on how to reduce unhealthy fats in your diet:

• Choose low fat dairy food including skim milk, low fat yogurt, cheese, ice cream and pudding
• Choose lean meat or skinless chicken and trim any visible fat before cooking
• Use low fat cooking methods like grilling, barbecuing, or roasting
• Skim the fat off the top of cooled gravies, sauces, soups or stews 
• Cook with unsaturated oils and spreads like olive or canola oils 
• Choose tomato based sauces and avoid creamy sauces or soups  

I hope this post can help you reduce and replace the unhealthy fats in your diet.  If you know of other food items that seem healthy but are actually fatty, please share your knowledge with us.