nutritious junk

Yep holiday foods flood the markets so i thought i might include a few (BTW, i am thinking of doing a week of gift idea reviews, what do you think?).  Anyhow, one of the promotions at my market for the holiday were these peppermint mini meringues.  Merginues are cute, but i cant say i like them all that much because they dont really satisy me. If i am craving sugar, i like something more filling so i'll go with fruit or frozen yogurt or even cereals. And when i crave chocolate, well sorry but little chocolate air pillows or meringues wont cut it.

hungry girl reviewed Miss Merigue's peppermint "holiday" meringues last week and mentioned that she wouldn't really consider them a cookie, and i agree. anyways, but every now and then meringue can often cure the sugar fix without ruining your calorie budget. Merigues are actually very simple, egg whites+sugar (and sometimes cream of tartar or other flavorings). so when splenda splashed on the scene, youd expect merigues to suddenly become close to cal free. BUT....as a Top Chef episode showed (on the calorie counting episode), merigue's without sugar have a different consistency and dont work very well. Anyway (i am getting to the point, just hold on), Miss Merigue had to add some sort of chemical in order to emulate real, sugar laden merigues. And, they added something called Isomalt (second on the ingredient list!), and on the bottom, it mentions "consumption of Isomalt may have an laxative effect." My verdict: they are a nice attempt to make a guilt free snack (13 minis have 40 calories), but they are about 4.50 for a tub (not a very big one i might add), dont fill you up AT ALL (its like biting into air, but sweet air nonetheless), and they may cause you to...em..well you know.