~~posted by Jen

Happy 2011! The Year of the Pouch Party™ Animal! Nikki and I are SO excited to get this year kicked off with all of you, we just KNOW it’s going to be awesome. As always, thank you all for reading and supporting us, and for helping us to grow our vision. You are very much appreciated!!

All year long, we’ve been finding cool new WLS-friendly products and reviewing them here for you. We do that primatily so if you’re curious about them you’ll already have our take, and some recipe ideas, before you spend your hard-earned money on them. This past year, we came across some pretty awesome WLS-friendly finds! Y’all know how we love a Top 5 list, so here are our Top 5 Favorite Finds of 2010!

#1 Atkins Baking Mix. We were CarbQuik devotees for the longest time, but this newer formulation of Atkins Mix has got CarbQuik beat! No aftertaste, plus the added bonus of lower carbs AND more protein. I reviewed it awhile back, and we have several recipes (Jen’s Corn Pudding and Nik’s Sweet Potato Pancakes to name a couple) that use it already posted. You can expect lots more in 2011!

#2 Any Whey Unflavored Protein Powder We love love LOVE this stuff! You can add it to virtually ANYTHING! No smell, no funky taste, it blends right in AND gives a protein boost. What more could you ask of a product? Our good friend Kris H even mixes it into her Crystal Light!

#3 Vanilla Latte Click Even though Nik and I are both devotees of the Mocha, we both found lots of ways we REALLY enjoyed the Vanilla Latte flavor of Click. The funny thing? Most of our coffee-holic WLS friends actually prefer the Vanilla to the Mocha! Go figure!

#4 Decaf Instant Espresso Powder This stuff is perfect for the Click lover on a budget! You can add a few teaspoonfuls with your chocolate protein powder and make a scrumptious “Faux Click” that even a certified Click Head like me could not discern from the real thing. Nik LOVES to blind taste-test me on stuff.

#5 P-28 bread Bread with protein? What more do I need to even say? Y’all know I am in love with this stuff! Nik is still on the fence about it, although she says the more she uses it the more she’s starting to like it. (I think her main issue is that it’s so filling, she likes to feel like she ate a decent amount for her pouch to be that full. 1/2 a slice of bread kinda ticks her off, but don’t tell her I said that!!)

We’re going to be re-categorizing the recipes on the blog pretty soon, so all the recipes that we use a specific product in will be tagged for that particular product. If you haven’t already voted in the poll, don’t forget to vote on how YOU would like to see the recipes organized. Here’s to a safe, healthy, and happy New Year!