Coffee Creamer???

[jwilk241]

I am about to start Phase 1 and have a question about coffee creamers. I drink a cup of coffee every morning and I always use Coffee Mate creamer. My question is about using their "fat-free" creamer or their new "Natural Bliss" creamer. Here's the problem:

Fat-Free has no fat but contains partially hydrogenated soybean oil. (Partially hydrogenated oils are a big no-no)

Natural Bliss has 1.5g of fat but does not use partially hydrogenated oils and uses non-fat milk.

They both contain 5g of sugar...

I know I could just use 1% or non-fat milk, but I really enjoy the Vanilla flavor in my coffee.

What should I do???

[Magna]

Most creamers are filled with either sugar or bad fats, or both. "Partially hydrogenated' oils are trans fats and you should avoid them if you possibly can. Natural Bliss has a very small advantage in that it's not a witch's brew of chemicals like most other creamers. The ingredients are nonfat milk, heavy cream, sugar, and a natural flavoring (probably vanilla or some vanilla substitute). Basically it's like full-fat milk with sugar and vanilla flavoring. If you didn't care about losing weight, you could use Natural Bliss, or (cheaper) milk, vanilla, and sugar.

There are lots of better choices, though. Maybe the easiest is to use powdered NF milk and then either a flavored sweetener or a SF syrup. For example, Splenda comes in three flavors - vanilla, hazelnut, and mocha. If you wanted to use a syrup, they come in dozens of different flavors, including vanilla. You can probably find them in the supermarket, in the same area with the coffee. Or, you could just add a drop of vanilla and whatever sweetener you wanted. (I think that would be the cheapest, too.)

You could also try evaporated NF milk, which comes in a can. It doesn't dilute the coffee as much. Of course, you could just use 1% or NF milk. You could get the vanilla flavor from either a flavored sweetener or a NF syrup.

Also, I don't know if you like flavored coffees (the kind where the flavor is in the beans or in the unbrewed ground coffee), but you can get that in vanilla flavor also. It's probably available in the supermarket or online. Before buying a lot, though, you might want to try a sample to make sure you like it.

[jwilk241]

I actually had no idea Splenda makes a flavored sweenter for coffee. I will definitely look for it at the store!

Thanks for the info!!

[Magna]

Glad to be of help!

[moby7595]

Can i have non fat half & half during phase 1?

[Magna]

Yes, it's on the phase 1 "foods to enjoy" list. (There's a link to that list on the phase 1 FAQ page.)