When one walks through the grocery store and sees ZEBRA CAKE DONETTES, what does one do? Buy them and try them, of course!
Zebra Cakes and mini donuts are two of my favorite sweet treats. This has a lot to do with nostalgia. Oatmeal Cream Pies were fine, but Zebra Cakes were the best in our house. And mini donuts, while it was understood they were for breakfast, were in reality a delicious snack any time of day.
Of course when I saw Zebra Cake donettes (aka mini donuts) on an endcap in my local grocery store, I grabbed a bag. Sure it was an impulse buy. That’s why I leave room on my grocery list for “snacks” and “desserts,” and pick up whatever speaks to me while I’m in the store.
Now, down to business; how were they? This is where mindful eating comes in.
As I was getting ready to try these, I thought about what I like about Zebra Cakes and mini donuts. With Zebra Cakes, it’s the soft, sweet sponge of the cake and the creamy icing in the middle. With mini donuts, it’s also all about that soft, sweet, sponge. It melts on your tongue! And there’s something about going through the powdered sugar to get to the cake part… Yum.
Anyway, I tried a Zebra Cake donut, hoping it could somehow be as good. Maybe these were sitting on the shelf longer than a regular mini donut/Zebra Cake package, because they were not delectably soft. Honestly, I wonder if they were a little past their prime and dehydrated (i.e., stale). Without the creamy icing inside, they just didn’t live up to my hopes. The fondant-like icing didn’t end up all over my shirt, unlike the powdered sugar of mini donuts, which was a plus! So while this may have been a good try, I think I’ll stick to mini powdered donuts and Zebra Cakes.
Notice how you can eat any type of food mindfully. The trick is to be in an environment where you can focus on the taste, texture and experience of the food. You don’t need to eat every bite this way or every donette in the package mindfully like this. But it is helpful to try this out with at least a couple bites to check-in. Do I really want this? Am I hungry? Am I beginning to feel full? Do I like this? Is there something else that would compliment this food? etc.
What are your thoughts? Have you tried these Zebra Cake donettes? Was the package I grabbed just unfortunately old? I’d love to read your comments!
Written By: Lynn Eaton, RD, LD, CDCES
Blog written from: Snack With A Dietitian @bamboonutritionrd
Bamboo Nutrition is a group practice of registered dietitians whose primary goal is to help clients with their nutritional issues and heal their relationship with food in the process. To learn more about us, visit our website. We are located in Columbia, Missouri and are in network with most commercial insurance companies!