Banana Bread!

It always seems that when I buy a bunch of bananas, fully intending to make smoothies or somesuch else, I end up forgetting about them until they're all black-spotty and gross. Well, the #1 use for over-ripe bananas is (or should be) banana bread! I originally planned to use my mother's tried-and-true recipe, but found that it used 1/2 cup oil! Yeesh...not in tune with my healthy eating habits at all. So I went in search of an alternative and found the Banana Banana Bread recipe on AllRecipes.com. The only changes I made were to use half whole wheat flour and half regular flour and I didin't measure out my banana, just used the three that I had. Next time I might try tossing in some Raven's Mulling Spices for a little extra kick.

Banana Bread

1 C All-Purpose Flour
1 C Whole Wheat Flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs, beaten

3 mashed overripe bananas

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

The bottom looks a bit ragged because one corner stuck to the pan when I turned it out. Ah well...you know I just *had* to take care of that...can't let it go to waste. ;) It was perfect! Even Vanessa declared it to be "sooo awesome!".

Crazy Times!

I know I haven't posted in ages, but life has been a bit nuts around here, getting ready for hubby to get home and for us to get moved up to Fort Campbell. Two days until he gets here and less than two weeks until the movers come. Yikes!

One good thing is that I'm no longer working so I have all day to get things done. Have I been a lazy bug?...well, yes sometimes. But I've been cooking up a storm! So far in the past week, I've made homemade applesauce, pumpkin swirl brownies, crock pot bean soup...and I'm planning on making banana bread and maybe some pumpkin bread and more applesauce. This week has also been taken up with painting our master bathroom. It's taken forever because it was originally painted in deep indigo blue, so I've had to put 2-3 layers of primer on to cover it up. Now, I'm at the stage of deciding on which paint color to use...debating on if I want to wait until hubby gets back and get his input. Not that it really matters that much since we're going to be renting the place out. Figures that we're finally getting the house done up the way I've always wanted right when we're moving out. :-P

Hopefully, I'll be posting alot of reviews soon since I've joined BuzzAgent. It looks like an interesting program and I love writing reviews.

In more food news, I'm getting a Keurig brewer (MIL's getting me one for my belated b-day present)! I'm not much of a coffee drinker, but I love that you can do more than coffee, plus it's only one cup at a time so when I am craving a cup (like I am today), I don't feel obligated to make (and drink) a potful. I love that Keurig is teamed with Green Mountain which does alot of organic and fair trade coffees. Only downside is that all of the hot cocoas and most of the flavored coffees (which is what I drink the most of) contain artificial ingredients. But I have been researching online and am going to try a couple of the tricks I've found to brew your own. Or I may just buy plain coffee K-Cups and hunt down some all-natural flavoring syrups.

Being a Libra in the Real Food World

Since I started this journey into real food, my attitude towards it has swung from one extreme to the other and back again. I love eating healthy, don't get me wrong, but for me I think there has come a time where it actually became a chore, a burden, and a source of negative energy.

I do alot of reading on the internet in regards to real food and the politics behind it. I'm not a political person, but I do think that trying to get people to eat healthier is a good thing. Unfortunately, I've seen alot of attitudes that seem counter-productive...and engaged in some of these myself.

Being an agnostic, it annoys me to have religious folk (mainly evangelical Christians) and tell me that I'm a wretched sinner, I worship the devil, and I'm going to Hell if I don't convert. Ironically enough, I've been guilty of getting this attitude towards healthy eating. Yes, I grind my teeth when I see people, companies, and even the government passing off chemical-laced products as healthy. I hate it....I want to speak out against it..and I have. But I've found out that doing so usually turns more people against the real food concept than it converts. People don't like being told they're wrong, especially if what they're doing/eating makes them feel good. Saying "This is bad for you...you're eating chemicals" a thousand times isn't going to make someone stop using Splenda or drinking soda or eating processed dinners unless they really want to stop doing it. Add to that the attitude I've seen in some blogs that eating anything less that 100% pure, clean, unprocessed food is tantamount to suicide and/or child abuse...and I can see why people can be seriously put off. Fundie foodies can be just as annoying as fundy religious people...or political extremists.

And I honestly see the appeal of modern convenience foods...believe me, being a currently single mom with a full time job, I am constantly tempted to just grab some frozen dinners-in-a-bag instead of trying to gather ingredients and make something when I've just come home from working for 8 hours every day. It's not always easy and, unfortunately, in today's society, most people want easy and convenient, myself included. I see both sides of the equation and that's what makes it so hard. I can't unlearn everything I've learned in the past few months about what goes into our food. So, sticking my head in the sand and going for the easy option...well, it's not an option.

But as a Libra, I'm also prone to take the middle road between the two. Am I going to cook with only 100% clean unprocessed foods? No. But I'm also not going to run out and buy a case of Diet Cokes, some Oreos, and frozen dinners. I think that in the long run, the middle moderate ground is the best...for me anyway. My attitude will return to posting what I've discovered, then letting folks do with it what they will. Anything more is pointless.

Real Food Faves: All-Natural Hits...and Misses

Since I'm a semi-single mom who works full-time, I don't always have the time and/or energy to make meals from scratch which means I rely on pre-made "convenience" foods quite often. Finding healthy, all-natural convenience foods is much easier than it was in the past, but not all of them taste good....and not all of them are as healthy as they claim. So I'm going to share with you some of the foods I've tried since I've started my real food journey...both the hits and misses.

First up, is one of my consistent "go-to" foods: Rudi's Whole Spelt Tortillas. I decided to try these on a whim for something different from the usual whole-wheat, high-fiber, low-carb tortillas and I was not disappointed at all. They are very tasty with a nice texture that lends itself to everything from burritos to pizza crust to quesadillas (one of Munchkin's favorite meals). They have a nutty, almost sweet flavor to them (thanks to the touch of organic honey in them), and don't go gooey and sticky when they get wet like the usual white flour tortillas do. They are 150 calories and have only 3 grams of fat. They are not as high-fiber or low-carb as some of the other tortillas out there, but they don't include any of the preservatives and artificial additives the others do either.

Next up is a brand name rather than just one product: Quorn. I've not tried everything from them, but my daughter enjoys the Chik'n Nuggets and I absolutely love the Cranberry & Goat Cheese Chik'n Cutlet. They really do have the taste and consistency of chicken and are good, healthier lunchbox alternatives. They are not lo-cal...they're healthy food, not diet food. And yes, they are processed, so if you're going for a no-processed foods lifestyle, they probably won't be for you. As for myself, my current situation makes using processed foods an occasional necessity.

Now...for a "health" food that I've tried and honestly cannot get on board with....kombucha. I've heard all of the wonderful health benefits to this drink and how great it supposedly is, but I've tried it once and it was utterly foul. At the time, I didn't know exactly what it was, only that it was supposed to be very healthy. After taking a few sips and wondering if I had gotten one that had gone bad, I did some research and found out that it's *supposed* to taste like vinegar. Ick! (And I say this as one who has actually drank apple cider vinegar as a remedy) What turned me off even more to it was what it actually is made of and what it looks like. I'm a pretty brave person as far as food goes...I've eaten squid jerky, raw quail eggs, liver, seaweed, and so on...but drinking something that is made out of a big lump of tea mold just makes my stomach turn (see pic below...doesn't that look yummy! :P).

That's it for today!

Roasted Eggplant and Hummus Pizza

Inspired by the recipe of the same name by Poor Girl Eats Well.






One whole wheat or spelt tortilla (I like Rudi's Organic Whole Spelt Tortillas)
1-2Tbsp hummus (I used Sabra's Roasted Pine Nut Hummus)
2 thin-sliced slices of Italian eggplant, cut into wedges (or 5 thin-cut slices of Indian eggplant)
4 slices of sweet red pepper
Approx 2 Tbsp Mozzarella cheese (I used smoked mozzarella)
1-2 Tbsp grated Parmesan-Reggiano cheese
A few pinches of herbs (your choice...I used fresh basil and rosemary)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spread hummus on tortilla. Top with cheeses, then arrange eggplant and peppers. Put on cookie sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted. Enjoy!

School "Nutritional Standards"

It's a new school year and, as always, the school sends home a ton of paperwork for parents to read and/or sign. This year, one of these papers was a list of "some snacks, items that meet nutritinal (sic) standards". Unfortunately, these "standards" are worse than the spelling, considering the junk that's listed.

Here's a sample:
Snacks
- Teddy Grahams (loaded with HFCS, PHVO, bleached flour, and artificial flavors)
   *Alternative: Annie's Bunny Grahams
- Frito Lay Baked Snacks (Varies according to actual product: PVHO, artificial flavors and colors)
   *Best Bet: Tostito's Baked Tortilla Chips
- Mrs Goodcookie Cookies (Can't find ingredient lists for any of these, but listed is "ICEE Character Cookies"...ummmm ick!)
    *Alternative: Homemade cookies!
- Kellogg's Raisin Bran Crunch Bar (Artificial flavors, BHT preservative)
    *Alternative: Cascadian Farms Oatmeal Raisin Bars
Nabisco 100 Calorie Packs (Varies according to product: HFCS, artificial flavors)
   * Best Bet: Wheat Thins Mini Crisps 100 Calorie Pack

Coke Products
- PowerAde Option: (This is actually no longer available and has been replaced by PowerAde ZERO which contains sucralose (a.k.a Splenda) and artificial colors)
   *Alternatives: One Ten Hydrade, Kul Fuel, Recharge, TREK

Another downside to this list is that it places emphasis on low- and non-fat items. While this can be okay in some cases, it is not advised to go overboard on these items. Whole milk and full-fat cheese contain nutrients and good fat that are stripped from the low- and non-fat versions.

Overall, I'd probably mark off about half of the items on this list. There are, admittedly, some good choices on there such as fresh fruit and veggies, milk, yogurt, cheese, and water. But at least half are processed foods that contain questionable ingredients. But don't even get me started on the crap they serve at her after-school care. They have soda and candy bar vending machines for crying out loud! For awhile, I was the "mean mommy" that wouldn't give her money for the snack machines, but now I make sure to pack plenty of healthy snacks that she likes so she won't be tempted by the machines. Thankfully, she's gotten to the point where she doesn't want most of what's in there anymore. And if she does manage to get her hands on a couple of quarters to use, she usually goes for the lesser of the evils like crackers. Yay!

Disclaimer: Because One Seems to be Needed

Since I wrote my last review, I've discovered that there are apparently some people who are angry over what they perceive (incorrectly) my feelings towards HG to be. So, this is for them...and anyone else who might be interested in how I really feel.

First off, I do not hate HG or her show. Yes, I think the new set looks like it was painted by someone who was either colorblind or on some kind of heavy drugs. No, I do not like that she relies heavily on chemically-enhanced processed foods. And yes, some of her turns of phrase do grate on my nerves just a bit. That doesn't mean that I hate her or her show. I like quite a few of her recipes and think she has some great ideas. When the recipe calls for non-natural foods, I make substitutions. I've also discovered som great products through her...namely VitaTops, PopChips, and Laughing Cow cheese. All of these I love and buy/eat regularly...and I wouldn't have known about them or thought to try them before I encountered her website.

Secondly, my HG reviews...and the blog itself...is intended to break down her recipes and *suggest* healthier substitutions whenever possible. If you are not interested in these substitutions, this blog was not written with you in mind, so you might as well just move along instead of getting angry because you *assume* that I'm trying to force a way of eating down everyone's throat...because I'm not. I do know from personal experience and from reading her FB page that there are people out there who would like to see some healthier alternatives to her recipes...this blog is for them. If you have no problem with eating artificial sweeteners, flavors, colors, or HFCS, or PHVO, or artifcial preservatives, then that's your right and choice. I am not going to try and talk you out of it or say that you have to eat my way. That's not what this is for. It's healthy swaps for those who are interested...just as HG's website/blog/FB page/e-mails are for people who want lo-cal, lo-fat swaps. If I weighed 92 lbs and could eat whatever I wanted to, I wouldn't come onto her page and get angry because she's ruining my favorite fatty foods that I love. Same applies here.

Lastly, I am not, as one person stated "a crazy health nut". In fact, this "crazy health nut" just finished polishing off a couple of slices of Papa John's pizza. I don't drink wheatgrass juice every morning and chase it with a spoonful of cod liver oil (ick!). I tried kombucha once and found it to be utterly gross. I avoid fast food like the plague, but I do eat out on occasion. I have a picky 6-year-old, and I work full time, as well as play single mom while my hubby's deployed to Afghanistan, so we end up eating alot of cheeseburgers, hot dogs, and pizza for dinner. I do try to buy all-natural ingredients for all of these as much as I can, but I'm not perfect and I don't pretend to be.

If after reading this, you still think I'm some kind of awful person for not worshipping everything HG says and does...well, that's your choice. There's nothing more I can do to change your mind and as far as I'm concerned that's your loss, not mine. My RL friends and family know me and the kind of person I am...which isn't anything like what some people have tried to paint me as based on nothing more than one online review.

Have a great day! (And no, that's not sarcastic, but sincere)

New Season of HG...Opening Episode Review

Well, a new season of Hungry Girl has debuted on Food Channel today. I watched the first episode, titled "Under 200", to see what sort of "guilt-free", "healthy" recipes and tips she would come up with this time. Well, there's some good, some bad, and some ugly.

First the good. Three out of the four recipes were mostly made from natural, un-processed ingredients. The only potential stumbling blocks were as follows:

• Ketchup (in the Cheeseburger Mac Attack and BBQ Mango Tilapia) which can be loaded with HFCS if you don't read the label. Look for the natural varieties. 
• Cauliflower with Cheese Sauce (found in the Cheeseburger Mac Attack) which usually contains modified starches and artificial colors/flavors in the cheese sauce. Not a huge red light, but something to keep in mind.
• Hot Dogs (in Fresh and Fruity Hot Dog Skewers): make sure to get an all-natural brand that doesn't include nitrates like Applegate Farms.
• Ground Turkey (in Cheeseburger Mac Attack): I almost forgot about this, but who hasn't heard the news about 36 MILLION pounds of ground turkey being recalled? Argh! Just one more reason to try to buy local, humanely-raised meat whenever you can. 

None of these are huge deal-breakers and have easy substitutions, so it's a refreshing change to see that all of the entrees are not mixtures of various processed, artificial foods.
Also, her "Shopping Survival Guide" portion didn't have anything in it that just made me cringe. Watch out for sodium levels in soups and be on the look-out for artificial ingredients. Also, if you want shrimp with cocktail sauce, try to see if they have any that are packaged fresh from the seafood department, not ones that have possibly been on the truck for a bit and are probably loaded with preservatives.

Next we get to the bad. Unfortunately, this is where HG seems to always fall short: sweets. In an effort to lower calories and fat, she almost inevitably strips away most natural ingredients in favor of chemically-enhanced "low-fat" and/or "lo-cal" substitutions (or "swaps" as she calls them). The recipe is Banana Split Pie and is loaded with the usual culprits we've seen in her other sweet "treats":

• Light Vanilla Ice Cream: This is one of those yellow light items where it's not that hard to make an all-natural substitute if you're cafeful about your label-reading. Breyer's Double-Churned Light Creamy Vanilla is a great and easy-to-find all-natural option.
• Cool Whip Free: This is nothing more than a cocktail of chemicals made to look and taste like whipped cream. Do your body a favor and whip up some of your own whipped cream. All you need is some light whipping cream, a bowl and a whisk...along with a desire to give your arm a good workout. But you are trying to lose weight and get healthier, right? Exercise is all part of that.
• Sugar-free Chocolate Pudding Snack: These are loaded with artificial sweeteners, artificial colors and flavors, as well as hydrogenated oils (the source of trans fats). For just a few more calories (and if you're splitting the pie up 8 ways, it only ends up to about 5 extra calories a serving), go for Kozy Shack's Cowrageous Pudding Snacks instead. They have sugar, but this only adjusts the carbs 8g over the whole pie...that's 1g a slice.
• Light Chocolate Syrup: Loaded with preservatives, artificial colors and flavors. Since you're just drizzling it over the top of the pie, do yourself a huge favor and get a good fair-trade chocolate bar and melt it. The calorie/fat/carb difference isn't going to be huge with such a small amount (unless your "drizzle"="pour"), especially since it's going to be divided 8 ways.
• Maraschino Cherries: I hate these things, so I'm going to suggest using real cherries. If you have to have maraschino, then make sure to read the label. That gooey, red fluid they're floating in often contains HFCS and artificial color. If fresh cherries aren't available, then you can use frozen or even canned (but watch out for more of the same culprits if you're using canned).

Overall, this dessert, while containing alot of potential red flags, isn't too difficult to make into something all-natural and truly healthy, while maintaining its sweet decedance. It does make me continue to wonder, though, why HG doesn't use the healthier ingredients when they don't make that much of a difference calorie- or fat-wise?

Now, onto the ugly. We've covered the recipes and the shopping guide, what's left? Holy Neon Blazes Batman...it's the set! Yes, I realize it's supposed to be "fun" and "funky", but it made my eyes bleed a little. Orange and hot pink and every other color of the rainbow. It looks like iCarly on LSD. Maybe it's cute for teenagers (and I realize her husband makes tween and teen shows...so maybe he stole the set designer from them), but for a cooking show for adults, it just looks obnoxious and over-the-top. If Miranda Cosgrove was hosting the show, I might understand it...or even more likely, Cat from Victorious...she'd feel right at home. But between the set and Lisa's completely inane "Chew this", "Put his in your face", "Humans will love this" silly-talk, it's hard to take the show (or her) at all seriously.

Overall, it's an okay start to the new season, but still shows the usual signs of being the same-ole, same-ole of recipes cobbled together with processed convenience foods, silly talk, and lame skits. We'll see....

Fooducate App Revisited

A few months ago, I mentioned finding an app called Fooducate. At the time, it was only out for iPhone, so I couldn't review it. Well, since then, it has been released for Android, so needless to say, I had to have it.

First, let me start off by saying that it turned out to be the most expensive app I've ever owned...despite the fact that it's free. When I went to download it for my phone, it needed an updated version of Android to run. Fine, I'll just update my phone. Nope, not that easy. The instructions to update Android on an AT&T phone are worse than reprogramming your VCR. I'm pretty computer savvy, but I sitll couldn't believe it would be so complex. However, I forged on and followed the directions, downloading the extra programs I needed for my Samsung phone and jumping through the hoops. But...disaster struck. The install process kept locking up. I tried about a dozen times, but it would never get past 70%. So I opted to do an emergency recovery of my previous version...same result. So, upgrading Android turned my phone into a brick. Fine, I head to the AT&T store to see if they can either restore it or get me a new phone. I get half a dozen answers from each salesperson (including implications that I was trying to hack my phone even though the upgrade was an AT&T authorized one)...and even the manager didn't seem to know what to do. In the end, they told me I had to call customer service and ask them to send me a new phone. By this time, I was pretty frustrated with AT&T, so I went to Verizon, cancelled my AT&T contract, got a new phone (with the correct version of Android already loaded in), and a new contract. So...two days later and about $400 poorer (for the phone and the Early Termination fee from AT&T), I can finally download this app.

And...after all that trouble, I'm fairly disappointed. I tend to try and shop as all-natural and healthy as possible. Earthfare is my friend because they don't sell anything with the major culprits in them (HFCS, artificial colors, flavors and sweeteners, hydrogenated oils, and so on). So I figured that most of what I already have should be rated pretty highly. Nope. It didn't disappoint me so much that some foods got less than stellar ratings, but that when compared to foods containing artificial ingredients, the foods with the bad stuff actually rated higher! What?!

Here's an example (wording is taken directly from the app):
Pasta Roni Garlic & Olive Oil Vermicelli
Contains Trans-Fats                                               
Contains Artificial Colors                                        
Salty! Has over 35% of daily max of sodium           
Made with refined flours, not whole grain
Contains MSG
Score: B+ 
vs.
Annie's All-Natural Shells & Real Aged Cheddar
Salty! Has over 20% of the daily max of sodium
For dieters: FoodPoints value is 7
A naturally good source of vitamin A and calcium
Score: C-
What?!? How does a boxed pasta loaded with so many bad things get a higher score than one that only has a slightly high sodium level? It makes no sense!

And another one:
Kashi Island Vanilla Cereal              
2.5 tsp of sugar per serving                          
For dieters: FoodPoints value is 5                 
Natural/artificial flavors added
Score: B                             
vs.  Fiber One Cereal
Contains contraversial artificial sweeteners
For dieters: FoodPoints value is 2
Less than 1.5 tsp of sugar. Nice
VERY high fiber 40% DV. Proceed slowly.
A top product in its category
Score: A-
Okay, so this was a close one, mainy determined, it seems, by sugar content and the fact that Fiber One is high fiber. However, anyone who is trying to eat a healthy diet should stay far away from artificial sweeteners. I'm also not pleased that Fooducate doesn't seem to distinguish between artificial and natural flavorings. This is a BIG difference to me.

One more..this one will kill you:
Nature's Path Frosted Wildberry Acai Toaster Pastries
4.5 tsp of sugar per serving
For dieters: FoodPoints value is 6
More refined flour than whole grains
Learn about citric acid                                                                                                      
Score: D+                                          
vs.
Pop-Tarts Whole Grain Brown Sugar Cinnamon Toaster Pastries
Look out! Not 100% whole grain!
For dieters: FoodPoints value is 6
Contraversial additive TBHQ in here
Heavily processed product
Contains fully hydrogenated oils
Score: C+
Okay...so a product containing potentially-dangerous preservatives and hydrogenated oils (a.k.a. trans fats) gets a higher score than an all-natural product. And the wording is interesting too concerning the whole grains...note how they pretty much say the same thing in different ways. They're both not 100% whole grain, but the wording is different.

Overall, this has the potential to be a decent app, but you have to take their scores with a HUGE grain of salt and pretty much ignore the grades in favor of reading the lists of good and bad in each product. The illogical scoring also makes the "Alternatives" feature iffy at best since it is based on scores.

HG Finds: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Every week, Hungry Girl Lisa Lillien sends out a newsletter packed with supermarket "finds" designed to get folks eating better. Some of these finds succeed....others fail miserably.

First off, the good: VitaTops. Wow, there is ALOT of hype on the HG pages about these things. I was a bit skeptical, especially since these things aren't cheap. But they are one of the few things she endorses heavily that are all-natural so I finally broke down and took the plunge into VitaTop land when they offered up the "HG Snack-Buster Pack". The pack consists of 27 VitaTops: 9 Triple Chocolate Chunk, 6 Double Chocolate Dream, 6 Fudgy Peanut Butter Chip, and 6 Apple Crumb, along with a 6-pack of their new VitaBuns (which are essentially English muffins). All this was only $33 with free shipping. At $1 a piece, I figured I could experiment...and, if I didn't like them, I was sure I could sell them to any of the hundreds of VitaTop fans on the HG page.
I went for the all-out decedant Triple Chocolate Chunk first for my after-dinner dessert last night. It was very good! Quite chocolatey, with only a slight hint of "this tastes healthy" to it. But that slight difference between a VitaTop and a bakery chocolate chunk muffin wasn't enough to keep me or my 6-year-old from loving every bite! For breakfast this morning, I moved on to the Apple Crumb flavor, crumbling it on top of my usual morning yogurt. Oh my....quite delicious. However, it definitely had more of a healthful, high-fiberish sort of flavor/texture to it when eaten alone. This afternoon, I tried the Fudgy Peanut Butter Chip variety and it was just as tasty as the Triple Chocolate Chunk. I'm afraid I've found a new addiction! These things are awesome for breakfast, snacks, and dessert! I'm looking forward to trying out some of the recipes they have on the website. They look delicious!

Now to break down this week's supermarket finds newsletter, Brown-Bag Makeover.

First up, we have Tumaro's Gourmet Tortillas New York Deli Style Wraps. I'd give these a YELLOW light because, while they are thankfully free of the big culprits like HFCS and PHVOs, a couple of varieties use bleached enriched flour which is esentially white bread flour which strips out everything beneficial about the wheat grain and replaces it with artificial vitamins. I'd lean towards the Pumpernickel or Rye since they use whole wheat flour and stay away from the Everything, Cracked Pepper, and Sourdough.

Next, there is Oscar Mayer Carving Board Meats. These get a big old flashing RED light for trying to pull a fast one on us and renaming HFCS as "cultured corn sugar". as well as being heavy on preservatives like most packaged deli meats are. Your better choice for a packaged lunch meat would be Hormel's Natural Choice. They're 100% natural with no preservatives, artificial colors or flavors.

Next up, we have StarKist Pouches of Low Sodium Albacore White Tuna in Water. The ingredient list ist is nowhere to be found, but even if it was perfect, Starkist has been under scrutiny by the FDA recently for various food safety violations (and gads, if the FDA, who allows HFCS and PHVOs to continue to infest our food, is actually calling something out like this, it must be bad). So, I'd definitely steer clear of this one for now. A better alternative would be Bumble Bee Prime Fillet Solid White Albacore Very Low Sodium in Water. The name is actually longer than the ingredient list (which is simply "white tuna, demineralized water").

The next products on the list are Kraft Sandwich Shop Mayo: Horseradish-Dijon, Chipotle, and Garlic & Herb. These are essentially flavored Kraft Mayo, which is, like most Kraft products, riddled with artificial preservatives, modified starches, and so forth. You know it can't be good for you when half of the ingredients come with a little asterick that designates "ingredients not normally found in mayonnaise". Then why put them in there? A better bet would be to just pick up an all-natural jar of mayo like Cain's Foods Light Mayo and add your own flavoring.

For our first lunch "side", HG offers up Pepperidge Farm Baked Naturals Simply Cheddar Cracker Chips. BING-BING-BING we have a winner! These are all-natural and oh-so-good! Munch away!

Also good to go, are the Blue Diamond Almonds 100 Calorie Packs. All of these have all-natural ingredients except the Wasabi & Soy Sauce flavor which includes fractionated oils and modified starch.

For dessert we have some lovely chemical-laden sweets for you, starting with Weight Watchers Coffee Cake. The ingredient list starts out pretty benign with "Sugar, whole eggs, enriched wheat flour", but then goes downhill fast into what looks like someone's chemistry experiment, complete with PHVO, corn syrup, modified starches, artificial flavors and preservatives. Stay far, far away from this one, folks!

Also on the "bad dessert" list we have Slim·Fast Snack Bars, Peanut Butter Crunch Time. Yet again, another sweet loaded with PHVO, corn syrup and preservatives. If you're craving a great peanut butter bar, go with a Clif Crunchy Peanut Butter Bar. Yes, it had twice the calories of the Slim-Fast, but you won't be hungry an hour later because it not only has 5g of fiber to the Slim-Fast bar's 0g, but it's also made from real food, not chemicals.

Last on the dessert agenda, we have Extra Dessert Delights Sugarfree Gum. Okay, you think, it's gum, how bad can it be? Bad....really, really bad. There is not a single natural ingredient in this stuff. It's all artificial sweeteners, flavors, colors, and preservatives. Chew on some Glee Gum instead, it's all-natural and made from sustainably harvested chicle. And look at this guy on the package...you know he's happy because he's not chewing on a bunch of chemicals. :) They even have kits for you to make your own gum...how cool is that?

Lastly, we have the drinks. First up is Activate Drinks. These look really cool, with the flavor/vitamin powder in the lid. The ingredient list is way too small for me to read very clearly on the website, but, as far as I can tell, they look like they're good to go. Naturally sweetened with Stevia, no preservatives or artificial colors/flavors. Looks like a win!

Next up is Sparkling ICE Naturally Flavored Mountain Spring Water. Ooo...sounds nice and the bottles are pretty, and "naturally-flavored" sounds like it could be a win but wait...hiding in the ingredient list is sucralose, a.k.a Splenda. Booo! Instead, try HINT water, it's all-natural and sugar-free.

Lastly, we have Crystal Light Pure. It's another Kraft food, so I cringe to think what might be in it but...they surprise me and this is actually supposedly all-natural! Hard to confirm when they don't show an ingredient list, but for now I'll take their word for it. Yay! Another win!

If you find any great supermarket finds, let me know. I'm going to keep my eye out as well!