New Food Excitement

Now that I have been reading so many healthy blogs and am able to (knock on wood) have my Oregon Trail Card for grocery shopping, I have been expanding my horizons when I am at the supermarket. This has caused some problems as I am usually so overwhelmed at the grocery store that I can no longer be sure of what I want to buy or even should be buying. I roam the aisles, looking fairly lost, and eventually catch the eye of a store employee. If I were to be videotaped while shopping, there would be a lot of "stand still and stare" kind of shots. I usually head to Fred Meyer for the groceries since it is reasonably priced and close by but after my crappy, nerve-shaking day earlier this week that allowed me to wander the aisles of New Seasons, I went back there with a new sense of determination. They have all sorts of crazy and exciting products so I absolutely had to go back.


I mainly focused on items that I could incorporate into other things that would make them not only more nutritious but also just tasty and fancy.

First up, Bob's Red Mill. A local business that is decently priced and has a HUGE selection of goodies. I was looking for the Museli but went with the Natural Granola mix instead. There is no added sugar and all the ingredients are good for you. I am hoping to oat up my greek yogurts in the morning with this.

I had no idea peanut butter had such variety. I usually get Skippy's Reduced Fat Super Chunk. It is so...chunky. But many of the people I follow use MaraNatha and other nut butters like almond or cashew. I thought that there wasn't much difference in what I normally get and this but I looked at the ingredients and was slightly horrified:
Ingredients
Roasted Peanuts, Corn Syrup Solids, Sugar, Soy Protein, Salt, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils (Cottonseed, Soybean and Rapeseed) to Prevent Separation, Mono and Diglycerides, Minerals (Magnesium Oxide, Zinc Oxide, Ferric Orthophosphate, Copper Sulfate), Vitamins (Niacinamide, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid).

Yikes. Compared to this:
Ingredients
100% Organic Dry Roasted Valencia Peanuts and Sea
Salt.
Admittedly, I felt silly for not knowing just how many other ingredients and chemicals are in peanut butter in the first place. It feels nice to have foods that are as close to their original forms as possible. I tried peanut butter in my oatmeal the other day and it was heav-en-ly.

The organic coconut is something I have been wanting to try but at over 10g of fat for a small serving, I figured it wasn't worth it for someone trying to lose the fatness. Enter in this nifty product! It is reduced fat, inexpensive and incredibly flavorful. I added some to my ice cream last night and cannot wait to put it in my pineapple yogurt to get that pina colada taste.

Upon arriving at New Seasons, I saw these apple chips and after one tiny taste, had to grab the bag. They are crispy, low sugar and very addictive. I am confused on how you are to get SIX servings out of the bag but I was too busy eating them to figure that part out.

The damned agave syrup. I have seen it all over lately; on television, in cookbooks, friends who are using it and so I had to pick some up. I usually drink tea unsweetened because A) I hate to add granulated sugar to tea and B) I am trying to learn to love the taste of just tea on it's own. Sometimes I swipe some Splenda from a restaurant and use that but it's a rarity these days. I am trying to cut down on my sugar intake since I believe it is what drives me bonkers (besides the other million things) so hopefully this will be a nice alternative. I also cannot wait to bake with it since it is highly recommended in some of the baking done in "Veganomicon."

In addition to these fine products, I also picked up brussel sprouts, mini acorn & butternut squash, and a few Chobani. I bought a carton of coffee flavored Pearl Soy Milk a while back but finally opened it this week and, damn, that stuff is heavenly. It provides an enormous amount of calcium (which my diet lacks) and is a treat in the morning.