What are your healthier food finds?

I'm always looking for something new to try that will better fit in with my current eating habits. 

My "finds":

- Kraft 2% shredded cheese, cheddar or Italian.  They're reduced fat and fortified with extra calcium - 1/4 cup has 40% of the calcium RDA.  This is important to me because I don't get enough calcium without trying (and supplementing, too).

- Fiber One cereal bars.  So delicious and filling, especially the chocolate and caramel flavors.  When I first discovered them, I did what I do best.  Binged.  On two boxes.  10 bars in a couple of hours.  350% of the RDA for fiber in two hours.  I almost died.  Fiber One also makes other things such as toaster pastries, bread, muffins, and side dishes.  

At the same time, boo to Fiber One for having partially hydrogenated oils in some of their products.  Same goes to the Skinny Cow folks with their delicious crap-filled ice cream novelties. 

How many people here are very concerned with ingredient lists?  Part of me just wants to find what's low-cal, tasty, and quick, but another part of me feels that if I'm really going to do this healthful eating thing properly, I need to cut out all processed stuff and deal strictly with whole foods.  Baby steps, I guess.  It's enough that I'm eating less than half the calories of what I normally eat.

I'm not that concerned about the ingredient list but I usually try to stay away from lots of processed carbs.  When I eat bread or rice, I try to eat whole grain rather than white.

My "perfect" food find is Voskos 0% greek yogurt - consistency and tastes like sour cream but with a ton of protein (24 grams in a serving).  I eat it with splenda; others like to add cereal or SF syrups or fruit.  You can even make dip out of it but I haven't tried that.

When I eat "treats", I eat the full fat, calorie-laden ones but just not very often.  A sort of good low fat, lower calorie ice cream is not worth the calories to me but a fabulous, fattening dip of ice cream from The Chocolate Bar is definitely worth the calories, on occasion.

Right now, organic seems to be the rage.  I don't really care about whether something is organic or not (and I probably should care).  I have a friend who ONLY eats organic food but it's junk food - organic mac 'n cheese, organic corn dogs, organic pizza, organic fried chicken nuggets - totally hilarious to me! 

Sorry for the long windedness!  I guess that's what happens when I take a break from posting for awhile! 

I know what you mean.  I"m Queen at trying new ways to eat healthy foods.  I'm all for learning and experimenting nonstop.  It's why my grocery bill has skyrocketed. LOL , it's my hobby!   My "thing" is all natural, wholesome foods.  I'm sort of like a "vegan wanna be" that never made it.haha  I love learning about the nutrients everything has.

But just like you, I still love  quick fixes!  And that seems to be my problem most of the time!  I swear I would be better off just moving to a little town where there is no fast food joints.  I think I would be thin in no time.  Those by far is my weakness.  Bad habits you learn from high school that never went away!  Inside my house is healthy as can be, it's the outside world that gets me.

As my favorite finds!

For the kids...colored cauliflower..purple, yellow, orange..they think it's neat.  Especially when I make them into cauliflower mock mashed potatoes.  Kids love the idea of eating purple mashed potatoes! :)

2..salba, otherwise known as chia.  it's a great  source of omega's, and just plain good for you!  I've just recently started taking it daily

3. spirulina..another great power food.  I get it in powder form or in drinks.

4. green smoothies.  Good way to get your veggies in for the day.  

5.  FRUITS AND VEGGIES!!  If I have to say what I've learned this past year is that I have grown to love fruits and vegetables more than I ever thought I would.  I haven't lost anything, but wow...I think I've learned a lot!

6.  oooh and nori.  I've some how went from hating the stuff to loving it.  I CRAVE the stuff, and it's good for you!

  Now if I can just stay in the house to avoid facing the real world of fast food!!LOL

Sorry so long..think I'm bored!lol  Better get on myspace and waste some time there.hehe

I read ingredient lists from top to bottom. I reject 99% of the salad dressings due to HCFS and other nasties. Like Kim, if we have rice it's brown or wild, and my pasta is always whole grain and healthy (that's one of the only processed things I still buy). Mostly I am in the organic and free range for chicken and eggs because I don't want the fat hormones to go to my butt, which I'm working on for Mary. ;-)

I use a product called 'Fiber Pro' and love it. OH YEAH, the Skinny Cow crap. I have found, for indulgences, an organic frozen yogurt that is fairly sinless. But my treat of choice is Trader Joe's organic cheese-style yogurt, about 4 tablespoons full, with a little zylitol or raw honey and a dash of vanilla stirred in. Yum diddly umtious.

So, in my world of healthy eating, (ha ha) we "just say no" to HCFS, hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated, MSG, artificial sweeteners of any kind, food color, etc.

WAY TO GO, reading labels and thinking healthy. Raw, as close to the earth as possible, is always best. Except raw chicken.

Ruth aka Mom Shap

Hi Feline mafia - cute name btw!

Lately i am onto fats and fiber! Otherwise, my goal is to eat as close to nature as is possible:  read here especially leafy greens like dandelion, kale, spinach, mustard, parsely, etc. I also try to eat at least one serving fruit daily.

I need to ingest more fiberous foods for my precancer in my colon.

At the same time i am reading about wonderful properties of certain oils:  coconut oil and rice bran oil are my tops finds lately. The rice bran oil DH found at the dollar store - don't think they realized what they had - it cost $2!!!!!! It is not even at Trader Joe's yet!

The coconut oil allegedly combats candida yeast growth in the colon and has thermogentic properties. I dunno, we'll see. I do appreciate its hunger-battling properties already.  i eat a tsp most days with my egg cream breakfast.

I also buy bariatric foods that can be carried with me, so I never have an excuse to eat crappy food.  My job is one that can change direction many times during the day, so often my lunch can be in a fridge across town. I carry hi protein whey-based soups/bars/drinks.

Like you, I mainly have to get in a lot of powerful nutrients while keeping cals lower. I tell you there is not a lot of room to eat crapola when I do this! I need to stick to about 1400ish cals daily to lose also.

Hey Necee,

I was wondering if the coconut oil really did help hunger cravings.  Do you think it actually works a bit?

yes, do give it a try. you can always cook with it. Be careful - there is 130 ish cals to a tablespoon. I take 1-2 tsp at a time, once a day usually.

Cool thanks.  I was looking at it in the natural food store the other day. It's expensive!  So I thought I would ask around first before buying it. 

The coconut oil thing is interesting. 

I wish I liked yogurt.  I need to try Greek yogurt - I hear people raving about it all the time and saying it's so superior to regular yogurt.

I do hope to eat closer to nature more frequently.  I also bat around the idea of giving up meat based on my beliefs, but it's just so tasty and filling.  I don't eat veal and I recently gave up lamb (and I love lamb chops). 

Oh, another food find of mine is Amy's line of products - I've mostly tried the frozen meals and a few soups.  I love that they don't have any bizarre ingredients or chemicals in them.  They never seem to go on sale, though, and they're not cheap.  I don't think I've had an Amy's meal that I didn't like.  Love 'em!