FROM THE SCRAMBLE LIBRARY
EASY AND HEALTHY NEW FOODS
I am slightly embarrassed to admit that my clothes and hairstyle haven’t changed much since the last millennium, and the plain white walls of our home haven’t been repainted since we moved in a decade ago—but that said, I’m not completely stuck in time. When it comes to food, I like to think I’m ahead of the curve. One of my favorite pastimes is weaving the aisles of supermarkets in search of new healthy foods to try, and sharing new discoveries with Scramble subscribers. Here are a few products that have been popular in our house (I don’t receive anything for mentioning these products—I just like them!):Supermarkets nationwide have started carrying many more organic fruits, fresh and frozen vegetables, meats and dairy products. While many organic foods are more expensive, the prices are dropping and I consider organics a great investment in my family’s health and the environment. For more information about choosing organic produce, visit http://www.foodnews.org/.
When packing the kids’ lunches, I’ve started using Hormel’s new Natural Choice sliced turkey. Unlike other packaged lunch meats, it contains no nitrites. Nitrites and nitrates, which most deli meats use for flavor and as preservatives, are known carcinogens which I try to avoid feeding my family.
To butter our breads and bagels, we’ve switched to Belade Light Butter and Brummel & Brown Vegetable Oil spread, which is made with yogurt. Both are lower in fat and calories than regular butter, have no trans fats, and taste better than other butter substitutes we’ve tried.
For an easy and flavorful side dish, I use Near East’s Lentil Rice Pilaf mix, which is high in fiber and low in fat. I also like other rice mixes made by Near East, and Kraft’s Quick Cooking Brown Rice.
At breakfast or snack time, my daughter Celia and her friends adore Kashi’s Mighty Bites Honeycrunch cereal, which is high in fiber and vitamins and has no artificial ingredients.
After school, in addition to fresh fruit, cheese and yogurt, I often give our hungry kids new Goldfish Baked Snack Crackers made with Whole Grains. They’re even healthier than traditional goldfish and make a great crunchy snack. We also like popcorn, Pirate’s Booty and TLC crackers.
On those occasional nights when Andrew and I go out to dinner, we often prepare a box of Annie’s Homegrown macaroni and cheese for the kids. We recently tried Annie’s Organic Whole Wheat Shells & Cheddar, which the kids liked almost as much as Annie’s regular version.
In 2007, I’ll continue to let you know about great new products I discover in the grocery store. If your family has favorite new foods for me to try that will make our lives easier and healthier, please let me know—I love to hear from subscribers! Contact me any time at aviva@thescramble.com.