- La Croix Sparkling Water - The best alternative to soda! My best friend Meaghan turned me onto La Croix. It comes in berry, lemon or lime and has no calories or artificial sweeteners. It's just delicious sparkling water with a hint of fruit flavor. My favorite is berry. They come in aluminum cans you can buy as a 12 pack. In Tempe, I can only find them at Safeway. The day they stop carrying them is a day I do NOT want to see!!!
- Broccoli Wokly - Can't say enough about my passionate love affair with broccoli! LOVE IT! This convenient bag comes stuffed with prewashed precut broccoli. I love to steam it with brown rice or saute with olive oil and garlic.
- Silk Soy Milk Light Plain & Some Cereal - I prefer soy milk over milk any day. Milk doesn't sit right with me, and the dairy cows are as mistreated as the cows meant for slaughter. I've tried rice milk, but I still prefer soy milk. Recently, I've noticed a light version of my favorite, and I'm hooked. I love eating cereal for breakfast and sometimes at night after a long day. My FAVORITE is Captain Crunch, except for the fact it is somewhat nutritionally lacking. So once in a blue moon I'll indulge in the Captain, but I usually stick to Special K, Total or some kind of whole grain cereal that packs a punch.
- 12 grain Oroweat bread - MMmMMMm This is perhaps a neccessity for my kitchen!!! I can't help but obsess over the crunch this bread has, the big sunflower seeds add such a phenomenal crunch/taste! It's packed with fiber, whole grain and makes any sandwich delicious.
- Organic baby spinach salad- If you want the most amazing salad ever -- please follow this suggestion: Organic baby spinach, cucumber, green bell peeper, walnuts/pecans, dried cranberries, goat cheese, balsamic vinegar. WOW. Sometimes I'll use Trader Joes nut/dried fruit mix, and top the salad with that if its more convenient. The balsamic vinegar is just fantastic.
- Fage yogurt 0% fat - This is a MUST. I can only purchase it at Whole Foods, but it's worth it. I put a little bit of honey...that's a lie, the honey is wayyy too good to put just a lil bit! ;) and some sliced almonds. Oh my goodness, heaven!
- Cuties mandarian oranges - I pop two of these in my purse and have an easy snack throughout the day.
- To be continued...
And here's somethings I love to eat whenever they make it onto my shopping list:
- Ants on a log - No joke, I may be graduating college in a year but that doesn't mean I can't play with my food! I love to cut up celery, add all natural peanut butter (stay away from PB with ingredients you can't pronounce, ew) and top it with raisins. When I'm craving these, I make a beeline to the grocery store.
- Morningstar Farms Meat Alternative & Boca "Chicken" Patties- It's great having some fake meat in the freezer. I'll pop it in the microwave and have something different once in a while. Sometimes, I'll even make fake meat dishes. I've tried "Biscuits & 'Sausage' Gravy" and "'Chicken' Pot Pie." Both came out pretty well, I even made my family try them. You have to be careful not to overindulge in this frozen veg products though, because they have a TON of sodium in them. :(
- Broccoli & Rice - I have a rice cooker that steams veggies as it cooks rice, so often times I'll make brown rice with steam veggies. This is a low cal meal high in nutrient value. Sometimes I'll steam carrots as well.
- To be continued...
AND NOW, THE WEIRDEST FOOD YOU WILL EVER CONSIDER!!!
Kidney beans, chick peas, sunflower seeds and ranch!
This is my all time, favorite snack EVER! At one point, I would eat it at least three times a week. I know...lol. I've cut back because I loved the ranch dressing part and clearly that isn't the greatest choice. I only use homemade ranch, store bought it too freaky for me. Like I said earlier, foods with ingredients I can't pronounce just freak me out! So I'll get the packets of ranch and use organic ingredients to make it. Then I'll drizzle the homemade ranch onto kidney beans and chick peas and top with sunflower seeds. SO ODD and it can be unhealthy because of the ranch, but I strongly believe you have to indulge in your favorite goodies every once in awhile! Which is why I hate these fad restriction diets, but that's a whole different story...
Thanks for reading about my favorite foods, I'll add more as they come to me.
PS I'm volunteering to conduct surveys for the Hunger in America 2009 study. I will be visiting food kitchens and pantries to conduct surveys. The information will help assess the needs of Americans with insufficient funds to purchase food. I'll keep you updated on how my first experience goes. :)
PPS I'm also attending the ADA - Central District - Children's Diets and Garden Based School Food Programs Conference this Friday. It will be my first ADA Conference and I am super excited. Can't wait to blog about it!