More Choices for your Pantry

Pasta

I love pasta! I believe if I'm going to eat healthy I have to like what I am eating. If I don't like what I am eating, it will not be a lifelong change. I had to find a pasta I could still cook my amazing spaghetti and lasagna with. The winner for me was Ronzoni Smarttaste. It has 3x times the fiber and as much calcium as a 8 oz. glass of milk. It tastes great and it is not grainy nor does it feel thick. Over the last few years they have come out most of the commonly used pastas.

Found at Walmart and Reasors

estimated price $1.50

Cereal


I prefer yogurt instead of milk with my morning cereal or I'll have the milk on the side and my cereal dry. I think my monkey got this from me, he likes his cereal with a side of milk too. But hey as long as it goes in thats the important thing. I like to start the morning with a high fiber cereal to get things moving along ;). My monkey likes Honey Nut Cheerios or Kashi Heart to Heart. They are both high in fiber and low in sugar, what a great combo! Kashi has multiple cereals that are great. Aldi has a great low cost selection of cereals without trans fats or HFCS.



Granola


I love granola and it's a must have in your fave yogurt. Granola by Bearnaked is so good. It is sold at Reasor's for $6. I needed a granola at a lower cost so I started to making my own. I consider myself a frugalista, always looking for a bargain. Throughout these changes I needed to be careful with the grocery cost. So there are some things that I make myself. Once you've had something homemade you won't go back to store bought, granola is a perfect example. It's great as a snack or in yogurt.

Recipe from http://www.sparkpeople.com/




4 cups rolled oats(I used instant)
1/2 cup chopped or slivered almonds (I perfer whole) Best priced at Sam's Club or Wal-Mart
1/4 cup Splenda brown sugar blend
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup %100 apple juice
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
5 tbsp honey
2 tbsp vanilla
1/2 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F

Mix together oats, nuts, salt & cinnamon together in a bowl

In a different bowl mix apple juice, oil, honey & vanilla together...then drizzle the liquid over the dry ingredients in the other bowl, mix with hands or spoon to ensure all dry mix is properly coated with liquid mixture.

Layer mix on a cookie sheet, keep layer under 1 inch in thickness (you may need to do this in 2 batches or in two cookie sheets side by side)

Bake 30-45 minutes making sure to stir the mixture every 5-7 minutes or else it will BURN! The mixture should have a nice crunch to it and be a medium to dark golden brown in color.

Add dried fruit and bake an extra 5 minutes, remove from oven and let it cool completely.

Store in fridge or freezer in sealed container, will keep for 2-3 weeks in fridge/freezer.

Number of Servings: 12

Calories 232.4
Total Fat 4.5 g
Saturated Fat 0.6 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1.0 g
Monounsaturated Fat 1.5 g
Cholesterol 0.0 mg
Sodium 319.9 mg
Potassium 219.4 mg
Total Carbohydrate 43.2 g
Dietary Fiber 4.1 g
Sugars 14.9 g
Protein 5.2 g


Rice


Although unprepared rice does not have trans fats nor HFCS, I've switched from using long grain rice to brown rice.
Why brown rice over long grain rice?
Brown rice has more fatty acids, fiber, minerals and vitamins then white rice. Brown rice is also a whole grain. Did you know that long grain rice is brown rice that has been polished? During the polishing stage almost all of the nutrients are removed. The white rice is then "enriched" with vitamins that are not the same as the brown rice once had. To get maxium nutrients use brown rice that is NOT instant.
At first I went straight to using brown rice but I could not get use to the texture so I went to wild rice for a little while then eased into brown rice. In my opinion of brown rice is that it's chewy and has a mild nutty flavor. I do like the flavor now, it just took some getting use to. I follow the directions on the package to cook it. I substitute all natural, low sodium chicken broth instead of water for a flavor boost. I also like to stir in 1 tbsp of minced garlic, healthy sauteed mushrooms and/or scallions.



The Truth
Trans fat labeling on food packages has been mandatory since 2006.