Pretty Little Apron

Dana

Are Trans Fats Hiding in Your Bread?

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bread I have to admit, before reading ingredient labels my husband and I thought we were choosing a good bread for our family. Of course, we were choosing a whole wheat product. We also knew enough to get one with no high fructose corn syrup. We thought we were getting the most natural bread we could because it was called “Nature’s Own”. However, something in the back of my mind told me that having 26 ingredients in my bread didn’t make sense. I knew this could NOT be a healthy option and when I started recognizing what some of these ingredients were I realized the bread was far from healthy and even contained hidden trans fats! Here are the ingredients in the Nature’s Own 100% Whole Wheat bread:

Ingredients


Stone Ground Whole Wheat Flour, Water, Yeast, Brown Sugar, Wheat Gluten, Contains 2% or Less of Each of the Following: Salt, Dough Conditioners (Contains One or More of the Following: Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Calcium Stearoyl Lactylate, Monoglycerides, Mono- and Diglycerides, Distilled Monoglycerides, Calcium Peroxide, Calcium Iodate, DATEM, Ethoxylated Mono- and Diglycerides, Enzymes, Ascorbic Acid), Soybean Oil, Vinegar, Cultured Wheat Flour, Monocalcium Phosphate, Ammonium Sulfate, Citric Acid, Sodium Citrate, Soy Lecithin, Natamycin (to Retard Spoilage).

A lot of consumers would skim over these ingredients and become so confused they don’t even know where to begin. Here are the red flags I see when looking over these ingredients:

  • Added sugars are the 4th ingredient
  • The bread contains soybean oil
  • DATEM and Mono- and- Diglycerides… Hidden forms of partially hydrogenated oils (aka trans fats) that do not require labeling!

So what does Mono- and Diglycerides mean? Well this is an emulsifier which means it will bond two ingredients together that wouldn’t normally mix well. Think oil combining with water. The big issue here is the mono- and diglycerides are NOT required to be labeled in the nutritional information of the product. This is perfect for companies who know people are now aware that trans fats kill people but still want to put them in their products. The commercial source of this emulsifier is synthetically produced partially hydrogenated soybean or canola oil. Hydrogenated oils ARE trans fats! We avoid ANY product or company who uses partially hydrogenated oils because they are aware of the dangers of these synthetically produced fats but continue to use them. That means I would not trust them to be concerned with the health of my family. We also avoid any companies who choose to use loopholes to still include trans fats in their products without having to label them… just like Nature’s Own does. If you would like to know more about trans fats click here. This is a great article that talks about how our bodies are not able to break these fats down and what makes them so dangerous.

I searched and searched for a bread that didn’t contain mono- and diglycerides or some form of them. What I found was that there were NO big name brands that weren’t using these hidden trans fats. Apparently they can’t make their “bread like products” without the use of these emulsifiers simply because its not natural.

If you have read any of my other posts you know that I am a huge fan of Food for Life products. They are making bread the right way… truly all natural with no loopholes or hidden ingredients. I can identify every single ingredient in their products and there is no questioning this is the way grains were meant to be consumed. Here are the ingredients in their 7-Grain bread (my personal favorite), and  here is a link to their website. Just to clarify, I’m not affiliated with them in any way, shape, or form. I just love that they are making products with concern for consumers health, not just financial benefit.

Ingredients: Organic Sprouted Wheat, Filtered Water, Organic Malted Barley, Organic Sprouted Rye, Organic Sprouted Barley, Organic Sprouted Oats, Organic Sprouted Millet, Organic Sprouted Corn, Organic Sprouted Brown Rice, Fresh Yeast, Organic Wheat Gluten, Sea Salt.

 

 

Toddler Lunch: Day 1

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toddler5 Today is a really quick and easy lunch to put together. We have fresh mango and strawberries, a black bean and cheese quesadilla, and some carrot “pasta”. The biggest issue in making a lunch like this is choosing the right tortillas, as some brands put some pretty scary stuff in their products. I use Food For Life’s Ezekiel Tortillas which is a 100% natural sprouted grain tortilla. Here are the ingredients:

Ingredients: Organic Sprouted Wheat, Filtered Water, Organic Sesame Seeds, Organic Sprouted Soybeans, Organic Sprouted Barley, Organic Sprouted Millet, Organic Sprouted Lentils, Organic Sprouted Spelt, Sea Salt

Here are the ingredients in Mission brand’s Soft Taco Whole Wheat Tortillas:

 Ingredients: Whole wheat flour, water, vegetable shortening (interesterified soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil and/or palm oil), contains 2% or less of: leavening (sodium bicarbonate, sodium aluminum sulfate, corn starch, monocalcium phosphate and/or sodium acid pyrophosphate, calcium sulfate), sugar, salt, preservatives (calcium propionate, sorbic acid and/or citric acid), cellulose gum, distilled monoglycerides, enzymes, wheat starch, calcium carbonate, antioxidants (tocopherols, ascorbic acid), dough conditioners (fumaric acid, sodium metabisulfite and/or mono- and diglycerides)

If you take a look these contain partially hydrogenated oil (trans fats!), added sugars, preservatives, and dough conditioners. It is hard to look at these ingredients without being really confused by what half of the ingredients even are and why they are in something very simple like tortillas. Unfortunately Mission themselves don’t want to admit how terrible their ingredient list is because their website claims these are a healthier choice. Not even a chance Mission, sorry!
quesadilla
To put the quesadilla together I simply used  canned black beans and seasoned them with cumin, chili powder, and adobo seasoning. I spread them out on the tortilla and topped them with cheese. On the other side of the tortilla I spread sour cream. I put the two together and placed it under the broiler for a few minutes, then flipped it to the other side for another few minutes. I gave half to my boys and I ate the other half and I have to say.. it was delicious! They both enjoyed it as well.
blackbeanwrap
 
For the carrot pasta I peeled one carrot with a potato peeler and steamed the peels until they were soft. I put a good quality store bought pasta sauce on top of them and that’s it!

Homemade Chicken Tenders

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Whole Grain Chicken Tenders

Whole Grain Chicken Tenders


For some reason people classify chicken nuggets and tenders as food for kids. What irritates me about this is the fact that chicken nuggets are made from scraps and other parts of chickens that was otherwise unable to be used.  Basically we are saying “Let’s feed our kids all the scraps” instead of saying “Let’s feed our kids the most nutritious food we can.”  See how this doesn’t really make sense? If your wondering about chicken nuggets here is a great video to set the record straight about what is really in them. Chances are you have seen the “pink slime” but it is a great reminder to me of why my family stays away from this stuff!

The good news is you can make your own chicken tenders (or nuggets) with whole ingredients. I do have a few secrets when it comes to my chicken tenders and I’m going to share them with you today! The most important factors to making your own are seasoning them correctly and pounding your chicken.  I use chicken tenderloins and pound them until they are thin. Thin chicken gives you the nice crunch kids love. Here is an example of how I do this. I simply place a plastic baggy over the chicken and pound lightly to flatten.

poundedchicken

If you are not sure of the tool you would need to do this it is just a simple meat hammer or tenderizer. Here is the link to one.

For this recipe, you will also need my whole grain bread crumbs. To learn how to make them click here.

 

Whole Grain Breadcrumbs

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breadcrumbs Store bought breadcrumbs are one of those items that make absolutely no sense. How do these companies take something as simple as bread and turn it into 59 ingredients… yes 59 ingredients!!!!! Not only are they using 59 ingredients, they are also using a cocktail of dangerous and cheap ingredients. Here is the list:

Ingredients


Bread Crumbs (Enriched Flour [Wheat Flour, Malted Barley Flour, Niacin, Ferrous Sulfate, Thiamin Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid], High Fructose Corn Syrup, Corn Syrup, Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil [Soybean and/or Cottonseed and/or Corn and/or Canola], Water, Salt. Contains 2% or Less of: Yeast, Honey, Molasses, Sugar, Wheat, Gluten, Whey, Soy Flour, Whole Wheat Flour, Rye Flour, Corn Flour, Oat Bran, Corn Meal, Rice Flour, Potato Flour, Butter, Dough Conditioners [Mono- and Diglycerides, Sodium and/or Calcium Stearoyl, Lactylate, Soy Lecithin, Calcium Carbonate], Yeast Nutrients [Ammonium Sulfate, Calcium Sulfate, Monocalcium Phosphate], Vinegar, Nonfat Milk, Buttermilk, Lactic Acid, Calcium Propionate and Potassium Sorbate [Preservatives, Sesame Seeds), Oat Flour, Salt, Dried Parsley, Spices, Onion Powder, Garlic, Natural Flavor, Egg, Sunflower Seeds.

So you can see they are using HFCS, Partially Hydrogenated Oils (trans fats!!), and preservatives. No wonder these things never go bad! What makes me downright angry about these breadcrumbs is people use these when they are cooking at home and never think to read the ingredients on something that seems so simple.

Thankfully making your own is super simple and easy. If you use breadcrumbs a lot you can even make these in big batches and keep them in the refrigerator or freezer. These breadcrumbs taste ten times better then the store bought version and are able to be used in a number of ways. It is also important to point out that I use a preservative free, sprouted grain bread found in the organic freezer section of my local grocery store. Click here to learn more about the bread. I also freshly grate my parmesan cheese because the powdery parmesan can contain additives and preservatives. Here is the micoplane I use to grate the cheese as well as the oat flour and adobo seasoning used in the recipe.


 

Whole Wheat Chocolate Tarts

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Yesterday was Easter so we had a big celebration at my sister-in-law’s house. It was a wonderful day! We had beautiful weather here in Pennsylvania and a delicious meal. They grilled some fresh salmon and we had a really nice variety of side dishes to go along with it. For someone trying to eat unprocessed food there were lots of options and it was nice to see a meal without all the additives at someone else’s home!

chocolate tart3


I made some mini-desserts to take… including these delicious Whole Wheat Chocolate Tarts. I had a very hard time finding a recipe with whole ingredients so I adapted my own using this recipe from Martha Stewart. They turned out fantastic! As with all of my dessert recipes, I like to mention sugar is still sugar! Although this is a less refined version that doesn’t mean I’m going to go crazy with it because I think that it is “better”. I switched out the all purpose flour for whole wheat pastry flour and the regular sugar for a pure cane sugar. I also used a higher quality cocoa powder as opposed to the standard Hershey’s brand. Sometimes you get what you pay for and in this instance I would rather support a company that doesn’t use a ton of additives and unknown ingredients in their products. Although Hershey’s cocoa powder has only one ingredient, the rest of their products are all filled with questionable ingredients.   Here are links to these products.


chocolatetart5

I also used this wonderful mini-tartlet pan to get a really nice looking shell. It is super easy to use and your end product looks like something straight from a professional bakery. If you have ever wondered how specialty bakeries make their mini products so eye appealing, it is the use of pans like this one.

I filled these chocolate tarts with Mascarpone cheese. I did two varieties of Mascarpone in the shells, one was plain and the other had a hint of coffee in it. The Mascarpone really helps make these delicious because it is creamy and smooth without the use of any additives or extra flavorings. It is simple and allows for the chocolate and fruit to shine and really make this dessert.  Sometimes less is more when it comes to sugar in desserts and this is one of those instances.

 

chocolatetart

 

 

Easiest 5 Minute Flounder

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I often hear from busy families that they don’t have time to cook dinner every night. I understand this is a concern when trying to get homework done, change diapers, wipe faces, and get someone to baseball practice all at the same time! I use the phrase “I am only one person” a few times a day myself! On busy nights I know I can make this flounder quickly because there is very little prep time and it doesn’t take long to cook. I also know my kids will always eat it and I can leave one section unseasoned to give to the baby. You could also use other fish varieties as this recipe is pretty basic. Make sure when choosing fish you select a wild caught variety. Fresh or frozen work just the same so we usually buy them frozen because it is a bit cheaper.


flounder

This recipe is also really helpful to people who have been purchasing pre-seasoned frozen fish. I was visiting my mom one day and I was going through her freezer to help her weed out the highly processed junk disguised as health food. When we came to the fish she said “Well that’s just Tilapia.” I thought the same thing but when I read the ingredients I realized you can never assume anything is healthy until you actually read what it contains. Here are the ingredients listed in the Gorton’s Signature Grilled Tilapia:

Ingredients: Tilapia, Water, Canola Oil, Salt, Dehydrated Garlic, Spices, Paprika, Red Bell Pepper, Modified Corn Starch, Dehydrated Onion, Yeast Extract, Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose, Parsley, Xanthan Gum, Citric Acid, Maltodextrin, Natural Flavoring, Ascorbic Acid, Natural Smoke Flavor, Carrageenan, Yeast, Corn Syrup Solids, Onion Juice, Sodium Tripolyphosphate (to Retain Fish Moisture), Propyl Gallate and Tocopherol (to Protect Flavor).

I bolded anything that is a questionable or unknown. Here is what you should know about these ingredient:

  • Canola Oil is highly processed and not an oil I would be using on fish at home
  • Yeast extract is just another way to say Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)
  • Natural Flavoring could be literally anything, we have no idea what that means
  • Carrageenan is controversial because it may cause cancer
  • Corn Syrup Solids are very much like High Fructose Corn Syrup.. Highly processed and lacking any nutritional value

So it is clear that making your own is a much better option, and I promise it will only take a minute or two more then just taking something out of a box and putting it in the oven!

 

Creamy Caesar Dressing…. Mason Jar Style!

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ceacar Have you ever checked the ingredient list of the dressing you are using? Thankfully, I have… and all I can say is I will never be consuming store bought dressing again! Something about dumping a bunch of chemicals, artificial flavoring, and preservatives on a beautiful mound of spinach doesn’t make sense. Another reason I will never be purchasing store bought dressing again is the false advertising I have seen from the companies making these products. When I searched for the ingredients I went to the website for Ken’s Steakhouse and they were promising to be using “only the most select ingredients.” They have very clever phrases printed on their packages, for instance “Chef’s Reserve.” This gives the impression your dressing was handcrafted in a steakhouse just for you but unfortunately everything about Ken’s marketing is an illusion. Here are the 26 ingredients in the creamy Caesar:

INGREDIENTS: Soybean Oil, Water, Distilled Vinegar, Egg Yolk, Parmesan Cheese (Pasteurized Part Skim Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Enzymes), Garlic, contains less than 2% of: Salt, Olive Oil, Sugar, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Spices, Natural Flavor, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate and Calcium Disodium EDTA as Preservatives, Onion*, Xanthan Gum, Propylene Glycol, Alginate, Molasses, Corn Syrup, Caramel Color, Anchovy (Fish), Tamarind, Titanium Dioxide (for color). *Dried.


Not exactly the select ingredients I thought Ken’s was talking about! I bolded all of the ingredients I consider questionable in this dressing, and there are a lot! Essentially your consuming genetically modified soy and a bunch of other unknown ingredients. Soybean oil is highly refined, unhealthy, and cheap so I choose not to consume it at all. For more on soybean oil click here.

I purchased a special glass bottle to make dressing that had a bunch of recipes printed on the bottle. In theory this was a great idea but trying to put thick ingredients into a small hole just doesn’t work out so well. I resorted to a half pint wide mouth mason jar and it was perfect! It fit just right into the jar and I realized this made it super easy to make without creating a bunch of dishes and a mess!

Toddler Lunch: Day 2

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toddlerlunch2 Fish is one of those hit or miss items with toddlers. I served these “fish bites” to my toddler and sure enough he gobbled them down without question. I used flounder for these which is the perfect fish for bites because it is slit right down the middle and great for cutting into chunks. It has a light texture and great taste. These fish bites are a great alternative to frozen fish sticks that kids are more commonly served because after reading the ingredient list on a package of Gorton’s Crunchy Fish Sticks I would never consider eating them myself or serving them to my children. These are the ingredients in the frozen product:

gortons


INGREDIENTS: Minced pollock, enriched bleached wheat flour (flour, niacin, iron, thiamn mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), partially hydrogenated vegetable oil (canola and/or soybean), water, yellow corn flour, modified corn starch, sugar, salt, dried yeast, whey (milk), dextrose, leavening (baking soda, sodium aluminum phosphate), caramel color, hydrolyzed corn gluten, monosodium glutamate, colored with paprika, annatto and turmeric extracts, autolyzed yeast extract, onion powder, natural flavoring, disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate, sodium tripolyphosphate (to retain moisture), TBHQ added to protect flavor.

Not only do they contain hydrogenated oils (trans fats!), they also have enriched flour, caramel coloring, MSG (monosodium glutamate), autolyzed yeast extract (another form of MSG), preservatives, and a bunch of other stuff that I can’t pronounce. Not exactly the “healthy” fish consumers may think they are purchasing. The good news is the “fish bites” in this toddler lunch are 100% natural and super easy to prepare in only a few minutes. I paired the potato wedges with this fish and yes, I served ketchup with them because I can’t deny my children ketchup on occasion! We are choosey when it comes to ketchup and do not purchase the conventional ketchup that contains High Fructose Corn Syrup. I also served this with fresh mango (my favorite fruit!!!), blueberries, and apples.

For the potato wedges, all I do is cut the potatoes, pre-boil, season, and bake. The key to a crunchy wedge on the outside and soft on the inside is pre-boiling. Essentially I cook the potatoes almost the whole way by boiling (about 15 minutes), then transfer them to a baking sheet and bake to get that crunchy shell. If your kids are used to frozen French fries at home this is a great transition to an unprocessed version.

 

Whole Wheat Hummingbird Cake

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Wholewheathummingbird

 


As I mentioned before it was my husband’s birthday. I made him a chocolate tart and fresh mint ice cream on the actual day then I made this cake to take to my in-law’s house. I know sometimes people feel like whole wheat equals a really dense end product but if you choose the right ingredients to substitute for the refined stuff your cake will turn out fantastic!

I took the recipe I found here and made a few switches to ensure I was using the best ingredients I possibly could for the cake. I was not able to find a recipe online that used whole wheat flour so I had to adapt my own and pray that for the effort I put in, my husband would enjoy it. I have to say he loved it and I would definitely make it again using the exact same recipe. The cake itself is pretty sweet because of the banana and pineapple so I went for an icing that wasn’t overly sweet and it was the perfect combination. I hope your family enjoys this as much as we did!

*I used Bob’s Red Mill Whole Wheat Pastry Flour. Since discovering this product I use it for most of my baking. It has worked well for cakes, muffins, and pie crusts and is a great alternative to bleached, enriched white flours. If you can’t find it in your local grocery store here is a link to get it online. I also linked the mascobado sugar which is a great alternative to standard white sugar. Although sugar is still sugar and I don’t suggest over-doing it because it is “healthier,”  this is an unrefined and pure ingredient.

 

Fresh Mint Ice Cream

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icecream If there is one thing my household loves it’s ice cream! When we started eating unprocessed foods ice cream was one  item that disappeared from my freezer. If you take a stroll down the freezer isle in your local grocery store and read some of the ingredient lists one thing is clear… there are a ton of additives in ice cream that do not need to be there.  I am not talking about tons of sugar because the sugar is the least of worry in this case. Ingredients I have seen on ice cream containers range from carrageenan to polysorbate 80 to propyl paraben. I am guessing you don’t have those ingredients in your house and neither do I. So why allow someone else to put them in your food?

Making your own ice cream is really simple. All you need is something to freeze the ice cream in and a few real ingredients.  For my husband’s birthday this year I knew I wanted to make some fresh mint ice cream to go along with a dark chocolate tart. If you have never tasted fresh mint ice cream you are missing out big time! It is so much better then the store bought stuff! Here is the recipe I used for my husband’s birthday and it turned out fantastic.


*If you are having trouble finding the Mocobado Sugar at your local grocery store here it is on Amazon.

 

 

 

Top 10 Ingredients to Start Avoiding Today

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Untitled When I started reading ingredient labels there were some food additives and preservatives I decided to remove from my household immediately. If your looking to eat an unprocessed diet, cutting these ingredients is a great place to start. With many major health issues on the rise I truly believe some of our issues are coming directly from these ingredients. If we don’t let our children smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol then why are we allowing them to eat foods that are slowly killing them?

1. Trans Fat aka Partially Hydrogenated Oils: I made this the first one because this ingredient is a huge red flag! The most common form of hydrogenated oils in packaged foods is partially hydrogenated soybean oil. This dangerous man made substance wreaks havoc on your body because it increases bad cholesterol levels (or LDL). This could result in high blood pressure, stroke, or heart attack. The FDA has recognized that trans fats are dangerous and may be working on phasing them out of our food supply. However,these dangerous oils are still in a TON of packaged foods (believe me I read labels on everything, even products I do not consume myself). If I see companies using these dangerous oils I know I will never be giving them another dollar of my money because ultimately they are putting profit over the health of their consumers. I’ve commonly seen hydrogenated oils in hot chocolate mixes, microwave popcorn, peanut butter, flavored pretzels, “diet” bars, “diet” frozen meals, margarine, and other butter alternatives.


2. Soybean Oil/Refined Soy Products: Cutting any products that contain soy will help immensely to weed out low quality and highly refined foods because soy is in almost all processed and packaged foods. While whole soybeans are nutritionally dense, the type of soy that is in processed foods is so refined it is nowhere near nutritional. It is a cheap alternative to natural, nutrient dense ingredients.Most soy in packaged foods is also genetically modified and that is a whole new ball game, as we have no idea how these foods are going to affect people in years to come. If animals testing is any predictor the future is looking pretty bad! I know GMO crops are controversial but we do stay as far away from them as possible. Refined soybean oil is known to cause inflammation and disruptions to estrogen levels which can lead to an array of potential health issues including heart disease, reproductive problems, and cancer. Soybean oil is in too many products to list but if you are shopping the isles of your supermarket you are likely consuming mass amounts of highly refined soy. Be very careful to check ingredient lists because even products claiming to use olive oil usually have more soybean oil in them then anything else.  Snack foods, chips, peanut butter, almost all salad dressings, bread, ice cream, frozen pizza, tomato sauce, cereal,  and boxed meals all contain highly refined soybean oil and I’m just scratching the surface. If I pick up any product at the grocery store that contains soybean oil I put it down and WALK AWAY! (and never come back!!!)

3. Artificial Sweeteners: This includes aspartame, saccharine, and mannitol (popular brand names Splenda and Equal). I have bad news for you people… you really can’t have your cake and eat it too! If you want something sweet you way better off indulging a little with a natural sweetener and cutting the fake sugars. I truly believe the companies who manufacture these harmful, man made sweeteners have changed the way we think about foods. Brain tumors, diabetes, lymphoma, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, and emotional disorders like depression and anxiety, dizziness, headaches, nausea, mental confusion, and seizures have all been linked to consuming fake sugars. Reading ingredients and learning to spot labeling that indicates added fake sugars is key to cutting these out of your diet. If you see the words “no sugar add” or “light” the product likely contains some type of added fake sugar. If you read the word “Sucralose” in the ingredient list this is aspartame. I have noticed a lot of yogurts that contain them (especially the 100 calorie cups), as well as a lot of frozen popsicles and light ice creams. Diet sodas and tea also all contain fake sugars. 

4. High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS): Another reason to read every single ingredient list… HFCS! It can be found in the most misleading and unsuspecting ways. All “regular” ketchup contains HFCS and tons of kids drinks marketed as “all natural” and “wholesome” (Capri Sun) also contain HFCS. Yogurts, packaged snacks, most sodas, ice creams, the list seriously goes on and on.

Let’s cut to the chase here though… what makes HFCS an ingredient to start avoiding immediately? Well the corn industry wants us to think that HFCS is “natural” and just the same as regular sugar. Sugar is sugar, right? Wrong! Here’s how Dr. Mark Hyman (author of Eat Your Medicine) breaks it down:

HFCS and cane sugar are NOT biochemically identical or processed the same way by the body. High fructose corn syrup is an industrial food product and far from “natural” or a naturally occurring substance. It is extracted from corn stalks through a process so secret that Archer Daniels Midland and Carghill would not allow the investigative journalist Michael Pollan to observe it for his book The Omnivore’s Dilemma. The sugars are extracted through a chemical enzymatic process resulting in a chemically and biologically novel compound called HFCS. Some basic biochemistry will help you understand this. Regular cane sugar (sucrose) is made of two-sugar molecules bound tightly together– glucose and fructose in equal amounts.The enzymes in your digestive tract must break down the sucrose into glucose and fructose, which are then absorbed into the body. HFCS also consists of glucose and fructose, not in a 50-50 ratio, but a 55-45 fructose to glucose ratio in an unbound form. Fructose is sweeter than glucose. And HFCS is cheaper than sugar because of the government farm bill corn subsidies. Products with HFCS are sweeter and cheaper than products made with cane sugar. This allowed for the average soda size to balloon from 8 ounces to 20 ounces with little financial costs to manufacturers but great human costs of increased obesity, diabetes, and chronic disease.

Now back to biochemistry. Since there is there is no chemical bond between them, no digestion is required so they are more rapidly absorbed into your blood stream. Fructose goes right to the liver and triggers lipogenesis (the production of fats like triglycerides and cholesterol) this is why it is the major cause of liver damage in this country and causes a condition called “fat liver” which affects 70 million people.

To see more about HFCS from Dr. Mark Hyman click here.

5. Artificial Food Colorings:  Food colorings really stick out in this list for me because I have seen first hand in my own children the effects of this stuff. I actually hadn’t noticed it before this specific day but after consuming birthday cake with artificial food colorings in the icing I saw a huge change in my son’s behavior. He went from sitting down and eating to hopping around and screaming. He literally was just making noises, he couldn’t even form a sentence. I could almost see his brain in mass confusion. We have been programed to write it off as sugar but what comes with sugar more often then not are artificial food colorings. After cutting unprocessed foods from our lives I was able to see this difference in his behavior and actually pin point the dyes. Although studies on these colorings are not definitive I don’t need any study to tell me something I have already seen with my own eyes. What is also really important to remember here is these colorings do nothing other then make the products look more appealing to consumers.

Hyper-activity unfortunately is the least of concern among the other potential health hazards these colorings may bring. Kidney and adrenal tumors, thyroid cancer, and chromosomal deterioration are all potentially linked to  food colorings. I don’t know anybody who would willingly consume anything with those potential effects but for some reason we tend not to question food colorings or only link them to hyper-activity in children. Another great reason to cut processed foods!

6. Monosodium Glutamate (MSG): Another ingredient that you will find in the most unsuspecting places! I can’t tell you how many times I have picked up a package and read the ingredients only to be shocked that it contained MSG. I’ve found it in Gazebo Room Salad Dressing, Blackened Seasoning, many canned soups, premade stocks, bullion cubes, and many other products. As someone who likes to make soups at home I know for sure I have not found any type of boxed stock that does not contain some form of MSG. Although many of them claim they are MSG free, there are also other ingredients that are almost the exact same thing as MSG. Other names I commonly see are autolyzed yeast and yeast extract. These potent flavor enhancers over-excite your brain cells and can lead to headaches, migraine headaches, depression, fatigue, disorientation, and obesity. What I also hate about MSG and other similar ingredients is that these are the type of additives that have people coming back for more. One packaged food I stopped feeding my children that contains autolyzed yeast is Goldfish Crackers. Yes, those seemingly harmless little fish are actually telling your child’s brain they should eat more. Shame on Pepperidge Farm for adding an ingredient like this to a product they know is consumed mostly by young children! Bottom line, you really have to read packaging because this is one of those ingredients they try to hide.

7. Sodium Nitrate/Nitrite: Even people who know next to nothing about food ingredients can tell you Nitrates cause cancer. You will find Nitrates in almost all lunchmeat, hotdogs (another product pushed on children), and bacon. They use this stuff to preserve meats in place of regular salt. If you are used to eating a sandwich with lunchmeat or you are packing these types of meats in your children’s lunch you should start looking for alternatives. Although eating a piece of bacon or two once in a while probably won’t hurt you, most people who consume these product are doing so on more of a regular basis. Lunchmeat and hotdogs are so highly processed they have no place in our diets to begin with!

8. BHT and BHA: Just to prove a point with how widespread BHT is I challenge you to go to the grocery store and find a cereal that does NOT contain this preservative. Believe me, you will be looking for quite a while before you find one. Practically every single cereal in the “cereal isle” will contain BHT. BHT is one of those ingredients that is banned in a ton of other countries. Why? Because it doesn’t have a place in any food supply, anywhere! What’s so bad about it? Well let’s start with the fact that it is also used in embalming fluid, jet fuel, rubber petroleum products, and transformer oil. Still not convinced? The National Toxicology Program calls is “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen” and the Material Safety Data Sheet says “BHT should not be allowed to enter the environment, can cause liver damage, and is dangerous to aquatic organisms.” Eliminating BHT can be harder then you think if your family is used to eating commercial cereals. However, once I educated myself about what BHT really was I had no problem putting my foot down and saying absolutely not in my household! I knew I was not comfortable with my children consuming BHT and they have never asked for any of those products again anyway (its funny how quickly children forget about the foods that aren’t in the house anymore). The good news about this is that there are a lot of alternative cereals that do not contain it but you do have to read every label just to be sure.

9.Mono and Diglycerides: This is an emulsifier that mixes ingredients together that normally wouldn’t mix, like oil and water. This ingredient is a hidden source of partially hydrogenated oil aka trans fat. The trans fat used in this emulsifier does not have to be listed on the nutritional panel so therefore it goes unnoticed in a lot of products. I have seen this in most breads, ice cream, non-dairy creamers, heavy cream, and chocolate syrups.

10.Carrageenan: This one is tricky because technically it is “natural” so even organic companies can use it and still be able to label their products as organic. It is another emulsifier used in dairy products, ice cream, yogurts, half and half, and soy milks. The reason why it is considered “natural” is because it is extracted from red seaweed, which sounds harmless. However, this ingredient has been studied for years and the data collected isn’t looking good for dairy lovers. Carrageenan can cause inflammation in our bodies and therefore lead to some serious health issues like Alzheimer’s and cancer. I have seen carrageenan first hand in organic products and its a good way to weed out companies who don’t care about your health, organic or not. If you search the word carrageenan in Google there are dozens of articles about it, but here is one that I found helpful.

What is our “diet” crazed nation teaching our children?

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Dietcollage “Diet” products and their marketing have literally taken over. I can’t turn on my television, my radio, my computer, or walk through any store without seeing them. Nutrisystem, Hydroxycut, Green Tea Extract, Slim Fast, a cleanse, a detox, a fat burner… I mean really I could keep going but we all know who I’m talking about. I have to say, I’m really over it now. Why? Simply because they are pushing their  inferior and unhealthy “diet” products, and brainwashing a new generation  instead of telling the truth. The truth is if we just ate simple, natural, unprocessed foods along with small portions of quality meats and whole grains then most people wouldn’t need to turn to any of the dangerous junk these companies are trying to sell. Let’s cut the bleached flours, the GMO sugars, the fake sugars, the processed meats, the unhealthy fats,  and the packaged foods and see how many of those “diet” products we need then.

Why are we so brainwashed?


As an adult looking back I can remember seeing all of these products growing up. The big one then was Slim Fast. When someone I knew was dieting I’d see them carrying around their cans of Slim Fast. As a kid I was always so intrigued by the deceptive chocolate shakes. I wanted to try them! I wanted their dessert too! What I didn’t know is all of those cans, the adds, the marketing, the meal systems, were putting the idea in my head that if someone wanted to diet then this is what they would turn to…… fake food!

Where was the real food? Why didn’t anyone talk about that? Why did dieting come out of a can or a bottle? As a parent I have realized the effects of marketing  on kids. I can remember around Valentine’s Day this year my 7 year old said to me “Does every kiss begin with Kay?” I laughed about it then and was wondering what I was supposed to say. However, thinking back now it isn’t funny. Children remember these things and their opinions about life are persuaded by advertising. Not only are these companies selling products that are bad for your health, they are selling ideas to children that are even more unhealthy.

As parents it is time to educate our children about real foods. I’ve heard the phrase “because I said so” come out of the mouth of more parents then I ever really wanted to. While everyone has their own parenting style (and that’s a whole other topic!) this phrase is just not going to cut it when it comes to food and “diet” products. One of the most important things to teach children if your cutting processed foods is why. If you’ve been serving a lot of processed stuff its time to fess up and tell the truth about why these products don’t do anything good for your body. Yes, there might be resistance but that provides the opportunity to talk about what nourishes their bodies and what doesn’t.

I have also heard mothers talk about why they don’t call themselves “fat” in front of their children (daughters specifically). What we really need to pay attention to is the fact that it goes beyond the home. Our children are influenced by more then just what comes out of their parent’s mouth. Our children see skinny people being idolized, and a society that sets standards about body image and weight. Our children see the Nutrisystem adds, the pill bottles at the grocery stores, and celebrities touting yo-yo “diets.” This is why we need to help a generation being brainwashed by a “diet” crazed nation. We as parents need to lead by example. Here a few things you can start doing to address these issues:

  •  Take your children to the grocery store. If they see everything that is there they will begin to notice the isles you shop and the isles you stay away from.
  •  Show them ingredients. Compare products, read ingredient lists, talk about what makes one thing better then another.
  •  Discuss why we avoid certain ingredients and what those ingredients do to our bodies.
  • Teach them how to cook! This is super important. It will help your children in 5, 10, 15, 20 years and beyond. Your children will become more interested in ingredients and understand food can be fun, enjoyable, and a time spent together as family.
  •  Eat a variety of unprocessed foods yourself. This is huge. Your children will probably never have to think about “dieting” later in life if we just teach them what food was meant to do for us to begin with.
  • Address the issue directly. Talk to your children about why these products do more harm then good in people’s lives. After all, if any of these products actually worked there wouldn’t be such a huge market for this stuff.

Just to highlight one thing in the list… your children will probably never have to think about dieting later in life if we just teach them what food was meant to do for us to begin with. This is the best piece of information to take away from this. Give your children a good, healthy relationship with food and the chances they will ever need to turn to any of this dangerous junk are reduced!

 

 

 

Recipe Rescue “Cinnabun Popcorn”

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popcorncollage Sometimes I am so utterly shocked when reading ingredients in packaged food that seem so harmless. I will never understand how the food industry takes something simple and turns it into a cocktail of dangerous chemicals and unhealthy fats. Microwaveable popcorn is no exception. The sad part is most people don’t read the ingredients because they think its obvious… corn and butter. Once I started recognizing harmful ingredients in packaged foods I stopped letting my children eat microwaveable popcorn. It wasn’t a staple in my pantry but unfortunately it is in many homes. This unsuspecting highly processed popcorn has got to go! Luckily for us it is so incredibly easy to make your own that tastes even better then some of the packaged stuff.


What’s in the Packaged Stuff and Why is it Dangerous?

Ingredients:

Popcorn Bag Contains: Orville Redenbacher’s Gourmet Popping Corn, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Less than 2% of: Cinnamon, Salt, Natural and Artificial Flavor, Butter, Color Added, Sucralose. Pouch Ingredients: Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Sugar, Less than 2% of: Natural and Artificial Flavor, Caramel Color, TBHQ and Citric Acid to Preserve Freshness.

  • Hydrogenated Oils: Highly processed synthetic fats. Cheap to produce and extend shelf life. Raise levels of bad cholesterol (LDL). High levels of LDL can result in heart attack, stroke, diabetes, and heart disease. These scary fats are the 2nd ingredient and appear twice on the list!
  • Artificial Flavor: This is a huge unknown and the reason I do not eat packaged products with this ingredient. It could be anything but it isn’t called artificial for no reason. Also appears twice on the list.
  • Sucralose: Fake sugars that just wreak havoc on our bodies. This surprises me because nothing on this package makes claims of being “diet”. Just another reason to read every ingredient.
  • Carmel Color: Controversial color additive. Commonly found in sodas, and may be linked to cancer.
  • TBHQ: tertiary butylhydroquinone….. enough said!

 

How to Make Your Own

Making microwave popcorn is so simple. As with other products I have found, I can’t believe I have gone my whole life without knowing you don’t need their chemical laden bags to pop popcorn in the microwave. All you need is a brown paper bag! Yes… those brown paper lunch bags pop popcorn the same way the prepackaged ones do. Thank goodness for Pinterest on this one! When I started popping my own I realized it was fun to come up with new combinations of toppings and my children gobbled it up like it was something really special. This Cinnabun recipe was a favorite all around. I prefer a topping that is not completely overpowering so I went on the lighter side, however you can easily add more if you find you want more sweet goodness.

 

Greek Pasta Bolognese- Simple and Delicious!

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Bolognese sauce is traditionally a red sauce with beef. It is simple and common in the Italian cooking world and surely a comfort food for many people. This recipe takes traditional Bolognese sauce to a whole new level by adding just a few simple ingredients. If your trying this for the first time don’t be put off by the clam juice! It makes the sauce. This is great for entertaining and will leave your guests trying to put their finger on what made the sauce so delicious. If you like it with beef you can also try it with shrimp as the recipe that inspired this was originally paired with Shrimp.  I put this sauce over 100% whole wheat fettuccini or spinach pasta.

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What’s In Your Coffee?

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coffeeblue


If there is one thing I’m NEVER giving up it is coffee. Right now I have my perfect little Nespresso U sitting on my countertop waiting for me to brew my next shot of Espresso and make a delicious latte. When I started reading ingredient labels I also started wondering about the coffee drinks I had, at one time or another, ordered from various restaurants/food chains. Since I wasn’t making them myself I had no idea what I was consuming. There was a time that I went to Starbucks at least two to three times a week. With the sweetness of most of Starbucks specialty drinks (unless you are getting them plain) it is pretty obvious they aren’t “healthy”. What I found however was not the sugar in the drinks that concerned me, it was the other chemicals.

In the picture above I listed the ingredients you would consume if you purchased a caramel iced coffee at McDonald’s, Dunkin Donuts, and Starbucks. While I can’t say one is better then the others it is obvious McDonald’s is the worst in terms of hidden ingredients. Although their marketing has been trying to compete in the coffee world and set them apart from their cheap, low quality food they are failing to live up to the image they are trying to portray. Why? Its simple…. there is nothing quality about their coffee. If they were sensible at all they would just add real cream or half and half and call it a day. Even if they dropped the “light cream” they would still have caramel coloring (coffee IS brown!!!) and preservatives but at least consumers wouldn’t be running to find the nearest toilet after downing their coffee. Oh yeah.. that’s right I forgot to tell you.. tetra sodium pyrophosphate and sodium citrate both have diarrhea listed as possible adverse reactions. If something about that “one time after you drank that coffee” just clicked all I can say is never trust McDonald’s!

 As for the rest of the unpronounceable ingredients if you’d like to be nauseous, have irritated skin, or consume a chemical listed with “use caution in patients with cardiac failure, hypertension, impaired renal function, peripheral and pulmonary edema, and toxemia of pregnancy” then just go ahead and grab that iced coffee from McDonald’s to go (just incase you have to shit, puke, or have a heart attack).

Look I’ll just cut to the chase here. It’s time to rethink these purchases. All three coffees contain caramel coloring (again coffee IS brown!!), and chemical preservatives. It’s also note worthy that McDonald’s and Starbucks use artificial flavorings (which could be anything, we have no idea what that includes),and Dunkin Donuts uses High Fructose Corn Syrup. All three of these iced coffees have more then one ingredient that has no business being in our coffee.

The first step to cutting these highly processed iced coffees from our lives is finding an alternative that doesn’t contain any of these questionable ingredients. If you want coffee but you do not like it black then I would suggest trying it with real cream and adding a natural sweetener yourself (honey, maple syrup). I know it seems kind of weird to put maple syrup in your coffee but I promise it is actually good! As I mentioned before I have a Nespresso machine that I make lattes with everyday. I find lattes with just espresso and milk to be really tasty and I also have a milk frother that came with the machine that makes an amazing cappuccino. Since purchasing my Nespresso I have been using my own spice cabinet to create drinks myself that have all turned out really delicious. If you are buying coffee drinks from places like Starbuck’s or Dunkin Donuts it is best to keep things simple. I just get a plain latte from Starbuck’s now if I go there and I know exactly what is in it… milk and espresso! If you want to check out my Nespresso Machine here is the link.