Kath Eats Real Food

Favorite Food Products

Food For Life Bread

I’ve been looking for a bread for life for a while now – something that is so good I’ll never want to buy anything else. Well, coincidentally, the bread that wins the contest is the Food for Life brand. The brand makes the refrigerated Ezekiel and Genesis breads. I have FINALLY found my bread for life!!! I have no idea why I was afraid to try these before, but it probably had to do with the fact that I’m always cold and didn’t want to stand in a refrigerator to analyze the label! At 80 calories per slice, 3 grams of fiber, 4 grams of protein and no trans-fats or HFCS, the nutritional info is hard to beat. Plus the company claims all kinds of other benefits from the sprouted bread, which I’ll just go ahead and believe Give it a try!! It’s GREAT bread! I’ve tried the “Bran for Life” one (which has FIVE grams of fiber per slice), the 4:9 and the Sesame. I can’t decide which is my favorite! www.foodforlife.com

Gnu Bars

I don’t eat bars too often, mostly when I need to grab something quick, but these are one of my favorites. An A+ product all around for flavor and nutritional status. I order them from the Gnu website, which is easy to do. ALL of the flavors are delicious too. I couldn’t pick a favorite! www.gnufoods.com

Yogurt

I love both Stonyfield low-fat plain and Fage 0%. I’d eat Fage more but it’s so expensive!! Plain yogurt is one of my very favorite foods and is known as one of the SuperFoods. I love mixing in all kinds of things – fruit, cranberry sauce, flax meal, Fiber One. I do eat sweetened yogurt every now and then, but it’s not as good as plain It’s kind of an acquired taste (you have to appreciate the tang!) but it’s worth giving a try because of its many health benefits.

Kashi Crackers

I love, love, love Kashi TLC crackers!!! Their nutritional stats are not bad for crackers: 130 calories, 2 grams of fiber and 3 grams protein. Although they are not 100% whole grain, they do have a lot of whole grains in them and are free of trans-fats and HFCS. They are so nutty and delicious!

Kashi Heart to Heart

I don’t eat cereal very often, because I don’t think you get enough volume/weight for the calories, but my favorite cereal is another Kashi product: Heart to Heart. It’s nice to have as a snack rather than breakfast when I just need a touch of something. I usually won’t buy a cereal that has more than 120 calories per 3/4 a cup. The ones that are 170-200 per cup are just not worth it! I’m hungry an hour after eating them. Why not have a huge bowl of oatmeal instead!? But Kashi Heart to Heart is a good one with lots of crunch. A 3/4 cup serving has 110 calories, 5 grams of fiber, 5 grams of sugar, 4 grams of protein and quite a few vitamins and minerals.

Pacific Soups

These soups make GREAT bases for homemade soups. By themselves, the have great flavor, but there’s nothing to chew! I add vegetables to a serving or make a big soup using these as the base. And best of all? They don’t have that disgusting onion flavor that most canned soups have! Pacific Creamy Soups

Grocery Store Favorites

• Stonyfield low-fat plain yogurt
• A bag of cranberries (For homemade cranberry sauce to put in yogurt)
• Sliced almonds (to toast and stir into oatmeal)
• Oats – oatmeal is my very favorite food!
• Skim milk
• Avocado
• Breakstone’s 2% Cottage Cheese
• Fage 0%
• Egg whites in a carton
• Omega-3 cage free eggs
• All-natural peanut butter (can’t live without it!)
• Fresh fruit: Pears, bananas, pomegranates (the seeds are GREAT in salads!), apples, berries when they’re in season
• Spaghetti squash (I roast one on the weekend to have for my lunches during the week)
• Seasonal teas (I love Egg Nog and Pumpkin flavors by Bigelow)
• Pink salmon and tuna packets (for homemade salmon salad)
• Carrots + Celery (for my salmon and tuna salad!)
• Bag of baby spinach (so easy to pack in a zip-lock back for quick salads)
• Ezekiel frozen bread (the best there is – no trans-fats, HFCS, plus lots of fiber, protein and sprouted grains!)
• Capers + olives (for homemade tomato sauce!)
• Diet Tonic and lime (for virgin cocktails)
• Kashi granola bars (snacks on the go)
• Whole wheat pasta, frozen shrimp, and ground turkey for quick dinners

What’s In My Fridge?

BHappy Bags

Husband and I decided we need to start taking reusable bags to the grocery store. There’s no reason to use plastic bags and plus, we HATE dealing with the plastic bags – in the store, from the car and in the kitchen. So I found these super-duper cute bags at www.reusuablebags.com for $19 each. They are BHappy Bags (www.bhappybags.com) and they come in all different colors. I ordered the Victoria and the Lucy.

Using them is SOOO fun! I put all my heavy produce (butternut squash, carrots) in the bag first. All the light produce follows on top (pears, kiwis). The other bag gets the boxed things and toiletries, meats, heavy items like yogurt, etc. I fit $76 worth of groceries between the two bags, with the milk by itself.

And the best part: getting home. I can carry one bag per shoulder (I used to take 2-3 trips or command the husband to carry them in). Unloading in the kitchen is so much easier with all my produce together and without plastic bags flying all over the place. HIGHLY recommended!