My Favourite Things

The more you know about processed foods vs. real food, the more you just want to move to a farm in the middle of nowhere, milk your cow, eat your chickens and grow your own wheat...almost:-)

I find there is a real balance to be stuck with eating real, healthy and organic foods and well, affording real, healthy and organic foods! They are often very pricey. Grass fed organic beef? Not on our salary! $4 per dozen for eggs from a farmer? ummm...I can buy 1 dozen per month, the rest of my eggs need to be the $1.50/doz variety. Our monthly food budget doesn't allow for organic extravagance. There are a few helpful things though...Trader Joes is very affordable, and many of their items are all natural and organic. I was able to get some free range organic boneless skinless chicken breasts for $1.99 per pound, if you buy 40 lbs. That IS a lot of chicken, but an unbeatable value.

All that to say, we do what we can, where we can, to be as healthy as possible. I do read the food labels. We eat NOTHING (yogurt, soda, crystal light etc) containing Aspartame. If it's marked "light" read the label, it usually has aspartame. Anything containing aspartame must be marked with "Contains: Phenylalanine". We try to keep the chemicals out! But there are chemicals in EVERYTHING. And we buy store bought items, of course. What to do... WELL, anytime I find a product that is affordable and all natural, I make the switch. Trader Joes makes this pretty easy for things like store bought cookies (imagine an oreo type cookie without all the additives).

Coffee creamer...I LOVE it. It's usually essentially non-dairy, I think, and of course the label is full of words I can't even pronounce. But looky here: A creamer that is truly all natural with no additives! And at Walmart, the price is right: 2.28 for this container (compared to 1.99 for the "regular" version).

The flavor is not quite as "strong or syrupy" as my previous fave, Caramel Macchiato. But it's close enough! Ingredients: Nonfat milk, heavy cream, sugar, natural flavor. Sounds just about right!! It's my brand new favourite thing! (The label does not state that the milk used is from cows that have not been given artificial growth hormones - so although "natural" still potentially bad for you & not organic. Darn. But still better for you than all the fake stuff in a normal creamer)