Fall Favorites for Your Plate

I love Michael Pollan’s quote, “If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don't. ”  Eating seasonally and organically are two great ways to do that!  And seasonal, organic, plant-based eating will also improve your health and help our environment. Each season brings its own bounty of delicious veggies to eat and this time of year, the fields are full of hearty, warming choices. 

Sometimes it’s hard to know exactly what’s really in season when you go to the grocery store.  You can find apples in summer and strawberries in winter, but they will have been grown far away, picked before their peak and then take days to get to your market. Foods that have been picked too early and travel long distances won’t look as pretty as the seasonal ones that grew to their peak. To make them look more appealing, they’re often treated with chemical ripening agents, wax coatings, and other preservatives. Their flavor and nutrient value has been diminished under those circumstances.  Buying what’s in season and what’s grown locally will give you the healthiest, tastiest produce and will reduce your carbon footprint.

The freshest choices for produce, and probably at the best prices, are at your local farmer’s market. If you don’t have time to go to the farmer’s market each week or if there isn’t one close to you, look into CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) programs that deliver fresh produce to you.  I get a customizable box twice a month for a great price and with the peace of mind that my produce is organic and grown locally.. Plus I sometimes get something new to try, like delicata squash.   If you are in the Southern California area, check out the Farm Fresh to You service. What “something new” will you try this fall?

Here are five of my favorites for this fall (with a few recipe links):

Brussels Sprouts –  a great source of vitamin C, antioxidants and potassium. They aren’t too tasty steamed, but roast a pan full of these, tossed with olive oil and diced pancetta, until they are a deep, golden brown and your taste buds will be happy (meat free option – substitute pancetta with chopped shallots).

Delicata Squash – new to you? It was to me until a year ago.  This green striped squash is full of beta-carotene, delicate in flavor and easy to prepare.  And the skin is so thin, you don’t need to peel it.  Halve it and clean out the seeds. Then slice ¼ inch thick and roast with red onion, rosemary and a little sea salt.

Butternut Squash – A fall staple, this squash makes a wonderful soup for cold days.  One of my favorite versions is by Ina Garten.  You can find it here: Butternut Squash Soup

Cauliflower – This vegetable might not have a lot of color, but it does have a lot of nutrients: Vitamins B-6, C, K, folate, anti-oxidants and sulforaphane, a compound that has anticancer properties. Another veggie that tastes great roasted.  Try this recipe by Emeril Lagasse: Roasted Cauliflower with Garlic and Lemon Juice.

Pears – This fruit comes in several varieties and while it’s delicious all on its own, it is just as good on a salad of mixed greens, Gorgonzola cheese, pecans and champagne vinaigrette as it is baked in a roasted pear crumble. (I substitute the brown and white sugar with coconut sugar).

Enjoy!

 PS  In case you were wondering, it's the cauliflower that I can eat like it's candy ;)

It's All About Food

October 24 is all about food... it’s Food Day! And just what is Food Day? It’s a day to inspire Americans to change their diets and fight for change to our nation’s food policies.

It’s no secret that our grocery stores are filled with too many processed, chemically enhanced and deceptively labeled food products.  Food Day is a reminder to pay attention to what you put in your body and to make eating Real Food a priority in your life. This movement also strives to bring awareness of the impact food-production policies have on our environment, our farms and our health.

Think you’re pretty good at choosing healthy meals and reducing environmental impact?  Click here to take the Food Literacy Quiz and see how you rate.

The FoodDay.org website is full of great ideas on how to make changes. It can be as simple as incorporating “Meatless Monday” into your life.  If you have kids, they have a Kids Cook Monday newsletter to get the kids in on the action, too. They have even partnered with Jamie Oliver to raise awareness about food education in schools (an area that desperately needs changing).

Celebrating Food Day is a great way to get started on making healthy eating a priority or it can be a day where you commit to eating food that comes from plants and to avoiding food that is made in factories. Make Food Day the first day of a yearlong journey into eating REAL FOOD!

 Here’s a healthy (and tasty) lentil soup recipe to get you started:

Lentil Soup
(adapted from Giada DiLaurentis’ lentil soup recipe)

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

1 head of broccoli, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes

1 package Trader Joe’s steamed, ready to eat lentils

11 cups low-salt chicken broth

4 to 6 fresh thyme sprigs

2/3 cup dried brown rice elbow pasta

1 cup shredded Parmesan

Directions:

Heat the oil in a heavy large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, and broccoli. Add the garlic, salt, and pepper and sauté until all the vegetables are tender, about 5 to 8 minutes. Add the tomatoes with their juices. Simmer until the juices evaporate a little and the tomatoes break down, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Add the lentils and mix. Add the broth and stir. Add the thyme sprigs. Bring to a boil over high heat and then drop temperature to simmer. Stir in the pasta. Simmer until the pasta is tender but still firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Ladle the soup into bowls. Sprinkle with the Parmesan and serve.

Something to Buzz About – 8 Foods We May Be In Danger of Losing

Bees.  The first thing you probably think of is they sting – run! Or maybe if you’re allergic to their sting, you’re thinking yikes –epipen! Or maybe you’re a garden buff and you’re thinking pretty flowers?  No matter what you think of Bees, please don’t discount them or their purpose in our world.  The honeybee population is in jeopardy and that that means more to us than you might already know.

Bees are crucial to food production in our world, and I don’t mean in a ‘honey nut cheerios’ kind of way.

90 percent of agriculture crops in the United States are made possible thanks to our pollinating friends, the bees. About 35 percent of the food we eat would not exist without pollinators. If it lowers cholesterol, improves eyesight or turbocharges the immune system, it was probably fertilized by a bee. The bad news of all this is Honeybee populations have been on the decline since 2006 and it’s only getting worse. The situation even has its own acronym – CCD, which stands for Colony Collapse Disorder. Bees are dying at an alarming rate and unless something changes, they could be on their way to extinction.

Let’s just take a leap and say bees became extinct.  These top foods would be on their way to becoming extinct, too, due to their dependence on bees to pollinate their crops:

These foods are entirely dependent on Bees to pollinate their flowers:

Almonds –are entirely dependent on bees to pollinate their flowers.  California produces 2.1 billion pounds of almonds each year (which supplies 80% of the global demand for all almonds). Almonds are a good source of calcium, magnesium, and fiber.

Pumpkins – depend entirely on bees for pollination.  512, 870 tons of pumpkins were produced in 2013.  No pumpkins mean no jack-o-lanterns, no pumpkin pie and no pumpkin smoothies for breakfast. 

Cucumbers – nearly 360,000 tons of cucumber are produced each year. This fruit is a great hydrator because of its potassium content.  If the cucumbers go, say good-bye to pickles, too.

These crops, including watermelon, are 90% dependent on bees for pollination: 

Apples – Production for this year is projected at 263 million 42-pound cartons of apples.  Apples are a fantastic source of fiber and vitamin C.  One of the healthiest fruits you can eat… “an (organic) apple a day keeps the doctor away”.

Avocados – 226,000 pounds are produced in the US each year.  That’s a lot of guacamole! Plus this amazing fruit is a healthy fat and gives us a boost of folate and magnesium. 

Blueberries – The US is the world’s largest producer of blueberries at 564 million pounds each year.  This fruit is a powerhouse of antioxidants and a super-food everyone should incorporate into their diet.

Oranges – Just ask Florida how important bees are to their 104 million boxes of oranges they will produce this year. Vitamin C, anyone? 

You may be wondering, “what is causing this honeybee decline?” Scientists do not know for certain, but contributing factors include pesticides, parasites and loss of habitats. The issue of the dwindling honeybee population has even prompted the White House to establish the Pollinator Health Task Force this year in an attempt to reverse the loss of pollinators such as honeybees.

So, what can we do in the mean time to help save the bees?

·      Plant a bee-friendly garden

·      Sponsor a hive

·      Support local beekeepers by purchasing their honey at local farmer’s markets (my favorite way to help)

And speaking of bees… bees also mean honey and Raw Honey is good for our bodies! It provides phytonutrients and has antibacterial and antifungal properties.  (But please do not give honey of any kind to a child under the age of one.)

That's all the buzz for today... 

 Sources:

www.beesfree.biz/The%20Buzz/Disappearing-Honey-Bees-Infographic

www.onegreenplanet.org

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/sharethebuzz

www.eatingwell.com

It's That (Pumpkin) Time of Year Again

October isn’t my favorite month, but October brings pumpkins and that means pumpkin pie and pumpkin pie is definitely a favorite of mine!

This fruit is more than just a big round gourd to carve into a jack-o-lantern for Halloween and pumpkin goes beyond filling a piecrust for your Thanksgiving table. It can be a gourmet filling for ravioli or the base of a hearty fall soup. It’s great in risotto and homemade pumpkin bread, too.  Its flesh and its seeds are filled with nutrients and health benefits and can be eaten in a variety of ways.

Here are a few benefits of pumpkin:

·      1 cup of cooked pumpkin gives you 200% of the recommended intake of Vitamin A. It’s full of carotenoids, which aid your vision.

·      There are 3 grams of fiber in a 1 cup serving which helps fill you up and keep your digestion balanced.

·      Contains beta carotene, an anti-oxidant which helps to prevent cancer

·      Gives you vitamin C, which aids collagen production and keeps wrinkles at bay.

·      1 cup of cooked pumpkin contains more potassium than a banana. This helps balance your body’s electrolytes, especially after a heavy workout.

·      Pumpkin seeds – aka pepitas- are a great source of magnesium(good for your heart), and zinc (helps your immune system).

As much as pumpkin pie is a favorite of mine, Clean eating is still a priority so I have found a healthy, delicious way to get my pumpkin fix (and I don’t have to wait until Thanksgiving dinner to be over!).  It’s a pumpkin smoothie (recipe below). This smoothie is a great for breakfast or an afternoon snack – the taste of pumpkin pie without all the unhealthy ingredients found in a pie.

Pumpkin Smoothie  (makes 1 serving)

½ cup pumpkin puree

1 ½ cups milk alternative (I use almond milk)

1 serving protein powder

½ banana

½ tsp pumpkin pie spice

3-4 ice cubes

Blend until well combined.

[Print Recipe]

Enjoy!

There has been a lot of press lately regarding the non-existent pumpkin in Starbuck’s Pumpkin Lattes and so of all the seasonal pumpkin items you can enjoy, keep this one off your list!

For the Love of Avocados!

Creamy, delicious avocados… one of my most favorite foods to eat! And not just as a dip to scoop up with tortilla chips or as a topping on a salad. They are even delicious to eat straight out of the peel with a squeeze of lemon or a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

If you don’t already love this fruit that moonlights in the vegetable world, please give it another chance! There are dozens of varieties of avocados, Haas being the most common. Their tough green skin contains “a whole lotta goodness” inside.  Here are just a few of the many reasons avocados should be a part of everyone’s diet:

Avocados have…

·      10 grams of fiber (for one medium sized fruit)

·      vitamins A, B6 and C

·      magnesium,  iron and protein

·      twice the potassium of a banana

·      ‘good’ monounsaturated fats

·      omega 3’s, which reduce inflammation in the body

Avocados typically show up in a bowl of guacamole, but there are dozens of ways to incorporate them into your life.  Have you tried these?

·      Use mashed as a spread on sandwiches in place of mayonnaise

·      Add to a smoothie for a creamy nutritional boost

·      As a facial mask for your skin

·      As a key ingredient in dairy-free chocolate pudding

·      Bake an egg in the center of it

·      Grill it

·      Use as a hair conditioning treatment

·      Stuff with chopped tomatoes and balsamic dressing

·      Dress up your next batch of ahi-poke with chopped avocado

And my new favorite… Avocado “Fries”!

I had my first taste of a fried avocado in a vegetarian taco and loved the crunch and creamy taste combination, but not the fried part and since fried foods don’t make my ‘clean eating’ list, I needed to find an alternate way to get that same taste combination.   I’ve had this recipe for ages and can’t remember exactly where it came from and how it ended up in my ‘try it’ pile of recipes, so I can’t officially give credit to its creator, but it’s easy and delicious. 

 Avocado Fries

2 ripe avocados

¾ cup panko flakes

¼ cup nutritional yeast

pinch each of sea salt and pepper

 ½ cup milk alternative

3 tbsp flour

Heat oven to 400F and line a small cookie sheet with parchment paper or foil. Cut avocados in half, remove pit and then carefully scoop (in one piece) the flesh out with a spoon.  Next, cut each half into quarters (or 6ths if it’s a large avocado).  In a bowl combine panko, nutritional yeast and salt and pepper.  In a separate bowl whisk flour into the almond milk until well combined. 

Dredge each slice in the milk mixture, then gently coat with the breadcrumb mix until evenly covered.  Place on prepared baking sheet. Repeat until all avocado slices are coated.  Bake for 10minutes, turn over then bake for additional 10 minutes, until golden brown.   Serve hot with a dip made from plain, whole milk Greek yogurt mixed with chipotle hot sauce.

Resources:  foodreference.com, Californiaavocado.com, naturalnews.com

It's All About Dressing

It’s all about dressing…

Of course when it comes to making an impression out in the world, what you wear can make all the difference, but I am talking food here.

Salads, to be exact.

Are you one of those people who takes time to put together a healthy salad full of wonderful healthy ingredients and then do you blow the whole “healthy” thing by pouring a bottled, processed salad dressing over the top?

Or do you even realize that the dose of dressing you poured over your carefully assembled bowl of veggies even makes a difference?

It does.

Do you know what’s IN that pre-made salad dressing?  Take a look at your ingredients list (not the front of the label!) and do a little investigating… do you see soybean oil? Not good, very inflammatory to the body.  How about Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)?  Bad!  How about corn syrup? A really-not-good-for-you genetically modified sugar. Caramel color? Bad again. Not to mention the level of sodium – sometimes as much as 500 mg of sodium for 2 Tablespoons of dressing. Really high, not to mention, who really uses only 2 Tablespoons of salad dressing? And don't get me started on the ingredients in ranch dressing (xanthan gum, modified food starch, propylene glycol)! Those are the regular versions… the light and fat free ones are worse. 

Don’t sabotage your healthy eating efforts by choosing those types of salad dressings.  Instead, make your own.  All you need is a jar with a lid and a few simple ingredients. If you want to have a fancier container to mix it in, you can always get my favorite Oxo dressing shaker here.  Below you will find three simple recipes for some of my favorite dressings. 

Once you have your shaking container, you need a few basics... here are a few of my favorites:

And what to do when you are eating out?  Ask for olive oil and vinegar and drizzle them on yourself.  If you really must buy dressing in a bottle, there is only one I have found that passes my ‘clean eating test’ and that’s Tessemae’s.  Short list of real ingredients you recognize and pronounce – nothing fake or mysterious.

So improve the way you dress your salad and give your health a boost at the same time.  After all, you’re taking time to fill your body with yummy veggies, might as well give them a well-dressed send off.

Apple Cider Vinaigrette

1/3  c. extra virgin olive oil

¼ c. apple cider vinegar *

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

salt and pepper 

Whisk all ingredients together until well combined

* can substitute balsamic vinegar or champagne vinegar 

Asian Flair Vinaigrette 

1/3 cup grape seed oil (or avocado oil)

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

3 TBSP Bragg’s amino acids (or Tamari/Soy Sauce)

dash of toasted sesame oil

salt and pepper

Whisk ingredients together and adjust to taste preferences. 

*optional: add a squeeze of lime juice or chopped ginger. 

Add toasted sesame seeds to salad after tossing with dressing.

Almost Caesar Dressing

Adapted from Dr. Weil’s Heatlhy Kitchen Vegetarian Caesar

1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 TBSP red wine vinegar

1 TBSP vegetarian Worcestershire sauce

3 TBSP Dijon mustard

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1/2 cup grated packed Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1 1/2 cups extra-virgin olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoons salt (or more to taste)

1 teaspoon freshly groundblack pepper (or more to taste)

 Combine all ingredients in glass jar or dressing shaker and shake until combined.

A Great New Cookbook to Share!

The Real Food movement is in full swing and I’m excited to be a part of it, both as a blogger and an ‘all in’ participant. Along my journey, I’ve found several resources, authors, bloggers and organizations that I love and respect and trust.  One of those is Lisa Leake’s 100 Days of Real Food blog.

I am honored to have been selected as a cookbook ambassador for Lisa’s newly released cookbook: “100 Days of Real Food: How We did it, What We Learned and 100 Easy, Wholesome Recipes Your Family Will Love”.  Below is my review and a free recipe from the new cookbook to share with you.

Lisa Leake is a mom who, along with her family, made a pledge to go 100 days without eating processed foods after an “ah-ha” moment when she realized that the foods she was feeding her family were not truly healthy or nutritious. She started a blog, 100 Days of Real Food (see above link), about their journey and along the way she shared experiences, planning strategies, helpful hints, and recipes.  And she shared how her family's health improved (more details in the book pg. 13)! The success of her blog, especially the recipes, led to the release of this cookbook…. which is more than just a compilation of recipes.   

This cookbook is fantastic resource beyond needing to find a new recipe for tomorrow night’s dinner.  Need new ideas for packing healthy lunches? Want to serve a cleaned-up and healthy version of macaroni and cheese? Need some help on planning or shopping for these Real Food meals? There are all of those and more in this book.  Here are my top 5 favorite things I like about this cookbook:

1.    School lunch ideas that have passed the taste test by her kids, including a Lunch-Box Packing chart to make packing lunches a breeze.

2.    A snack and appetizer section that includes a healthy version of the ever-so-popular onion dip.

3.    All the recipes in her new cookbook Do Not call for any white flour (or refined grains), sugar (or refined sweeteners), anything from a package with more than 5 ingredients, or odd or hard-to-find ingredients. That supports my platform of Clean Eating!

4.   Over 25 simple dinner ideas – ‘simple’ being the key word here and simple without being processed. Who doesn’t like simple? That means less stress and more time to spend with your family.  Plus the recipes are listed by dietary needs: gluten free, dairy free, vegetarian, freezer friendly.

5.   A resource section defining real food, how to shop for it and how to get your family on board. Includes budget tips and meal plans. 

Here are a few photos of what’s inside. 

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Veggie Corn Chowder

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Cinnamon Raisin Quick Bread packed for lunch

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 Don’t you wish you already had a copy?  It’s easy to do… just order yours here. 

And while you’re waiting for your copy to arrive, here is a recipe to get you started:

Maybe this cookbook will motivate you and your family to take the 100 Days of Real Food pledge, too. Eating clean and healthy doesn’t mean you have to give up flavor or favorites.  Lisa has found a way to incorporate all of those things.  Make 100 Days of Real Food Cookbook a regular part of your family’s meals and know you’ve taken another step to help your family “grow in wellness”.

Happy Cooking!

3 Tips for Healthier Living

I am often asked to give advice on how to “clean up” one’s diet.  I tend to get overly enthusiastic and offer up so many ideas that I’m sure it seems like a large mountain to climb.  That needn’t be the case.  The way my family shops and eats today didn’t happen over night and I wouldn’t expect that of any of you, either. (But I would love for you all to climb to the top of the mountain with me!) The real key is to lay a strong foundation and then to build from there. 

The end of summer (and back to school for my college kids) means the routine shifts in our house and probably for many of you as well.  This can be a good time to start new habits.  If you want to improve the quality of your family’s eating habits, and ultimately their health, then here are three quick tips for getting started.

1. Make Green Your Favorite Color.  Add in dark, leafy greens to your meals any chance you get.  Green vegetables are high in calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium ,zinc and vitamins A, C, E and K. They are loaded with fiber, folic acid and cholorphyll. Organic is best, but non-organic is better than not eating them at all.   Add a large handful of them to scrambled eggs or smoothies, put them on sandwiches, add roasted green vegetables to your meals and use the leftovers for your leafy green salads – incorporate them whenever and wherever you can! You can’t get too much of them.

2.  Ditch the processed beverages and add in more WATER. Water is the most important thing– lots of it, all day long. Aim for 8 glasses a day. Coffee and plain ice tea do not count toward that goal since the caffeine dehydrates you (though I am not against them, in moderation -as in a cup or two per day, sweetened with healthy sweeteners and whole milk). Ditch the splenda and fat-free milks. In general, processed beverages might not be a term you hear too often, but there is a large chunk of bad habits that begin with what you drink.  Everything from the fancy coffee shop’s calorie laden, sugar filled concoctions that are pawned off as coffee drinks to the variety of sodas (diet included!), sports drinks and sweetened ice teas to flavored coconut waters and sugary fruit drinks with a bit of green added to mislead you. Staying hydrated also controls hunger, headaches and fatigue.

3.    Get Moving!  Even something as simple as a walk around the neighborhood after dinner can benefit your health.  Start with one or two days a week and then gradually increase to four or more.  The exercise not only helps you control weight, it helps strengthen your heart, keeps your joints mobile and increases endorphins (neuropeptides that elevate your mood). 

Start with these three tips and you’ll be on your way to reaching the top of the wellness mountain! You can do it – you just need to start!

Coming soon…. my review of a new cookbook that is being released this month.  I’ve been selected as a cookbook ambassador for a real food expert who has improved the health and wellness of her family, all by changing how they eat.  Look for my review next week!

Happy, Healthy Eating!

Chew on This...

What if I told you there was a simple step you could take to help improve your digestion, increase nutrient absorption, reduce acid reflux and reduce weight gain?

Would you like this thing even better if it didn’t cost anything and didn’t take time to prepare?

Here’s the deal… it’s easy, it’s free, it’s super effective, but you have to take a little time to focus on it while it’s happening.

This ‘thing’ I’m referring to is chewing. Yes, chewing, as in chewing your food, not gum, and doing more of it for each bite.

Have you ever stopped to think about how many times you chew for each bite? It’s probably not even close to the recommended 25 or more times per mouthful. But here’s the thing, just taking time to chew can bring a lot of health benefits.

Taking time to chew your food not only improves digestions and nutrient absorption as I first mentioned, it also helps you feel full sooner, assists with weight loss and maintenance and controls the hormones that make you feel hungry.

A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2011 found that people who chewed their food 40 times a mouthful had lower levels of the hormone ghrelin, which stimulates appetite and had higher levels of a hormone, leptin, that reduces ©.

So the next time you sit down to eat, take a moment to do a little experiment.  Try chewing each bite 25 times before swallowing.  It’s hard to do, but you will quickly realize how much better the food has been broken down. That means better absorption of nutrients and better digestion, which of course means better overall health, too. After all, digestion starts in your mouth! Try it and let me know what you think. 

'Good For You' Bread

Yes, I said it, good and bread in the same sentence. In this current culture of paleo and gluten-free living, bread has become the enemy of many people wanting to be healthy. If that’s you, there’s a chance you will be offended by this post.  If you’re a non-bread eater, I respect your decision if it works for you, but avoiding bread is not for everyone and so that is where I begin.

I don’t see all bread as the sworn enemy, but I do believe that most of the bread that you see on the grocery store shelves (and in many restaurants) is really a chemistry experiment disguised as a bakery item and then marketed as being good for you with some clever wording on the label.

I am all about Clean Eating - real food, real ingredients, organic and GMO-free as much as possible.  There is room for bread in that equation, but it really depends on which bread you choose. 

Bread is one of those foods that has been tinkered with so much in a lab, that there is almost no point in eating it. Some of the worst ingredients manufactured breads contain are: soybean oil, high fructose corn syrup, dough conditioners like diglycerides, ethoxylated mono - and diglycerides, sodium stearoyl lactylate, calcium peroxide, azodicarbonamide, datem, and other ingredients you’ve never heard of and can’t pronounce. Real food? Not even close.

I have a family that loves to eat sandwiches (me, not so much) and that means having bread in our pantry that can pass the Clean Eating test.  That’s not an easy order to fill.  But I’ve found a few breads that have enough integrity that they can be eaten in our house, guilt free.

First is the line of Ezekiel breads by Food For Life.  They use sprouted, organic whole grains (sprouting ups the nutritional profile of grains in a big way), no refined sugars or GMO’s. They are usually in the freezer section because they have a short shelf life, which is not a bad thing, and come in a variety of flavors including a cinnamon raisin that is great toasted.  But for all of that, their breads are a bit on the dense side and have small slices. (learn more about them here www.foodforlife.com)

Then there is the line of Rudi’s breads.  Certified organic, no preservatives and GMO free ingredients that you can pronounce and recognize. They use a fermenting process to enrich flavor and make chemicals unnecessary for rising. (btw, fermented foods are good for you!) The loaves are cut into larger slices than Ezekiel, have a good flavor selection and they offer a line of sprouted and seeded varieties. They offer bagels, English muffins and wraps, too. Great for sandwiches and the Multi-grain Oat makes it easy to switch your kids over if they are used to white bread. (learn more about them here www.rudisbakery.com)

And the latest bread to pass my Clean Eating test is Dave’s Killer Bread.  It’s certified organic, non-GMO verified and packed full of nutritious grains and seeds.  The 21 Whole Grains and Seeds package offers 6 grams of protein, 5 grams of fiber and a 220mg of Alphalinolenic Acid (a good for you omega-3) per slice.  There is not one mystery ingredient on the list and it is soft and delicious – perfect for a sandwich, even better toasted. (learn more about them here www.daveskillerbread.com)

Whole grains are not the enemy* - they give us important nutrients like essential enzymes, iron, dietary fiber, vitamin E and B-complex vitamins. So choose your whole grains (and your breads) wisely  - read the ingredients list!- and you can be doing good for your body.  

 If you haven’t already, “clean up” your bread… and take one step closer to healthier eating.

*if you suffer from a condition like celiac disease, then grains containing gluten are not for you. But here are some of a variety of gluten free whole grains that you can eat to reap the benefits: millet, amaranth and quinoa.