Spring Cleaning Food Tip #1...

Clean out your stash... a.k.a. your pantry and fridge! Get rid of those half-eaten boxes of chocolates, giant tins of decadent popcorn, leftover desserts, and whatever other tempting indulgent goodies are residing in your kitchen. You don't need 'em! Replace them with guilt-free foods so you're always prepared for a smart snack or meal.

Foods to Shop For:

Anything Kashi – crackers, frozen dinners, cereals, granola bars, cookies.  Their foods are all-natural and VERY good.  If you want to see what all they have, go to www.kashi.com and see what all they have.  Also, Fiber One cereal (original) is another good choice.

Special K crackers – Not a real fan of the Special K bars because they contain artificial ingredients and more sugar than necessary, but I love their new crackers. 

Organic or natural peanut butters – Jif Natural is great. Read the label & make sure there is low sugar & the main ingredient is peanuts.  Better ‘n Peanut Butter at Trader Joe’s or Target – it has a different texture than regular peanut butter but very smooth & has a great taste.  Grind your own peanut or almond butter at Winco.

Cheese: Lowfat cheeses – either slices or grated cheese. The lowfat swiss cheese is great on sandwiches – use ½ slice. Laughing Cow spreadable cheeses are great on sandwiches or wraps, and Babybel cheese rounds are perfect for a snack alongside an apple.

Condiments: Lowfat or fat free mayo; preferably go with mustard – either regular or any of the flavors. 

Salad Dressing – Any of the light Newman’s Own – they are natural and quite good.  Other brands are fine, too, just read the label and make sure there is low sugar…steer clear of anything that has partially hydrogenated soybean oil listed as an ingredient.

Snack Bars: Larabar, Luna, Kashi or other snack and protein bars made with whole grains – these are at Wal-Mart, Target and most grocery stores.  A great snack in the afternoon or mid-morning. Another favorite you can order online are Quest bars - www.questnutrition.com or they also sell them on Amazon.com.  They are all natural and really, really good. Other online options are NuGo Slim and Smart For Life bars - both found on Amazon.com.

Bread – look for whole grain or whole wheat as the first ingredient; also look for calorie count to be 100 calories or less per slice. 

Tortillas – look for the La Tortilla Factory Smart & Delicious tortillas & wraps.  They have 100-calorie large ones that are great for sandwich wraps, & smaller 50-calorie ones, which are good for fajitas.

Sandwich rounds – Oro Wheat has some and so do other brands – look for ones with 100 calories.  Great for sandwiches, and we use them for sloppy joes and hamburgers, too, instead of buns. 

Butter – Brummel and Brown in a tub – has a blue label and is made with yogurt.  Or use a little real butter – using less of the real thing is okay. 

Vegetables – Buy fresh whenever you can.  I get the baby carrots so they are convenient, and then I try to go ahead and cut up some bell peppers (love the colored ones), cucumbers, etc. so they are easy to grab.  WinCo Foods has a great selection of vegetables at great prices.  Mixed greens & spinach are great and can be bought in the package already mixed.  More interesting & nutritious than iceberg!  

Fruits – Strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries are all great.  Apples, bananas, oranges, peaches, pears – all are great.  Keep in mind that fruit has sugar in it – it is natural sugar so that is great.  But just keep that in mind as you put together your snacks…sometimes use fruit as your sweetener. 

When you are grocery shopping, look for whole grain, whole wheat or sprouted wheat – these are better than multi-grain. Multi-grain means there may be parts of many grains, but not a “whole” grain. Kind of misleading unless you know what you are looking for. If there isn’t whole wheat, multi is a good second option.