Work, Shop, Eat, Repeat: Foods to Love

When I ask people why they work, they usually say, “To pay the bills.” Why do I work? Because I love to EAT!! There’s nothing like moving across the country or to another country to shake up your taste buds. There are foods I miss from NY, but I’ve discovered a lot of great things to eat in CA. A lot of my favorite foods are healthy and make it easier to stick to a diabetic diet. Here are some of my favorites:

Pho – (pronounced ‘fuh’) Pho is Vietnamese soup, which is more like a meal, or several meals, and summertime all in one bowl. It can be made with a variety of different meats, seafood or tofu. All varieties have rice noodles, sprouts, basil, and spices such as coriander and cinnamon. Find recipes for it at foodily.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 OK, don’t ask me why I had to move to CA to discover the best NY bagels, but here they are. Just Bagels are served in the Barnes & Noble cafes here. They are loaded with carbs, but also have whole grains and are yummy. They also have, like, a gazillion different kinds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kashi hot cereals and granola bars taste so good, and they do not have any high fructose corn syrup in them. Good for lowering cholesterol and filling you up. They may be a bit expensive, but there are online coupons for both.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s hard to find tortilla chips that aren’t too greasy or salty. My Nana’s are perfect. Thin, crunchy, but hearty enough to scoop up salsa or guacamole. Yum! No saturated fat and not too many carbs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Like blue tortilla chips? Then Garden of Eatin’ is for you. Their blue chips also come baked or popped with flaxseed, multigrain, no salt, a little salt, regular salt, whatever your diet calls for. They taste great, and you can load them up with whatever heavy toppings you love, and they won’t break.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now for the toppings. Gente garlic salsa is the BEST. It is made mild or hot. However, do not, I REPEAT, do not buy the hot if you have a sensitive tummy. It will burn the eyebrows off your dining mates when you open your mouth. But it is, oh, sooooo good.

Fountain of Health’s hummus is extra creamy because it has a ton of tahini in it, as well as lemon juice, garlic and ground chickpeas. It is a good source of protein and goes well with tortilla chips.

Mango salsa is another great topping for tortilla chips. Mangoes and red peppers are substituted for tomatoes. Yum. Check foodily.com for recipes.

 

 

 

 

Need to lower your cholesterol? Honey Nut Cheerios and soy milk are great breakfast foods that can help. I’ve been eating these FOREVER, and I am always craving them. Another cereal that can be expensive, but there are online coupons to defray the cost. Double YUM!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many diabetics have a problem with lactose intolerance. Silk products solve this problem. They make soy, almond and coconut milks and eggnogs. Light, chocolate, organic — whatever you need, and it is fortified with the same amount of calcium as milk. Bonus: I have found that the hot flashes I’ve experienced as part of pre-menopause have stopped after switching to soy milk. Soy products such as soy milk and tofu are reputed to help with this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anything made by Starbucks is fine with me. Unfortunately, even their light versions of their specialty drinks still have quite a few carbs in them. So a trip to Starbucks is reserved for special occasions. A tea latte made at home with black or orange pekoe tea, soy milk and some Splenda can hit the spot, especially if I am feeling under the weather. Something to drink that is warm and comforting…

 

 

It sure isn’t Wegmans, but Whole Foods carries some great foods too. One of my favorite is the pretzel roll. Yup, it is just what it sounds like — a roll made from pretzel dough, sprinkled with just enough sea salt to make it tasty. Sorry, no picture, but if you are a Whole Foods nut, you know what they look like anyways.

 

A perfect spread for pretzel rolls, Brummel & Brown is not margarine or butter. It is a yummy tasting spread made with yogurt. No carbs, 1.5 grams of saturated fat per tbsp, it will not ruin your diet. It also comes in strawberry as well (but hard to find!). Warning: This spread does not melt well and is not really suitable for baking.

There are many, many other foods I love and will work my fingers to the bone for, including some of the not so healthy ones. I won’t mention those, but if you are looking for nutrition info for food you are considering eating try these links: foodily.com, Calorie King, Nutrition Data and CalorieLab. Happy Eating!

Arghhh! Wegmans, Where are You?

9/19/11 UPDATE: The unions and corporations finally settled. No strike. Whew. I wasn’t relishing walking a few miles just to pick up groceries.

Southern Cali is in the grip of yet another threatened grocery store strike. No word this morning if workers are actually on strike yet. The last one in 2003 cost Ralphs $2 billion. This time, Ralphs decided to just close its doors and wait out the strike. Do they think the strikers’ audience won’t show up? Are they guestimating that they will lose less money? The 2003 strike lasted for 4 months, but I had a lot more money then and so did other people. This time around it is going to be much harder always shopping at Whole Foods where the workers are not on strike. Whole Foods is kind of like Wegmans, but smaller. The food is more expensive, but mostly better quality than at other grocery stores. Their facilities are also nicer than most grocery stores in southern Cali.

I get why the workers are striking. I really do. Medical costs are going up, and they need better medical coverage. However, self checkouts do not need medical coverage. There are also a plethora of stores here that have added grocery centers such as Wal-Mart and Target with better deals than conventional grocery stores. Will the grocery stores get their customers to come back? That remains to be seen.

I think it’s time for the #3 Best Company to move into Cali… Seriously, I’d be willing to work harder and pay more for a decent bagel.