Beware of 'Eating Right' Brand and/or Lowfat/Nonfat

Make yerself some granola (4.00 / 6)

and then perhaps take it one step farther?

http://bitten.blogs.nytimes.co...

I was originally going to start experimenting making bars today, but I woke up to an email rush job with a wicked tight deadline and an absent contact, lol!~ No matter how long I've distrusted manufactured "health food", I STILL get sucked in on occasion and forget to read the label.  Same with fruit juice etc. You literally cannot go into a store and buy packaged food without a fair bit of knowledge and a strong pair of reading glasses.

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by: nycstray @ Wed May 13, 2009 at 02:25:53 AM UTC

Ain't that the truth! (4.00 / 5)

The store where I work has "ruby red grapefruit juice."  Read the label and it's a "juice drink."  I never looked at the ingredients: "juice drink" was all I needed to know...I will never buy or consume it.

The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found. -- Calvin Trillin

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by: Youffraita @ Wed May 13, 2009 at 09:13:21 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

oh gross (4.00 / 4)

I'd be pretty pissed off.

As mentioned in another comment by someone else, making granola's not that hard. The only problem is that it's expensive. I just found a recipe online that called for oats (cheap), walnuts (freaking expensive), flax seeds, wheat germ, unsweetened coconut, canola oil, applesauce, agave nectar, cinnamon, and ground ginger. It was super-easy to make, just expensive. But it made a lot of granola and its a lot less sugar than the junk at the store.

"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman

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by: Jill Richardson @ Wed May 13, 2009 at 16:37:03 PM UTC

Alton Brown did a show (4.00 / 4)

on Good Eats about making your own energy bars, pop tart type snacks, etc. He's pretty into DIY stuff you can find at the store and he says it's less expensive (maybe not the granola), and better for you because it won't have all the addatives, plus you can make the things exactly the way you want them.

His recipe for toaster tarts (pop tart) actually sounded pretty good.

I heart Alton....

Regarding locavores as elitists - explain to me how supporting local business is elitist....

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by: Joanne Rigutto @ Wed May 13, 2009 at 20:05:50 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I saw that one :) (4.00 / 4)

I'm actually trying his granola this go round. His waffle show had me making and freezing waffles for a quickie breakfast. I have 2 of his books. Toaster tarts might be another something I can do with my fruit share . . hmmm . . . .

{goes to kitchen to start snacking}

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by: nycstray @ Wed May 13, 2009 at 20:10:55 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Good Eats is a gateway drug (4.00 / 2)

Straight from there to mainlining Food Channel. :)

I too think Alton Brown is the greatest. He seems to know everything about food, and has the knack of being able to present his knowledge in a way that's both entertaining and authoritative. I saw him once on an episode of The Next Food Network Star where he was laying down the rules for contestants on what you had to do to have a food show that people would actually watch. It was obvious he'd done his homework and applied the rules to his own shows.

I remember the show he did about healthy snacks, and the one about making your own marshmallows (and making Rice Krispie-style treats from your homemade marshmallows, dried fruits and popped brown rice). I need to start keeping a notebook by the TV so I can jot down notes when he's on and go look up his recipes later. A lot of shows on Food Network, I look at the stuff they do and go, "I ain't never doin' that." Not so with Alton Brown -- his recipes look like anyone can do them. (I even like the shows involving alcohol, even though I don't drink and would never make authentic mint juleps or the perfect James Bond martini.)

I have succumbed to the Twitter craze. @Omir55

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by: Omir the Storyteller @ Thu May 14, 2009 at 02:29:09 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

lol!~ I saw the marshmallow show also! (4.00 / 3)

He also did some shows about beef where he went over the different cuts along with a cow diagram. That was airing right about the time I was buying my first side of beef. He also had a great show on cast iron pans and breads.

Uh, yeah, I think I do mainline FoodNetwork, lol!~ Which also led me over to PlanetGreen.

Oh, and you really don't need a notebook. FoodNetwork is pretty good about having their info on the site. I just keep it bookmarked and enjoy the shows. I was watching Big Daddy the other day and he was doing Asian flavors. During the show I went online and it was all there :) I print out what I want and keep it in a binder. I know which shows I like on FN. The ones with fresh ingredients that do simple recipes that highlight the ingredients. When I'm looking for new recipes, if I search FN, I can easily break it down by "chef". I was never a fan of "Semi-Homemade", but I caught her new show the other day and she was actually showing how to use some fresh ingredients in a healthy, money saving way. I've only seen the one show, but I may check it out just for more ideas on "second uses" of ingredients. Even if to just pass on (healthy, money saving) ideas to folks. I tend to like seeing how many uses I can get out of one chicken :)

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by: nycstray @ Thu May 14, 2009 at 05:11:32 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Actually I do need a notebook (4.00 / 2)

because if I don't write things down I tend to forget them. That's not the worst part, though. The worst part is wandering around the next day going What WAS I going to look up on the net??? and smacking myself up side the head for forgetting. It wouldn't be so bad if I just completely forgot it -- then every day could be a new day. :)

Yeah I saw the beef cuts episode too. He did one that was fascinating about how to age a steak in your fridge. Up until then I had no idea why you'd let a steak just sit around for four weeks before you ate it.

I have succumbed to the Twitter craze. @Omir55

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by: Omir the Storyteller @ Thu May 14, 2009 at 05:37:13 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I'd use pecans (4.00 / 2)

which would drive up the price even further. :)

I have succumbed to the Twitter craze. @Omir55

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by: Omir the Storyteller @ Thu May 14, 2009 at 02:30:30 AM UTC

[ Parent ]