My favorite healthy choices

I’ve started to rely heavily on certain items when I want to make easy healthy choices. Jeff laughs because he can guess every time we go to the grocery store what I am going  to buy – I tend to get the same staples over and over again. Here are a few of my favorites:

Kashi Autumn Wheat Cereal  – Well, anything by Kashi actually. I point out Autumn Wheat because it has 0 sodium – 0! Since most of what we humans eat is full of sodium, I figure this is a good way to start out the day.

Silk Light Vanilla Soy Milk – No cholesterol! Beats regular milk for that reason.

Harris Teeter Egg Starts – Cheaper than Egg Beaters, and also no cholesterol – eggs are terrible with cholesterol!

Naked Juice – Green Machine –  Just like Kashi, anything by Naked Juice is really good. I picked Green Machine because it looks really gross, but it actually tastes good. Their marketing sums it up: “We know it looks intimidating, but don’t judge a juice by its color. It actually tastes good. No really, we’re serious.” As the name Naked Juice suggests, they don’t add any sugars – only use natural sugars found in the fruit.

Thomas Bagels – The 22 oz. bagels are huge and filling, but they’re low in fat and have lots of protein. I trade between flavors – whole wheat, blueberry, cinnamon swirl, everything (warning: everything has lots of sodium!)

Perfect Zero Carb Isopure Protein Powder – A great way to get protein without a lot of the bad stuff (fat, cholesterol, etc.). My favorite meal with the protein powder is this:

1 scoop protein powder
½ cup Silk Light Vanilla Soy Milk
1 tbsp. Harris Teeter Naturals Peanut Butter – Organic Creamy Peanut Butter
1 banana
4 tbsp. Ovaltine
2 tbsp. Wheat Germ
Ice

Blend it all together and it’s so yummy … It is high in calories (about 470) but is quite filling, so it can be considered a meal. This recipe is a good source of vitamins such as: Vitamin A, Vitamins B6 and B12, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Vitamin E, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Niacin, etc … Is also a great source of potassium, dietary fiber and protein. To make it lower calorie, skip the peanut butter. I’ve also made protein shakes with soy milk, banana, wheat germ and cinnamon. Also very yummy!