Better than sliced bread

In our low-carb obsessed society, bread often gets a bad rap.  Although in many cases it's justified (due to it's enriched ingredients and surprising amounts of salt and sugar), it doesn't have to be that way.  Bread can be a healthy addition to your diet if you shop smart by reading the nutrition label.  Here are a few tips:  

• Choose whole wheat breads (the first ingredient should read: whole wheat, not enriched!) 
• Find breads that have 5% or less of the recommended daily value (DV) of sodium; avoid going over 170 mg per slice.  
• Check the sugar content.  A good rule of thumb is to find a 1:2 ratio of sugar to fiber.  For example, if there are 2 grams of sugar, there should be at least 4 grams of fiber.  
• As always, the fewer the ingredients, the better!

Too confusing?  Why not make your own!  It's inexpensive and simple to do, especially if you have a bread machine.  (If you don't have a bread machine, I found several on Amazon for well under $100.)

This homemade bread has only 6 ingredients and takes about 10 minutes to put together before the bread machine takes over.  It's perfect for sandwiches or delicious just by itself.  Click here to get the recipe.

Real Summer Treats

For the most part, we eat pretty well in our household.  But like most people, there are a few areas we could improve on (cereal, granola bars, etc).  Recently I was revisiting Lisa Leake's blog, 100 Days of Real Food (if you haven't already checked this out, do it!) and as careful as I am about reading ingredient labels, I let some things slip occasionally for the sake of convenience, but after reading a few of her posts I was re-inspired to be more careful.  More careful about looking where my food is coming from; about how many ingredients are listed and how many are unfamiliar; about whether or not my food comes from a bag, box, or can.

In my opinion, eating whole foods is the easiest "diet" out there because you don't have to count or keep track of anything.  You just eat real food.  A lot of people think that means giving up sweets, but they're sorely mistaken.  It might take a bit more effort, but your food (including treats) will taste that much better.  Not to mention, you'll crave more wholesome, nutritious food, and less of the junk.

Take popsicles for example.  A typical box will have a list of ingredients including things like artificial dyes, processed sugars and other unrecognizable ingredients.  Now take a look at this:

It only has three ingredients.  And you'd recognize all of them.  These Berry Yogurt Pops are easy to make and taste so fresh.  The hardest part is waiting for them to freeze.  All you need is a popsicle mold (I found this one at Bed Bath and Beyond) and a few simple ingredients.  Find the recipe here.

What's your favorite frozen treat to make at home?