Trade It Tuesday

Snapping pictures in the grocery store this week (this time in Nugget) I was approached again by the store staff.  The lady said "There you are, I found you!" and I thought to myself, "Here we go again!".  However she went up to my cart, grabbed the 10lb bag of sugar that was there and I saw a giant pile of sugar on the floor under my cart.  Apparantly my sugar bag had a hole in it!  I looked back and there was a solid trail of sugar running down the entire aisle marking my path.  Hard to be incognito when you are trailing a stream of sugar behind you! 

Anyway, after great results last week with switching people to Natural Cheetos, here is this week's list of brands you can swap to eliminate artificial colors, flavors, preservatives and other nasties from your family's diet:

Instead of the regular cheesy crackers we've all fed our tiny tots, try the Annie's brand of bunny crackers.  They come in many different flavors:  Cheddar Bunnies, White Chedder, Sour Cream and Onion, Wheat Bunnies, and even in chocolate or chocolate chip (to replace the ever popular Teddy Grahams). 

 

It may be "The Cheesiest" but it's also full of artificial flavors, so instead of the regular brand of Mac & Cheese, again opt for the Annie's brand.  There are tons of flavors (we do the white chedder the most) and they are all great.  They also have organic versions if you decide that is important. 

The typical graham crackers on the market usually contain the artificial ingredient "Vanillan" instead of pure vanilla.  So trade those out for the New Morning Honey Grahams.  My kids did not even know the difference. These can be found in the natural foods section, not the regular cracker section.

Lastly, Leggo those Eggos, and instead choose an all natural version of frozen waffle.  I keep these on hand for weekday mornings when we don't have the time to whip up a batch of homemade waffles.  Ben loves waffles and these Van's Belgian Waffles are perfectly fine with him.  Make sure you don't accidentally buy the Wheat Free/Gluten Free version because those do NOT taste the same! 

 

Oh, and it's time to ditch your normal table syrup which is full of artificial flavors!  Instead, buy Pure Grade A or Pure Grade B Maple Syrup.  Most stores have their own brand.  I usually find the pure syrup in the regular syrup aisle. You will have sticker shock at first because Pure Maple Syrup is extremely expensive compared to regular table syrup - but it's becuase all those artificial ingredients make the table syrup much cheaper to produce.  I feel it's worth a little extra to know we aren't consuming petroleum on our waffles.  

Remember, you totally control what your family eats by making the purchase decisions at the store.  All of the products mentioned today can be found at Bel Air, Nugget and I'm sure most mainstream grocery stores.  My kids love each of these products I've mentioned.  Start trading the old artificials out this week by bringing a few more of these natural products into your home.  Use your purchase power to tell the food companies we are tired of the additives they hide in our foods.