Food related questions-going to health food store

[DorothyB]

I'm going to Whole Foods which is our big health food chain. I haven't been there in a couple of years. This seems like a good time to ask a lot of questions.

1) Nuts - I'm guessing raw is always better? I like pecans, almonds and (I think) cashews. I like walnuts OK. Are walnuts the healthiest ones?

2) Butter - for a long time I've gotten "real" butter instead of margarine. However, I get frustrated about how hard it is to spread. I've tried getting the "spreadable" which is just a teeny better. Last time I broke down and got one with canola oil as well as cream and other "butter" ingredients. It spreads better, but I'd like to get back to the real butter. What do you do to make it spreadable? Can you leave it at room temperature??

3) Oil - I use very little oil, but sometimes a recipe will call for it, etc. What is the healthiest type of oil that can be used for general cooking, etc?

Of course, I will look at fruits & veggies. I've tried whole-grain pastas before, but may try them again. What else should I look at? Is millet really more healthy than regular rice?

I might look at yogurt, but with having to carry it into work for the rest of the day, then home, I'm not too excited about getting refrigerated items. It's cool enough that produce should be fine in the car parked in the parking garage.

What about frozen dinners? Any suggestions?

Thanks!

[LoriB]

Almonds...raw. They are very healthy, walnuts, too. Whichever nut is not a trigger food for you.

I use butter sticks. Rather than cutting off a square from the end, I scrape the knife over the top, llengthwise shaving just a bit. It spreads that way. We don't use butter for much, though. Only baked potatoes and mac n cheese, both for the kids.

Olive oil. Organic, first cold press is the best. Any time we cook, we use it.

Brown rice, rather than white. Whole grains, breads with NO trans fats, partially hydrogenated oils, or high fructose corn syrup.

Amy's makes some great frozen stuff.

You don't have to make a 360 change. Do it in a way that you can live with it, and not feel deprived. If you do it too fast, you may miss the old stuff, and just give up.

No point in doing that.

[Mary Ann]

Oh! Oh! Oh! I know, I know!!! ;D

1) As to nuts, raw is better, but roasted are okay. And of those you mentioned, walnuts come first, almonds second. Pecans and cashews are okay, but aren't as packed as the others in highest quality fats for the calories. If you can, get them in the shell. That'll be raw, and the cracking will slow down consumption. Unless you have some really amazing teeth, you can't throw back a handful if the shells are on!

2) Butter. Get unsalted. And yes you can leave it at room temperature in the winter! I do at any time it's below 75 degrees. Since you're doing just for you, just put out a half stick at a time, and store the rest in the fridge. In the summer, get one of those little crocks that you pack butter in and turn upside down in water. It keeps the butter cooler, but still spreadable.

3) Olive oil is the winner, hands down. You can use the exotic beautiful dark green extra virgin ones in salads and for dipping (even better for you than butter on your bread, and oh so yummy!) and the later pressings for cooking. Or you can substitute canola when flavor doesn't matter, but price does. Commercial canola uses solvents to extract the oils. It's thought that these aren't good for us. But the ones that WF stocks doesn't use these. The yield is therefore less, and the price is of course higher. But at least you know why.

Their fruits and veggies rock! They're spendy, but the organics have much more nutrition to them. And they tend to have excellent quality. The ww pasta is okay if you can eat it, but do know that if cooked al dente, the semolina type isn't much more glycemic. Just use it sparingly, like you suggested with your sauce and added veggies. That really lowers the amount of pasta you need. Millet's okay, but I prefer brown rice. They even make a Minute Rice that's brown, just in case you're in a time jam! And best of all is whole barley. It's very high in fiber and leaves you satisfied a looong time. I'd always rather have a chicken barley soup than chicken noodle. It sticks with you a LOT longer, but doesn't really have all that many calories (compared to noodles).

Also, many of the frozen dinners can be pretty bland. You might pick and choose among them, because some are good; but they leave out a lot of the salt and stuff that folks expect from processed soup. I've gotten some of the Amy's, and even though I don't add salt to my soups, I'd die if they ever turned out like that paste-in-a-can!!!

I dunno; so much of it's individual. I loff their deli, their salad bar, their cheese selection ( I LOFF artisan cheeses), their coffees, their fresher than fresh whole wheat flour (they even have the King Arthur white whole wheat--- a whole grain flour that's a strain different from the red wheat we all know and is milder and more amenable to conventional baking), their great pesto, etc. I don't do their meats or fish. They're pricey, and I can get better elsewhere. AND, they were embroiled in a scandal about a year ago where they were selling salmon they claimed was wild, and it was farmed.

Ohhh, I want to go with you!!! *sigh*

[DorothyB]

I went to Whole Foods. I followed the advice not to set myself up for failure by over-doing or changing too much.

Bought organic walnuts and plain raw almonds. I just couldn't pay almost twice the price for organic almonds.

I looked at the produce and got a few things - some bananas, a couple of apples, a sweet potato and some brocolli. Tonight's dinner was planned as grilled salmon and steamed veggies (saving the "breads" for snack at home group this evening). I'll have steamed fresh organic brocolli instead of frozen veggies.

Then I walked down past the meats. I was looking for "lunch meat" type stuff to use for sandwiches. I almost got some, but didn't. As I went past the frozen meat, I made my BIG DISCOVERY!! First some background:
As a young teenager (~30 years ago) my family used to buy beef sausage - like the pork sausage usually bought in the one pound "chubs" (plastic wrapped fat tube). I really liked it. Then I moved and wasn't really a participant in purchasing or cooking food. Later as an adult, I looked for the ground beef sausage in Houston, but couldn't find it. In the late 70's or early 80's, I drove with my mother to Illinois to visit my grandmother. Two things I remember about the journey there: 1) I hit an armadillo - my first time to hit an animal; 2) at a McDonald's in Arkansas, they used BEEF SAUSAGE!!. Fast forward - several times in the last few years I've looked unsuccessfully for beef sausage. Well, today, for the first time, I FOUND IT!! Whole Foods had frozen ground beef sausage. I bought a package. They are already 2 oz patties and I bought a 10 oz package. As a bonus, it is even organic (or at least all natural - can't rememeber). I paid $8 (or over $10 per pound), but I HAD to have it. Can't wait to try it, but it won't be today.

I also got a couple of frozen dinners - chicken alfredo w/ brocolli (for a meal if needed) and eggplant parmesan (for a heavy duty snack if needed). I wrote down the info to figure up the exchanges on them. They will stay in the freezer at work for when I forget my lunch, unexpectedly work late, am really hungry, etc.

I also bought some vitamins. The brand I've used for years is one I chose there, but have more recently bought at a small, more expensive, health food store near home. Turns out WF hasn't sold that for "3 years". I bought a different one. Can't remember the name - NWY Alive is on my receipt.

I didn't get the oil or even look at much else. A Kroger's that isn't closest to me, but not too far away, has a good-sized organic foods section that I need to check out.

[Mary Ann]

Sounds like you had a great time! I used to think that organic was just a method of horticulture, and that avoiding the chemical pesticides was good for the environment. Now come to find that organic produce also has a lot more of the health building micronutrients than their commercially produced counterparts, and for the same calories! I'm glad I've gardened organically all these years!

I should get my behind over there sometime soon. But it'll take me about an hour and a half each way, and then my shopping time, so it's a commitment. Plus I have to go in the middle of the day to avoid the drive time traffic, and that cuts into my riding time!

But they have Stilton.... *sigh*

[snaffle]

I read several years ago that a person should eat 10 almonds every day to help balance the bodies acidity.. disease loves the acidic body.

butter is better... I keep butter in a small tiny bowl.. if I forget to set it out at room temperature so it will get soft, I zap it in the microwave for a few seconds. I remember my mom and my aunt having a bowl set out at room temp. of course it never sat out for days on end.... it never lasted that long!!! nope.. not with a house full of country kids ;D

I use olive oil for cooking. I use good old LARD for baking.. but dont do much of that

read up on glycemic values... it will help you decide on some of your food choices.

We had a milk delivery man years ago who told me that many women on his route were buying yogurt from him because it had become the latest diet craze. He said that if they checked into the calories in one container...they wouldnt eat it at all.

DorothyB... you used a lot of discipline in your healthy shopping today!!! Way to go girlfriend!!