Nutrition Product Recommendations by Recipe for Fitness

When you choose a clean-eating lifestyle, you might find yourself spending more time reading labels than actually cooking! Don't worry, while scrutinizing nutrition labels is now a part of your life, the time it takes to find trustworthy products will reduce. To save you some of that exploration time, I've offered a list of products in various categories that I trust and purchase for my own family.

As with any food... read the label. Watch out for sodium levels, as well as sugar, saturated fats, and additives.

Ready Made Grains Grains Bread / Tortillas / Pizza Shells Condiments

Bacon / Bacon Bits Deli-Meat Yogurt Bars / Meal Bars

Click on the image of the products to view its website.

Favorite Ready Made Grain picks...
These are convenience foods that are wonderful options when prep time is short. I do all my food prep on Sundays, and I cook up a big batch of grains for the week, but when I don't get to do all my prep, or life gets in the way, it's easy to pick up some of these convenience packages, and they're a much better choice than a trip through the drive-thru!

Favorite Grain picks...
I make a big batch of grains each Sunday. I've been known to do brown rice, a blend of wild & brown rice, quinoa, kasha... whatever strikes my fancy. My favorite right now is buying the quinoa in bulk (red, black and white) then mixing them together. I cook them (rinsing well first to remove the bitter outer coating) in low-sodium chicken broth instead of water. Awesome!

Pasta: My family just doesn't like Whole Wheat pasta. But the Quinoa pasta gets a full set of thumbs up! It looks like "regular" pasta, tastes phenomenal, and is healthy!

Favorite Bread Products
My hands-down-pic is Homemade... When I make the time, I love to bake my own bread. My husband and his dad both prefer my bread to the store-bought (who knew!), and the recipe I use is really, really fabulous. Making your own bread is absolutely time consuming, but it's also comforting. I very much enjoy the process. Here's the recipe I use:
Homemade Whole grain bread - Maple Seeded Bread Recipe

NOT Homemade...
Whole Grain, Bread by EarthGrains

This bread is a favorite around our house. It's not "heavy", in fact, it's kind of light. Best of all it tastes really, really good! Available at Safeway, Frys and other markets for $4.99/loaf ($2.50/loaf on sale).

Whole Grain, Organic Bread by Alpine Valley

This bread is another favorite around our house. It's dense but not "heavy", filling but doesn't leave you uncomfortable full. Best of all it tastes really, really good! Available at Whole Foods Market for $4.99/loaf.

Other bread products:

Pizza Crusts...When I'm buying a 'real' pizza shell, my number 1 pick is always Alvarado Street Bakery's California Pizza Crust. Absolutely clean and incredibly tasty! If I can't find it, I'll look for another clean option, and in a pinch, I'll pick up Boboli's whole wheat crust. Additionally, thin buns or english muffins make great "pizza's.

Wraps/Tortillas: 365 Organic (found at Whole Foods) Whole Wheat tortillas and Red Chili tortillas, and my favorite when I can splurge, Sprouted Corn Tortillas (see below).

Less clean options... Mission brand Carb Balance Soft Taco Size (medium) or Ole brand High Fiber, Low Carb (any size).

Favorite Condiments...
It's hard to find products "clean" enough (and cheap!) to use on a weekly basis. Staples for us are dijon mustard, yellow mustard, honey mustard, taco sauce, and barbecue sauce (ingredients should not include any preservatives or HFC). My local Safeway carries a fairly clean store brand Honey Mustard that is very tasty! Fry's carries Macayo's brand Taco sauce (and Enchilada Sauces & Diced Green Chilies).

Other sauces/condiments are listed below:

Grandma Koyote's BBQ sauce is a new favorite! The Hot & Spicy is AWESOME! They also make a no-sugar added one, too! Click the photo to view their website.

A very mild flavor, Robbie's is a good "all-purpose" bbq sauce. Available at Whole Foods.

Need bacon or bacon bits? Wellshire Farms brand is perfect! Totally clean, and super yummy! Available online or at Whole Foods. These are the bacon bits I use in the Bacon Cheeseburgers (see recipe page). Additionally, their sliced bacon is a healthy choice (see recipe page for Bacon Wrapped Tillapia, and my Breakfast Burritos). Another good brand of bacon are Applegate Farms.

Favorite Deli-Meat products...
Finding a low-sodium, low-sugar lunch / deli meat was a challenge back in the day, so when I discovered some, I felt I should take out billboard space! :-) I typically buy my deli products at Whole Foods, from their deli. My products are sliced fresh for me, and are cheaper than buying the packages! Further, the meats and cheeses are preservative, hormone and chemical free. Always. Nowadays, more and more companies are offering clean options.

How do you pick a clean lunch / deli meat? Read the label. Look for: low-sodium; low-sugar; no preservatives (uncured is good!); no nitrates/nitrites; no high fructose corn syrup (HFCS or corn sugar); sea-salt is preferred to salt; low-fat; hormone-free.

Here are my picks:

Golden Farms No-Salt Added Turkey Breast (50 mg sodium per 2 ounce serving!)
Golden Farms No-Salt Added Chicken Breast (50 mg sodium per 2 ounce serving!)
Applegate Farms Uncured Ham
Also at the Whole Foods Deli Counter: Pepperoni, Salami, and more!
Tillamook Medium Cheddar
Provolone and Swiss
Applegate Farms sausages (many varieties) - Great on Pizza or in omelets!
Applegate Farms The Great Uncured Hot Dog
Applegate Farms Traditional Sliced Uncured Bacon (read the labels! Compare ingredients and sodium content to other choices)
Wellshire Farms Traditional Sliced Uncured Bacon (read the labels! Compare ingredients and sodium content to other choices)
Wellshire Farms Ready To Use Bacon Bits

*NOTE: Many more brands are available these days... keep an eye out for new ones! If you live near a Safeway, check out the Open Nature brand - so far I love everything they sell! ;-)

Favorite YOGURT Choices...

Chobani or Fage Greek Yogurt - Plain

It's so easy to add your own "stuff" to this yogurt. It's smooth and creamy, with a mild flavor. Other greek yogurts tend to be "bitey" or bitter. Chobani and Fage aren't. Go for the full fat versions.

Additions: (to 1 cup of yogurt) 1/2 cup fresh berries and 2 tbsp ground flax with a dash of cinnamon or a quarter cup of granola. Or 1/2 cup fresh berries, 1-2 tbsp honey, cinnamon and/or granola.

A favorite smoothie of my kids is to take 1 cup greek yogurt, add 1-2 cups frozen fruit and blend until smooth.

Greek Yogurt is a fabulous replacement for sour cream. Mix it with Sriracha sauce (hot sauce) for a great salad dressing (also fantastic on burritos, tacos, etc). The Chobani or Fage are so mild flavored, that no one will ever know when you replace the sour cream in a dip recipe (or anything else) with this greek yogurt.

Ideas:
■ Mix 2 tbsp of Greek Yogurt, Plain, with a few drops of Sriracha (or other hot sauce) for a great salad dressing (also fantastic on burritos, tacos, etc).
■ Use in place of Sour Cream on Potatoes, in dips, in recipes.
■ Mix with diced green chilies and use as a sauce.

This is FABULOUS yogurt! Similar to Greek in texture, but creamier and tastier, PLUS it's higher in healthy probiotics, higher in protein, lower in sugar, and VERY balanced in carbs vs protein. It's GREAT!!

OTHER OPTIONS....

We no longer purchase either of these yogurts, now that we've found a greek yogurt the whole family loves (see Chobani & additions above). But... it was a great stepping stone for our family, and if you're going "clean" in steps, these are a couple to consider.

Dannon Light & Fit Yogurt
Why I like this... it's got a much better balance of protein to carbohydrate, and the sugars are lower than the majority of yogurts available. They also have a Carb & Sugar Control version!

Yoplait Light Yogurt
Why I like this... my husband and kids loved the flavors. Keep an eye on the sugar content though!

Favorite Convenience Bar Choices...

These are the only bars I buy. They're clean, gluten free, low in sugar, high in protein, and have a balance of protein/carbs/fat that I can live with. For myself, I pick up the 'high protein' bar, and for my husband and son, I pick up the 'super protein'-bars. They taste amazing, too! There are a variety of choices, including kids' bars, paleo bars, and more. Visit the website HERE.

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