FOOD VIGILANTE

I am about to offer you a gift, please do not let it dilute the message in this post. After you read this you will have a bit more knowledge of what to put in your mouth, but also some fire power the next time we get into an argument. I will say something argumentative and stinging and you can say, “oh, yeah!? Well, YOU, FV, shopped at WalMart!!!!” Ugh, it’s going to come back to haunt me, I know it, but please, just keep this bit of info in your back pocket and don’t pull it out unless absolutely necessary. In the mean time, consider this tidbit of advice and use it. Thanks!

On a trip to GameStop to let my oldest spend some of his B-day gift cards I realized that I needed to get some grocery necessities and time wasn’t on my side. Luckily, there is a WalMart every 2.3 miles now and the one closest to the video game store was literally right next door. So, violent alien destroying video game in hand, I led my boys into the belly of the beast. The air carried a stench of recently digested small, privately owned businesses. The greeter said hello with a facial expression that said “hello, I could care less whether you made it out of here alive or dead”. Does Walmart really think that a greeter is even close to knowing the owner of a business by name and making the shopping experience personal, what a joke!

On to my point. One of the items I needed was cereal. I don’t purchase the sugar laden sweet cereals and it’s always an adventure trying to negotiate which cereal I can get my three boys to agree to buying. We looked over the usual top choices, Cheerios, Raisin Bran and Corn Flakes. I haven’t quite convinced the boys that Mueslix or Cream of Wheat are the way to go. (baby steps)

Then my oldest asked about frosted mini wheats. I considered the sugar-to-redeemable-value ratio and it’s slim. But, my sons more often than not abide by my vigilance in food and generally go along with most of my food adventures with out much fight. So, I bent on the sugar issue grabbed the box of Kellog’s Frosted Mini Wheats. Then I noticed the price…almost $4!! Seriously? I was about to toss the whole idea out when I then noticed the box of Great Value Frosted Mini Wheats on the same shelf, the WalMart store brand. This variety was just under $2, much better. So, I decided to compare ingredients first. I figured that WalMart, being the demon that they are, would have it’s cheaper store brand full of HFCS and harmful preservatives.

Wasn’t I surprised? The WalMart brand had actual sugar whereas the Kellogg’s brand used High Fructose Corn Syrup!

The rest of the ingredients were basically the same. It dawned on me that the Nationally advertised brand spends hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars on advertising and flashy packaging and there’s probably little money left over for anything decent in the ingredient list. So, what’s the solution for Kellogs, cheaper ingredients like HFCS that are being proven to have direct detrimental effects on our health. Oh, the sacrifice that is made to afford prime-time advertising!

Now the WalMart brand does not advertise and the box is just a little less plain than the generic black and white boxes of the past. So, they can afford to use actual sugar. In fact I tried to google a picture of the Walmart brand and couldn’t even find that on line anywhere. Kudos to WalMart. This shows that what you get from the more recognized producers is not always the best for you. I implore you, as always, READ YOUR LABELS!!

So, with all the money WalMart is saving on advertising and packaging, there sould be plenty of funds to continue to clear away unsightly trees and wild life and build more beautiful cement boxes. (did you think I’d let ‘em off scot-free?)

Last suggestion, but the un-frosted mini wheats and drizzle with honey!

Buzz,

FV

Well, after yesterday’s flurry of activity I am convinced that I could rename my blog either “I Hate WalMart” or “I Love Walmart” and I would have the busiest site on the web. Nevertheless, I will stay the course, vigilance in food.

On Facebook, I posted a picture of a recent breakfast of mine…

Old Man Food or Trendy??

In my recent abstinence from meat, I have been exploring other sources of protein. I love peanut butter always, so this is no big adventure, but it’s topped with prunes and over a slice of sunflower seed bread; no sugar, no preservatives, no worries. I jokingly asked if this combination made me look healthy, hip and trendy or old and irregular. Here were some of my favorite comments…

~”I’d suggest trying it with lekvar instead, (mostly because I’m imagining a peanut butter covered prune rolling off the toast onto your shirt and/or pants)”

~”Ummm Eeeewww lol”

~”Sounds like a trip to the “john” is in your future soon. lol”

~”I had a chocolate donut for breakfast!! yeah!”

~”Personally, I’ve been on a banana, fluffer-nutter sandwich kick! Never ate them until a few weeks back… on lite whole wheat bread of course and with reduced fat pb.”

~”If you’re eating the prunes for flavor, then you are trendy. If you are seeking regularity, then you are old.”

For whatever it’s worth, I think this is a breakfast of champions! Wheaties can’t hold a candle to the minerals, vitamins and fiber in this trendy-hip-old-man delight! It really just tastes like peanut butter and jelly and not to pick too much on Wheaties, but they do have a lot of added sugar and other non-wheat ingredients. Someone (me) once said that Wheaties are to wheat, what panties are to pants, a flimsy version of the whole original. Think about it. (Easy General Mills, I do enjoy Wheaties from time to time)

At any rate, to show you all that I have not completely relegated myself to retirement-friendly food, here is my breakfast this morning, my own south-west bagel breakfast sandwich. (lol, sounds like I am now an old man trying to be trendy, hip and healthy)  We’ll start with a plain bagel and two eggs.

Farm Eggs. No HFCS or Hydrogonated Oils in Bagel!

Cream cheese is like spreadable heaven. Spread in moderation, please. Salsa is the perfect condiment, as far as I’m concerned.

Cream Cheese...Salsa

Eggs, little bit of butter, salt, pepper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Break the yolks, top with garlic and southwest spices (Aldi has that!)

 

Hot side hot, cold side cold. Does anyone remember the McDLT? (click for the commercial, it features Jason Alexander, aka George Costanza form Seinfeld, very funny!) It was a sandwich from the time that McCrap sold actual food and not preserved plastic.

Add an orange and you have the start to a great day! Now, if it would only stop snowing in April.

What’s your favorite breakfast that isn’t dried flakes floating in infant bovine sustenance?

Mooo,

FV

Yum, cute sushi!

I’m not sure if anyone is still listening, but I am still here. I haven’t written since November of last year. Luckily, I am still in the habit of eating food, thus I still have a lot to complain about, HA! I won’t start off complaining right away. I have some good news.

Giant Eagle Sushi.

I know, I know. That’s like saying ‘McDonald’s Health Food’ or ‘Political Truth’ or ‘Charlie Sheen Sanity’ (ooo, a Sheen reference, I’m so current and edgy! Duh, winning!) Sorry, I fell asleep to the TV show “Extra” last night, it will pass soon.

So, for those of you not living in the PA tri-state area, Giant Eagle is a huge local grocery store chain. It has recently been pushing it’s new concept and identity, “Market District”. This is an idea that I have both poked fun at and complimented. In an effort to distance themselves from WalMart and mom ‘n pop places, Giant Eagle has spiffed itself up; added high end foods, new decor, beer and wine, and of course, sushi. Sushi is a mystery to some people, an exotic food with tags from perfect to yucky. For those who enjoy and/or prepare sushi, freshness and quality are of utmost concern. Everyone has their favorite sushi place and many are sushi snobs when it comes to where they consume this sometimes raw delight. No, sushi doesn’t mean raw fish. Sushi actually means ‘vinegar rice’ or anything served over a ball of vinegar rice. So, if you rough and tough meat and potato die hards want to cut up your food and place it over rice, it can be called sushi. So, sushi is a serving style that very often includes raw fish, but isn’t, by definition, raw.

None-the-less, a grocery store has never been a sought out place for this Asian fare. Generally, grocery stores have not always been a place for any prepared foods. Although the prepared food department has grown wildly in recent years, much of the food is full of the same preservatives and garbage that you can find in most freezer or box-to-plate foods. As always, the only way to know what’s going in your body is to prepare it yourself. Yes, there is time, stop it!

Well, I don’t shop Giant Eagle hardly at all. The compromise for expansion and improvement has been raising prices on their already higher prices than most stores. They do, however, have some reasonable organic products and a HUGE fresh produce department. Tough to find those things everywhere. In my recent jaunt for natural peanut butter, I saw the new Sushi Department near the produce area. I took a look.

Well, put me over a ball of rice and cover me in soy sauce! I’ll be! They have done it! Giant Eagle has brought quality, freshness and artistic beauty to everyone with an amazingly reasonable price! Take a look…

Grocery Store Sushi. Really

This was not pre-prepared sushi that was shipped in frozen. (yes, that happens) this was cut and rolled right in from of me. The rolls on the left are called Maki, again a serving style, rolled with rice and seaweed paper. On the left is Sashimi, a serving style with no rice, just pieces of food (usually fish) with no rice. The pink meat is Tuna the orange meat is Salmon. The green lump at the bottom left is Wasabi, a Japanese root vegetable, like horseradish, made into paste, very HOT! Under the Sashimi are cucumber and carrot slivers, not typical, I just asked for them.

So, it is with great surprise that I recommend stopping by your local Giant Eagle or Market District and try the sushi. If you do, let me know how it was at your location. The only drawback is that some of the sauces and ingredients they use do have high fructose corn syrup and some preservatives I try to avoid. They have lists of all the ingredients, if you want to avoid something, just ask. Maybe we should organize a Sushi Safari. It is Lent after all and how many fish sandwiches can we eat?? Let me know who’s on board and we’ll set a date.

素晴らしい一日を,    (look it up)

FV