Trader Joe’s High Fiber Cereal is Back on Store Shelves!

After weeks away, Trade Joe’s High Fiber Cereal is back on store shelves in my Chicago north suburban store. I stocked up on eight boxes Sept. 1 after trying a variety of alternatives during the weeks the TJ’s cereal was not available.

The shopping trip reminded me of a lot of reasons I prefer the Trader Joe’s to other high fiber cereals. Not the least of those factors is the price, $2.99 a box. For alternatives, I paid $6.99 for Fiber One, $4.99 for All Bran on sale and $4.99 for Buds on sale (each was $1.80 off their regular prices).

Given that I eat a box a week for breakfast, the savings over a year are substantial — $208 compared with Fiber One, $156 with All Bran or Buds (assuming I get those for the sale price all year).

I’m thankful that TJ’s high fiber cereal has not joined all the other low-salt, low-sugar products Trader Joe’s has cut in recent years, such as salt-free shrimp sauce, salt-free whole-wheat bread and no-salt-added marinara sauce.

September 7, 2022 0

Trader Joe’s High Fiber Cereal Remains MIA — Here Are Some Alternatives

Trader Joe’s High Fiber Cereal has been missing from TJ outlets in the Chicago area for two weeks now and I’m becoming more and more convinced it is being discontinued. Store managers have consistently told me it would be in the next day only to not have any that day. This is a food disaster for me since that cereal has been my breakfast go-to for the decade since my first stent went it. I’ve written about how it is relatively low in salt and sugar compared with other breakfast cereals.

*Nutrition information for three alternatives to Trader Joe’s High Fiber Cereal, which is gone from TJ stores in my area north of Chicago.*

But facing the harsh reality that it may join a long list of low-salt Trader Joe’s products that have been dropped in recent years, I decided to see what alternatives are available on supermarket shelves.

I bought boxes of General Mills Fiber One, Kellogg’s All Bran Original and Kellogg’s All Bran Buds. A friendly woman in the store suggested the Buds to me, saying they are her husband’s favorite. Maybe he enjoys the added salt and added sugars. Buds has 300 mgs of salt and 12 mgs of sugar, highest among the three. Eating a cup of them left me extremely gasey as well, not a pleasant feeling to go through the day with.

Fiber One looks a bit like TJ’s except the strings are darker and a but thicker. It has very little taste but at least the nutrition numbers are;t bad, 140 mgs of salt and no sugar. The original All bRan has the least salt per serving, although the numbers are skewed a but because it and Fiber One considers a serving as two-thirds of a cup while the infamous Buds calls half-a-cup a serving.

All of these cost more than TJs, by the way. I paid $6.99 for Fiber One, $4.99 for All Bran on sale and $4.99 for Buds on sale (each was $1.80 off their regular prices). I’m going to keep an eye out for General Mills coupons for Fiber One.

I’ll be visiting the New York City area shortly, I’m planning to check there to see if TJ has in fact stopped selling the one item that would regularly draw me to its stores.

August 25, 2022 5

July 4th’s gone, but Labor Day is jsuta round the corner — here are some Labor Day side dish ideas

You can tell I’ve been holding onto this piece for a few months, 4th of July Sides from CookingLight.com. It’s early August as I write this and Labor Day is looming at the next big family cookout day, so why not take a look at some of these for that meal?

A simple approach, fresh tomatoes, fresh basil and wonderful olive oil. — *A simple side dish, fresh tomatoes, fresh basil and wonderful olive oil*.

As always, be careful about salt, fat and sugar content. Just because a dish makes it into a magazine that’s talking about “light” cooking, whatever that is, does not mean it is watching salt, fat or sugar content.

A recipe like Creamy Black Pepper Coleslaw has fat and salt in it. Not a lot you might say. But think of it as one part of your larger meal, the salt and fat can add up fast at a traditional American cookout.

I’m more likely to make sides with things I’ve grown during the summer, like tomatoes and green beans. Check out these side dishes I’ve written about in the past.

August 4, 2022 0

Don’t open that freezer door — not for these four foods you that should never freeze

Freezing foods we buy on sale can be an economical way to stock up on deals, especially during these inflationary times. I’ve posted about that, just click here to read it. But not every food can be frozen. Just take a look at 4 Foods You Should Never Put in the Freezer from Myrecipes.com.

I’ll end the suspense for you, the four are whole eggs, soft cheeses, raw vegetables and milk/yogurt (ok, that’s really five but whose counting? Not Myrecipes.com apparently).

“To be clear, it (freezing) doesn’t make the milk or yogurt unsafe, but generally it will separate into thick chunky pieces suspended in watery stuff and is super unappetizing,” the article states.

When it comes to veggies, “if you freeze a raw vegetable, the process will expand the water in its cell structure and burst the cells. The result: soggy, thawed produce that will feel like its overcooked. For better results, blanch your vegetables for about a minute in boiling water and then shock in an ice bath to stop the cooking,” the piece advises.

That said, the same site did say it’s ok to freeze tomatoes, I blogged about that but have not tried it yet. I suppose maybe it knows tomatoes are actually fruit?

August 2, 2022 0

Dilly Dally Provisions — a Chicago-area supplier keeping it local

I recently met a founder of Dilly Dally Provisions as he was giving out samples of mustard his company is making with a local (Evanston, Il.) brewery. I’m always eager to support local suppliers, so tried both the mustard and a hot sauce he had on his sample table.

I loved the mustard, it’s likely a variation of the beer mustard I found on the company’s website. It had a hint of horseradish in it and would be a great way to bring some flavor to something like a chicken sandwich (or of course the usual hot dogs and brats).

Mustard tends to be the healthiest condiment you can use, usually having no sugar or fat and very little to no salt.

The hot sauce was way too hot for me, but I’m not a hot sauce person in any way, shape, or form. I would imagine people who love hot sauce will enjoy it.

Check out the company website. It says they sell primarily at farmers’ markets but also will deliver free in a slice of the Chicagoland area for orders of more than $20.

July 27, 2022 0

A new spice supplier? Come back soon for my review

Recently a company from neighboring Wisconsin (I’m in Illinois), Burn Pit BBQ, reached out to me about its barbecue sauces and spice mixtures.

I asked what they had to offer that was low-salt, low-sugar and low-fat and received the samples pictured here in return.

I’ve written about how difficult it is to barbecue healthy in posts like Why you have to read the nutrition label — a barbecue sauce comparison.

Here’s hoping some of these will help me in preparing relatively low-salt, low-fat, low-sugar cookout meals.

I’ll be trying these in upcoming weeks (actually, the hot sauce is going to my daughter who is a hot-sauce lover and she’ll give me her review to include).

Initial kudos to this company for making their products locally in Wisconsin and for being veteran-owned.

July 25, 2022 1

13 cucumber salad recipes just in time for July 4th

My grilled artichoke, along with corn, cucumber salad and tomato salad. — *My basic cucumber salad.*

Cucumber salads are a staple of my kitchen. You can find a variety of recipes for them on my No Salt, No Fat, No Sugar Journal. I thought I knew all the ways to make one until I saw this piece, 13 Easy Cucumber Salads on Eatingwell.com.

Cucumbers with avocado? It’s here. A Japanese cucumber salad? Here too.

One caveat, some of these recipes involve cream or other non-heart healthy ingrteidnetds. Avoid those. As always, avoid salt. fat and sugar. A wonderful, refreshing cucumber salad doesn’t need those to be tasty.

Happy 4th of July. Stay safe, Covid may be fading but it’s still among us.

July 1, 2022 0

Some timely tips for keeping your tomatoes fresh longer

*A fun salad for July 4th, or any meal where you want fresh ingredients.*

Anyone who has read my No Salt, No Fat, No Sugar Journal knows I love tomatoes. Just check out some of my fav tomato recipes, like this one for a tomato salad, or this one for a tomato sauce. I buy tomatoes every week and grow my own in summer, so I’m always interested in keeping them for as long as possible. So I enjoyed this piece, How to Store Tomatoes So They Stay Fresh For Longer.

The piece’s advice:

On the counter, they stay good for about a week
Two weeks if you put them in a refrigerator
Two to three months in a freezer

I’ve never tried freezing a fresh tomato but will and will post about it here. The article notes, “frozen tomatoes probably shouldn’t be used in recipes that call for fresh ones because freezing will definitely change how they taste and feel in your mouth.”

Let me know if you freeze tomatoes.

June 29, 2022 1

Inflation food shopping tip: bananas are a relative deal

It’s no secret food prices have been soaring the past two years, I’ve warned about that continuing here. So look for more tips on how to cut your food shopping spending on this blog. Today’s tip comes from Eatingwell.com.

Bananas, it notes, are a relative bargain in the fruit world. “The average price of 1 pound of bananas was $0.62 in the U.S. in 2021. This could give you a week’s worth of fruit to eat as a snack or as a side to a meal for less than $1. Compared to $1.45 for a pound of navel oranges or $4.44 for a pint of fresh blueberries, bananas are an incredibly budget-friendly fruit,” the article states.

In my suburban Chicago market area, bananas ranged from 59 cents a pound at a local Whole Foods to 69 cents at a Jewel (although different Jewel’s here charge only 59 cents, so shopping around pays, even within the same supermarket chain).

Costco has been a low-cost banana seller in the past but the last I check it was not, check your local Costco or Sam’s Club to see how it compares in your area.

“One medium banana contains 105 calories, 1 gram of protein, 27 grams of carbs (including 14 grams of naturally occurring sugar), 3 grams of fiber and 422 milligrams of potassium (about 16% of our daily needs). Bananas contain resistant starch, which can help improve gut health, help with blood sugar control and even promote healthy weight management. This flavorful fruit can also help lower your risk of heart disease, decrease blood pressure, improve mood, reduce risk of anxiety and more,” the article notes.

I eat one to two bananas a day to replace the potassium I lose because of one of the heart medications I take. My other alternative would be taking another pill, a potassium pill. The fewer pills I have to take, the better I like it. Plus I love the taste of a good banana.

June 18, 2022 0

Is hummus healthy? Depends on who is asking and how they define healthy

Hummus seems ubiquitous these days. Our local supermarket stocks multiple brands and anytime I eat with my grown children, we seem o end up at a Mideastern restaurant that has hummus on the menu. People certainly think it’s healthy, but it is? EatingWell.com tackles that question in this article.

The answer, like any question about “healthy”, depends on who is asking and why.

“Chickpeas (and thus hummus which is made from chickpeas) are not allowed on the Whole30 diet because they are a legume. For the same reason, hummus is not allowed on a paleo diet. Hummus can be keto friendly, if you eat it in limited amounts and allot carbohydrates in order to make room for it. (Many people count “net carbs” or total carbs minus grams of fiber. In this case, a serving of hummus has 3 net carbs.),” the article states.

So if you’re paleo or Whole30, it’s not. If you’re keto, some of it is ok.

What about those of us trying to cut salt, fat and sugar?

Continue reading →

June 5, 2022 0

Category: ingredients