adventures in HFCS and cholesterol reduction

[saffronhare]

BOO: Arizona green tea with ginseng and honey, which I like very much, contains HFCS. I'm sure there are other options out there, but that brand/flavor was pretty simple to find, and very inexpensive to rationalize as a once-in-a-while kind of treat.

YAY: The generic, fat-free, french vanilla flavored coffee creamer I use does not contain HFCS -- just plain old sugar. And it's not a carrier of cholesterol! Still...there's a lot of unpronounceable ingredients there. I think I'll use up what's left and start investigating less chemically complicated ways to make YUM happen.

BOO: Just one serving of regular cream cheese (which I *almost* put on my mini-bagel this morning) contains a gajillion mg of cholesterol.

YAY: Country Crock margarine contains no cholesterol at all. [ETA: However (comma), as royal_spice kindly pointed out, it *does* contain some partially hydrogenated fats and is not the best of all possible choices.]

A bit more, mildly related: The girls are being really excellent partners in all this, and are even getting into trying different brands (or off-brand versions) of some of their favorite stuff. We're testing cookies this week. I think I'll use it as an opportunity to set up a double-blind taste test!

Comments

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

Those pre-made teas are all strangled with sweetener - even HFCS. Ugh. But instead of cream cheese, let me recommend Neufchatel cheese, my favorite! Not only is it low in bad stuff, it's high in the good stuff, and it spreads like heaven onto bagels and toast. Yum!

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

Plus, Neufchatel is much more fun to say. I'll give it a try!

[triadruid.livejournal.com]

I ♥ Neufchatel cheese even more than cream cheese, but it's hard to find in some stores.

Also, WTH? Did Crystal Farms stop making cream cheese?

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

I haven't tried looking for it yet. Where do you get it?

And, let me just say, thank goodness organic ketchup has gotten to be so mainstream that it's available at my regular grocery store at approximately the same price as the stuff we used to get! Because we use a lot of ketchup.

[triadruid.livejournal.com]

Neufchatel cheese? I used to be able to get it at the Price Chopper on State Line, but I didn't see any of late and they usually have a better selection than the Sun Fresh down by our house. I haven't checked Whole Foods... if I spot some, I'll let you know.

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

Thank you. :) In terms of cholesterol management, I'm hoping I can bring the numbers back to normal by doing *less* cheese, rather than switching to not-cheese. YUCK. (fingers crossed)

[zylch.livejournal.com]

We should have neufchatel -- I think even in a 365 version, but I'm not positive. I know I've seen it by the cream cheese many a time.

[featherynscale.livejournal.com]

I ♥ Neufchatel cheese even more than cream cheese,

Seriously? I had no idea, given that the usual household stance has been "buy the real full-fat dairy stuff". I like neufchatel just as well as regular ol' cream cheese, but have not bought it, even when I did see it at the shop.

[triadruid.livejournal.com]

It's not good for baking I'm sure, being not-full-fat, but for stuff like bagels, it works just fine, and is marginally better for you. :)


...I have just learned that American Neufchatel cheese is the same thing (maybe?) as Farmer's Cheese. I am skeptical, to say the least.

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

Dangit. Now I'm dying for a platter of cheese.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

For a great additive to your coffee that doesn't need refrigeration, I recommend NIDO dry milk. It's a whole-milk powder, so it's much tastier and more satisfying in your coffee than regular powdered milk. Look for it in stores that have Hispanic food sections. If you want to make your own powdered creamer, I would think you'd be able to make a nice mix yourself by just throwing some vanilla sugar and the dry milk in a blender for few pulses to mix things nicely. Then pop it into a storage container.

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

That is a very interesting suggestion. The dry mix-ed-ness of that conconction could make it particularly useful -- and less expensive than the wet creamer. I think I'll test that one this weekend. The more I think about it, the happier I am to think of *not* spending the additional money on coffee creamer.

In the meantime, there's always good ol' tea with a splash of milk and honey. Not exactly a hard-knock sort of thing. :)

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

That is tremendously useful information -- thank you! I noticed "partially hydrogenated" on the label. (sigh) We've got half a tub of Country Crock left; I'll switch to an experiment with one of the other brands when we've used it up.

Truly, I prefer butter. And eggs. And real cheese. :)

[triadruid.livejournal.com]

I *hate* the "under y certain amount of X, you can say it has No X!" rule, when y isn't measured in ppm. :/

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

It's very frustrating, particularly if there's a clever way to describe the ingredient such that one can't quite tell *what* they're talking about. Like "sugar solids." WTF. I don't think I want to eat that.

I'll admit I'm going for the easy wins first, trying to choose what'll be sustainable with kids and budget, and stuff like that.

[zylch.livejournal.com]

I rather like one of Michael Pollen's personal food rules: eat food. Meaning, don't eat anything with ingredients that you would have to explain to your great grandmother. Sugar? Fine. Honey? Fine. High Fructose Corn Syrup? Sugar Solids? Probably not the best idea in the world.

"when y isn't measured in porn"

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

Merciful heavens, Adam. I will miss you. :)

[incommune.livejournal.com]

It may not be much, but I've gone back to bagels and cream cheese (it's a solid, fast, energizing breakfast option that fits in the pretty tight budget I've had being unemployed) and I've never been the biggest fan of cream cheese. Not really for dietary reasons, but I don't like the taste of more than just a little bit of it at a time. But that's not very satisfying on a bagel. The addition of a moderate amount of JAM however makes everything very delicious. Cream cheese can be too creamy-cheesy, and jam can be too sweet first thing in the morning, but a little bit of both together is just right :) and I don't feel like I'm using much of either, so I'm not loading myself down with sugar or fat in a huge way in one pop. Secondly, re: coffee since I drink a lot of that, I like to sweeten with that raw sugar. For some reason, it seems to make a big difference. I use less of it than white sugar or flavoring and it tastes better.

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

Yes, half of a good whole-wheat bagel (or a full mini-bagel) makes a great breakfast, especially when I chase it with some yogurt and fruit.

Sugar tends to be an issue for me, so I try not to spread a lot of jam on things and focus instead on consuming the Actual Fruit. That said, I do have some Bonne Maman fruit preserves that are really splendid -- and that's what I put on my bagel this morning! (Just a bit, but OMG yummy.)

As for coffee, the creaminess has more value than sweetness. And I just love the scent of vanilla. :)

Please forgive the LJ-disconnect here: Do I know you?