Pimp My Grocery List: Fazilah

Yes folks, it's time for another edition of Pimp My Grocery List!

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you can get the lowdown here. Basically, I am 'renovating' readers' grocery lists, suggesting healthier options for what they put in their carts every week. I'm not trying to make everything spic and span, now - just trying to make it a little bit healthier while keeping the convenience and tastiness of the original product. If you want your very own grocery list pimped, email me at info[at]wholesomehedonist[dot]com!

This week I'm tackling the list of my good friend and fellow mama Fazilah. See her list after the jump: 


 Marble cheese 

Wonder Free Whole Wheat Bread (after scanning bread labels, this one seemed to have the least preservatives so we buy it for M and we eat it too since lack of preservatives means it goes bad fast!)

Multigrain cheerios

Greek yogurt

Milk 

Orange Juice

Spinach

Celery

Cucumber

Grape tomatoes

Bananas

Spinach

Lemon

Vine tomatoes (to make your sauce!)

Whole wheat pasta

Multigrain nachos

Salsa

Hummus

Pita

Frozen broccoli 

Chili flavoured corn nuts (these are probably so bad for us, they're our guilty pleasure!)

As you can see, it's pretty squeaky clean (except for the corn nuts and the nachos, but really, everyone should have some indulgences. I'm pretty sure Dr. Oz pops gummy bears when no one's looking.) 

After noodling it for a while, I've come up with the following suggestions:

Replace Multigrain Cheerios with Regular Cheerios

From the label, Multigrain Cheerios don't look too bad - 3 grams of fibre, acceptable sodium levels (7% of your Daily Value) and a teaspoon and a half of sugar per serving. But again, 'Multigrain' is more a flavour here than a health benefit. A quick look at the ingredient list reveals it has more sugar than oats, barley or rice, and it uses caramel colouring to tint the O's to make them look more like whole wheat - the same colouring used in cola! Much better to stick with regular old Cheerios and drizzle on a little honey for sweetness. 

Choose a salsa that has tomatoes as the first ingredient

Fazilah didn't specify what salsa she was choosing, but neither leading brands Tostitos nor Old El Paso have tomatoes as the first ingredient in their salsa (Tostitos has tomato puree; Old El Paso has water.) Neither of these options is inherently bad for you; in fact salsa is a pretty  good option as far as condiments go - but choosing one that lists tomatoes first will give you the most nutrition (and taste!) for your buck. Try a smaller brand like La Costena.

Switch out the multigrain nachos for Baked Tostitos 

Like Fazilah's family, nacho chips are one of my delicious vices. The problem is that because they are fried, a serving of Multigrain Tostitos Rounds has a whopping 13g of fat (almost half the amount in a Big Mac.) A better choice would be to go with the Baked Tostitos, which have only 5g of fat per serving and a relatively clean ingredient line. Bonus points: make your own with this easy Weight Watchers recipe using wonton crisps or corn tortillas!

Thos are my suggestions; What do you think, Fazilah? Readers, any other suggestions you would add?