The Junk Food Nutritionist

I’ve been having cravings lately. No, I’m not pregnant. But I am a woman and cravings are pretty typical in womanhood…not to mention, they're pretty common in stress. Anyway, what this means for you…One morning, I was planning to eat my no-sugar-added wheat squares (like frosted shredded wheat squares only without the sugar). Suddenly, I craved Puppy Chow (not the actual dog food but the human snack). It goes by other names, one of which is apparently a registered trademark, so I can’t mention it here…. Being the dietitian I am, I decided not to just pull up a recipe online and follow it. Nope. I made my own lower sugar version, which I actually think is way tastier than the powdered sugar-coated version…

Six years ago, I didn’t drink coffee. I didn’t drink tea. I didn’t drink caffeinated soda. If I drank soda, it was root beer which is not usually caffeinated. But that was six years ago.  Four years ago, I was introduced to naturally caffeine-free herbal teas, which I still love. Then I was introduced to coffee and flavored caffeinated teas. Both of which I liked and both of which I thought helped me get through working part time, interning full-time, and going to night school.  That lifestyle ended a year ago and I continued drinking coffee and caffeinated teas…until I was hospitalized. 

The Philly "Soda" Tax may be old news to non-Philadelphians. But, those who live in and near Philadelphia know that they still hear about it all the time.  I hear advertisements about it on the radio, watch commercials about it on T.V., and read signs about it in stores.   I'll confess...I am not originally a Philadelphian. When I first heard of the plans for the Philly Soda Tax, I was living in the suburbs. I didn’t think it would affect me but I thought it could be a decent idea.  Even when I moved to Philly, I thought it wouldn’t affect me. I don’t drink soda. I don’t buy lemonade, sweet tea, cranberry cocktail, or the other beverages frequently discussed.

You may have seen the news last week that KIND, a snack manufacturer, displayed 50,000 pounds of sugar in Times Square. The point was to show how much added sugar Americans eat. (We actually eat billions of pounds of sugar each year, but that would have been expensive for KIND.) Most of us probably know by now that our foods contain added sugars and that added sugars have been linked to poor health outcomes.  Even so, we continue to eat it. I do, too.  It’s hard to find products without added sugar.  Even some   KIND products contain added sugar! 

At work, we served Red, White, and Blue Cookies at our Memorial Day picnic. I was hoping they would be served again for Fourth of July. And, initially, that was the plan. I pointed out that some of our residents were unable to eat them due to dietary restrictions and we'd have to make an alternate dessert. Rather than making an alternate dessert, the idea was nixed entirely. So, I decided to make my own... Since my company didn't make them from scratch, I couldn't borrow the recipe to follow. (Not to mention, it wouldn't have been vegan or otherwise met my nutrition preferences...) I started with Minimalist Baker's 1 Bowl Vegan Sugar Cookies as a guide. You could also use your favorite sugar cookie recipe or even store bought sugar cookie dough and add dried blueberries and dried cranberries. Red, White, and Blue Vegan Cookies Makes 9 small cookies 4 Tbsp. margarine 2 Tbsp. brown sugar 2 Tbsp. powdered stevia (or another sugar substitute e...