In my employer's cafeteria they have a new display set up with "happy, healthy snacks", mostly nuts, but also gummi bears. I am not sure how gummi bears are healthy, except for the psyche. I love eating them, but have never proclaimed them to be healthy. Anything with corn syrup is not particularly healthy. I've been reading the ingredients in grocery store items, which means my shopping trips have become longer in duration. I'm surprised at how many foods contain corn syrup or corn syrup solids. And also, anything that is "low fat" such as peanut butter has a lot of other ingredients that nobody should ever be eating. And the cheaper the food product, the more likely it contains trans fats.

I found some bacon at Publix recently that boasts of being nitrate and nitrite free, so I bought it, tried it, and guess what: it tastes like bacon. I'm not sure why the bad food processing was necessary in the first place.

Muffin and cake mixes: It is so easy to mix together flour, sugar and eggs that it does not make much sense to buy a processed product.

Rice-a-roni and similar flavored rice and pasta mixes: It's again quite easy to cook some rice or pasta and add some chicken broth or garlic powder and salt.

Yogurt: I was amazed again at how much corn syrup is in flavored yogurts. Dairy products have a bit of natural sugar in them, but producers double or triple the amount of sugar per 4 to 6 oz serving. The best one we found after looking at ALL of them is sugar-free Activia (sweetened with sucralose). There's also a Dannon Naturals product, but it has a lot of added sugar. At least it's not corn syrup. I've started buying plain yogurt, then adding honey and some Polaner all-fruit jelly.

Energy bars also have some bad ingredients in them, including corn syrup. I have been eating PB&J instead, on whole-wheat bread with natural peanut butter and Polaner all-fruit. Natural peanut butter has nothing in it but peanuts and salt, and has become a popular product judging from the variety on store shelves.

My next kitchen project is to try to make my own energy bars. I'm looking for some brown rice syrup to use as a sweetener, as it contains more complex sugars. However, I haven't found it yet (need to look at Whole Foods.)