Day 4, Hanging In There

Challenge tidbits from day 4:

The Tomato Sauce: I made tomato sauce again and the new recipe was so much simpler than the first one. They're both from America's Test Kitchen, which is one of my favorite food sites, and generally I'm happy with all their recipes. Right now however, I'm still scratching my head over that first recipe for tomato sauce and wondering who could possibly have thought putting hot sauce in a food processor was a good idea. No worries now, though. The second recipe was so much easier that I'm confident I'll keep making it. I may never buy tomato/pasta sauce in a jar again! 

The Bread: Bread is a problem, because I normally eat a lot of it. Pre-challenge I was eating Brownberry "Whole Grains 100% Whole Wheat Bread," thinking it was the best choice. The label proudly announces 22 whole grains per slice, "good source of fiber" and no high fructose corn syrup. However, a closer reading reveals that sugar is the third ingredient on the list, and there's molasses in there too, resulting in *4 grams* of sugar per slice, yikes. I switched to Brownberry Country Sourdough, which lists sugar as ingredient #7 and only "less than 1 gram" of sugar, which is better. Still, technically the sugar is there, along with the processed flour. Sometimes it really is hard to know which choice is "healthier."  

After I asked for suggestions on Twitter several people recommended Ezekiel bread and I bought a loaf yesterday. The one slice I've eaten so far wasn't bad but I admit I didn't love it. It was also a lot more expensive than "regular" bread, although I suppose the cost is offset by the money I'm not spending on M&Ms and cake. 

Mustard and Mayo: I made an easy vinaigrette recipe to replace my regular bottled salad dressing and it was pretty tasty, but the recipe included small amounts of dijon mustard and mayo. Both of the brands I use (Grey Poupon and Hellman's Light) list sugar in the ingredient list but zero sugar grams in the nutrition info. Since I only used 1/4 teaspoon of each, I'm choosing to believe that the vinaigrette is OK. It's sure a big improvement over the stuff that comes in the bottle. I've looked at recipes to make my own mustard and mayo, but I"m not sure I want to go there yet.   

Finally, The Fruit:  Or at least one fruit. I generally don't buy fresh fruit but the oranges at the grocery store yesterday looked really good so I bought 3 of them. I just ate one, in all of its natural glory and I have to say it tasted pretty good. 

So far so good!