The Little Things in Life

Just a couple weeks ago, a new HyVee store (grocery store chain/similar to the Atlanta Publix) opened in Urbandale.  I've heard they have the largest Health Food section and two dieticians.  So...I made my way there and wow is it nice!  I had heard they have one of those M&M dispensers which is set up so you can select the color of your choice and a bar area to just stop and have a drink.  I was in so much awe with the health food section that I forgot to even go take a look at that M&M candy set up (which Cassie and Andrew asked me about as they were interested in it)! 

I spoke with the dietician for at least 30 minutes.  She was very helpful.  I was inquiring about Quinoa flakes to start making for breakfast to get more protein and fiber.  I'm used to cooking with Quinoa, but new to the Quinoa flakes (if anyone has some good recipes, please share).  She then asked me about granola and I informed her that I haven't had that in over 1 1/2 years as I stopped buying that once I couldn't mix it with yogurt.  Then she states - "We have GF/DF/SF yogurt, let's go take a look to be sure."  Woohoo - I couldn't believe it!!  Now this probably doesn't mean much to you, but this little thing means LOTS to me!  There before me was not 1, not 2 but 3 brands of GF/DF/SF yogurt!  I couldn't believe it!  I couldn't understand how I was not aware of this product being available, then I realized that I don't shop in the dairy section unless I grab a bag of GF/DF/SF cheese and I buy my milk at Costco.  So, I bought some of each kind to try and of course a bag of granola.  It was the first thing I ate when I arrived home and boy did it taste good!  The store had lots of new items that I had not seen before.  It's great to see the selection in the health food section growing!

One of the brands includes Carrageenan as an ingredient.  I try to stay away from this ingredient as I had a past conversation with a Dr and have done research on it.  I won't go into the details, but lots of my research has been that it has caused cancer and inflammation in rats and I would rather pass on the ingredient even though it's used as a binder in lots of gluten free processed foods.  If interested you can review this article to learn more about it:  http://blog.healthkismet.com/carrageenan-cancer-health-inflammation.