Ever notice that the food industry will sometimes make a simple food more complicated or more processed?  For instance, the addition of oils or corn syrup to nuts?  Or ready-made bagels with cream cheese?  Or frozen PB&Js with the crusts cut off?  Or the addition of food dyes and colors?  Nuts aren’t bad for you.  PB&J isn’t bad for you.  However, the oils, corn syrup, and additives / chemicals in processed foods can be!  We’ll be exploring a new aspect of this blog by talking about versions and/or alternatives to popular foods that can (and should!) be eaten on a clean eating / real food diet.

I learned something about Triscuit-like crackers a few weeks ago.  Triscuits had whole wheat, soybean oil, salt, and mono and diglycerides (http://bit.ly/11eEW9K).  So, I had been buying Trader Joe’s Reduced Guilt Woven Wheat crackers even though they had high oleic safflower oil and/or high oleic sunflower oil (http://bit.ly/14JHdx2) because I couldn’t find an alternative cracker that I liked to eat with cottage cheese. Anyway, I finally took a peek at Whole Foods’ 365 Woven Wheat crackers. They have two ingredients – whole wheat and salt. SOLD!

I have also purchased ak-mak crackers as an additional option.  Why? ak-mak states it best when they say, “In manufacturing ak-mak, we bring to our customers high protein wheat of the highest quality that is available on the American market without preservatives. The organically grown kernel of wheat is ground, then all of the ground whole wheat is blended into a complete whole wheat flour, nothing added, nothing removed. In addition, only the purest sesame oil, high protein sesame seed, U.S. Grade AA butter, pure clover honey, yeast and salt are carefully selected.”  (http://bit.ly/ZxagMc)

Do you have any other suggestions for crackers that qualify as clean eating and have real food ingredients?