Hello Ladies:

I have progressively moved to a healthier, whole foods kind of eating for my family and me. Every year I bake at Christmas. I have many things I bake by request from others. My cake mix cookies, kris kringle mix and my cheddar ranch snack mix. Well, recently in reviewing those foods and the ingredients in those foods, I realized that most if not all of what I make contains either HFCS or PHO. ICK!!!! I want to still make these things because it's only once a year and it's a tradition. I am not necessarily looking at light or even low fat, because again, it's CHRISTMAS BAKING. However, I want to make these things without any preservatives or anything synthetic or enriched! Are there any good cake mixes on the market that are organic or whole that you recommend? Also, how do I substitute the ranch dressing mix and the cheese its for my ranch cheddar snack mix??? Are there any cheese crackers or ranch dressing mixes that are sold in whole food stores??? I don't want to give up making these. I do it every year and people love them. I just can't make them the way I used to without feeling like a hypocrite.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Do you have a Whole Foods or Trader Joe's near you? They carry brands that generally are healthier. Most grocery stores around me carry "Annie's Naturals" brand salad dressings which may have a ranch.

For a "make it yourself" cake mix, I found this on the Whole Foods site:

Cake Mix

That site has all sorts of great recipes and ideas as well. Whole Foods and Trader Joes have lots of "healthy" junk food! Even our Safeways now have a large selection of organic products.

Mel

My mentality is that its once a year you are using this. You are using HFCS in moderation and Christmas is only once a year. I think you should go ahead and make the goodies the way you always do. Continue a well balanced diet and exercise and you will be fine!

A note of warning. Make sure you read labels carefully at health food stores. They carry a lot of organic junk food. I was looking for whole grain graham crackers for DD and it was pretty scary. Lots of things like organic wheat flour (i.e. processed white flour), organic evaporated cane juice (i.e. sugar), palm kernel oil (loaded with saturated fats), etc, etc. Moderation is key, and special occasions are, well, special, but getting fooled into buying something you think is healthy when it is really junk because it is covered with the word 'organic' and hidden in unfamiliar terms is another.

On the plus side, I did find the healthy stuff I was looking for there (and nowhere else), but it took a lot of reading.

Good luck.

Anne

Mel:
Thank you so much! Yes I have Whole Foods and Trader Joe's both. I love them. I plan on taking a trip to each of them this weekend. That cake mix recipe is great. I just need to figure out how to make cookies with it!