Balance of Food

Free samples are a way of getting nutrition without paying for it. Well, you can't get THAT much nutrition. In my "trying to be better" method, I don't cling onto free samples as much, since everything I eat, counts. But I do have some observations from recent episodes: * I tried this great organic granola, and I don't normally eat granola. I tried a flavor I wasn't used to (cherry vanilla) and it was extremely good. I took the coupon, but never found the product in the rest of the store. I suppose I would have tried harder to find the product if I could eat more granola, but it had so many carbs for 1/2 cup size. * I tried frozen fettucine alfredo. They did cheat a bit and added lemon chicken, but I could see that being a quick dinner. I am wary of cooked pasta since most companies don't understand al dente, the true way of doing pasta. The pasta should have a little bite. I love the "pasta nazis" who insist on this cooking shows that pasta must be cooked according to directions. Al dente means undercutting the time to the benefit of your taste buds, especially for whole wheat spaghetti. But this fettucine wasn't too bad. * I tried two different blueberry/pomegranate juice blends in two different stores. The first one was more about the blueberry/pomegranate taste, a bit intense with an edge toward a pomegranate taste, but I could taste the blueberry. I felt like I truly got both juices in a taste. The second one was a national company (Minute Maid) 100% juice blend. I was quite wary: don't trust juice blends since they tend to be dominated by high-sugar juices such as apple and grape. Sure enough, I read the ingredients and apple and grape were at the top. Still, I had to try it. I drank some, and the woman asked, "What do you think of the taste?" I said, "It has no taste." It really didn't: no blueberry, no pomegranate, no nothing. It was "drinkable" but I would buy the first one in a heartbeat. The first one was too strong, but at least I would know I would get the antioxidants. I could see someone tasting the Minute Maid brand, and thinking if they didn't like it, saying, "I don't like blueberry and pomegranate." Sure after trying that, I might have said the same thing. But since I had a more authentic version, I knew better. There will always be things we don't like. And a lot of people can't take the true taste of blueberry and pomegranate; they are intense. But make sure you are trying the real thing before you decide.