I have had a rule in place for some time when it comes to what I put into my belly, if I can’t pronounce it, I don’t consume it. Luckily I took French in high school so I can eat quite a bit of food. Some even full of fat (sparingly), but delicious and natural all the same. I have grown accustomed to people around me laughing or thinking I am somewhat of a “food snob”. Perhaps they don’t realize my sophisticated meals often consists of dry black beans I soaked the night before and thrown on top of greens accompanied by too much toasted Dave's Killer Bread ( Oh my, if you haven’t tried it you are missing out. ) Yes, I can be just as lazy as anybody else who has worked all day long and can’t bare the thought of pushing around a shopping cart or walking to their farmer’s market just down the block. Yeah, it’s sad because those are EVERYWHERE here in Portland. And I do go…when I can. Yesterday at work, I shuddered when I read the nutritional contents of what had been my favorite whole wheat crackers: hydrogenated cottonseed oil, there it was plain as could be written on the box! High fructose corn syrup evokes the same response from me. It may sound time consuming and a little obsessive as well as compulsive. However once you put some boundaries in place and think natural, natural, natural, a healthy diet can be easy as cake. And you should have cake! And chocolate! Just not out of a cardboard box, wrapped in plastic, with an elf or something promoting the yummy artificial flavoring.