Rule #4: Short and Sweet

Rule #3 was more of a challenge than previously anticipated but luckily my mom came through to help (that's what mother's are for, so goes the saying). On Saturday night we had a great meal at my parent's house, complete with sulfate-free wine (a really good bottle!) and chard, chicken, spinach enchiladas and an amazing salad. We even had ice cream for dessert (thank you Haagen-Dazs Five Ingredient Ice Cream--if you haven't tried this it is a must buy!). Ryan was also able to finally declare his fullness after a meal, a wonderful feat indeed! I would also like to give some credit to the new Whole Foods in the Hollywood neighborhood which provided us with a very fun shopping trip. I would have taken pictures but we forgot the camera (which should no longer be a problem, again thanks to the parents for the early graduation present.....). Tonight we had a magnificent feast of honey ginger salmon grilled on a cedar plank with asparagus. Life is good.

Rule #4 should be a breeze: Avoid food products that contain high-fructose corn syrup. For the past few years we have been attempting to avoid high-fructose corn syrup like the plague but perhaps, now that we read the labels on everything like nobody's business, we will be surprised by some of the foods we eat. For example, I spotted a bottle of BBQ sauce in our fridge today that would be OUT. Also, our ketchup, OUT. My mother, again coming through, informed us that Trader Joe's sells a bottle of ketchup that does not contain the evil high-fructose corn syrup. We shall invest. This week we plan to list other foods that previously unbeknownst to the common citizen are toxic. This is a nice week to have an easy rule (please be easy!) because we are hoping to catch a meal at a restaurant and Ryan will be traveling to pay his parent's a visit. Enjoy!