Best Picks from the Grocery Aisles

When you're navigating the grocery store aisles, often with a kid or two in tow, it's not easy to be sure you're making healthy choices. Time's scarce for reading food labels when you're rushing to get to the checkout and home to make dinner. The best choices aren't always obvious, and some that might look like good options could fall squarely in the category we call ‘sometimes foods.' We've read the labels for you and present this handy guide to the grocery store. Image of grocery store from Shutterstock.

We were super stoked with this new Nature Valley granola bar offering. They're nut-free and have 5 g of fibre and only 4 g of sugar per one chocolate chip granola bar (the tyke's favourite, naturally)! And they actually taste good, so we're sneaking one for ourselves as we pack our kids' allergy-safe lunches.

With so much sugar (13g!) and pretty much devoid of nutrition, we'll pass on these. Plus they are not safe for school as they currently have a ‘may contain nuts' label.

These mini pitas are a great way to start the day. They offer protein and fibre with the sweetness of raisins to keep little palates happy. We like them toasted and topped with fruit spread or a dollop of butter.

Be careful not to equate gluten-free to healthy. Not all gluten-free products are necessarily nutritious. The added sugar and startling lack of fibre make muffins like these not much better than a cupcake.

This light rye tastes more like a white bread. It's very mild, great for grilled cheese, and safe for schools because it is one of the very few breads that currently doesn't sport a “may contain sesame seeds” label. The list of ingredients is short—as it should be. This bread is made with spring water and, best of all, completely free from sugar.

Why does bread need so much added sugar and salt? With 4 g of sugar per slice, this bread is more of a treat. Don't be fooled by the healthy or super ingredients on the label—they don't make up for the sodium and sugar.

Ah, Triscuits. These classics are good with just about everything, so it's great to know they offer boosts of fibre and protein as well. No surprises in this ingredient label. We like the low sodium variety that still offers plenty of flavour and is a better choice for developing palates.

Kids love the mini circle crackers, but there's a bit too much fat and sodium and not enough protein or fibre for our liking. They sound healthy, but these are really more of a break-even snack.

We like to make our own version of Mini Wheats by adding our choice of natural sweetener to these Shredded Wheat bites—maple syrup or honey rock. When we top with hot milk it creates a warm, mushy, slightly sweet experience. And because the minis have no added sugar or salt, our inner control freak is appeased.

While we like the concept of a granola so high in protein that it can be considered a meal replacement, when we read the label we see that it's only a ‘meal in a bowl' when paired with milk—as is the case with many cereals. Other offerings have more protein and fibre without the 11g of sugar per serving.

With 5g of fibre, 90 calories, and pretty gosh darn delicious flavour, these bars are a good treat. Plus they are awesome when paired with milk or any milk alternative. And besides, we don't even want to think about a life without brownies.

They seem so innocent, just like the wee toddler we give them to. But these cookies contain flour and sugar and not much else.

Start the kids early on great tasting real cheese and bid adieu to orange plastic forever! Catnenaar has a mild, almost nutty flavor, is one of the lowest fat cheeses out there, and it's great for a grown-up wine pairing!

We know cream cheese is delicious on a bagel. We love it, too. Just don't rely on it for protein—at only 1 g per tablespoon, you'll need to add some ham or salmon to that sandwich to keep your littles fueled.

It doesn't have to be homemade to be delicious. The unsweetened variety is made with just apples and water and is plenty sweet enough. Good for those days when the fridge is devoid of fresh produce.

The name makes it sound more healthy, but here ‘old-fashioned' just means that there's a lot of added sugar, and that's not necessary. Go back to the basics with the unsweetened stuff.

When did white pasta become the enemy? There's actually a lot of protein and fibre in a regular white pasta. Pick a good one like Barilla or DeCecco and teach the kids to enjoy the simplicity of high quality noodles in moderate portions with a bit of olive oil and a smattering of cheese.

Repeat after us—yolks are our friends. They're the very best part of the egg, so why would we want them removed? We're not in the ‘80s anymore. Embrace the yolk—in pasta, omelettes and scrambles—and reap the nutritional benefits.

The sea salt variety is our go-to. It's GMO-free and has only 35 calories per cup. And we're digging the ingredient list: popcorn, sunflower oil, sea salt. Full stop.

They sure sounded like a good idea. But then we see that there are some ingredients we're not used to seeing in our nacho chips. Things like sugar and added starch. What? Choose chips made from real corn tortillas instead.