The problem here is that there are differing opinions on whether these foods are a problem. I'm in the camp that believes food is so easy to begin with, there's no real reason to do so in terms of game balance. Rice and soybeans are already our miracle crops, and have you looked at the options that grapes enable?
Part of the problem, I think, is that Iskandar is under the impression (possibly illusion) that many players will stick with these familiar crops instead of trying to find alternatives. But I don't see it that way. Playing with HarvestCraft, Hunger Overhaul, and Spice of Life encourages players to seek out ever larger meals, and that means exploration of new crops regardless of what we start with as our staple.[DOUBLEPOST=1407498447][/DOUBLEPOST]
Health regeneration rate is in Hunger Overhaul's config. Be sure to change the scaling multiplier from 5 back to 1 if you don't want to be rendered unable to break any blocks or interact with things for a good 90+ minutes at 1 heart or less.
Edit: Oh, did you mean the Blood and Bones way? You can make food restore health using Hunger Overhaul, I think you can tweak the amount, too. Not sure if that's how they did it in that pack, though.