S/O: Experienced mamas help us eat healthy!

[yellowheart]

It has become apparent in another thread that several of us would like some advice IRT to making the transition from a diet of processed/unhealthy foods to a more sound way of eating. So....those of you who have made the changes please impart your wisdom!!

:cup

[jenn3514]

We started with baby steps. We picked what was most important to us. For us we started with eliminating HFCS and anything with sugar in the first five ingredients, and adding more fruits and veggies.
Once that was imolemented we moved torward whole grains. To make it easier on the kids we started with the wheat bread that is more like glorified white bread, then added things with more textures.
It was baby steps. We've had a busy year and have not been doing so great so we're picking up again.

[BriansLovie]

First and foremost, eliminate High Fructose Corn Syrup. Hardly any boxed cereal, instead we eat museli, oatmeal, granola. Dont buy the junk, if it's not there, the kids cannot ask for it and no battle over it. Nuts and seeds for snacks, fruit strips (no sugar added ones). We are not perfect by a long shot, but we do try. The only thing we eat that has HFCS would be soda (which we are not buying anymore after these few cans are gone :phew) and sometimes tomato soup (which I plan on making my own after the can we have is gone.)

ETA: I only use coconut oil and olive oil for baking or cooking. Sometimes butter, but rarely. I use sugar rarely, I try to use honey instead. I buy peanut butter, almond butter, and jams with no sugar added. I make my own yogurt, so I can control the sweetness and stuff in it. I use wheat germ and flax seed on stuff. Quinoa is so good! I dont buy white rice, and we use lentils, beans.

[Lady TS]

I don't do all these 100%, but these are my goals:

~No HFCS--I know some slips in, esp in the MiniWheats that ds2 loves so much and WIC wouldn't allow us to get the non-HFCS-containing store brand....once those are gone, we're opting for a different brand. Jams I get the Simply Fruit(NOT the ones with Nutrasweet/Splenda) or Organic store brand. We do have soda in the house but once it's gone.....

~Whole grains: brown rice(even instant is better than white rice), Quinoa(when I can find/afford it), WW pastas, ww bread(w/o hfcs)

~I get pastured beef when we can afford it/when it is available at the hfs. I have yet to find any conventional organic/pastured beef in a regular grocery. Last year we raised our own chickens...I only have one left in the freezer. Not sure what we will do after that one is gone...

~I avoid GMO's when I can. This means getting non-rbgh/rbst milks and cheeses when I can, avoiding conventional corn products(canned, frozen, and white/blue corn chips and most popcorn are NOT GMO still). I have the background of corn allergy so have trained myself to recognize the little derivatives. I avoid beet sugar because it *can* be GMO....although a law was passed recently making it illegal for the current GMO beet crop to be made into sugar/sold...it may be in stores still.....I'll take cane sugar, thank-you-very-much.

~For oils, I use Grapeseed oil for high heat cooking, coconut oil for baking(or butter) and olive oil for other stuff. Canola, corn oil, vegetable oil, soy, and Crisco are all GMO.

~I try to get organic produce when I can, but it's not always available. I do a lot of frozen veggies(nothing added), carrots, celery(OG whenever possible--this is one of the biggies), onions, some potatoes(these are gassed with corny gasses...), sweet potatoes. Apples, bananas, Oranges when in season....

~We get our own eggs from our chickens. I boil them and we have them for breakfast, snacks, etc. Of course, I also fry them, scramble them, use them in baking. If the hens aren't laying, I can get them for $3/dozen at the hfs, but then we cut back on how many we eat.

~Lunchmeats, though I know they're not good for us....I get the no-nitrate type(Hormel Naturals, I think?) and found some hot dogs last week w/no nitrates or nitrites. Not sure if they had GMO's in them(they are by Kraft, so I am skeptical)... but at least I dodged one bullet. :shifty

[Raspberries]

I think first and foremost you need to really hold fast to your motivation for it. Is it for general health? The environment? losing weight? getting structured with your diet? All of the above? Whatever it is, remembering that will really help.

Next is figuring out if you want to baby step, or just dive right in. For some baby steps is hard because they're tempted to throw in the towel since they're "still eating bad stuff anyway". For some diving right in is hard because it's such a drastic shift.

Next, is figuring out your budget and what you have to work with. For us, I'm willing to allocate more to food than other areas because healthy eating, for me, is very important. It crosses into so many areas. I think quality ingredients taste better. I feel that eating as clean as possible prevents more illnesses overall and so we have time to do more things as a family. Less doctor visits. Less cavities. Less meltdowns from kids hopped up on HFCS, dyes, etc.

Decide whether you want to do a one for one switch out or meal planning (or both). So that would mean instead of buying vegetable oil, you buy coconut oil or olive oil. Instead of buying boxed cereal, you buy bulk oats. Instead of buying a bag of white sugar, you buy bulk honey or maple syrup. And so forth and so on.

When shopping try to buy whole food ingredients, things with the least amount of ingredients possible, and things with ingredients that are basic. So for example, if I want to splurge and buy ice cream. I don't buy the brand with fifty million ingredients, HFCS and dye. I buy a small pint that's super basic - milk, cream, sugar, eggs, vanilla.

Find out if there are options for CSA, bulk meat buying or farmers markets in your area. They're local, fresh, and help your community. They are not cheaper. But they're more likely to be organic (without the label because that's a hoop jumping process) and grown with a lot of care.

Portion control. That makes a huge difference in our budget. We had to learn about our portions. My husband especially. No more big heaping piles of pasta. No more large breast of chicken. Pay attention to our hunger cues. As we eat better, we actually need less. Doing so really cuts back on our budget. So, as a family of five (only four who eat food) we can feed all of us at dinner on a box of whole grain brown rice pasta (plus sauce and veggies and what not). With leftovers even! We're not hungry. I'm not suggesting *everyone* is able to do this. This has just been helpful for us.

Snacks - Snacks for us are things like - fruit, veggie sticks, whole milk yogurt, nuts, hard boiled eggs, dried fruit, smoothies, brown rice cakes with sunbutter. We also have taken, lately, to doing no juice. Lemon ice water has been a big hit. They asked a lot for juice at first (even still we did 100% juices, no added sugar, no HFCS, no dyes), but after it was gone for a week, it's been great. Lunches are usually leftovers from dinner the night before. Or a more extended version of the basics I just listed. Maybe some lettuce wraps with veggies and meat. Fruit, veggies, nuts, dried fruit, cheese.

So these are just some tips. I'm not saying everyone do these. Or this is the only way. Nor am I saying that everyone's experience will be the same. Take what would work for you and leave the rest. :)

[abh5e8]

i think cleaning out the pantry and fridge are a great place to start. get rid of chips, cookies and other processed foods. get rid of margarine, corn and veggie oils and the like. replace with real butter and coconut oil. get rid of regular table salt and buy unrefined sea salt or Real salt.

when shopping, start with fresh fruits and veggies. frozen veggies are a good choice too.

go for really simple, easy meals. plain yogurt and frozen fruit for breakfast. or oatmeal. or toast with real butter.

for lunch, start witn sandwiches on 100% whole wheat bread with no HFCS. you will have to really look at packages, but there are always a few brands to choose from. choose peanut butter that only has peanuts in it. and jelly with no HFCS. add fresh fruit and veggies.

for snacks, start with fruit and veggies. popcorn with butter or coconut oil and salt is yum too. its also a good replacement for chips, if you are used to those.

[CapeTownMommy]

I'm lucky in that you don't find foods with HFCS here, unless they're imported from the US. My goal is to eat a diet as close to natural as possible. I.e. while we eat meat, I want to mostly eat meat that eats a natural diet. When we eat veggies, I want veggies grown naturally without chemicals etc.

What that looks like in practice is:

* Once a year we buy half a cow from my FIL's sister's farm. It's 100% grassfed beef with no antibiotics etc. Pastured. We get it really cheap and then freeze it and we don't buy beef other than this.
* I go for organic produce wherever possible. At the moment, getting organic chicken is almost impossible, so I go for free range where I can. We buy grass-fed natural lamb (not organic but I haven't been able to find organic) or otherwise get a whole lamb from the same farm as the beef. I don't currently buy organic eggs, but I buy free-range natural diet eggs. The organic is available from one online store but it costs double the price.
* I cook from scratch. I mean, not totally from scratch as in I don't make my own pasta except for dinner parties, but probably 95% of all meals we consume was created from base ingredients.

I really need to improve the volume of fruits and veggies we eat, and shift ever more of our foods towards organic. But as I've become more aware of what goes into food I find it easier and easier to avoid certain foods.

[bananacake]

For me, we've been making baby steps. We have to and it's easier for us. We cannot allot much extra money for food because our budget has very little wiggle room. Nor can we afford to throw stuff away. So I'm using up the canola oil and focusing on coconut and olive oil.

A few months ago, we switched over to all natural meats - not necessarily organic, but no antobiotics, natural environments, etc. This probably only increased our budget by $50/month because I shop the sales and we don't eat a ton of meat.

We got a halfshare of a CSA this year. Its $18/week for 20 weeks, and it was so worth it. One week, we got 10 large tomatoes in addition to lettuce, watercress, beets, corn and about 5'other things. I pureed some and froze them for soups and sauces. It's not certified organic because the farm is small and the certification costly: $15000 a year. I also stock up on stuff during peak season at the farmer's market. I got great pickling cukes for 3/$1 and made fermented pickles. Got similar deals on cabbage, tomatoes, etc. and made fun types of kraut and fermented salsas. Absolutely saved money compared to buying fresh salsas and truly raw kraut at the store.
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[Soliloquy]

Menu planning!!!
Find some recipes that you can and will make. Choose one for each night of the week. Make a list of all the ingredients you'll need and then buy them. (Or start with a few nights every week if 7 nights in a row is too much.). www.cookingtraditionalfoods.com has a weekly menu mailer, $16 for 16 weeks iirc, also available as a book or download. (It has the menu, shopping list, prep schedule, and recipes for the week!)

Choose 1 item that you normally buy and make it homemade. Granola, mac 'n cheese, fudge sauce, whatever! Make it a fun activity w/ your kids. If it doesn't turn out :shrug try again w/ a new item another day.

Instead of making dinner something to rush through so you can have fun, make the prep and meal the fun! Making pizza totally from scratch is a lot of fun.

Use fresh herbs. They taste so good and help you learn to dislike the taste of processed foods.

Ina Garten aka the Barefoot Contessa has some cookbooks that are pretty healthy (aside from the desserts) andnot too complicated. Watch her tv show for inspiration.
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[jenn3514]

Raspberries point of portion control is good also. It was an issue for us and we have been starting to implement that. It does free up money which we can then use for healthier choices.
And preserving. Freezing, canning, dehyfrating takes a chunk of time here and there, but allows us to eat quality foods without spending alot of prep time or $$ in the off season.

[Soliloquy]

Sorry, the link should be http://www.cookingtf.com/
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[yellowheart]

Thanks for all of the great advice!!! :heart

I'm headed down to the shop that houses our local CSA and organizes the Farmers Market. They also have a very small retail shop that you can purchase from. I didn't realize this, but, they have been around for over 30 years now. I think it is much cheaper to buy from them in bulk. If you plan ahead you can pretty much do all of your purchasing from them...from food stuff to cleaning supplies to diapers (if you use sposies). There is an abudance of places for us to buy grass fed meats and we can get acceptable dairy products that were processed within 50 miles of here. The milk is a bit pricey, however, the meat (at least beef) isn't that bad at $3-$4 lb if you purchase in bulk. That's not much more than what Wal-Mart is charging here.

[Soliloquy]

Making 2 lasagnas isn't much more work than 1 and it freezes well. Homemade waffles and pancakes freeze well, too. Just make them less brown than you like them, freeze, and re-heat in the toster (w/ real maple syrup!).

Shop the bulk aisle of your hfs. Rice, oats, flour, pasta, etc are a great deal. Mine has 25% off sales on rice and beans every now and then and I really stock up.
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[Raspberries]

Yep! My MIL is so generous and has gifted me with a nice standing mixer and a bread machine (on it's way!). I have a great blender, crockpot, food processor (though I'd like a bigger one or a blendtec). It helps a lot! I know not everyone can afford those things. In fact I think every one of those was a gift. But if you can afford one or two or even little tools. It helps.

[mamacanuck]

:popcorn cuz we need to make some changes

I'm lucky in that you don't find foods with HFCS here, unless they're imported from the US. My goal is to eat a diet as close to natural as possible. I.e. while we eat meat, I want to mostly eat meat that eats a natural diet. When we eat veggies, I want veggies grown naturally without chemicals etc.


Just FYI. If you are in Canada, it is not called HFCS here, but in the ingredient list is called glucose-fructose. And yes, it is in EVERYTHING, :sick even here.

[Beauty4Ashes]

Start small. I for one would be completely overwhelmed by say, a huge garden of fruits and vegetables that produce bushels upon bushels of stuff. I had no idea what to do when all of sudden I had 2 dozen jalapeno peppers, since we only use 1-2 at a time to add some spice to a dish. I have a 4'x6' area with peppers, tomatoes, mint, and eggplant. We have a crabapple tree and a pear tree. I found a chutney recipe to use the mint and a couple of jalapenos. I made one jar of crabapple jelly and am going to make some crabapple butter or paste next. Now, one might say that jelly isn't the healthiest thing in the world, but hey, it doesn't have hfcs or artifical colors or sweeteners. Perhaps the crabapples or pears could be turned into fruit leather or dried fruit.

I have Nourishing Traditions and as I read it, I think to myself, "is there something that I can do that is just building on something that I all ready do?". Dh and I make yogurt because it's something we use quite a bit. Maybe I could learn to do kefir; I like to make quick breads, are there any bread recipes out there that are healthier, maybe something fermented, stuff like that. I think that if you look at it as slowly adding something new to your diet, as opposed to giving up everything conventionally grown or regular meat, that it is less overwhelming.

[Katigre]

Read every label before you put an item in your cart - the more you know about what is in your food, the easier it will be to make healthy choices.

I can easily eat half a bag of Starburst if I'm just thinking "yummy candy!" :giggle But when I stop and read the label...it's a lot easier to put the package down and not buy it :yes.

Some things I refuse to purchase if it's on the label:
1. Partially hydrogenated _______ If it's on there, I put the product back. It's terrible for your body and heart, I refuse to put it in my home.

2. Artificial food dyes. Any FD&C # gets removed from the cart and replaced with a better option

3. Canned items unless it's Eden organic beans (which are BPA-free). I don't bring extra BPA into my home and I am willing to pay more and work around things. I will not ever use canned tomato products b/c they are so high in BPA, for example.

I also cook from scratch most of the time but it's really not a big problem - you can make it a big elaborate thing or it can be basic and fairly fast (I don't cook anything that takes more than an hour from start to table - see my siggie for more info ;)).

[Waterlogged]

:popcorn

[mamahammer]

My problem, when I start getting all excited about eating healthier again, is that I cannot figure out how to make it work on a very busy, on-the-run schedule. We eat in the car or at soccer practice a lot. I don't have more than 15 minutes to spend making and eating breakfast. When we're in a rush, I get flustered and frustrated and give up. And I end up putting a frozen pizza in the oven or grabbing Taco Bell on the way.

So...what do you eat when you're running out the door at dinner time?

Let's say you have no idea how to make not-instant oatmeal. That all you've ever had is Quaker Maple and Brown Sugar. And you're standard kid breakfast is waffles with peanut butter.

And I get stuck figuring out lunch every stinking day. 11:30 rolls around and I never have any idea what to make.

Ugh...I just feel lost trying to make any changes. I don't know why this one area trips me up so much!

[Katigre]

So...what do you eat when you're running out the door at dinner time?
A sandwich, most likely.

Let's say you have no idea how to make not-instant oatmeal. That all you've ever had is Quaker Maple and Brown Sugar. And you're standard kid breakfast is waffles with peanut butter.
Regular oatmeal is so easy - the sugar content in the packets is crazy, so the first step would be switching to plain instant oatmeal. But making it on the stove is fairly fast as is doing it overnight in the crockpot. (But I don't have a microwave so my definition of 'fast' is slower than the norm - you can have regular oatmeal fully made in 15-20 minutes and stir peanut butter into it which makes it taste like a peanut butter cookie).

And I get stuck figuring out lunch every stinking day. 11:30 rolls around and I never have any idea what to make.
Make a list of 5 options for lunch and stick it on your fridge so you don't have to think of it from scratch. Here would be the ones that come to mind for me (include sides so it's a complete meal): PB&J with fruit, Grilled cheese with fruit, mac n cheese with broccoli mixed in (add frozen broccoli to the water when you add the noodles), fish sticks with fruit, lunch meat + cheese and fruit

[mamahammer]

What kind of fish sticks do you buy?

Jelly - do you make your own or is there a kind you can buy that doesn't cost a small fortune for what amounts to a few spoonfuls of jelly? :giggle

I can't stand the taste of plain oatmeal - but I guess I could add in my own brown sugar and maple syrup? Or I could try the peanut butter. Is the texture too different? I just remembered that I do have a good baked oatmeal recipe that's really good.

What kind of bread do you buy?

I'm telling you, I get overwhelmed. Which is crazy, but it's like my brain has chosen this one area as it's overload area.

Thanks for talking me through it :hug

[Katigre]

Wanted to add...we do 'waffle sandwiches' for breakfast a lot - I just make sure the waffles we buy have ingredients I'm ok with and use natural peanut butter (no added sugar). I think it's a fine breakfast :).

What kind of fish sticks do you buy?
Trader Joe's fish sticks.

Jelly - do you make your own or is there a kind you can buy that doesn't cost a small fortune for what amounts to a few spoonfuls of jelly? :giggle
:think I've never considered jelly something expensive. I buy Trader Joe's low sugar jelly b/c I really try to limit the sugar in our house and DS likes it. It comes in pretty large jars. Another option is using honey instead - I will write DS's name in honey on one side of his waffle or sandwich (uses a lot less honey that way ;) and he thinks it's cool). I've never made my own.

I can't stand the taste of plain oatmeal - but I guess I could add in my own brown sugar and maple syrup? Or I could try the peanut butter. Is the texture too different? I just remembered that I do have a good baked oatmeal recipe that's really good.
Blech I don't like plain oatmeal either - I always add things to it. I usually make pumpkin oatmeal (got the recipe out of the Deceptively Delicious cookbook and it is SO GOOD). Uses maple syrup, canned pumpin, pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon, raisins and nuts and peanut butter. It's satisfying and very filling and not flavorless mush at all. Another option is apple cinnamon oatmeal - chop of an apple or two and add cinnamon and maple syrup or a Tbsp or two of brown sugar. Either of those options are tons healthier than the flavored packets :yes.

What kind of bread do you buy?
Meijer or Trader Joe's - i like Meijer's bread better personally. I find bread expensive (I can get the Meijer organic with no objectionable ingredients for $2.99/loaf on sale - the TJ's version is $3.49/loaf), I should make my own.

[mamahammer]

Hmmm...I'll have to try to make a point of getting to Central Market or Whole Foods, since the closest ones are about 20 minutes away. I'll take a look at what Sprouts has, but their selection is limited. We don't have a Trader Joe's (closest one is AZ!) or a Meijers. At Target (our usual grocery store), the only low-sugar jelly I've found is $7.50 for 10oz as compared to $2.50 for 32oz of the regular stuff. And making four pb&j sandwiches at a time, that gets expensive fast. But maybe if I make a trip to one of the other stores, I'll find more, less expensive options.

[Waterlogged]

Hmmm...I'll have to try to make a point of getting to Central Market or Whole Foods,

are you in texas???

i really wish we had a trader joe's...

[CapeTownMommy]

:popcorn cuz we need to make some changes



Just FYI. If you are in Canada, it is not called HFCS here, but in the ingredient list is called glucose-fructose. And yes, it is in EVERYTHING, :sick even here.

Thanks - I'm in South Africa, we really really don't use HFCS.

[mountainash]

A good way to stay motivated is to try organic/pastured/tree ripened version of foods you either already like or perhaps aren't too thrilled about. Your reaction just might surprise you.

Free range eggs are really terrific. They just taste healthier.

Fresh tomatoes from a farmers market or CSA will amaze you if you're used to the supermarket tomatoes. For bonus points, try heirloom varieties--who knew tomatoes could taste so many different ways!

Oh, and sea salts! Salt is salt, right? Wrong! Try a Himalayan sea salt sometime!

Kale chips were a fantastic discovery. I never expected to find a green vegetable that I'd prefer over potato chips. Baked sweet potato fries are equally as delightful.

Steel cut oats--your favorite comfort food just got comfier.

Real maple syrup--be careful with this one. It's rich and you need far less than table syrup. Try mixing a spoonful or two into those steel cut oats.

Fresh herbs--you wont want to use dried ever again.

Chocolate milk made with goat's milk is decadent. There's a recipe for chocolate syrup on Pioneer Woman, I believe.

[CapeTownMommy]

We have Himalayan rock salt that I got from our organic online store and it tastes HORRIBLE. All I can taste is sulphur. Is it supposed to be like that? The label actually says "high in sulphur". I've always wanted himalayan salt but it was such a disappointment when I bought it.

[mountainash]

We have Himalayan rock salt that I got from our organic online store and it tastes HORRIBLE. All I can taste is sulphur. Is it supposed to be like that? The label actually says "high in sulphur". I've always wanted himalayan salt but it was such a disappointment when I bought it.

:think :no No. At least it didn't when I tried it. It had a subtle zing. Sulfur sounds icky.

[CapeTownMommy]

:think :no No. At least it didn't when I tried it. It had a subtle zing. Sulfur sounds icky. Good to know. I'm going to throw out our bottle and hopefully get a new source. In fact, I know of a store that carries it... :think

[shekinah]

I read the book "The Grocery Warning" by Mike Adams of NaturalNews.com, and I am doing my best to put what I can into practice. It was super helpful, because it not only told me what not to eat, but told me why and what it was doing to my body, and then the risks and diseases that can come from it. The end of the book gave tons of suggestions to eat as alternatives. Anyway, my little list looks like this-

1- Cut out refined grains/carbs. I switched to ww bread, ww pasta, ww oats, ww flour (enriched wheat flour is no good, it's just refined with some stuff thrown back in), and we are doing our best to cut out as much sugar as possible. I think that's the hardest one because it is in EVERYTHING in many different forms. I finally got my hands on some Stevia, and I'm going to start making my own apple sauce, pasta sauce, and baked goods with the whole wheat grains and Stevia to avoid purchasing those things with sugar. Even things like "Organic Cane Sugar" which sounds like it might be a healthier option, still aren't good for you at all. No aspartame, no sucralose (Splenda), no sugar alcohols like xylotol (although if you are going to eat sugar, at least it's better than straight sugar), etc. Stick with agave or stevia. Stevia is expensive, but it's 300 times more sweet than sugar, so you need MUCH less when sprinkling on cereal or substituting in baking. I need to look it up, but I think it was something like a half teaspoon = 1 cup sugar. I'll need to double check.

2- No more cured meats! Cut out the sodium nitrite/nitrate/benzoate. I buy uncured lunch meats that have no preservatives, and we found they taste even better and still last a while in the fridge. A trick you can do to remove sodium nitrite from meat already in your fridge is put it in a bowl of water, microwave for 45 seconds, drain, repeat, and that should remove most of it. Eat the meat with citrus fruits to help combat any nitrosamine production in your body.

3- Cut out soft drinks, alcohol, caffeine. We had no problem with this one since we don't drink it anyway. If you're a tea drinker, stay away from Theobromine and Theophylline as they are caffeine-like substances.

4- Partially hydrogenated and hydrogenated oils. Also comes under the name vegetable oil shortening or just plain shortening. They are in bread, margarine, crackers, peanut butter, salad dressings, cooking oils, baked goods, chips, etc. Ick! Everywhere! There are other options though. Just make sure to read the labels, and you can find all the above that do not use those ingredients. You can get whole grain chips with low salt that don't have any junk in them.. dip in salsa, good to go! I found some organic peanut butter that's just whipped peanuts, nothing else added. Non-hydrogenated margarine. You can make your own salad dressings.

5- Purchase only organic meat. This is super tough, as we live in an isolated area up north, and I haven't found any organic meat at all. There is no farming up here or cattle raising, etc.. so it's tough, and we just keep buying regular meat until we can move. One thing to look for when you purchase a whole chicken is if it's grain fed or not, and look for tiny brown marks on the back of the legs near the bum area. If a chicken has that, DO NOT BUY. It's called a hock burn and is due to the chicken not being able to stand up in a crowded, harsh environment, and the ammonia from its litter burnt right through his skin to the meat. Also look if you see a mark left from the grocer/supplier cutting the hock burn out before packaging. I was watching a Britain TV special where they went to a supermarket to check out how many hock burns there were on the shelves, and no kidding, almost every chicken there had one! Anyway, organic meat if it's available to you won't have hormones, antibiotics, animal drugs, industrial waste, etc.

6- No MSG. Goes by the names monosodium glutamate, hydrolyzed vegetable or plant protein, yeast extract, sodium caseinate, calcium caseinate, textured protein, autolyzed yeast, hydrolyzed oat flour, and anything that just says "seasoning" or "spices" on the ingredient list should be held suspicious. I was shocked at this. Almost everything in my cupboards had yeast extract in it. I switched from chicken broth to no sodium chicken stock. No more Side Kicks meals, no more gravies, no more little packets of seasonings for slow cooker meals, soups, and chilis, no more canned soup for on the go, etc. This is another tough one to purge completely, but I am learning to use my spice rack better. It's a slow going change. Mostly just stay out of the center aisles of the grocery store, LOL. I'm seeing that more and more meals can be made of just veggies, fruits, whole grains, eggs, meat, etc without having to come from a package, and they are often even less complicated to make and serve! A plate of boiled rice, steamed veggies, and frozen fish with some pepper done for 25 minutes in the oven is just as easy as boiling 1 cup milk, 1 cup water, boil for 8 minutes, add package, add 2 TB butter, etc..

7- Dairy products. I knew they were bad, but I didn't know why. When I read the whole story, I'll never touch it again. Instead of butter/margarine, you can get these butter-like sprays that are actually healthy and do well on veggies. You can use coconut oil spread on toast and sprayed with the butter flavouring. I'm very much missing yogurt though. I heard you can buy soy yogurt or coconut yogurt, but I have yet to find any here. I have slowly but surely totally switched over to almond milk though! I started with sweetened vanilla to get used to the taste, then cut out the sugar for good and am now using unsweetened. I was a heavy, heavy milk drinker, but surprisingly I don't miss it, and it's been almost a month since I stopped. Be careful with soy products though because there is still quite a discussion there about being genetically modified, and the hormones that are naturally found in it are linked to increase in breast cancer, etc. It's still debatable, but better safe than sorry, or at least in moderation.


For me, I made a commitment to jump in 90% and slowly fade out the rest. That way there was still room for the products that I just can't find alternatives for that I don't want to cut out, but no room to get slack and add licorice, tootsie rolls, and bulk gummy worms to the grocery cart. My husband is about 80% (he loooves his cheese and milk!), but he has been a very willing participant on helping me stick to my goals and is actually enjoying the changes so far. :) Even if you want to start out by cutting out one thing each time you shop... so the first time you go to the store, tell yourself no nitrites. So you pick up some better meat. A couple weeks later, you say no refined grains, so now you're used to the meat, get it again, and try some ww bread and ww pasta. Or just jump right in. I wrote up a quick list of ingredients to avoid and took it with me to the store. That shopping trip was VERY long, haha, but I now know which items I want and can just pick it up again instead of having to read all the labels again. I know this has been really long, but I hope it helps, even if you take one thing from it :) It's good for me to write it out as well- keeps me sticking to my goals!

[CapeTownMommy]

Wow, Messina. You're much further along the way than I'll ever be. No way I'm ever going to give up ALL sugar, alcohol, caffeine and dairy!

[bananacake]

We have Himalayan rock salt that I got from our organic online store and it tastes HORRIBLE. All I can taste is sulphur. Is it supposed to be like that? The label actually says "high in sulphur". I've always wanted himalayan salt but it was such a disappointment when I bought it.

Most of them have sulfur, which we avoid in our house due to an allergy.
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[DaltonsMomma]

I really need this thread.

:popcorn

[Raspberries]

There is some debate about agave. Many feel it is no better than HFCS due to the way in which it is processed.

As for dairy, again, that's one of those subjective - some people view it as very healthy in it's raw and pastured forms and others think it's altogether terrible.

That's what I find so interesting about eating healthy. There are so many different views on what makes that up.

[shekinah]

Ooo, good point. Just to clarify, I would have no problem consuming raw dairy (that's still organic). It's the homogenized, pasteurized products I have issues with. I don't have access to any raw milk, so I didn't think to mention it.

[yellowheart]

Status update: We had steel cut oats for bfast this morning. The kiddos even ate it. Last night I had to go to the grocery store and I bought all organic fruits/veggies and I read the labels on everything that was processed (ww pasta, pasta sauce, etc.). The only thing that was difficult to pick up was the meat. And, that was only due to the fact that the semi-good stuff was 2-3 times the price of the conventional. This is hard being an accountant. But, all I could see in my mind were those poor chickens unable to support their weight. So my heart overrode my accounting tendencies.

I found out yesterday afternoon that our local CSA has disbanded, but, has opted to expand the shop downtown. More about this later....gotta go.

[Raspberries]

:clap:clap

[jenn3514]

For quick on the go meals we keep a supply of hard boiled eggs, tortilla shells, black beans, homemade refried beans, and a couple of peices of chicken. My kids eat almost anything if it's rolled in a tortilla! Peanut butter is a staple- the natural kind, and we eat it right out of the jar. Steel cut oats are a favorite here. I usually double/triple the recipe then reheat as needed with a shot of milk/almond milk and some fresh fruit. My favorite is throwing some kefir in it and letting it sit overnight- not sure why, but it naturally sweetens the oats.
Never underestimate the power of your freezer either- we are freezing fresh local fruits and veggies, make two meals instead of one, and now I am going to freeze several different types of homemade stock for quick and easy soups.
It can seem a little overwhelming, but I've found that when we really embrace whole foods we tend to eat less because the food sticks with you longer, so that brings down the amount spent some.

[shekinah]

Status update: We had steel cut oats for bfast this morning. The kiddos even ate it. Last night I had to go to the grocery store and I bought all organic fruits/veggies and I read the labels on everything that was processed (ww pasta, pasta sauce, etc.). The only thing that was difficult to pick up was the meat. And, that was only due to the fact that the semi-good stuff was 2-3 times the price of the conventional. This is hard being an accountant. But, all I could see in my mind were those poor chickens unable to support their weight. So my heart overrode my accounting tendencies.

I found out yesterday afternoon that our local CSA has disbanded, but, has opted to expand the shop downtown. More about this later....gotta go.
Nice! Be proud of your steps (some of those are leaps!) :rockon

[yellowheart]

When grocery shopping yesterday I determined that buying organic fruits/veggies in the Kroger store was really not that much more expensive than conventional. I bet all of the produce together was not more than $1.50 more than conventional. The biggest price difference was in cauliflower at $.30. Our famers market runs May-mid Oct and we will buy what we can there. Our cost for dairy of all kinds is going to double. This is going to hurt when I start making homemade "Goldfish" crackers again. Meat we can buy in bulk and I'm sure save some. To walk into the local co-op store ground beef will cost us $4.25/lb and a whole chicken will cost around $13. I didn't see ANY acceptable beef products in the Kroger store.

I think the key for us will be menu planning. DH was ready to go out to eat last night and I said "You want us to go and eat 'crud' after I just went out and bought all this healthy stuff?" We stayed home. I have our menu from now until Sunday in my head and everything on hand so there is no excuse for us to eat out for the next 3.5 days. By then I can plan out the rest of next week until we go on vacation. I will purchase the healthier options as we consume the rest of the junk.

In reality since we spend so much eating out now that I'm not sure we'll truly notice difference on the extra spent on dairy and meat. Now if we buy the more nutritious stuff and still spend on eating out then that's another story. I will also have to learn to make some foods DH likes with their healthier alternatives. And, I've been wanting to start making our way through "Deceptively Delicious" and I think that will be helpful.