Whole food eaters... questions...

[Mynyel]

I watched Forks Over Knives last night. While I am not ready to jump in with both feet I would like to make more changes and slowly work to less and less meat.

 

My question is this... what constitutes a whole food? Are canned tomatoes whole or do I need to use "real" tomoatos? Frozen veggies? Canned veggies? Canned beans?

 

Can someone 'splain it to me? :)

[Moira in MA]

Rachel,

 

Whole foods are minimally processed foods. They're usually found on the outside edges of the grocery store. But I consider canned tomatoes whole foods, likewise canned beans (although from dried is much cheaper and better!), and frozen veggies.

 

My standard for things that are in jars, cans or bags is that there should be 5 or fewer ingredients and I can pronounce them all :001_smile:

 

HTH

~Moira

[Mynyel]

Rachel,

 

Whole foods are minimally processed foods. They're usually found on the outside edges of the grocery store. But I consider canned tomatoes whole foods, likewise canned beans (although from dried is much cheaper and better!), and frozen veggies.

 

My standard for things that are in jars, cans or bags is that there should be 5 or fewer ingredients and I can pronounce them all :001_smile:

 

HTH

~Moira

 

 

Thanks! That helps tremendously. I like your 5 ingredients rule. I will be using that!

[littlefurfamily]

http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/

 

This website is FANTASTIC!! I always knew what I was supposed to do. I just couldn't figure out how to do it. This site provided the hand-holding I needed to make it happen......I cannot say ENOUGH good about 100 Days... there are menus, shopping lists, recipes...blah, blah, don't get me started! It has changed our shopping cart in the most pleasant way!

[5 Hikers]

I would warn you that once you start down this road things that can get really crazy. :tongue_smilie:

 

You'll start off buying from a Store like Whole foods, but You'll end up buying Heriloom seeds for your own garden. Then you'll buy canning supplies so you can put away all your veges. Then you wind up buying a whole cow or half a cow because it is free range organic fed. This requires having a seperate deep freezer. Then of course you'll need a grain mill to grind your own wheat and other grains to make homemade breads. You'll have to find a group or a store that buys 50lb. bags to save money. This leads to checking out fermentation and before you know it you'll be also making your own yogurt, sour cream, butter. Once you start on the Dairy you'll read how much healthier raw milk is, so you'll drive to another state where it is legal to sell/buy raw milk. Finding raw milk leads to hearing about the benefits of eating all food raw. So, you'll check out a place Like http://www.purerawcafe.com/ . Then, you'll decide maybe you should scrap everything you've ever done and start eating raw. Finally, the whole thing overwhelms you and you've run out of money so you end up shopping at Aldi's again buying $0.45 Macaroni-n-cheese for the kids. :D

[Mergath]

We try to eat whole foods, but we're realistic about it, too. I try to find the least processed version of a food that's not prohibitively time consuming. So I'll use canned organic tomatoes in some recipes, because chopping fresh tomatoes and seeding them and getting the skins off would take a really, really long time, and that's time I think is better spent elsewhere.

 

With all the GMO foods on the market now, sometimes it's actually healthier to buy foods that are, shall we say, less whole. I'll take a bag of frozen organic corn over whole ears of GMO corn any day.

 

When I'm checking labels, if I don't know what an ingredient is, or if there's any HFCS or hydrogenated oils, I don't buy it.

 

Basically, just eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, try to get the things on the dirty dozen list organic, eat whole grains over more processed ones, and cook anything you can from scratch.

[littlefurfamily]

:lol::lol::lol:

. Finally, the whole thing overwhelms you and you've run out of money so you end up shopping at Aldi's again buying $0.45 Macaroni-n-cheese for the kids. :D

 

yes ...trying to avoid this

[Parrothead]

For us whole foods meas lots of fresh produce. I can't afford organic for all of it at the rate we now eat produce though.

 

I try to stay away from canned beans as they are expensive. I will cook two bags of dry black beans at a time then freeze them in 1 cup portions. I also do red beans and others the same way. Barley does well cooked then frozen and rice. This saves time with food prep.

 

Two days worth of meals looks like this:

Monday: Muffins; braised red cabbage and apples; pasta fresca

Tuesday: Oatmeal with fruit; roasted beets with dill and green salad; pasta with spicy cauliflower.

 

 

We have fresh fruit, seeds, nuts, cut veggies, hummus and any leftovers for snacks.

 

 

We've been on this journey for 3 years now. It was just two weeks ago that we committed to being vegetarian for a minimum of six months. At that point we will reassess and see what we are going to do with the meat in the freezer.

 

ETA: Tomatoes. We prefer the taste of fresh over canned. I don't bother with the seeding and peeling. I just use the whole tomato. That said I do buy organic tomato sauce. I've tried making my own but it just didn't seem worth the time and effort.

Edited April 27, 2012 by Parrothead

[Mynyel]

I would warn you that once you start down this road things that can get really crazy.

 

You'll start off buying from a Store like Whole foods, but You'll end up buying Heriloom seeds for your own garden. Then you'll buy canning supplies so you can put away all your veges. Then you wind up buying a whole cow or half a cow because it is free range organic fed. This requires having a seperate deep freezer. Then of course you'll need a grain mill to grind your own wheat and other grains to make homemade breads. You'll have to find a group or a store that buys 50lb. bags to save money. This leads to checking out fermentation and before you know it you'll be also making your own yogurt, sour cream, butter. Once you start on the Dairy you'll read how much healthier raw milk is, so you'll drive to another state where it is legal to sell/buy raw milk. Finding raw milk leads to hearing about the benefits of eating all food raw. So, you'll check out a place Like http://www.purerawcafe.com/ . Then, you'll decide maybe you should scrap everything you've ever done and start eating raw. Finally, the whole thing overwhelms you and you've run out of money so you end up shopping at Aldi's again buying $0.45 Macaroni-n-cheese for the kids.

 

Well I am already half way there. I make my own bread, brown sugar, mayo, peanut butter, chocolate syrup and granola.

 

I would love to can my veggies if I could grow veggies but the soil doesn't lend itself to gardening. Way to much clay.

 

I buy non-GMO flour in 50 pound bags already and I can make flour in my Vitamix if I wanted to but one day I want a grinder :) I buy Xylitol in 15 pound bags (although this does last me 2-3 months).

 

I have made my own yogurt... which reminds me I want to make more. I have made my butter but found it more cost effective to just buy sticks :)

 

I have already thought of raw milk but don't know where to get it to even try it!

 

If I had the room in my house for a chest freezer I would already have half or quarter cow in my freezer. Alas I do not have the room.

 

Although the raw food diet it intriguing I don't know that I am ready for it.

 

Yet.

 

I am already half way there!

 

We try to eat whole foods, but we're realistic about it, too. I try to find the least processed version of a food that's not prohibitively time consuming. So I'll use canned organic tomatoes in some recipes, because chopping fresh tomatoes and seeding them and getting the skins off would take a really, really long time, and that's time I think is better spent elsewhere.

 

With all the GMO foods on the market now, sometimes it's actually healthier to buy foods that are, shall we say, less whole. I'll take a bag of frozen organic corn over whole ears of GMO corn any day.

 

When I'm checking labels, if I don't know what an ingredient is, or if there's any HFCS or hydrogenated oils, I don't buy it.

 

Basically, just eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, try to get the things on the dirty dozen list organic, eat whole grains over more processed ones, and cook anything you can from scratch.

 

:iagree::iagree: I also won't buy things with HFCS or the hydrogenated oils. I avoid GMO (well at least if I know it is! Very hard to find out what is and isn't!) like the plague.

 

Yeah, I am at the burnt out sick of spending a fortune stage too. Not that I've totally gone in the other direction, but I have had to "get real" about some stuff. And I'm a person who LOVES to cook. But I kind of like my sanity too.

 

Some people go all crazy and say never no canned or frozen veggies, etc. But in the grand scheme of things, IMO, they are the best convenience foods out there. It's light years better than blue Hawaiian Punch and Little Debbie snack cakes. KWIM? So don't go crazy or you might go crazy.

 

Some people here talk about how they have everything fresh and organic and grass fed and non caged and fresh from the chicken's pen. If you happen to have reasonable access to this stuff, great. But not everyone does. Or they pay so much money for it that IMO it becomes stupid and faddish.

 

Off my soapbox now.

 

:iagree: I didn't eat like this when I didn't have it available. If it wasn't readily available I would eat what I need to... although grudgingly :D I buy organic when I can and pick the best I can when I can't.

 

I don't shop at Wal*Mart for produce.

 

Ever.

 

So it sounds like I am pretty much eating a whole foods diet anyway.

 

So why have I not lost weight! :tongue_smilie:

[5 Hikers]

Yeah, I am at the burnt out sick of spending a fortune stage too. Not that I've totally gone in the other direction, but I have had to "get real" about some stuff. And I'm a person who LOVES to cook. But I kind of like my sanity too. Or they pay so much money for it that IMO it becomes stupid and faddish.

 

 

I love cooking too, but somedays it is hard when you have nothing that can be whipped up in less than 1-2 hours. I agree about paying way too much money for things.

 

I met a lady who had a cure for paying crazy money for meat. She raises rabbits and eats them. They are organic, free-range. She told me all the virtues of rabbit meat over chicken. We have a pet rabbit, so I cannot imagine how my children would feel about eating Fluffy. :tongue_smilie:

We do eat deer though. Dh goes hunting and he gets all the meat processed for us. We got half a cow for free this year because dh fixed a fence for an older man. In return for him fixing the fencing along his 30 acres he gave us half a cow.

 

A friend of mine drives 3 hours to another state for raw milk. That is too far IMO. It just cannot be worth all that. I must admit I did it myself 4 times. Now I do buy local milk that is minimally processed and consider that good enough, plus it is only 20 minutes away.

[pageta]

I would highly recommend In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan. That's the plan we follow. You don't necessarily have to be vegan or eat organic, but if something has an ingredient listed that you wouldn't stock in your own kitchen (or don't even have access to), then it's considered "contraband" at our house. His Food Rules is a quick simple list of rules based on what he talks about in In Defense of Food. Basically processed food is out and foods taken in their natural state and prepared at home are best.

[5 Hikers]

I would love to can my veggies if I could grow veggies but the soil doesn't lend itself to gardening. Way to much clay!

So it sounds like I am pretty much eating a whole foods diet anyway.

So why have I not lost weight! :tongue_smilie:

 

 

I have nothing but clay either! A good trick is to make raised beds. I have 6 long, raised beds that I tilled and filled with manure and topsoil mix. The garden turns out beautiful.

http://eartheasy.com/grow_raised_beds.htm

 

 

It does sound like you already eat a whole foods diet. I would look at portion sizes and what kind of exercise you get now. Also, just because it is healthier doesn't mean that it is low in fat. If you are eating homemade icecream everynight, it is probably more fattening than store bought since I use lots of eggs and fresh cream in homemade icecreams.