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We are a pop tart and cream of mushroom soup family. Help me change!


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If you don't like traditional oatmeal, search for a recipe (or maybe someone can link it) for baked oatmeal. I make a 9x13 pan of it with a few green apples grated/chopped in, and it lasts for days. Heavenly!

 

You can also look for recipes for making steel-cut oats--they come out firm and with a slightly chewy texture, not oozy and floppy like regular oatmeal. I will say, though, that I used to hate regular oatmeal, but after experimenting with it a bit, I found a way that I like it and toppings that make it extra yum. I always make mine with milk, and serve it with chopped pecans, a little brown sugar, and a little maple syrup (and maybe some chopped apple, if we have it). The texture took some getting used to for all of us, but we love it now.

 

Oh, and one last idea--look up Hillbilly Housewife's recipe for oatmeal pancakes. Sooooo good! Again, I add chopped apple and some cinnamon and nutmeg to the batter, or mashed bananas, or even chocolate chips sometimes! They are a great, hearty breakfast, and they keep very well in the fridge. We just warm them up in our toaster oven, but you could easily use a microwave or probably even a regular oven. Or just spread on some jam and eat cold, LOL!

Edited by Sweet Morning Air
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Well, I'll just have to take one for the team and volunteer for the cream of mushroom soup. I'll keep it hidden in the pantry, and no one will ever know of it but us. I'll make sure I don't feed it to anyone else, so as not to contaminate them. I'll be the martyr who consumes it all herself *slurp*

 

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

My favorite step-down from pop tarts: whip some softened cream cheese with a bit of vanilla, a little powdered sugar, and some berries. Spread on graham crackers.

 

Sadly, way more addictive than pop tarts. :glare::tongue_smilie:

 

Those are GOOD!!!!!! :drool5:

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we are a pretty nearly 100% from scratch household at this point. It began when we decided there were some things we just simply would not consume, in any quantity. We ended up with essentially no choice BUT to cook more, and the few pre-made things we still buy I don't feel badly about.

 

Our list of 'not at all, ever, for any reason, in any quantity' includes:

 

-> artificial dyes

-> fake sugar

-> high fructose corn syrup

-> hydrogenated oils

 

The list has grown over time, and we've come to take a special joy in knowing exactly what's in everything we consume...but the start really was a decision that we just would not eat the stuff above, because it didn't seem like actual food. We figured out how to make what was necessary when everything containing the banned substances was no longer available.

 

 

ETA: my kids where young (6&4) when we started this, and that helps, but they're totally on board. It's become a family adventure, ensuring we only eat good things. I still remember driving home from a birthday party where my then 6yo dd could eat none of the treats (all filled w/ fake dye and other junk)...she was bit disappointed, but knew the drill and was a really good sport. So we get in the car and she says 'Daddy...I couldn't have the party treats. So can we get some juice...from fruit...from trees?' I said 'yes. yes you can. you can have any kind of juice from fruit from a tree that you would like.' They will adapt. They will find plenty of food they like. It can be fun!

Edited by AEC
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You have received some GREAT advice on this thread!!! :)

 

I would suggest that you try simply buying healthier foods in general and skip making everything from scratch right now. There are perfectly good breads to buy from the bakery, for instance; you don't have to bake your own. If you try to do too much too soon, you may be overwhelmed and throw in the towel.

 

My other suggestion would be to not make this a big deal with your family. Transition them as quietly as possible. Simply serve them sandwiches with sliced apples instead of chips. If someone stares at their plate in consternation, ignore it, smile and ask them to pass the napkins. :tongue_smilie:

 

The easiest foods to replace are snack foods. My kids love, among other things:

 

--Homemade hummus + crackers, pita bread or pita chips--homemade hummus is an easy, high-protein dip. I make a large batch about once a week and it is always completely gone within a few days.

 

--hard cheese + crackers

--fruit of just about any variety--I keep apples, pears, bananas on hand all the time, and a couple of additional fruits that are in season.

--frozen grapes

--sliced apples + peanut butter

--unsweetened apple sauce

--popcorn (air or pan-popped - NOT microwave)

--yogurt + granola + honey

--salad (usually leaf lettuce, nuts, onions or tomatoes, dried cranberries, blue or feta cheese + olive oil & balsamic) The older girls make salads for themselves pretty often.

--soy nuts

--almonds, pecans, walnuts

--toast with avocado, olive oil, salt & pepper

--leftovers --If you make something great, don't throw out the leftovers; I put them in the fridge in lidded containers (or in the freezer) and the kids will snack on them for several days.

 

The trick with snack foods is to have plenty on hand so they can eat whenever they are hungry. I don't limit my kids on the amount of healthy snacks they can have and the number of times a day they can have them. I have slim, healthy, active kids--and they are professional grazers. If they fill up on salad or hummus and can't finish their dinner--well, who cares? They ate too much healthy food before dinner? :D

 

 

Three easy things to start right away:

 

1. Don't buy pop, koolaid or any kind of sugary drinks. Drink water, milk, and limited amounts of juice. (We only have OJ for breakfast; rarely any other kind or any other time unless it's freshly juiced) One way to facilitate this is to get everyone a cute water bottle and fill it with ice water at the beginning of the day.

 

2. Snacks. Experiment with a few things at a time. Find out what your kids like and stock your pantry/fridge with that.

 

3. Start buying the unprocessed versions of what you already eat. Think in terms of "real" food in addition to healthy foods. If you use margarine, switch to butter; if you drink sweet tea, try aromatic unsweetened teas like Jasmine or chai instead; switch out processed cheeses for hard cheese; sauté vegetables in olive oil; drizzle salads with olive oil, balsamic and salt/pepper instead of drowning vegetables in ranch; use leaf lettuce instead of iceberg...etc. etc. Revamp what your family already eats; you don't have to completely change the menu. :) (At least, not yet. :D)

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We are lazy healthy eaters. :) Most of our meals are very simple- dinners are usually a grilled meat and veggie. Lots of salads for lunch (or tuna salad, or chicken salad, or left overs from dinner, etc). And breakfast is eggs, eggs, and more eggs. Sometimes they are just scrambled plain with cheese, and other times I sauté a crap ton of veggies and throw it in. As for snacks- the favorites for my kids are apples, cubed cheese, grapes, bananas, pears, etc. like other posters- my kids know that they can have as much of any fruit or veggie whenever they want it- they don't have to ask.

I am not a big "from scratch" chef. When I do make a more complex meal (not grilled something and veggie), it *is* usually from scratch- but I may do something like that like once a week. Seriously.

I think the more convenient you can make healthier food- the easier the transition. So I would start with very easy and tasty meals. Stuff you will look forward to- to eat and prepare. Don't make yourself a food martyr. Lol! I cook everything in real butter- and it is amazing how sinful everything tastes that way. Even apples- cook them in a skillet with butter (no sugar- the Apple has plenty!) for a sweet snack- or for a change of pace- YUM!

2 huge benefits of getting off of processed food that we discovered (totally unexpected) was bloating and satiation. The bloating is obvious with the high sodium content in almost all processed food. But the satiation- especially with my kids- was amazing to see in just days. Before - they would be back at me within an hour to an hour and a half needing a snack. Now... They easily make it 3-4 hours after a meal before snacking. And my kids are fit anyway- they do not need to lose weight- they are just satisfied longer now :)

Anyway- my point is to keep it simple. Don't go too crazy, eat yummy stuff, shop the perimeter of the store for your food (produce, meat, dairy... All the carp is in the center aisles- just stay away), and don't buy anything your great grandmother wouldn't recognize. ;)

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We are lazy healthy eaters. :) Most of our meals are very simple- dinners are usually a grilled meat and veggie. Lots of salads for lunch (or tuna salad, or chicken salad, or left overs from dinner, etc). And breakfast is eggs, eggs, and more eggs. Sometimes they are just scrambled plain with cheese, and other times I sauté a crap ton of veggies and throw it in. As for snacks- the favorites for my kids are apples, cubed cheese, grapes, bananas, pears, etc. like other posters- my kids know that they can have as much of any fruit or veggie whenever they want it- they don't have to ask.

I am not a big "from scratch" chef. When I do make a more complex meal (not grilled something and veggie), it *is* usually from scratch- but I may do something like that like once a week. Seriously.

I think the more convenient you can make healthier food- the easier the transition. So I would start with very easy and tasty meals. Stuff you will look forward to- to eat and prepare. Don't make yourself a food martyr. Lol! I cook everything in real butter- and it is amazing how sinful everything tastes that way. Even apples- cook them in a skillet with butter (no sugar- the Apple has plenty!) for a sweet snack- or for a change of pace- YUM!

2 huge benefits of getting off of processed food that we discovered (totally unexpected) was bloating and satiation. The bloating is obvious with the high sodium content in almost all processed food. But the satiation- especially with my kids- was amazing to see in just days. Before - they would be back at me within an hour to an hour and a half needing a snack. Now... They easily make it 3-4 hours after a meal before snacking. And my kids are fit anyway- they do not need to lose weight- they are just satisfied longer now :)

Anyway- my point is to keep it simple. Don't go too crazy, eat yummy stuff, shop the perimeter of the store for your food (produce, meat, dairy... All the carp is in the center aisles- just stay away), and don't buy anything your great grandmother wouldn't recognize. ;)

 

Thanks! What kind of veggies do you put in eggs?

 

What are a good kind of cracker to use for snacks with cheese?

 

I made homemade poptarts this morning as sort of a "kick off". The kids loved them! I don't rank myself as a good coook... so it was nice to start off with something everyone is excited about!

 

I started watching Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution on youtube. It has been really motivating!

 

I think our dinners are not terrible... I do make chicken and rice, spaghetti with homemade sauce, etc. I think we need to work the most on breakfasts and snacks. That is when I typically want something quick that the kids can get themselves. So, I'm going to work on changing that first and go from there!

 

Thanks for the input from everyone. I'm excited to try some new things!

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Thanks! What kind of veggies do you put in eggs?

 

What are a good kind of cracker to use for snacks with cheese?

 

I made homemade poptarts this morning as sort of a "kick off". The kids loved them! I don't rank myself as a good coook... so it was nice to start off with something everyone is excited about!

 

I started watching Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution on youtube. It has been really motivating!

 

I think our dinners are not terrible... I do make chicken and rice, spaghetti with homemade sauce, etc. I think we need to work the most on breakfasts and snacks. That is when I typically want something quick that the kids can get themselves. So, I'm going to work on changing that first and go from there!

 

Thanks for the input from everyone. I'm excited to try some new things!

 

I eat many kinds of veges with eggs. Frittata is really easy--just saute some veges, pour some beaten eggs over it and cook on low with a lid on it till the eggs are done. Examples of veges I've eaten with eggs: garlic, onions, tomatoes (I especially like dried tomatoes), broccoli, peppers, mushrooms, avocado.

 

Snacks are easy: fruit, baby carrots, nuts (if you live near a Trader Joe's, they have lots of very reasonably priced nuts), cheese, yogurt, or milk. Peanut butter is good on apples or bananas, giving you some protein, healthy fat, and a fruit.

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But, we eat sandwiches for lunch a lot. I don't want to buy wheat bread containing preservatives. I want to make bread. However, I don't know how to make bread! So, I need to learn! I also don't know how people fit breadmaking into their schedule. Do you do it once weekly? Every morning?

It does seem like about 95% of supermarket breads contain preservatives, but there are some that don't! We buy Aunt Millie's Hearth 100% Whole Wheat, Aunt Millie's Swirl Raisin Bread (not 100% whole grain), and Koepplinger's Natural 100% Whole Wheat Bread at the day-old store for about $1.00 a loaf. It's much easier than making homemade bread, and the ingredients aren't bad. If you do want to make homemade bread, why not try a bread machine? The bread turns out well, you know exactly what's going in it, and it takes virtually no time.

I don't want to buy "healthy" boxed cereal. *I* don't like oatmeal. What can I do for breakfast that won't take up the entire morning for school? We do eggs a lot now, but everyone gets tired of eggs. We also eat sausage... but how do I get more natural meat?
Applegate Farms frozen breakfast sausage! There are several varieties, but ours contains only chicken, water, evaporated cane syrup, salt, sage, rosemary extract, black pepper, ginger, white pepper and red pepper. It's so yummy and takes only a couple minutes in the microwave.
What about cheese? Isn't most cheese heavily processed? Does anyone make their own cheese? How often? How do you do it?
Just read the ingredients of the regular cheese at the grocery store (especially the block cheeses). A lot of it is fine. We like cheddar, white american, mozzarella string cheese, provolone, swiss, and Monterey jack.
For dinner, I might make chicken breasts with salsa in the crockpot. How processed is salsa? Should I make my own salsa to put in the crockpot? How do I do things like this *and* manage to get out of the kitchen long enough to teach?
Again, just check the ingredients. Some varieties are fine. Salsa is cooked, so it is technically "processed," but so would be homemade! The Chi Chi's Mild Thick and Chunky Salsa in my fridge doesn't contain anything artificial. You can also buy organic salsa with natural ingredients at most grocery stores now.
I'm not really wanting to just cut junk food out. I'm wanting to cut all processed food out. What about pasta? Taco shells? Tortillas? Cheese? Bread? Chicken broth? Meat? Tortillas? Dinner rolls? Snack crackers? Yogurt?
It depends what you mean by processed. If you just mean food that is "natural" and doesn't contain artificial additives, you should be able to find substitutes for most of what you eat now. You should easily be able to find natural pasta, cheese, meat, and (unflavored) yogurt. Snack crackers and chicken broth are a little more difficult; there are some good varieties at natural food stores or in natural food sections. You could try Back to Nature or Late July crackers or Pacific Foods chicken broth. A lot of the mainstream chicken broth manufacturers are now claiming "no MSG" when their products still contain things like "autolyzed yeast extract." I would avoid those. I'm not sure about the taco shells. I have NOT been able to find preservative free tortillas. For natural pre-prepared dinner rolls, you could use frozen Rhodes Warm N Serve Soft Dinner Rolls (white flour, water, sugar, butter, yeast, dry milk, salt) or the Pillsbury Simply Buttermilk biscuits. They're definitely not health food, but they don't have anything truly *evil* in them. :)

 

You'll have to do some searching, but you'll quickly find some "safe" brands if you're looking to eliminate dyes, artificial flavors, preservatives, etc. Good luck!

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