What Other Boxed or Prepared Foods Are Being Made Healthier?

[Valley Girl]

OK, given my druthers, I'd make everything from scratch. I'm doing more, but it's not practical for me to do it 100% of the time currently. I'll bet it's the same for many others here, too.

 

So... when I can't make something from scratch, I read labels to find the healthiest option. (Of course, price and whether or not the family will still eat it factors into the decision.)

 

The thread about Kraft mac and cheese eliminating artificial colors and preservatives made me wonder what OTHER foods have been made or are soon to be made "healthier" by their manufacturers.

 

I'm especially interested in products that don't use artificial colors/preservatives or high-fructose corn syrup.

 

For instance, we frequently eat cold cereal in my house. It's quick, tasty, has fiber, and my ultra-picky kid actually enjoys it. We switched to Blueberry Mini Spooners from another national brand to avoid the sorbitol and dyes.

 

What "swaps" have you made recently?

[Truscifi]

I don't typically eat bread, but my boys do. I have found a few kinds of whole grain bread with no HFCS or preservatives that they will eat. Arnold Dutch Country breads generally are on that list, but there are others as well.

 

They eat a lot of lunch meats too. I'm still looking for a better option there that is still affordable.

[Farrar]

One of the ways that I've learned to make boxed things healthier is to use part as a base and then add your own stuff. Like, use the ramen noodles to make a quick soup, but toss out the flavor packets (ick). Or use the Trader Joe's really simple frozen pizza as a base and add sauteed veggies or your own meat.

[Cottonwood]

Hormel makes a 'naturallly' cured lunch meat that uses celery juice as a nitrate instead of the chemicals.  Oscar Mayer has a 'naturally cured' bacon that uses celery juice as well.

 

It's hard to keep up with the brands and products that are coming on the market, so what I do is have an idea of what I want to see on an ingredient list before I'd consider buying it.  An idea off the top of my head would be:

 

5 ingredients or less are ideal.  I'll fudge and go up to 8 and feel ok, if they aren't really 'dirty' ingredients.

 

no corn ingredients unless it's an organic product (b/c of GMOs).  This includes canola in chips, corn chips, etc.  So here, Smith's has their store brand of corn chips that are 100% organic and have corn, nuts/seeds, salt and sunflower oil.  Their store-brand white cheddar popcorn has slightly more ingredients, but all organic with the same idea as the corn chips.  

 

I also sometimes buy the Kettle? brand chips that only have salt, potatoes and oil in the ingredients.  They have a non-Gmo sticker on the front.   It's not organic, but in the case of potatoes and corn, it's the GMO I"m trying to avoid anyway.

 

No soy, no matter what. 

 

Sugar is sugar.......  but the sucanat and unrefined cane sugar or brown rice sugar, coconut sugar, are a slight bump up ..only slightly though...from white refined sugar.  I find that treats made from these ingredients types of sugar are in general less objectionable to me as a whole.  Usually, not always.  And, as low as I can get in sugar grams.  

 

Anything hydrogenated,...no.

 

Breads - no 'enriched' flours, no corn syrups.  I try to make my own tho.  Doesn't always happen.

 

I try to avoid packaged products but there are some convenience foods I need to have around for the kids.  I do, however make a lot of their snacks and through the years have a collection of favs that are quick enough so that I can fit them into my schedule to make, yummy to them (for now...their tastes keep changing on me) and are nutritious.

 

One quickie I make a lot is air popped popcorn.  Toss in Kerry Gold Butter and sprinkle some grated parm cheese over.  They make the flavored parm cheeses now too.  I've googled and found popcorn topping recipes that we all like.  For instance, I found one using all spices in my cabinet that was a copy of the Dorito flavoring.  The liked it sprinkled on the popcorn so I bought extra spices and made a big batch of the seasoning to have on hand.  Took minutes.  Now, they take 5 minutes to air pop some popcorn, melt a little butter as it pops, then put it all in a bowl with the seasoning and toss, toss, toss.  Now they have Dorito flavored popcorn that I feel is healthy.  There are TONS of these spice-herb-made toppings that I sometimes make that they can rotate flavors with.  Then again, luckily, we love popcorn here.

 

ETA: A lot of the stores in my area have the main part of the store, as well as a 'natural' section that is quite large.  While I don't necessarily agree that everything in there is healthy, I head there first to sort things out on my own and find the weekly sales in there.  That helps quite a bit because a lot of the choices with 'alternative' ingredients are in one place for me to consider.  Annie's, Muir Glen, Clif bars, Kind Bars, organic stuff and the bulk section of goods I'd use for recipes are all in one place.

 

Also, since my kids are old enough to put recipes together, I have them spend kitchen time with me and teach them some basics so that when they want a treat, I hand them a simple, quick recipe and they will make a big batch to eat now and later.  LOVE the older ages for this.

 

I know you didn't ask about homemade stuff, but I added them b/c sometimes if they are simple enough, they take me less time then going to the store for stuff. lol

[SKL]

I had shopped at a healthy/organic food store for years before I became a mom.  So when the girls came along, I started there.  I looked at all their options.  I found some good ones that worked really well for us.  These included organic canned beans'n'rice, canned vegetarian organic ravioli / spaghetti-o's, lots of boxed pasta options, soups, and probably other stuff I'm not remembering off hand.  Nowadays they have even more options, and some are available in mainstream supermarkets.

 

I normally serve(d) fresh or frozen organic fruits/veggies, yogurt, cheese sticks for sides.  Quick and real food.

 

Oatmeal is also a great choice.  It's practically a superfood.  :)  We also used cereal bars while on the go when the kids were preschoolers, but at some point they decided they didn't like them any more.

 

They now have a lunchable type product using organic / all natural stuff.  My kids don't like them (they involve lunchmeat which we normally don't buy).  But I thought they were all right.  http://applegate.com/products/half-time/category

 

Another newer product that was a big hit with one of my kids is "Tapaz" (mildly spiced hummus with lentil chips).  She would eat one every day for months.  She asked me to stop buying them when her classmates made fun of them.  :(  http://smile.amazon.com/Roasted-Garlic-Hummus-Lentil-Crackers/dp/B00CRM31ZK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1429633301&sr=8-2&keywords=tapaz

[mamaraby]

Hormel makes a 'naturallly' cured lunch meat that uses celery juice as a nitrate instead of the chemicals.  Oscar Mayer has a 'naturally cured' bacon that uses celery juice as well.

That's basically the same thing as the regular lunch meats and bacons.  In fact, you can end up eating more nitrates by choosing the "naturally" cured ones because it's a less controlled application than if you just bought regular lunch meat and bacon that uses sodium nitrite. (http://blogs.mcgill.ca/oss/2013/04/04/is-celery-juice-a-viable-alternative-to-nitrites-in-cured-meats/)

[Cottonwood]

That's basically the same thing as the regular lunch meats and bacons.  In fact, you can end up eating more nitrates by choosing the "naturally" cured ones because it's a less controlled application than if you just bought regular lunch meat and bacon that uses sodium nitrite. (http://blogs.mcgill.ca/oss/2013/04/04/is-celery-juice-a-viable-alternative-to-nitrites-in-cured-meats/)

 

Very true, and why we doing include it all that regularly into our diets.  But when choosing, we still choose something the body is more likely to recognize as closer to a food, as opposed to chemical.  DH is a hunter and processes between 4-5 animals a year into sausages/lunch meats/other yummy options (lol) and has become deeply immersed in nitrate options, what they mean for humans, versus, other nitrate and nitrite options and human consumption.  He has told me, "even a natural nitrate means your body is getting nitrates.  Only this way, your body recognizes it as a food source moreso and has an easier time processing it".  We only go for the store bought stuff of any kind when we run out of his elk-roast sliced lunch meat (mouth watering).  But the above, IMO is still a better option if someone is looking for a bump up in a slightly more nutritional choice than a chemically preserved meat.  Variety and balance always being key.

[Valley Girl]

One of the ways that I've learned to make boxed things healthier is to use part as a base and then add your own stuff. Like, use the ramen noodles to make a quick soup, but toss out the flavor packets (ick). Or use the Trader Joe's really simple frozen pizza as a base and add sauteed veggies or your own meat.

 

I do stuff like that, too. I often take canned low-sodium chicken broth and just add parlsey and other seasonings, some frozen cooked chopped chicken, and those little thin noodles that cook very quickly. Better "quick" soup, I think, than canned varieties or dry mixes.

[Holly]

I've been cooking lots of frozen veggies and fruits.  I like that there's no chopping, washing, peeling, etc.  There are also some nice rice/veggie combos in the frozen veggie section.  Stouffer's advertises no preservatives on their products and I'm pretty sure their lasagna is cheaper than making my own.  :001_rolleyes:

 

I'm convinced most of the food marked "natural" is no better than the regular foods though.  We end up eating lots of cheese, yogurt, carrot sticks, applesauce, almonds, etc. because they are relatively healthy, inexpensive, and quick.  I also find some quicker ways to prepare foods...for example, I slice oranges or cut them into wedges instead of peeling them.  I also have one of those applepeeler/slicer gadgets.   Much quicker when I'm preparing a snack for everyone! 

 

For breakfast we have shredded wheat, wheaties, or chex cereal.  We also have eggos often.  If you add all natural peanutbutter and low sugar or all fruit spread, it's pretty healthy.  For lunch, tacos or quesadillas are favorites here. 

 

[SKL]

In the "healthy" mac'n'cheese varieties, I used to substitute olive oil for margarine/butter.  Then I just quit using any oil.  You can just add milk.  I also don't add salt.  I'm now used to it that way, but my kids like to add their own salt, pepper, paprika, ketchup....

 

I used to add carrots and broccoli while cooking the mac'n'cheese too.  I stopped doing that because my kids are weird about it.

 

Another fairly easy option is to make rice in a rice cooker (or a microwave rice cooker dish) and add ... just about anything.  A fun snack is basmati rice, plain yogurt, and hard-boiled egg (which boils along with the rice), with or without a mildly spiced sauce.  Rice is also not bad with leftover spaghetti sauce, many creamed soups, and who knows what else....

[Lady Marmalade]

 

 

 

 

One quickie I make a lot is air popped popcorn.  Toss in Kerry Gold Butter and sprinkle some grated parm cheese over.  They make the flavored parm cheeses now too.  I've googled and found popcorn topping recipes that we all like.  For instance, I found one using all spices in my cabinet that was a copy of the Dorito flavoring.  The liked it sprinkled on the popcorn so I bought extra spices and made a big batch of the seasoning to have on hand.  Took minutes.  Now, they take 5 minutes to air pop some popcorn, melt a little butter as it pops, then put it all in a bowl with the seasoning and toss, toss, toss.  Now they have Dorito flavored popcorn that I feel is healthy.  There are TONS of these spice-herb-made toppings that I sometimes make that they can rotate flavors with.  Then again, luckily, we love popcorn here.

 

 

 

Would you mind sharing the recipe for the Dorito flavoring?  I've been popping our corn in coconut oil on the stove, which is absolutely delicious fresh, but it gets soggy as it ages, so isn't good for packaging and taking along.  I'd love to have a few things to add to air popped corn other than Parmesan cheese.

[SparklyUnicorn]

I've been cooking lots of frozen veggies and fruits.  I like that there's no chopping, washing, peeling, etc.

 

I like using them because they aren't half dead. Certain times of the year the produce is a hit or miss in terms of freshness. 

[Cottonwood]

Would you mind sharing the recipe for the Dorito flavoring?  I've been popping our corn in coconut oil on the stove, which is absolutely delicious fresh, but it gets soggy as it ages, so isn't good for packaging and taking along.  I'd love to have a few things to add to air popped corn other than Parmesan cheese.

 

 

Sure, found here: http://wholenewmom.com/recipes/dorito-flavored-popcorn-dairy-free/

 

 

“Dorito†or Taco Popcorn Recipe

Makes 6-8 cups

Ingredients

1/2 cup unpopped popcorn kernels

2 -3 Tbsp coconut oil for popping 

1/4 cup nutritional yeast 

1 teaspoon garlic powder or granules 

1 teaspoon onion powder or granules

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/8 – 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

2 teaspoons real sea salt 

Directions

1.  Prepare popcorn using oil with preferred method.  My Basic Popcorn post has more information about popping and about my favorite stovetop popcorn popper.  Air popped popcorn won’t work without additional oil since the seasoning needs moisture from the oil in order to adhere to the popcorn.

This is basically the same as the popper that we use:

Stainless Steel Popcorn Popper

2.  Combine all spices, and salt in a small bowl.

3.  Blend seasonings in a spice or coffee grinder, or blend in blender to make a fine powder.

4.  Sprinkle seasoning over popcorn and toss to coat.

[mamaraby]

But when choosing, we still choose something the body is more likely to recognize as closer to a food, as opposed to chemical.

Yeah, but sodium nitrate is a nitrate and a nitrate is a nitrate whether is comes from celery juice and lactic acid or pink salt. There is no difference in the nitrate itself. They're both chemicals. Otherwise, this is just the naturalistic fallacy. Your body sees it the same.

[JumpyTheFrog]

Yeah, but sodium nitrate is a nitrate and a nitrate is a nitrate whether is comes from celery juice and lactic acid or pink salt. There is no difference in the nitrate itself. They're both chemicals. Otherwise, this is just the naturalistic fallacy. Your body sees it the same.

I've noticed that the "natural nitrate" deli meats and bacon still have few ingredients than the regular. The regular tend to have several other additives that the "healthy" versions don't, so it still makes it worth buying to many people.

[Cottonwood]

I've noticed that the "natural nitrate" deli meats and bacon still have few ingredients than the regular. The regular tend to have several other additives that the "healthy" versions don't, so it still makes it worth buying to many people.

 

 

I've noticed this too.  And, if a nitrate is a nitrate is a nitrate, as I said up above, then I'll always default to a food alternative where there is one.  Even still, we keep it in the very occasional column around here.

[MamaBearTeacher]

Is it bad to eat a lot of celery? What can it do to you?

[Cottonwood]

Is it bad to eat a lot of celery? What can it do to you?

 

This, I'm not entirely sure of.  I can only guess that the fact that its juice is being used means it's pretty concentrated so if celery has nitrates, this must mean they are present in more concentrated amounts.  

But nobody seems to be able to say how much is too much.  I do know there are plenty of studies out there that connect a high nitrate diet with certain forms of cancer..pancreatic is one type.   A very close family friend just died from this and his doctor gave the family info on reports and research being done re: the links to pancreatic cancers and various things.  Large amts of nitrates being the diet was one source he cited.  I think any of it's probably fine used in a balanced way.