Changing Eating habits to include more non processed and no preservatives help

[Mama Geek]

We are working on one step at a time and are thinking about making stuff from scratch including Ketchup, yogurt, peanut butter, salsa, bbq sauce, worch sauce etc.  We are going to switch for now from dt sodas to tea.  

 

What sweeteners would you recommend specifically for tea.  I don't want to drink tons of sugar but realistically for now we will probably drink 1-2 large cups of tea a day and some of the recipes above will use sugar.  We have typically been using splenda but I don't know if that is the best thing to use in tea or not.  

[Ellie]

Honey

[Carrie12345]

I stick with sugar and honey, just less of it.  I attempted to use stevia (actual leaves, not processed supermarket stuff) and it was not a win.

[Rachel]

Honey is good. You could try Stevia, it comes from a plant. It bothers my stomach though.

[Tap]

I prefer to use sugar and honey.   

[HomeAgain]

If you can get it, local honey. 

[Suzanne in ABQ]

I tried different sweeteners, but found that I just like the taste of sugar best.  Interestingly, my taste for sweet has gradually diminished, and I just use less and less of it.  My ds and I drink lots of tea, and I don't sweeten it at all anymore.  

[tshirtyogapantmama]

I agree with others, Honey is a great tea sweeter. My husband has used raw cane sugar in tea and liked it. 

[zoobie]

Honey is good, but we drink it unsweetened now. I slowly reduced the amount of sugar until no one missed it! Or if they do, tough. ;) If I'm going to consume some kind of sugar, I'd rather not waste it in tea. 

[Ms Brooks]

Sugar cubes. For some reason when we use sugar cubes we consume less sugar. You could also drink peppermint tea. IMO, Peppermint tea tastes awful with sugar.

 

Less processed food depends on where in the US you live. Here in CA it is easy to find ketchup with very few ingredients. Less processed eating is buying food with no plastic packaging or cans. Do you need ketchup when you could use a tomato instead? 

[foxbridgeacademy]

We do tea and water exclusively. We still use more sugar than we should but it's less than Coke or even juice has.  I think Green tea needs less sugar than black and Luziann sells decaf Green Tea in the large sized bags for making iced tea.  We do 2 bags decaf green and 2 bags regular per gallon. Look up the benefits of drinking Green Tea if you don't already know, it really helps me get up and go in the mornings with out the jitters I get from coffee.

[Seasider]

Turbinado raw sugar.

[Loowit]

I use sugar.  I have reduced how much by little bits, so now I hardly use any.  I like honey, but for some reason I don't care for it in tea.

[Misha]

I don't like adding any sweeteners to tea, but my children and husband all love honey. Local is preferable. 

If you don't like honey, you could try stevia. 

[Mama Geek]

Thanks for the suggestions, I pulled out our honey and used it in tea today and stayed away from the soda.

[chocolatechip]

I don't like the taste of sugar in tea, blech; I much prefer honey. 

[Joules]

I don't know how it would taste in tea, but a while back I started putting maple syrup (pure) in my coffee.  Ds had done some research that suggested it caused fewer blood sugar swings (or something like that?)  It only takes a tiny bit, and I really liked it.  If you use much though, I think it would be way more expensive than honey.

[Laurie4b]

I just wanted to comment on your processed foods idea. 

 

I think the idea of one step at a time is a good idea. This may be stuff you've already done, in which case maybe it will help someone else who wants to eliminate a lot of processed food but is not willing to make everything from scratch.

 

After eliminating the big obvious processed foods, like boxed mac and cheese, and sugary cereals, you might want to insert the step of switching to brands that you still purchase at a store, but which are cleaner than other brands. I admit I spend a lot of time reading labels and comparing, but I think that time is worth it. 

 

E.g.s:

There are many nut butters that contain nuts and a little salt. I can't do better than that at home, so I buy peanut butter at the store.

 

I buy plain yogurt. I consider it as unprocessed as home yogurt based on the ingredients. I could save some money by making my own yogurt, but the time isn't worth the money to me and as I said, I wouldn't consider my own yogurt cleaner. What I do NOT buy is flavored yogurt.  I add my own fruit to it, or just add cinnamon. (I have not sweeted tea, yogurt, etc. for a number of years, but back when I needed some sweetener, a little honey with the cinnamon was yummy!)  I do make my own bbq sauce because of salt content (which I need to watch) since we use that a lot. I sometimes make my own salsa, but consider the brands I buy to be very close to homemade.

 

Also, consider how often you use something. A condiment you only use occasionally is probably one that you might do well to just purchase, whereas if it's a daily use item, that might be worth your time. 

 

Just suggestions, and perhaps you have already done these and have the time to make the plunge to making it all from scratch at home. 

 

 

 

[ThursdayNext]

From your post, I've tried making all those things at home except Worcestershire sauce. But it wasn't worth it to me to keep going.

 

Yogurt was a definite money savings, if not doing organic. I might get that going again. Nut butters are a waste of time, cheaper and easier to get the peanuts and salt kind. I found making my own salsa was great when I had a garden going, or if I had a source for good fresh tomatoes. But anything where you're going to open a can of tomatoes might not be worth the time.

 

 

I'm not trying to talk you out of it. It's fun to try these things, and I'd like to make just about everything from scratch once. It's just that I can't keep up with them long term. Or that we didn't like the taste of the new version.

 

Stevia is the hot sugar free sweetener now. You could try that for tea, or use sugar with measuring spoons and cut back each week til you don't need it. Spiced chai (the tea, not that powdered stuff) has cinnamon in it, and tastes sweeter to me.

 

Are you trying to cut out sugar completely, eventually? That was why I made my own ketchup and bbq sauce, with fruit to sweeten it a little. But it did not taste the same, and now I just read ingredient labels and grams of sugar. If I try again to truly cut out sugar, I might make these again. There are some yummier ketchup and bbq sauce recipes with brown sugar or molasses, or maple syrup. I don't know if they are really healthier than a healthy kind at the store.

[Pegasus]

Congrats on your efforts!  Seriously, baby steps are fine if that's what works for you.  I'm too much of an "all or nothing" personality so I dropped sugar cold turkey.  A couple thoughts:

 

If you stop eating/drinking sweet things, then soon things you never thought of as sweet will taste sweet.  I now take only heavy cream in my coffee and the cream adds just the right amount of sweetness to it.

 

I've found it easier to just focus on eating whole unprocessed foods rather than trying to duplicate the processed foods in a healthier way.

[Carolinagirl1]

 

 

I've found it easier to just focus on eating whole unprocessed foods rather than trying to duplicate the processed foods in a healthier way.

 

I agree. Try to make things as easy as possible. I only shop in the meat, produce, and frozen food section. In the frozen section, I only buy simple frozen vegetables and fruit. I buy huge bags of frozen fruit (like mango chunks and frozen berries) at Costco and I'll put some in a bowl and heat it in the microwave for a minute or so to soften it and that's what I eat for snacks. For meals, it is just meat and veggies. I have a steamer pot that I use to make steamed vegetables. I used to eat nuts too. Now, I do eat a plain yogurt that has a long fermentation time that I get at Fresh Market, but otherwise no dairy. I feel like I get a huge variety from sticking to meats, fruits, and vegetables and I never get bored. For a sweetener, I do use honey, but I only drink the occasional herb tea and otherwise stick with either water with lemon or a seltzer with a splash of juice. Honestly, I try to stick with the foods that God provided, in the form that exists in nature.

 

ETA: For breakfast I make a smoothie almost every morning consisting of the yogurt, 1/2 avocado, a handful of greens, and frozen mango chunks and berries, and just enough juice to get it smooth.

Edited March 26, 2016 by Carolinagirl1

[Mama Geek]

Dh is gluten free and dd and I mostly are other than eating out and the occasional junk food.   Dh and I have gone through periods of nothing but meat, veggies and fruit and even doing them for long periods of time, we have even been off of sodas multiple times.  My list of foods above are those that we still would really like to have in our diets but with a much healthier take on them.  I have had some great homemade salsas, we have family who makes a really good homemade cocktail sauce.  We mostly eat plain yogurt but i do mix dd's with some vanilla yogurt to sweeten it up for her.  I also think making that stuff would be a good educational thing to do with dd.

[Lady Marmalade]

I have a great recipe for canning salsa if you're interested.  I haven't had to buy salsa in years.  I make multiple batches in the fall when the garden is overflowing.  We eat a lot of Mexican food with salsa, chips-and-salsa, and give a ton of it away.  

 

I've been working on BBQ sauce, but am not happy with what I've found so far.  

[KungFuPanda]

I use sugar in my tea, but I use MUCH less than my parents did. I think I use a cup in a gallon of sweet tea. I'm sure my mom used twice that. It's not ideal, but if it's replacing the corn syrup in soda it's a step in the right direction. Sometimes I make unsweetened iced tea. My family is fine with it, but I prefer it a little sweet most days. For iced green tea I add nothing.

 

I'm guessing you'll have better luck just scaling back the sugar gradually as your family's tastes change than trying to swap out the sweetener. Stevia tastes absolutely bitter to me, but I'm not sure most people taste it that way. Honey changes the flavor too much. I LIKE honey, but I don't want my sweet tea to taste like it.

 

I've found that since I hit 40, my tolerance for sweet things has drastically diminished. DH and dd never had much of a sweet tooth, but DS knows when I scale back the sugar in his morning cup of Irish breakfast tea.

[KungFuPanda]

I have a great recipe for canning salsa if you're interested. I haven't had to buy salsa in years. I make multiple batches in the fall when the garden is overflowing. We eat a lot of Mexican food with salsa, chips-and-salsa, and give a ton of it away.

 

I've been working on BBQ sauce, but am not happy with what I've found so far.

Yeah, you can just go ahead and post that right here :-) I actually made green salsa from those last green tomatoes that never ripened. It was nice if you like a bit of sourness in your green salsa.

[Lady Marmalade]

As requested, this is Annie's Salsa from Gardenweb.  I've been making this for years now.  I will often make it with no hot peppers for little ones who don't like heat, but then I'll turn around and do a batch with a lot of hot peppers for those who like a bit of fire.

 

I never use the tomato sauce called for, and sometimes use the tomato paste.  I actually prefer the texture with the tomato paste in it, but last year I grew absolutely everything I used in the salsa and I didn't want to add a canned ingredient, so left the paste out.  It's still good, but it is a little thicker with the paste.

 

The notes are directions from the "food safety police" as far as what can be adjusted for your personal taste.  The important note is regarding the vinegar, because you have to use a full cup of acidic liquid for safety purposes, BUT you can swap in any combination of bottled lemon and/or lime juice for some or all of the vinegar.   I've done it with all variations, but gravitate towards just using 1 cup of cider vinegar. 

 

Annie's Salsa

 

8 cups tomatoes, peeled, chopped and drained (I do not peel or drain)

2 ½ cups onion, chopped

1 ½ cups bell pepper, chopped

3 – 5 jalapenos, chopped - (Any combination of green, red, whatever color peppers is fine. 3-5 jalapenos equates to roughly 1/4 cup, so total peppers cannot exceed 1 ¾ cups.)

6 cloves garlic, minced - (Do not increase.)

2 teaspoons cumin

2 teaspoons pepper

1/8 cup canning salt – (For taste only. Can be reduced or left out entirely- I use it.)

¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped -( Can be reduced or left out entirely. Do not increase. )

1/3 cup sugar - (For taste only. Can be reduced or left out entirely- I use 2 TBS brown sugar.)

1 cup 5% cider vinegar - (Must include full 1 cup of vinegar for BWB processing. However, may substitute bottled lemon or lime juice in any proportions according to taste (for example, 1/3 cup vinegar, 1/3 cup lemon juice, 1/3 cup lime juice). Can use any flavor vinegar (white, cider, etc.) as long as acidity is at least 5%. )

2 cups (16 oz.) tomato sauce - (For texture only. Can be reduced or left out entirely.- I leave out) 

2 cups (16 oz.)tomato paste – (For texture only. Can be reduced or left out entirely, I use 1 small can)

 

Mix all ingredients in a large pot, bring to a boil and boil for at least 10 minutes. Pour into hot pint jars, seal and process in a hot water canning bath for 15 minutes. Makes about 6 pints.  

[KathyBC]

Re: PB

We buy Adams Natural PB which contains only peanuts and less than 1% salt. The only painful thing is opening a new jar as the oil and solid separate. The best solution we've found is just to dump the new jar in a big bread bowl, beat with the blender until creamy, put back in the jar and refrigerate. It stays mixed until the jar is gone.

 

I make all our salsa as our tomatoes ripen. We love the hot, sweet recipe. If that works for you, I can send you the recipe.

I wouldn't use splenda as it is linked to strokes. I'd just cut the sugar, as others have mentioned, or drink more water.
 

I'm not a purist about ketchup or worcestershire, but I do make my own cream-of base for recipes that call for soup, rather than buying the cans; and make my own broth.

[redsquirrel]

We are working on one step at a time and are thinking about making stuff from scratch including Ketchup, yogurt, peanut butter, salsa, bbq sauce, worch sauce etc.  We are going to switch for now from dt sodas to tea.  

 

What sweeteners would you recommend specifically for tea.  I don't want to drink tons of sugar but realistically for now we will probably drink 1-2 large cups of tea a day and some of the recipes above will use sugar.  We have typically been using splenda but I don't know if that is the best thing to use in tea or not.  

 

I have made all of that from scratch, except the Worcestershire sauce because that requires long fermentation etc, and for the most part I've found it's not worth it in terms of time and cost. 

 

I do make my own yogurt when I have extra milk. I belong to a dairy collective so sometimes I have more milk that I can use. In that case, I make the yogurt. Right now, it's winter so no extra milk and I buy yogurt at the store. But, the time necessary to make it just doesn't make it worth it to me to make unless I have the milk sitting around.  I also agree that buying the plain yogurt at the store is a MUCH better choice, hands down, than the sweetened yogurt.

 

Honestly, you will spend more on making catsup, sauces, canning them etc than just buying good items from the store. And how much catsup do you actually go through in a year? 2 bottles? 4?

 

Now, if you are big gardeners and have the produce available then absolutely, go for it! I would absolutely make and can my own salsa if I had a garden. Or if you live near an area where you can pick your own etc. That changes it. If I lived in an area that grew lots of fruit then I would buy locally and make my own dried fruit. As it is, we have lots of apples, so about all I can really produce is apple sauce, lol.

 

 

That said, I think everyone should make those things a few times, if only to see what goes into them.  The first time I made jam, I almost fainted at the amount of sugar called for, lol. The same with catsup.

 

And for tea and coffee, you can always use honey. I have also found that buying those sugar cubes work very well as portion control. They are only 1/2 a teaspoon per cube (or 'sugar dot'). Much easier for my kids to use than honey and I don't have to worry about them overloading.

 

I think its a great idea to 'clean up' your diet. I think its something we all should be thinking about and can improve. But take it easy and cut yourself some slack. If you are in the 'giving up soda' stage, please don't jump into 'I'm going to make everything by scratch' right away or you give it all up and go on a kool aid binge, lol. One thing at a time. Right now, you are giving up soda and trying to give up splenda. That is enough for a while. Just hang out there until it is second nature and then make a couple other small changes.

[mtomom]

I use sugar in tea. It just tastes better to me. But I've cut down to the point where I really prefer less sweetness. Eating super sweet stuff, say during a family get together or something, will set off sugar craving for me again. But it passes, and I go back to preferring less. I never realized how, I don't know, "addicting" it is for me until I cut down.

 

I use honey in unflavored greek yogurt. You can get peanut butter with nothing but peanuts and salt.

 

I guess I'm saying that I prioritize things I can't buy "cleaner" than what I can make. For me the time saved is worth the extra cost.

Edited March 26, 2016 by mtomom