baby-stepping my way to healthier foods :D

[Peek a Boo]

what should I tackle/add next??

 

ok, so I started by switching from white to wheat bread a dozen years ago, then narrowed it to Nature's Own to cut the HFCS after reading about that on the old boards a few years ago. Then expanded that to cut HFCS from our jelly, condiments, and pickles. We finally switched to generic brown rice and are mastering that, along w/ whole wheat pastas. i think i might be ready for a pressure cooker for those tho :glare: I need to research brown rice/ wheat pasta prices in the area and see what our best deal is. Recommendations appreciated as to types to look for/ avoid, cuz I'm betting the generic stuff isn't as good for you??

 

i started getting the 25 pound bag of carrots at HEB --for 10 bucks, that's almost as cheap as taters! DH does a lot of salads, so we already incorporate lots of fresh stuff. i use frozen veggies instead of canned. the kids drink a lot of water --even my almost 3yo can get himself a glass of water from the fridge dispenser.

 

We're not quite out of the Big Bags of cereal stage yet, tho we are increasing the oatmeal/ malt o meal and egg tacos. And I'm not giving up my cokes ;). We still consume quite a bit of sugar [mostly via lemonade -and i can tell when my oldest tries to cut back on the sugar, lol] and keep the freezer loaded w/ pizzas and chicken nuggets and fish sticks. But we're game for adopting one little thing at a time :D

[Liz CA]

I was surprised how much I saved when I stopped buying box after box of cold cereal and went to Organic Steel Cut Oats. Everyone got used to them.

Next I would tackle the BIG one: cut out the sodas or rather cut back first and phase it out gradually. Perhaps start with one soda-free day, then two, etc.

I have made gallons of ice tea for summer drinking and we also drink tea in the winter along with water with a spritz of lemon. If you are brave and don't have a sweet tooth, you can try Kombucha. It's a little tart but very refreshing in hot weather.

 

If you are looking for a good brown rice - Lundberg Family produces all kinds of organic rice here in CA. Don't know if it's available in TX? I know one can get it up and down the West coast.

[Peek a Boo]

I was surprised how much I saved when I stopped buying box after box of cold cereal and went to Organic Steel Cut Oats. Everyone got used to them.

Next I would tackle the BIG one: cut out the sodas or rather cut back first and phase it out gradually. Perhaps start with one soda-free day, then two, etc.

I have made gallons of ice tea for summer drinking and we also drink tea in the winter along with water with a spritz of lemon. If you are brave and don't have a sweet tooth, you can try Kombucha. It's a little tart but very refreshing in hot weather.

 

If you are looking for a good brown rice - Lundberg Family produces all kinds of organic rice here in CA. Don't know if it's available in TX? I know one can get it up and down the West coast.

 

 

well, the cokes are mostly ME, and I'm trying to establish things that affect more than just me :) If i make tea, I'll use just as much sugar, and almost as much lemon, lol. Only Sweet Southern Iced Tea here, w/ the sugar melted into the boiling water. And actually, I've been limiting my cokes to a fountain drink at the gas station, and that's only when we go out. But we do go out a lot....

no coke today tho. ;)

I'm brave, but i DEFINITELY have a sweet tooth.:tongue_smilie:

 

we have started limiting how many bags of cereal we get, so yeah... that might be the next biggie.

I just detest cooking in the morning.

Or noon.

Or night.

:D

 

Maybe i can motivate oldest ds to cook b'fast....

 

I'm not really looking at cost savings so much as healthier options. otherwise i'd stick w/ white rice, lol. We're all ridiculously healthy as it is so i haven't been too motivated to do too much at once. The challenge is intriguing tho ;)

 

However, I don't think i'll be up to baking my own bread w/ wheat berries anytime soon...:lol:

 

i'll look for that brand of rice- thanks for your thoughts :)

[Rosie_0801]

You know, my parents and grand parents refer to coke as "battery acid..." ;)

 

Drinking nothing but water is horribly boring, so have you tried any herbal teas? Also juice. Sure, it's not terribly healthy to be quaffing juice all the time, but I've managed to adjust my taste buds so I can happily drink apple juice diluted 50/50 with water. It really isn't difficult to cut down on the sugar, you just have to do it gradually so your taste buds don't notice. Cut down by half a tsp in your drinks, or a tbsp in your cooking and keep it that way until it tastes normal, not lacking. Then cut some more out. I've got some recipes which we've managed to cut down to nearly half of the original recipe amount of sugar. It took months, but was worth it. If you buy flavoured yoghurt, you can gradually dilute that with natural yogurt to reduce the amount of sugar. If you do that when you get home from shopping, the kids won't know any better.

 

:)

Rosie

[Night Elf]

...and keep the freezer loaded w/ pizzas and chicken nuggets and fish sticks. But we're game for adopting one little thing at a time :D

 

How about the frozen foods? I'm assuming you're meaning boxed pizza if it's in the freezer. You could use whole wheat pitas to make pizzas that are really easy to make/cook/eat. Each person makes their own pizza. We buy turkey pepperoni because it's healthier than regular pepperoni. Add lots of veggies and low-fat cheese and it's surely much healthier than a boxed pizza. (Though I've never found a pizza that tastes as good as Red Baron!)

[Denisemomof4]

about the drinks, sweeten them with Stevia, an herbal sweetener used for thousands of years by the Indians. I don't like i with anything with milk but LOVE it in tea and other clear beverages. Your kids will NOT know the difference! Some stevia is better than others.

 

Pizza is very healthy if you make it yourself, healthier if you can make your own crust!

 

We used to eat ONLY wheat pasta but I now like the pasta by...... I think it's Barilla but I could be wrong, but it is made with ground legumes and semolina. It's YUMMY! Tastes like white pasta but heart healthy!

 

If you took chicken tenderloins and breaded them yourself, you could make them healthy. Or, if you have a Trader Joes near you, they have healthier selections on those types of items.

 

The HUGE off limits for us are hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils and MSG.

 

If you look into health food buying clubs you can save money, too. I don't know what's in your area but do your research. Sometimes they can be just as pricey. My local HFS allows to buy by the case for a savings, but it's still cheaper to buy on sale. That's when I stock up.

 

Homemade baked goods in the mornings from my own ground WW and cereals (oatmeal and granola) rolled from my own oats used to be all we eat and is something I strive to do again.

 

Oh, and don't forget to eat at LEAST 5 servings of veggies and fruit. ;) Less milk and meat is healthy, too. I'm going to start up stirfrys again. They're healthy, easy and mmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmm good.

Denise

[Stacey in MA]

I like the WW pasta idea! Switch from white pastas to WW pastas.

 

Switch from white flour/bread to WW flour and bread.

 

Cut out trans fat (this one easier now days, since so many processed products tout "no trans fat"). We don't eat all processed stuff, but still buy crackers, and occassionally some pre-prepped meat item, and need to watch labels for this.

 

Cut back on oils/butter (i.e. calories, cholesterol, fat). (I switched to Smart Balanace spread for putting on toast/bread when necessary, spray butter, which is mostly water and vegetable oil, for veggies and popcon, Molly McButter for the same reasons, etc. I also cook with much less butter, using a LITTLE olive oil when needed for stir-frys and such.

 

Add more veggies. Try challenging yourself to add a veggie to each meal - breakfast, lunch and dinner. Try making the requirement TWO veggies per meal! This adds TONS of nurtrients and fiber, fills you on "good stuff" instead of feeling the need for more "other" heavy food (like more meat or more starches or more junk in general....)

 

Switch to all fat free (or low fat) dairy. We use FF sour cream, FF cream cheese, FF ricotta. I use these for crockpot recipes and such. It cuts unnecessary caloriesMy DH still insists on whole milk though :-(.

 

Just a few ideas. Good for you for working towards it slowly! FWIW, we still eat our boxed cereals too.... can't seem to give that up! I try to only buy lowcal/lowfat ones....Cheerios and such.

 

GL! and have fun getting healthier!

- Stacey in MA

[Scarlett]

I've been doing much the same thing Peek. Especially since my little trip to the emergency room 2 weeks ago. They were 98% sure it was a ruptured appendix--so they sent me to surgery and removed it. Turns out it wasn't bad and now they are thinking diverticulitis...so I'm working at less meats and more veggies and other things that might help my digestition.

 

I bought a book called "Food Matters" and if you can get past the politics of it there is some good info in it and some great meal plans and recipes.

[angela in ohio]

I vote for switching everyone to water only. :) That was a BIG step in our house, though... painful, painful, painful...

 

I've recommended it many times before, so I'm sure you've seen it, but there is a great book called Refined to Real Food that deals with baby-stepping to healthy eating. (It sounds like you might even be using it.)

[MomOfOneFunOne]

And I'm not giving up my cokes ;).

 

I would never ask a girl to give up her coke so don't think that's what I'm doing. However, I'll give you a little tid bit of info I got this weekend.

 

We made Rootbeer this weekend. It was so simple that I wondered if we could make something else, like Coke or something. I looked it up and one can indeed make Coke. It requires serious chemicals, MSDSs, gloves, safet glasses, and other personal safety items. That stuff is seriously caustic. I never really drank Coke often but now that I've read that recipe, I'm just glad to be alive!;)

 

About sugar . . . sugar is sugar, right, but then again, some comes in better packaging. Maybe instead of white sugar on everything, you could start using maple syrup on some things (like your malt-o-meal). It's still sugar but it also has some nice nutrients for you.

 

About your frozen junk food: could you toss some pizzas together and freeze them. It would be soooo much better for you and pretty easy.

[Marsha]

We use Evaporated Cane Juice in place of white sugar.

[ChristyB in TN]

What if you simply switched to sodas containing sugar and not hfcs! Jones Soda is delicious, we buy it when we have guests and they love it. It has a high sugar content but your body processes it much better. You can buy club soda and add juice to it to flavor it or even add concentrated fruit juice! It will give all of you some nice nutrients and is easier on your body than all that sugar. Raw agave syrup is good in tea and is 1 1/2 times sweeter than sugar so you don't need as much. I don't care for stevia, but you might like it. Another trick is to simply stop putting so MUCH sugar in your tea. Slowly start cutting back and every one will get used to it being less sweet. Don't tell them you're doing it though. They will complain...I love Marilu Henner's books for beginning this process and I recommend them highly. The recipes in her books are great for kids and the ingredients are easily found.

[Ferdie]

Give up the soda, girl. You can do it!

[Denisemomof4]

about Stevia, I've had brands I *hate* but I have brands that are REALLY good. I remember bringing Stevita packages on vacation once. Really, if you get a good brand (sorry I can't give you one!) and make lemonade or tea with it and DON'T tell your family, they won't know.

 

I'm currently using NOW foods brand and it's good but I did like Stevita better. And other brands I can't remember the name of. :glare:

 

I second juice in soda water. We buy flavored seltzers , usually raspberry lime, and add a dash of UNSWEETENED cranberry juice. Neither have sugar and this tastes GOOD.

[Jules]

One thing you mentioned in your original post and I will let you know that it did help us...was to buy and use the pressure cooker. If you start using one, you will find that you can make quick, healthy meals without much effort. You do need to get used to the method of cooking and get a good one with good directions. They come with recipe booklets to get you started and you can search the internet or your library for more.

[Peek a Boo]

thanks gals!

 

the kids would probably do fine w/ reducing the sugar, it's ME that has a problem w/ it, lol. My oldest has apparently tried to reduce the sugar by miniscule amounts when he makes the lemonade, but there's always a Threshold that i notice. I'll check out the Stevia and the evaporated cane juice. If nothing else, try mixing them w/ the sugar...half n half. We do use maple syrup and honey in most places outside the lemonade. But we can go through a couple gallons of lemonade a day- in addition to juice, milk, water, and the occasional coke. and angela! no pain!!:scared: baby steps, woman! hee hee.... I'll check out that book- no, i haven't seen it. and Scarlett, i'll check out that other one too.

 

I would buy the cokes w/ sugar if i could get them cheap ;) It's not so much that i like sodas in general [i've tried the Jones ones] i just have a thing for Colas. I'll pass on the sodas at the gas station if the coke is out. just regular old cola. caustic chemicals and all ;) I don't like stuff added to my cokes, and I've been limiting my intake by not keeping coke in the house. but i can still inhale a few 44oz sodas when we're running errands...

 

We do drink a lot of juice. My oldest is pretty good about whipping up smoothies a lot.

 

DH has been very conscious of his dad's heart history, so we've always included lots of veggies, salads, fresh fruits, Smart Balance, and low-fat/ no trans fats in our household. *I* prefer the taste of margarine, but that's just me. I like real butter for baking.

 

We get a 40pd box of boneless/skinless chicken breasts cheap from the Pilgrim's Pride plant, so we DO cook a lot of chicken from scratch. I think the making of our own pizzas is a bit down the road ;) We used to make little English muffin pizzas a lot, but the kids got sick of them. I might be able to revive that tho....

 

Jules, I'll start researching pressure cookers. I wonder if there's already a pressure-cooker thread in the archives.....

[julesmama3]

I would never ask a girl to give up her coke so don't think that's what I'm doing. However, I'll give you a little tid bit of info I got this weekend.

 

We made Rootbeer this weekend. It was so simple that I wondered if we could make something else, like Coke or something. I looked it up and one can indeed make Coke. It requires serious chemicals, MSDSs, gloves, safet glasses, and other personal safety items. That stuff is seriously caustic. I never really drank Coke often but now that I've read that recipe, I'm just glad to be alive!;)

 

About sugar . . . sugar is sugar, right, but then again, some comes in better packaging. Maybe instead of white sugar on everything, you could start using maple syrup on some things (like your malt-o-meal). It's still sugar but it also has some nice nutrients for you.

 

About your frozen junk food: could you toss some pizzas together and freeze them. It would be soooo much better for you and pretty easy.

 

 

Not to highjack but..........where did you get the info about making Coke.

I'm curious :)

[annabanana1992]

thanks gals!

 

 

I would buy the cokes w/ sugar if i could get them cheap ;) It's not so much that i like sodas in general [i've tried the Jones ones] i just have a thing for Colas. I'll pass on the sodas at the gas station if the coke is out. just regular old cola. caustic chemicals and all ;) I don't like stuff added to my cokes.....

 

 

THIS IS ME - Nothing but the red can COKE, no Pepsi is not the same, thank you very much! I do limit intake though - try for no more than one or 2 cans a week...

[PariSarah]

You can read my torturous rambles here if you like.

 

But the long and short of it is that I'm trying to build one positive food habit per month this year, focusing on "inclusion" habits (as opposed to self-denial habits) in the early months.

 

In January, the habit I'm working on is eating five servings of fruit per day, no matter what.

 

How much fruit do you and your family eat? Is that something that would be a positive step? You mentioned salads, so maybe you already eat lots of fruits and veggies. But most people get far fewer fruits and veggies than they need, even if they feel like they're getting enough.

[Stacy in NJ]

Sandwiches are your friends. Rather than frozen pizza and nuggets try sandwiches. Use whole wheat bread or pitas with tuna, pb&j, ham, turkey, american cheese, swiss cheese, egg salad - whatever you like. Making soup in a crock pot is also a great option; chicken noodle, beef barley, potatoe, corn chowder, chili. Make a big pot and freeze some for lunches.

 

For your next step I'd try cutting down on the frozen food. One small step.....

[Stacy in NJ]

You can read my torturous rambles here if you like.

 

But the long and short of it is that I'm trying to build one positive food habit per month this year, focusing on "inclusion" habits (as opposed to self-denial habits) in the early months.

 

In January, the habit I'm working on is eating five servings of fruit per day, no matter what.

 

How much fruit do you and your family eat? Is that something that would be a positive step? You mentioned salads, so maybe you already eat lots of fruits and veggies. But most people get far fewer fruits and veggies than they need, even if they feel like they're getting enough.

 

I think the idea of inclusion is terrific, but won't it be difficult to include more fruit in the middle of winter? Unless, of course, you live in a warm climate. It's just that really good fruit and a variety is harder to find in NJ in January, and expensive.

 

Just a thought.

 

ETA: I see you're in NC.

Edited January 6, 2009 by Stacy in NJ
xx

[Unicorn.]

 

Recommendations appreciated as to types to look for/ avoid, cuz I'm betting the generic stuff isn't as good for you??

 

 

 

Not necessarily true. Just wanted to say that when ds was little and we were trying to find cereal w/out HFCS, I was spending $5-$6 a box to avoid it. Then I discovered that the Hill Country Fare cereals at HEB didn't have it either! And they were ~ $1.79 a box! So, don't discount generic, just keep reading those labels!

 

Good luck, we're trying to do the same thing around here. One thing we have done is added lentils to our diet. They are mild flavored so the kids and I like them. We have lentil soup once a month, and I have added them to chili to increase protein, but I can use less meat!

 

Oh, and (whispering) don't give up the coke- it ain't worth the insanity!

[PariSarah]

Apples, pears, and citrus are "in season" and reasonably priced over the winter; bananas are always available and reasonably priced. They won't be as good as fresh strawberries in June from your local farmers market, but I'm not going to wait until June to start eating healthier. *shrug*

 

What would be an equivalent step where you live? Are fall/winter veggies in season there? (Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, winter squash?) You could do seven servings of veggies, no matter what.

 

For me, that step would be harder, so I was saving it for February or March. ;)

[Peek a Boo]

Not necessarily true. Just wanted to say that when ds was little and we were trying to find cereal w/out HFCS, I was spending $5-$6 a box to avoid it. Then I discovered that the Hill Country Fare cereals at HEB didn't have it either! And they were ~ $1.79 a box! So, don't discount generic, just keep reading those labels!

 

Good luck, we're trying to do the same thing around here. One thing we have done is added lentils to our diet. They are mild flavored so the kids and I like them. We have lentil soup once a month, and I have added them to chili to increase protein, but I can use less meat!

 

Oh, and (whispering) don't give up the coke- it ain't worth the insanity!

 

we do a lot of generics for that reason too!

I have noticed that there are a FEW generics that don't have HFCS [like the sweet relish/pickles at HEB and strawberry jelly elsewhere], but I was mostly wondering about the quality of whole grains, cuz I haven't researched that too much.

 

we do split pea soup quite a bit, and i agree about the coke :D

i liked the idea about grinding up pinto beans and sprinkling in the ground up powder to meals -- that's MY kinda way to eat beans!

 

and Miz PariSarah-- i think we're more in line w/ one new habit every siz months, lol, but i look forward to checking out your blog a bit later. Thanks!

[MelanieMac]

I also hate cooking breakfast (more than I hate cooking the rest of the day), so here is a plan for you...

The night before, have kids take 2 muffin pans with 8 cups in each...

in half, put paper muffin cups in and fill with muffin batter (I use a no-sugar added, organic, whole wheat mix, but feel free to experiment). this is a great job for a big kid. In the other pan put a little sliced ham in the bottom of the cups (great job for a small one) then break an egg over the ham in each cup (great job for a medium sized kid) & put pans in fridge til morning. The next morning, put them in 325 degree oven for 20 minutes as soon as you are up. By the time the kids are dressed and/or downstairs, breakfast is ready. No fuss on your part and it includes an adequate amount of protien- better for kids in the morning than all those carbs in cereal...

Have fun being healthy... if that isn't enough for you, try growing your own cucumbers... they are easy & good for you & I have found you can grow them in a pot- or save that for later- no need to go hog wild;)

[Rosie_0801]

My oldest has apparently tried to reduce the sugar by miniscule amounts when he makes the lemonade, but there's always a Threshold that i notice.

 

Keep doing that, but stop just before that threshold. Keep with that amount of sugar for a few weeks, then drop it a little more. It takes months to cut down as much as you'll be able to, but we all know that doing it cold turkey is too painful.

 

Another useful thing to do is serve carbs and animal products according to the recommended serving size, and have everyone fill up on the veggies.

 

;)

Rosie

Edited January 6, 2009 by Rosie_0801

[Katrina]

What about making your own mixes? I'm starting to try to do this more, so it's on my mind. Even if you're not ready to go the whole nine yards with the "grind my own flour" type thing and use plain ole all purpose flour, you could make your own pancake mixes, muffin mixes, whatever mixes that doesn't contain preservatives or other chemicals that they put in commercial mixes. I'd also be willing to bet there'd be a lot less sodium and sugar in your mixes than store bought, and still be completely sweet enough for you. (and there'd be no HFCS in them either.)

 

I've heard a lot of talk about King Arthur flour on these boards as well, maybe you could do half all purpose, half whole wheat flour using King Arthur flour if you wanted to make your mixes more whole wheatish. (That's a word, right??)

[percytruffle]

We're not quite out of the Big Bags of cereal stage yet, tho we are increasing the oatmeal/ malt o meal and egg tacos. And I'm not giving up my cokes ;). We still consume quite a bit of sugar [mostly via lemonade -and i can tell when my oldest tries to cut back on the sugar, lol] and keep the freezer loaded w/ pizzas and chicken nuggets and fish sticks. But we're game for adopting one little thing at a time :D

 

I have a baby step suggestion for you that we have done this past year. Instead of regular frozen pizzas to have on hand, we stock the freezer with Kashi frozen pizzas. They are so much healthier for you and you don't tend to pig-out on them either! At least I don't. :blush:

 

I hear you about the Coke. I occasionally buy Jones Cola at Sam's club. Sometimes you just need/want that fizz fix. I figure a little extra sugar every once in a while probably won't be my undoing. Now, the stress of never having it again just might be worse for me.

[Pretty in Pink]

I love cold cereal for convenience most mornings and my kids really like it. I by organic or natural cold cereals to save myself the guilt. If you are fortunate enough to live near a Whole Foods or Trader Joe's I bet you can find many natural or organic versions of convenience foods you already love.

 

As far as convenience foods in the freezer...I buy them too but I only buy enough to serve it once a week. This week I bought two frozen pizzas and we had them for supper tonight. Next week I might buy some frozen nuggets. Depending on your definition of healthy you could swap out traditional for vegan versions. You could buy Lean Pockets instead of Hot Pockets. But even if you just buy what you usually buy but limit your purchase to one meal per week, well, that's a pretty great start.

[Sharon H in IL]

Look for and collect interesting recipes for vegetables or whole-food casseroles. I used to only notice the cookie and muffin recipes :D but once I opened my eyes I found out there were a lot of things I could add rather than just subtract. Totally easier to add good, healthful things than to subtract the un-healthful.

[Peek a Boo]

Keep doing that, but stop just before that threshold. Keep with that amount of sugar for a few weeks, then drop it a little more. It takes months to cut down as much as you'll be able to, but we all know that doing it cold turkey is too painful.

 

Another useful thing to do is serve carbs and animal products according to the recommended serving size, and have everyone fill up on the veggies.

 

;)

Rosie

 

 

i'll forward this post to my oldest, lol!

we're pretty good about filling up on veggies-- i can eat a one pound bag of green beans all by my lonesome. followed w/ a coke chaser of course..... :D

[Peek a Boo]

As far as convenience foods in the freezer...I buy them too but I only buy enough to serve it once a week. .... But even if you just buy what you usually buy but limit your purchase to one meal per week, well, that's a pretty great start.

 

we've actually done exactly this, but mostly cuz dh has been home and doing more cooking from scratch. otherwise my rule is they can't have frozen pizzas EVERY day [which they would if they could!]

[Peek a Boo]

What about making your own mixes?

-----

I've heard a lot of talk about King Arthur flour on these boards as well, maybe you could do half all purpose, half whole wheat flour using King Arthur flour if you wanted to make your mixes more whole wheatish. (That's a word, right??)

 

we don't do too many mixes-- oldest has always been encouraged to whip up something from scratch. "double the recipe" for math, says I. "triple it" if it's one i especially like. There's a great irony in the fact that I don't care for cooking and he wants to be a chef.......:glare: :lol:

 

i think whole wheatish is a great word! phrase? snicker....

[Peek a Boo]

and thanks again gals-- i think replacing the El Cheapo brand pizzas w/ something a bit better is another easy step i can handle.

[ElizabethB]

How about oils? It's fairly easy to replace butter with olive and canola oil, if you haven't done that already.

 

Soy oil is actually not a great oil, but it's cheap, so it's in everything. It's in most mayo. You have to work hard, but you can find canola oil mayo. Salad dressings are the same, make your own is the healthiest, they have an amazing number of ingredients in most salad dressings. Or, there are a few olive oil ones. Plain olive oil and a good balsamic vinegar is an easy make it yourself dressing.

 

Pasta sauce also has bad oils nowadays, make your own or find a brand with olive oil. It's actually really easy to make the sauce and cheaper, too. If I would have realized how quick it was to make pizza and spaghetti sauce, I would have made them from scratch a long time ago.

[kalanamak]

 

we have started limiting how many bags of cereal we get, so yeah... that might be the next biggie.

I just detest cooking in the morning.

Or noon.

Or night.

:D

 

Maybe i can motivate oldest ds to cook b'fast....

 

 

 

The steel cut oats (I use Bob's red Mill scotch oats which taste the same but a cut a bit finer and cook much faster) can be made ahead and frozen with no change in quality. I like to make them in a double boiler...little stirring, but Bob's doesn't cook so long it is a pain. Freeze in single servings and nuke or steam. You can bring it down from the freezer the night before, if you'd like, but I don't bother.

[Jen in PA]

We do keep cereal (oat rings and cornflakes) in the house, but only for snacking -- my kids might not even know they are a breakfast food. I don't mind cooking in the morning, but I don't always have time. What I try to do is make a huge batch of pancakes (can be done with WW, even add in pumpkin puree or anything else to make it even healthier) once a week, usually on the weekend, and that gives us a few days worth of breakfast. Dh has his with real maple syrup, the dc with butter and a dab of fruit preserves (no HFCS). I also make a lot of WW quickbreads that are just slice and serve, or heat up in the toaster, and those keep very well in the freezer. Corn muffins and boiled eggs are a favorite combination with the kids. Then I usually make a pot of oatmeal mid-week that I can keep in the fridge and microwave as needed.

 

Out of all of that, the oatmeal is the only thing I can eat..... so I make myself eggs most mornings. Omelettes actually fare pretty well in the fridge for a day or 2, so I can make my breakfasts ahead of time if I know I'll have a busy morning. And when it's warm outside, my absolute favorite breakfast is a frozen banana tossed in the blender with skim milk and cocoa powder, I just can't handle cold things this time of year.

[Tami]

I think the next step would be to eliminate the processed meats. Buy tilapia, shrimp or flounder (individually frozen) instead of the fish sticks, and make your own healthy chicken "nuggets" and recipes.

 

There is a lot of yuk in those processed meats. Have you read the labels?

 

Congrats on all the positive changes so far! Those are HUGE!

[Pretty in Pink]

we've actually done exactly this, but mostly cuz dh has been home and doing more cooking from scratch. otherwise my rule is they can't have frozen pizzas EVERY day [which they would if they could!]

 

As would I! :lol: I love Totino's frozen party pizzas (the ones with holes in the bottom of the crust so they get perfectly crisp and the little square pepperoni chunks...mmmm).