No Processed Foods Challenge - anyone with me?

[Wendi]

I have been thinking about this lately. We do use a fair number of processed foods, although maybe less than the "average American", judging by what I see in some people's grocery carts! :eek: When ds was on a very strict elimination diet last summer (no tomatoes, chocolate, dairy products, black or white pepper, sugar, yeast, chili peppers, zucchini, millet, rice...I'm probably forgetting some), I had to be much more creative, and obviously virtually all processed foods were out (although I managed to find a brand of chicken broth that was okay). We still had yummy meals. Now that ds doesn't have those restrictions, we've gone back to mandarin orange chicken and fish sticks from Trader Joe's, etc. So when I don't feel like cooking, I get something out of the freezer and heat it up.

 

So last night I thought, "Maybe I should do a 30-day challenge, and only use unprocessed foods. Or maybe I could allow myself, say, five foods (like bread, yogurt, dried pasta, broth, and ??). It might be interesting, and help me jumpstart my cooking creativity again."

 

Anyone else interested in trying something like this?

 

Wendi

[The Girls' Mom]

We are trying to do this now. Not so much all PROCESSED foods, but all unnatural foods. If it has chemicals in it that I could not grow (mostly) then we are eliminating it. HFCS, nitrates, dyes, chemical preservatives.

 

So I'm right there with ya.

[AnnetteB]

Does applesauce count as a processed food? It doesn't have any added ingredients. I think we are nearly there except for rice noodles, tomato paste, and added brown and white sugar....still 100% ingredient-wise. I look forward to when the local produce and the U-pick opportunities are available. Good luck with your challenge :)

[Ria]

LOL. I thought about joining you, but on second thought realized that aside from ketchup and the occasional salad dressing we really don't eat any processed foods. :tongue_smilie: Heck, I even make my own brownie mix (I've got a great recipe if anyone wants it).

 

Ria

[jg_puppy]

LOL. I thought about joining you, but on second thought realized that aside from ketchup and the occasional salad dressing we really don't eat any processed foods. :tongue_smilie: Heck, I even make my own brownie mix (I've got a great recipe if anyone wants it).

 

Ria

 

Please post the brownie mix recipe. I would love it.

 

I don't know if I am ready to go totally non processed foods yet. I think my family would starve. I am not a great cook, but I am trying to learn. I am always on the look out for easy recipes that I can make.

 

Jan

[jamnkats]

Looking in the fridge and pantry, I'd love to join, but I can't do without:

 

Coffee,

spices,

canned and pickled rajas (jalapenos with carrots and onions),

tomato sauce,

baking powder,

baking soda,

coffee,

flour,

sugar (mascabado - like turbinado, but still),

Maseca,

corn husks (but once the rainy season starts I'll use my own banana leaves),

mayo (here with get it either with chipolte or limon), ranch dressing (for the rest of the family),

frozen veggies (corn, broccoli and spinach),

coffee,

soy milk,

cheese,

dry pasta,

olive oil,

jarred or boxed pasta sauce (you can't get tomatos in a can here to make your own and we eat way too much for me to make it from tomatoes), Cytomax,

Gatorade (for summer season, the kids loose too many electrolytes in our heat),

coconut milk (yeah, we actually have coconut trees in the backyard so I'm totally without an excuse there - I might be able to get rid of that one but I'm not all that motivated since the list is so long)

coffee,

boxed milk (we don't get fresh milk here),

chipoltes (canned),

rum,

wine,

(did I mention coffee?),

water (we purchase all our drinking water from 2 different sources; the $10MN/garrafon for the cooking water and the $23MN/garrafon for the drinking water),

vitamins,

sardines,

Fish Oil supplements,

dog food,

and did I happen to mention the cawfee? :)

[Gretchen in NJ]

We are trying to do this now. Not so much all PROCESSED foods, but all unnatural foods. If it has chemicals in it that I could not grow (mostly) then we are eliminating it. HFCS, nitrates, dyes, chemical preservatives.

 

So I'm right there with ya.

You are giving up salt!:svengo: I love my Celtic Sea Salt. I could not give that up.

[laurafrantz]

Looking in the fridge and pantry, I'd love to join, but I can't do without:

 

[iNSERT GIANT LIST OF FOOD-ISH ITEMS HERE]

 

and did I happen to mention the cawfee? :)

OK, coffee is the deal-breaker. Is coffee really considered processed? I mean, it's really just beans with a little tan...right?

[Faithseed]

There's a list out there somewhere on the most sprayed foods you eat. If I'm not mistaken, coffee is #1. It could be #2, though....either way- not so much good for you.

 

That said, :D we're really on a roll here on our little farm. I can easily only go to the store every 2-3 months or so...BUT we run out of all of our junk food way before that! So, we go every 3-4 weeks to stock up on Doritos, coffee, frozen pizzas (shame, I know), wheat thins, saltine crackers, Blue Bell iced cream (although we're going to try to make our own next week),and other things I can't recall at the moment.

 

Sigh.

 

I just haven't been able to find time in my day to make or replace our bad habits with good ones. My family will tell you that they will starve without all the processed stuff:tongue_smilie:.

 

All that to say- I'm not ready to join you yet, but I will cheer you on!!

[Wendi]

I guess "processed foods" isn't the term I mean. I'm certainly not planning to start refining my own sugar, or roasting and grinding my own coffee, or buying a cow. Maybe I meant to say "prepared foods", like packaged sauces, chicken nuggets or fish sticks, cookies, etc. I want to start cooking from scratch more. I still plan to use frozen fruits and veggies, and sugar, flour, spices, milk, coffee, etc. I'm not sure about canned stuff; we don't use a lot of those, but I guess I would need canned tomatoes for spaghetti sauce. Hmm.

 

And to keep myself from getting overwhelmed, I thought I'd allow myself a handful of prepared/processed foods.

 

Wendi

[laurafrantz]

I'm certainly not planning to start refining my own sugar, or roasting and grinding my own coffee, or buying a cow.

Slacker. :D :D

I will join you in your quest!

[The Girls' Mom]

Lol...well...plain ol' salt is staying. Gotta have that.

[Jackie in NE]

Well.......

 

When my Dad was very ill, I went on a macrobiotic diet along with him. I lost a lot of weight, and the sweetest thing I could stand to eat was a banana. :) But I don't know if I could do it now. I mean, most of my cooking is done from scratch with whole wheat and limited sugars.... Does that count? I just don't know if I have the time to focus on such stringent limitations right now.....

 

But more power to all of you who are "taking the challenge". You will feel great!

[Guest Katia]

I don't know about all processed foods, but what I have been trying to do is eliminate certain things from our diets:

 

HCFS - as in NONE at all

 

White and/or enriched flour - I'll only use 100% whole wheat flour

 

White sugar and limited to no brown sugar - we use honey or turbinado instead

 

hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils

 

And no going out to eat at all either.

 

I don't do frozen or prepared dinners, but try to cook everything from scratch. I make all our bread and ketchup and bbq sauce as well.

 

I use some canned veggies (mostly fresh or frozen), canned tomato sauce and canned diced tomatoes. A LOT of tomatoes and sauce.

 

This is my third week doing this, and.....wow. I feel fantastic! The most noticeable difference is that I'm now sleeping. I mean REALLY sleeping. I'm usually up until at least midnight, but more like 2am and then I only sleep at the max 3 1/2-4 hours at a shot, then I awake and can't go back to sleep for 2 hrs. But now......the last week I have slept 7....count 'em.....SEVEN hours of good, deep sleep at a time.

 

So, yeah, count me in. I'm SO into this.

[jamnkats]

There's a list out there somewhere on the most sprayed foods you eat. If I'm not mistaken, coffee is #1. It could be #2, though....either way- not so much good for you.

 

That said, :D we're really on a roll here on our little farm. I can easily only go to the store every 2-3 months or so...BUT we run out of all of our junk food way before that! So, we go every 3-4 weeks to stock up on Doritos, coffee, frozen pizzas (shame, I know), wheat thins, saltine crackers, Blue Bell iced cream (although we're going to try to make our own next week),and other things I can't recall at the moment.

 

Sigh.

 

I just haven't been able to find time in my day to make or replace our bad habits with good ones. My family will tell you that they will starve without all the processed stuff:tongue_smilie:.

 

All that to say- I'm not ready to join you yet, but I will cheer you on!!

 

Well, I have actually visited the actual BUSHES my coffee beans come from :) so I know they aren't sprayed. I have even picked my own coffee beans. Coffee beans are picked when red, cherries (the red coffee berry is called a cherry in Spanish) are husked, beans are washed twice, laid out to dry (usually the road will do), driven from Veracruz state to QRoo state, roasted (I buy my beans from an old Italian guy who roasts only in the mornings during the week) and then ground just before I brew. So lots of processing.

[jamnkats]

I guess "processed foods" isn't the term I mean. I'm certainly not planning to start refining my own sugar, or roasting and grinding my own coffee, or buying a cow. Maybe I meant to say "prepared foods", like packaged sauces, chicken nuggets or fish sticks, cookies, etc. I want to start cooking from scratch more. I still plan to use frozen fruits and veggies, and sugar, flour, spices, milk, coffee, etc. I'm not sure about canned stuff; we don't use a lot of those, but I guess I would need canned tomatoes for spaghetti sauce. Hmm.

 

And to keep myself from getting overwhelmed, I thought I'd allow myself a handful of prepared/processed foods.

 

Wendi

 

Oh! Well, that is certainly MUCH easier then! I would definitely be up for the task but I'll still need some prepared foods (cream cheese? yogurt? not sure what that would entail). Maybe a list of ingredients - if it has more than x foods as ingredients and they aren't whole foods, it is prepared? I dunno. Thinking about my canned rajas... :) I can't even eat a hot dog without rajas.

[Jackie in NE]

I don't know about all processed foods, but what I have been trying to do is eliminate certain things from our diets:

 

HCFS - as in NONE at all

 

White and/or enriched flour - I'll only use 100% whole wheat flour

 

White sugar and limited to no brown sugar - we use honey or turbinado instead

 

hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils

 

And no going out to eat at all either.

 

I don't do frozen or prepared dinners, but try to cook everything from scratch. I make all our bread and ketchup and bbq sauce as well.

 

I use some canned veggies (mostly fresh or frozen), canned tomato sauce and canned diced tomatoes. A LOT of tomatoes and sauce.

 

This is my third week doing this, and.....wow. I feel fantastic! The most noticeable difference is that I'm now sleeping. I mean REALLY sleeping. I'm usually up until at least midnight, but more like 2am and then I only sleep at the max 3 1/2-4 hours at a shot, then I awake and can't go back to sleep for 2 hrs. But now......the last week I have slept 7....count 'em.....SEVEN hours of good, deep sleep at a time.

 

So, yeah, count me in. I'm SO into this.

 

:iagree::iagree:

 

My next endeavor is to get back to making my own Mayonnaise. Homemade is sooooo much better than anything else!

[Faithseed]

Oh! Well, that is certainly MUCH easier then! I would definitely be up for the task but I'll still need some prepared foods (cream cheese? yogurt? not sure what that would entail). Maybe a list of ingredients - if it has more than x foods as ingredients and they aren't whole foods, it is prepared? I dunno. Thinking about my canned rajas... :) I can't even eat a hot dog without rajas.

 

I wish we could grow our own, or have access like that! My hubby would be thrilled.

For the rest of us, especially the "big brand" coffee drinkers- well, we're all chemicalized. :D

[BikeBookBread]

Does a bag of Starbuck's coffee count as processed?! :tongue_smilie:Gotta have my cuppa Joe every morning or else it's not pretty.

 

We're about 80% there, slowly evacuating the pantry of processed stuff. I do plan on a small stash of "emergency" stuff, aka Mommy-is-so-wiped-out-that-I-can't-come-up-with-anything-for-dinner-so-we're-having-this-C*stco-frozen-ravioli...

 

Otherwise I:

 

• bake my own bread and pastry products (have for 3 years now)
  
• make my own sauces
  
• make my own soups
  
• down to two boxes of the dreaded blue box of Mac n Cheese (aren't there whole threads about this? :lol:)
  
• we're going to plant some veggies and herbs this weekend (hey, what can I say? we live in Almost Mexico)
  
• only fresh or frozen veggies
  
• Pop our own popcorn in olive oil --this was a huge money saver for us: bought a microwave popper on eBay for $9, and buy bulk popcorn for $1 a pound. Yummmmmmmm.
  

Some things that just by nature are more cost-effective, expedient or make more sense for us to buy processed:

 

• good tortilla chips
  
• good cereal/granola
  
• good peanut butter (Costco's organic is really good)
  
• cheese
  
• dried pasta
  

We don't do anything with HFCS, we only use olive oil or canola oil. I use a Misto filled with canola instead of Pam (a little thing, but man it has saved us a lot of money with all of the baking I do!)

[jamnkats]

I wish we could grow our own, or have access like that! My hubby would be thrilled.

For the rest of us, especially the "big brand" coffee drinkers- well, we're all chemicalized. :D

 

Oh, I'm sure you're definitely in the ball park, but I always thought peanuts were #1 (which is why we always ask people to mule us organic PB). I'm sure most coffee is highly chemicalized, but the stuff I buy is not.