Processed Food Free CLUB! part 1

Jenn97355

Lori--I just read thru all the posts and am JAZZED by all the people LOVING a PFF life, and eating more raw foods... Even my daughter and husband love this more now. It is very nice to read that other families are changing this way, and I hope our future generations will wake up and pay attention to what HFCS and PF does to our bodies--I LOVE all the responses you are getting! Once again, great idea...And I still owe you an email about how we do some things--life has just been a little stressful lately. :flowerforyou: I have not forgotten you!
Jenn

funnygirl0940

Almond milk is very easy to make! soak 1 cup of blanched almonds 4-6 hours or overnight, I add 2 cups of pure water to the blender and blend well. Then strain out the meat. I just use a mesh strainer. I don't add anything else but others do. ) Lots of youtube videos with how to's! Enjoy!

funnygirl0940

What a great idea!

Ideally I would love to be 95-100% processed food free, but living with people who are diametrically opposed can make that a little bit difficult. I don't know what percent I'm currently at, but I think it's pretty high. I feel really lucky to live in an area with great access to fresh, local and organic foods. I'm mostly a vegetarian, but when I do eat meat it's only from our local organic butcher who keeps all of his own animals. I don't drink cow's milk, but if I did it would come from the cows that live on the farm down the street.

I love to cook and am beginning to start baking. In the future I hope to make all of my own jams, peanut butters, almond milks, breads, etc. I'm really excited to start all of this. My boyfriend's mother makes her own tofu and tempeh and I can't wait to learn that from her.

Peanut butter is a cinch to make! lightly toast in the oven and puree in the food processor to your desired consistency! You'll never buy it again!

funnygirl0940

This is very interesting news! Thanks for sharing! I use the homemade cheese for cream cheese, adding a little Mexican vanilla and a pinch of salt, works great!

The cheese Funnygirl posted is actually called Labneh not cream cheese that we think of like Philly. you can more info on cheesemaking here in englush: http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/cheese/cheese.html

funnygirl0940

Lori--I just read thru all the posts and am JAZZED by all the people LOVING a PFF life, and eating more raw foods... Even my daughter and husband love this more now. It is very nice to read that other families are changing this way, and I hope our future generations will wake up and pay attention to what HFCS and PF does to our bodies--I LOVE all the responses you are getting! Once again, great idea...And I still owe you an email about how we do some things--life has just been a little stressful lately. :flowerforyou: I have not forgotten you!
Jenn

No worries Jenn, Glad you're encouraged! So much to learn and great to know how simple things can liberate us!

funnygirl0940

Paul - 2 questions

What is the difference btwn Paloe, Neoanderthin and Primal? I read Mark's Daily Apple blog - very informatiional. changing habits here and there but not going totally grainless (yet)

ezekiel bread 4:9 doesn't contain flours but legumes. And was eaten way back in the day of Ezekiel; So what is wrong with this type of bread or soaked grain breads?

these are interesting questions since I'm not familiar with them! bread from legumes???

heniko

ezekiel is made from ground up legumes. very high protein nutritous bread. bread that suppose ezekiel from the bible survived on in the desert for 40 days

quoyle

I would love to join the club! My goal is always to eat the least amount of processed foods possible but lately I have been falling off the wagon with breads and cereals. I have a degree in natural nutrition (not working in that field though) and have a big interest in whole food and local diets. It seems like I can learn a lot from the posters in this group. If anyone has their diaries available let me know... I do not have many friends who are eating this way so I would love to see some examples of how others are eating. Does anyone have a Vita-mix?

ppassine1

The neo and the primal are the same thing as paleo....it basically stresses food that you could eat raw....i know meat and stuff you dont want to eat raw but you technically could and be safe. Legumes are not part of the diets....they contain bad stuff that is basically protects the bean. Same for grains, they contain nasty stuff. I havent read the blog but i will. I can tell you, grains ar your biggest enemy when it comes to weight loss....invest in the book I posted about earlier....there are others similar but thats the only one I read. Any more questions or anything my email is cbrwheelieguy@msn.com I would love to help anyone that has ?'s

Paul - 2 questions

What is the difference btwn Paloe, Neoanderthin and Primal? I read Mark's Daily Apple blog - very informatiional. changing habits here and there but not going totally grainless (yet)

ezekiel bread 4:9 doesn't contain flours but legumes. And was eaten way back in the day of Ezekiel; So what is wrong with this type of bread or soaked grain breads?

these are interesting questions since I'm not familiar with them! bread from legumes???

funnygirl0940

I would love to join the club! My goal is always to eat the least amount of processed foods possible but lately I have been falling off the wagon with breads and cereals. I have a degree in natural nutrition (not working in that field though) and have a big interest in whole food and local diets. It seems like I can learn a lot from the posters in this group. If anyone has their diaries available let me know... I do not have many friends who are eating this way so I would love to see some examples of how others are eating. Does anyone have a Vita-mix?

I'd love to have a Vita-mix someday, do you have one? I have a blender that can make smoothies that works great for making almond milk. We also have a jack la lanne juicer that someday I'd like to replace with a Champion when it wears out. Speaking of jack la lanne, he was pretty incredible! I looked up a bunch of his old videos and programs on youtube. Very inspirational man! I'm at the age that I think about a neck lift so I'm doing his facial exercises

I would love to have a degree in nutrition! I've studied constantly online about nutrition for nearly 2 years. Breads & cereals do have the bulk of my calories and when I do pass them up, along with pasta, I seem to lose quicker. Filling my calories up with fresh produce. I bake all of our breads. Whole wheat honey, which I only use whole wheat flour and sometimes grind my own wheat berry. The problem I have here in Mexico is that I can only find soft wheat berry which is used for pastries. So I have to add wheat glutton to make the bread stick together enough. Otherwise it won't rise and crumbles. Aside from whole wheat honey I bake, whole wheat focaccia flat bread, whole wheat pitas, and now whole wheat sourdough. Tonight I'm baking sourdough bowls and making corn chowder tomorrow. This is a really special treat for us because you can't buy sourdough bread in Mexico and I learned how to make the original starter...no yeast added! So cool!

We don't buy cereal anymore. My biggest pain is cleaning oat groats. I have to separate the hull from the whole oats. It's a painstaking chore. Takes me all day to pick through enough to make fresh chewy granola and porridge. Oat groat porridge is the first cereal ever! Love it and it's very good for us!

I use another site to log my food because I'm trying to balance all my vit and minerals out and this site doesn't offer enough. If your interested in another free site, pm and I'll send you the info. but the supportive community and user-friendly MFP can't be beat there!

I understand that buying fresh produce is a problem in the US, due to the expense. It sickens me that real food is so expensive! Produce is very affordable here, although I must confess I doubt it's all organic. For this reason I started a garden last fall but it only subsidies what we use. I don't know anyone else around here that buys and consumes as much produce as our family. We're asked monthly if we have a restaurant.

Right now, I'm eating a lot of atlantic salmon. There is something worth looking into about fish oil. It really does make you lose! In fact, although I'm not an advocate of supplements, I have some fish oil gel caps from a couple of years ago and I'm going to research how many I should take a day to lose faster! I just don't have that far to go.

heniko

Thanks for answering my question. I will look into buying the book as it is sparking my interest. I must admit I am bread and pasta addict - and I want to rid myself of this addiction or craving -- whatever you want to call it. Before starting my diet I was eating mostly carbs white and whole grains. But after starting my diet and focusing on eating more proteins I not only feel fuller, have craving less but my skin/hair is looking better. I have more energy and my mood is better too!

What would you advise for person a beginner to this type of eating ... how to start off? I don't think I could go it cold turkey since I fear I could get crazy and binge! Also I am married with 3 children ... wanting them to also eat healthy ... hoping like me ... slowly introduce this ... thanks alot!

fteale

Cheese and the very occasional (like once a week) piece of dark chocolate are the only processed foods I have too. I make pretty much everything myself (though I do occasionally buy quorn for the children).

ppassine1

I am not a doctor so I can only tell you what it says in the book. I too was a bread and pasta junkie. They say that the chemicals in those foods actually attach to the same receptors in your brain as heroine and other opiates. Crazy stuff! So it isa VERY hard addiction to kick! If you dont want to do cold turkey, try one meal a day like breakfast go completely grain/dairy free...eggs do not count as dairy so they are ok....even BACON!!! I LOVE BACON!!!! bacon is ok in moderation. Dietary fat actually helps you burn body fat! Crazy stuff but its true true true! I love talking about this stuff can you tell? Anyways, try one meal a day for a week...then two meals a day the next, then 3! I mean you can try to spread it over a month each meal but the sooner ya switch the sooner you feel better! I had a binge time when my ex left me, but thats all over now. I am 90% or better Paleo right now... The whole graini thing is kinda like this, the government controls the Food and Nutrition reccommendations pretty much....They also subsidize farmers.......see the connection yet? OMG you gota get the book! LOL Ive read it twice! GOOD LUCK GIRL!!!!! Tear it up

OOOOOOO and start lifting some weights...the zumba is good cardio but the real calorie burn comes from your muscles! I think like less than 10% of calories burned is from excercise. Muscle burns fat 24/7! You dont have to be all hulked out either....If you wana lose weight effectively you have to build muscle! GO LIFT SOME WEIGHTS GIRL!!!!! Ok Im done for now!

Paul

Thanks for answering my question. I will look into buying the book as it is sparking my interest. I must admit I am bread and pasta addict - and I want to rid myself of this addiction or craving -- whatever you want to call it. Before starting my diet I was eating mostly carbs white and whole grains. But after starting my diet and focusing on eating more proteins I not only feel fuller, have craving less but my skin/hair is looking better. I have more energy and my mood is better too!

What would you advise for person a beginner to this type of eating ... how to start off? I don't think I could go it cold turkey since I fear I could get crazy and binge! Also I am married with 3 children ... wanting them to also eat healthy ... hoping like me ... slowly introduce this ... thanks alot!

steph5565

I eat PFF, with the only exceptions being store-bought greek yogurt, condiments, and pasta (I would love to make myself but I work 60-80 hour weeks and just can't find the time). I make a concerted effort to buy local (easy in Washington), and I make my own chicken broth, etc to avoid all the nasty things they put in the processed junk.

I'm so glad I found this group! So often I read posts by individuals "eating healthy" and their recommendations are repulsive to me, they are basically just manufactured products that have been pumped with preservatives, removed of their nutrients, and sprinkled with vitamin mixtures in order to substantiate all of their health claims (the most basic of which is that it's even "food"). Laughing Cow is not cheese, deli meat is not healthy, and store-bought bread has an ingredient list 27 products long. I'm glad I've found a group of people who would also rather eat a Macbook than a Big Mac!

scarletleavy

Welcome scarlet! I cleaned & boiled soy beans this week(huge pain) and was wondering how to make tofu! I'll have to google the info, I'd love to know about it!

I was looking up smoothie recipes with tofu and found some basic instructions to make tofu. Here's the link: http://www.mydiversekitchen.com/2010/07/tropical-tofu-smoothie-with-some-home.html

I'm really excited to have homemade tempeh. I really love to eat it, but it's quite hard for me to get here. In order to get most of the foods I like to eat I have to go to at least 3 different supermarkets, including taking a train 35 minutes into the city to the Asian supermarket. I live outside of Munich, Germany, so quite literally in farm country. I know spring is coming, because every morning I wake up to the smell of fresh manure outside my window.

Robin1117

Thanks for answering my question. I will look into buying the book as it is sparking my interest. I must admit I am bread and pasta addict - and I want to rid myself of this addiction or craving -- whatever you want to call it. Before starting my diet I was eating mostly carbs white and whole grains. But after starting my diet and focusing on eating more proteins I not only feel fuller, have craving less but my skin/hair is looking better. I have more energy and my mood is better too!

What would you advise for person a beginner to this type of eating ... how to start off? I don't think I could go it cold turkey since I fear I could get crazy and binge! Also I am married with 3 children ... wanting them to also eat healthy ... hoping like me ... slowly introduce this ... thanks alot!

Hi!
I love breads but actually hadn't eaten bread or pasta much since the late 90s when there was all this talk about low-carb. I didn't go full-on crazy eating unhealthy, like Atkins, but I stopped eating rice, pasta, breads, etc as a daily part of the diet and it actually wasn't so bad. I tend to substitute baby spinach or other greens for pasta in a lot of dinners. And am not much of a sandwich person either so bread wasn't hard to kick (unless I was out of dinner and in front a a warm baguette) Funny since starting MFP, I have added them back in gradually because I realized in moderation, whole grains are good.

Anyway, to get started trying to eat healthier and less processed, I don't think it's realistic to make everything but I would use Michael Pollan's advice--when you have to purchase something, make sure it has few ingredients and all ones you can recognize. Actually, you might want to read his "Food Rules", it's a little book. Not rocket-science but a good little handbook on eating well and being a good food consumer. I try not to purchase anything I can make easily--for example, pancake mix or cake mix, why? All the ingredients are in the house already. Anything w/HFCS....don't buy it and purge the house of it. Frozen prepared foods--do not buy--pull out a cookbook or google a few recipes and learn to make something new. The amount of ingredients and sodium in these foods are outrageous. Try to buy local when you can--we do beef and lamb seasonally but are still looking for a good local source for chicken. I think taking it a few steps at a time is realistic and once you master a few things, you can go on to other ones. Some things you just may want to keep buying prepared--for example, convenience foods to grab and go, like crackers and granola bars. With kids, you kind of need a few of these around. I have learned to make some crackers, like lavash crackers and Parmesan crisps and they are awesome and I know I can do it, but honestly I'd rather spend my time elsewhere so I make sure to purchase healthy high quality ones with just a few all natural ingredients. But I make homemade bread and granola myself. I love local cheeses and greek yogurt--I think the cheesemakers and yogurt producers do a good job so I just continue to be a consumer of those products---I may consider learning how to make it in the future, probably not to replace, but just to learn and see if I can do it. . Anyway, just my 2 cents.....

great discussion! so glad to have this thread!

heniko

Thanks Paul very useful and practical info!
I have tried to do the low carb cold turkey but it was really impossible for me and I cracked after day or two LOL! But practical your advice to start one meal and day at time! Unfortunately had carbs for breakfast ... I had my egg whites scrambled with spinach and mushrooms for lunch. I had an internal conversation with myself LOL and chose not to have any bread ... felt fine without the bread ... so I will start by applying your advice thank you again ... and feel free to share as much as you want LOL! I am listening!

heniko

Great advice Robin ... since seeing Micheal Pollan on Oprah of all places, I bought on of his books ... learned alot, actually which sparked my interest in eating cleaner real unprocessed foods.

Me too! Loving this thread!

CherylYMerritt

Laughing Cow is not cheese, deli meat is not healthy, and store-bought bread has an ingredient list 27 products long. I'm glad I've found a group of people who would also rather eat a Macbook than a Big Mac!

Yes! I can't believe how many people recommend this stuff!
This is a great thread, thanks to all for info and the participation!

Dawntodusk

I think I am a candidate for this club. I buy some processed foods, like Greek yogurt, tomato paste, multi-grain locally made bread and the occasional pasta sauce (organic, locally made), corn tortillas (my husband is Mexican) but otherwise, I am processed free. I make everything else from scratch. We only buy organic, and we try to buy local. Our eggs come from a local farm, as does all the meat we buy (which isn't much). No HFCS. And no sugar either! My teenage daughter has a rougher time at it, so I buy her cereal and the occasional organic snack. We have NO JUNK FOOD at all and I am generally appalled at what I see most people eating and when I look into the shopping carts when I'm at the regular supermarket (which is not very often). No wonder we have health and obesity problems!