breaking away from processed foods

kkalanquin

So, I'm really new to the idea of making a positive lifestyle change towards food for myself and my kids. And, to be honest, I'm not sure where to start. The one thing I have heard consistently is to stop using processed foods. This is a big thing for me. I grew up eating things like hamburger helper.

But, I'm not sure what exactly processed foods are. I've heard its anything in a box. And then I heard its anything not in its natural state and that includes home made breads or muffins. Someone even told me bacon is a processed food.

My question to you all is, what are processed foods and where is the best place to find recipes that are healthy and for clean eating?

Thanks!

BR3ANDA

Interesting topic, heres a quick read:
http://health.usnews.com/health-news/diet-fitness/diabetes/articles/2010/06/04/wean-yourself-off-processed-foods-in-7-steps

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/on-fitness/2009/07/20/whole-foods-diet-cookbook-how-to-eat-for-health-and-taste

HausfrauB

Congrats on making the positive decision to change!

MY definition of processed food includes:

- Plastic-y looking cheeses (I'm looking at you Velveeta and Kraft American Cheese)

- Any kind of mix (pancake, cake, stuffing, Bisquick, Hamburger Helper, Rice-A-Roni)

- Any kind of yogurt with flavoring (buy plain and add your own fresh ingredients)

- SUGAR...ALL OF IT (white, brown, powdered)

- ARTIFICIAL SUGAR (Splenda, Equal, Nutrasweet) -- Stevia is an excellent alternative

- Anything canned (especially soups, pastas and sauces)

- Any frozen meals

- Frozen vegetables and meats that add something (i.e. breaded fish, cheesed-up veggies)

In fact, most of the stuff in a modern grocery store is processed.

There are tons of places online for recipes. The important thing is steering clear of those that require ingredients that are already prepared (i.e. cream of mushroom soup, bbq sauce)

I won't lie...it's less convenient when you cook from scratch....but then, isn't being unhealthy the biggest inconvenience?

Good luck!

laus_8882

Bacon is very processed, and very delicious.

I don't eat a lot of processed food simply because it's too salty, too sugary (I have nothing against sugar though, just don't care for savoury foods to taste sugary), and almost always lacking in fibre. You can make a lot of processed foods yourself. I'm not familiar with hamburger helper, but a quick search brought up http://chickensintheroad.com/cooking/homemade-hamburger-helper/ this site and goodness it looks delicious. You can tweak so your recipes are healthier, substituting low fat cheese for the full fat, for instance, using wholegrain pasta and lean minced beef. You could also include grated zucchini and carrot so that it bulks out the meal with more vitamins and fewer calories but isn't so obvious your children will turn their noses up at the funny meal.

Even things like tacos can be made from scratch. My mind was absolutely blown when I found out how easy homemade taco seasoning was to make. There are so many recipes floating around the net and the ingredients list is a lot shorter than that found on the back of a taco packet.

I wouldn't say homemade bread and muffins qualify as processed food as long as they're made from scratch, but given that muffins are just nicely shaped cakes, they're not something you'd want to eat often. Also, homemade bread is delicious, but if you're using plain old white flour is going to be low in fibre. Try adding seeds and using wholemeal flour.

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/ here's a website I love. It's run by a woman who basically publishes her family's recipes. They don't seem to use much prepacked or processed food and although there's no nutritional info, you can calculate calories based on the recipes and substitute ingredients where necessary (nothing drastic, just using a little less sugar or a little less oil or low fat yogurt, etc) to make them both diet and family friendly.

amy1612

Depending on which bacon you buy it can have some strange thing sadded. I would expect maybe salt and water in bacon that you buy in a shop, but some have all manner of strange things added. Read food labels, are things made from natural ingredients? I buy smoked salmon, that comes in a package, do I class it as unclean, no. I try to mainly stick to eating things like veg,fruit, nuts, meat, fish and potatos (mostly sweet potatos). I eat dried fruit, which is sometimes cooked in sunflower oil, but I try to avoid these oils mostly.

There are loads of websites for good clean eating, I love things like paleonomnom, even if youre not paleo, there are some great clean eats on there. I also post things I make on my own blog ( http://fridaysatamys.blogspot.co.uk/ )

I wouldnt worry too much about homemade products if youre using natural ingredients, but when you start adding lots of refined sugars, etc, then you're using processed foods. Try using things like bananas and honey for sweetness, or natural ground cocoa instead of chocolate.

I really dont understand these hamburger helper things, its seems to me like its quicker to make your own sauce and cook some pasta.

Pebble321

Well done, that sounds like a very positive change for you and your family.

Don't try to make it too complicated for yourself - simply look for foods that are close to their natural state, like
- apples not apple juice
- rice (white or brown, whichever your family will eat) with nothing else added, not a pack of "ready rice with asian spices just add water" with a list of 20 ingredients
- Chicken or fish or meat without marinades or added extras
- Rolled oats or steel cut oatmeal instead of sachets with flavouring added
- frozen or fresh veggies with no extra sauces or spices ingredients
- single ingredient herbs and spices to add to your food instead of packets of "flavour".
- peanut butter that contains peanuts (only!) not with sugar, oil, maltodextrin, and other unpronounceable extras. Or get one with peanuts and salt if your kids won't eat the peanut only one.

You get the general idea here, look for things that haven't been manufactured too much and don't have lots of added fillers.

But, you have to balance this out with practicality - you might not have time or energy to make your own bread or pasta (and many people would consider them too highly processed anyway) so look for brands without too many added preservatives and with whole grains and seeds. If your kids will eat them - maybe you have to make some changes gradually - go from highly processed white bread to white with added fibre, then white with added seeds, then brown with added seeds to wholegrain.... etc.

The great thing is that you can save a stack of money and feed your family much better quality food by cooking your own wedges, burgers, chicken nuggets, soups, salads etc. They don't have to eat strange and unfamiliar foods, just look for recipes to make the food that you enjoy and work up from there.

If you'd like to do a bit of reading, have a look for anything by Michael Pollan - I have "In Defence of Food" and it's a great read on this topic.

Pebble321

Well done, that sounds like a very positive change for you and your family.

Don't try to make it too complicated for yourself - simply look for foods that are close to their natural state, like
- apples not apple juice
- rice (white or brown, whichever your family will eat) with nothing else added, not a pack of "ready rice with asian spices just add water" with a list of 20 ingredients
- Chicken or fish or meat without marinades or added extras
- Rolled oats or steel cut oatmeal instead of sachets with flavouring added
- frozen or fresh veggies with no extra sauces or spices ingredients
- single ingredient herbs and spices to add to your food instead of packets of "flavour".
- peanut butter that contains peanuts (only!) not with sugar, oil, maltodextrin, and other unpronounceable extras. Or get one with peanuts and salt if your kids won't eat the peanut only one.

You get the general idea here, look for things that haven't been manufactured too much and don't have lots of added fillers.

But, you have to balance this out with practicality - you might not have time or energy to make your own bread or pasta (and many people would consider them too highly processed anyway) so look for brands without too many added preservatives and with whole grains and seeds. If your kids will eat them - maybe you have to make some changes gradually - go from highly processed white bread to white with added fibre, then white with added seeds, then brown with added seeds to wholegrain.... etc.

The great thing is that you can save a stack of money and feed your family much better quality food by cooking your own wedges, burgers, chicken nuggets, soups, salads etc. They don't have to eat strange and unfamiliar foods, just look for recipes to make the food that you enjoy and work up from there.

If you'd like to do a bit of reading, have a look for anything by Michael Pollan - I have "In Defence of Food" and it's a great read on this topic.

Edited to add: my favourite recipe site is www.taste.com.au
It's not a "healthy eating" or "clean eating" site but just has lots of great recipes for real home cooked food.

goodasgoldilox165

Well done on getting to grips with this subject - and best of luck with the changes it will bring. This is its own reward -apart from health benefits, 'real' food tastes much better once you are used to it.

I have been advised that you are likely to find less processed food around the edges of supermarkets - and processed stuff in the middle. It seems to be a rule that works for ours.

LeeshaNichole

I am starting to eat clean this weekend (when I can go to the farmers market) I really don't eat many processed foods right now but on nights I have to work-I usually end up with some kind of frozen meal. So I have decided to do a day of cooking and freezing the food so we can have "quick" healthy meals. Thanks to everyone for the links you have posted and lists, I was a little lost my self!

kkalanquin

Thanks for all the links and advice! I can't wait to start going through the recipes

Illona88

Just think about what they ate a couple of decades ago, before processed food became the trend.
Anything that is made on farm and not a factory.

They ate whole wheat bread, cheese, meat etc. but I would check the labels. It should only have basic ingredients and no chemicals. Maybe organic would be best and meat is best not marinated. Marinate it yourself with your own herbs and spices.

Frager52

I recently cut out the processed foods myself- and I thought it would be much more difficult and inconvenient... I find it very helpful to cook a few portions of a dish at one time. I make big pots of vegetable curry or lentil soup or brown rice and it's awesome to make tons of baked chicken at once because you can use it in so many different ways. It saves so much time and it's just as easy to heat up a portion of leftovers as it is to grab a can or box or frozen dinner. I've definitely noticed a difference in the way I feel. Nice move- and good luck!

Dawnhasajeep

I love my Happy Herbivore Cookbook By Lindsay S. Nixon's. She also has meal plans for single or familys that come with a shoping list to make it easy.

http://happyherbivore.com/

alinakaras

Well done for making this change! I am planning to start eating clean next week (I know, it sounds like an excuse, but I am going to see my parents for the weekend and I just KNOW I won't be able to say 'no' to my mum's cooking!) and I am already doing the reading, planning, checking out the recipes etc.

I eat processed foods and by that I mean flavoured yoghurts, bacon, sweets, cereal bars etc. It will be VERY HARD to change my eating habits but I am so up for it!

Feel free to add me for mutual support and motivation! :-)

momtokgo

Another good website to check out is www.100daysofrealfood.com. They are a family that went from eating pretty processed to eating clean for a year, and never went back. She has some good (simple) repcies. Especially for things like pizza dough, whole wheat tortilla shells, muffins (whole wheat and honey, no white sugar)

caramellattekiss

This is something I've been thinking about too. There is definitely a lot of processed rubbish in my diet, but I'm gradually weeding it out. Some days are better than others, and I don't intend to cut it out entirely, just limit it. I am finding though, that the less I eat, the less I want. I've started packing myself little snack packs to take to work, and find I'm happier with my little box of raspberries or whatever and don't want it when someone offers me a biscuit. Result!

Loulady

I love this flowchart:

redhousecat

Congrats on the change!! You will start to feel awesome!
If ingreadients cannot be pronounced or naturally recognized in the ingredient list, it is probably processed. That is simply my rule of thumb that I use in addition to just knowing.

reading up and educating yourself will help and keeps you from having to read every label in the store.

jenbroussard71

Bump for later...

erialsea

Bump. I need to read this when I get a chance. I am also trying to make a change and am a little fuzzy on what exactly processed food entail!