Need help building a non processed foods grocery list

"Don't buy anything that has more than three ingredients. If you have to Google it to know what it is, don't buy it. There's a difference between 'natural' and 'organic'. Stay away from GMOs. If it comes out of a box, jar, can, or bag, it's processed."

^ My boyfriend's words. He's a HUGE anti-processed food nut and has partially converted me.

Lol! Looks like we're all in agreement here!:flowerforyou:

ignore pretty much every single aisle in the middle and just shop in the vegetable and fruit section, followed by the meats section... voila...

Basically if it comes in a box or a can... it's processed.

Some more tips.

http://cavemanstrong.com/food/grocery-list-paleo-style/

Try googling Scarsdale Diet. . . the Tripod site includes a complete shopping list. Pretty much fresh fruit, vegetable, and fresh meat , and cheese. This is an old diet but has been updated. The blog site is very informative. But I love the simple menus and the SHOPPING LIST!
GOOD LUCK...hope this helps.

Great advice! It also helps to look to eat a wide variety of colors when picking your fruits and veggies. Get lots of greens, but also look for red, orange, yellow, even blue. Also don't be afraid to try different versions of things you eat now, like red or yellow carrots instead of just orange. You don't have to go to a fancy grocery store to find things like this - farmers markets are good places to look. A variety of colors means a variety of vitamins present!

Also another thing that might help - where we live we have a natural food market that sells organic meats, cheeses, etc. etc. etc.
If you can find one in your area, you're set. Heck, we have that and a local farmer's market that runs every Saturday and we picked up some organic chicken and pork chops from there about 3 weeks ago. Had the chicken two weeks ago and the pork chops tonight - better than anything at the store, and affordable (two large chops were $7 here from the Farmer's Market...). The Farmer's Market sells all sorts of stuff - there was a chili cook-off last week, we got our organic meats from there, people were selling goat's milk and homemade soaps/lotions...

The possibilities are endless, and welcome to the club

Also, if you have a Sprouts or Whole Foods store (or something similar), check them out. They carry the same sort of meats and veggies. Also, if you cannot have gluten or prefer to buy your grains in bulk, they've got that, too.

Whole Foods Market recently opened a store in our community. Look around for one of their stores. Excellent products even on the aisles there.

Bump!

Bulk foods are awesome - Winco is the cheapest I've found. Raw nuts, whole wheat flour, beans, rice, grains - awesome. Plus, fresh ground almond or peanut butter!

If you are used to having packaged snacks, try making some of your own. Making jerky in the oven is easy. Slice lean meat really thin, marinate it however you like, lay the strips on a wire rack over a cookie sheet, and dry them in the oven on the lowest setting for a couple hours. An ounce should be around 80 cals. Carrot and celery sticks are easy to prepare ahead and enjoy on the go. Same with grapes. If you like eggs, it's easy to hard boil a bunch ahead to slice over salads, make into deviled eggs, eat plain, etc. Figure out what sorts of fresh foods you enjoy/are satisfied by, and get more of the same.

Vegetables, fruits, eggs, oats, organic peanut butter, meat, tuna, ezekiel bread (or other natural breads), nuts, hummus, beans..

That's all that comes to my mind at the moment lol.

I know you didn't say you were starting a raw food diet, but this will help you with buying unprocessed foods. I am not a 100% raw foody but I try to incorporate raw food into every meal I eat. I can tell you that if I don't get enough raw food an a given day, the next day I wake up craving salad the first thing in the morning. I don't wind up eating salad for breakfast, but I do wind up making a great green juice and having that before breakfast because that usually means my body is off balance (more acid than alkaline). If you have time read about acid vs alkaline. You'll be amazed; I was.

http://www.thebestofrawfood.com/vegan-shopping-list.html

"Don't buy anything that has more than three ingredients. If you have to Google it to know what it is, don't buy it. If it comes out of a box, jar, can, or bag, it's processed."

^ My boyfriend's words. He's a HUGE anti-processed food nut and has partially converted me.

Ermm...that's ridiculous. Sorry, but it just plain is.

There's been plenty of foods I've had to google to know what they are. Zucchinis for one! Not processed.

Apples can come in a bag. Brown rice comes in a bag or box, as does pearl barey, chia seeds, lentils...etc. The most that has been done to these, as long as you don't buy white rice, is they've maybe been dried or packed in water (e.g. canned chickpeas.)

This is a narrow-minded and ignorant way of choosing your food, and you're going to end up with a lot of very bland veggies and chicken! Spices, sauces, etc....all processed, all basically ok (make your own sauces from basic ingredients, use your own discretion, you'll be ok.)

Are we going to pretend that olive oil, organic no-added-sugar peanut/almond butter, chopped tinned tomatoes, dried fruits, or yoghurts are really going to harm us and our diets that much?
Yeah...NO.

The three ingredient and five ingredient list is great for people to switch from processed foods to a healthier natural diet. Agree, veggies and fruits would not have a list, and may come from your own garden. Shopping for fresh produce eliminates the need to review ingredients, but out of season when buying frozen, this is a good rule of thumb. Also shopping for organic when the skin is consumed. I found Jamie Oliver's recipe books to be very helpful in natural ingredient recipes as well as reading Michael Pollan's in Defense of Food and Food Rules. If you are not a recipe reader, going with the most natural state of food and creating a simple plate of a protein, green and carb within portions is also helpful.