Saying NO to processed foods and perservatives! (And a cry f

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MereMe
MereMe Posts: 312 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I needed an excuse to rid my pantry of processed and perservative rich foods. My children's school is hosting a canned food drive for the local food bank. I cleared out 46 cans leaving only a few items - cream of mushroom (and cerley and chicken) soups, rotel, tuna, and salmon. If it's not fresh or frozen, I am not buying it anymore! It's all one step closer to better health! Now.... I need a website that can tell me how to make cream of "yadayada - whatever I need" so that I can eliminate those as well :)

Anyone have recipes for cream of ______s, fresh rotel, and any other normal canned food items that I am sure to be replacing?

Also looking for tips you may have for putting up my own fresh items for freezer storage.

And is canned tuna, salmon, and shrimp a bad thing? Are they stuffed with perservatives too???? Please educate me, people! :)

Replies

  • oreolover
    oreolover Posts: 29 Member
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    This lady cooked in her crockpot every day for a year (genius), anyways somewhere she has a recipe for "cream of something" soup (she wanted to stop using canned too). Good luck!
  • oreolover
    oreolover Posts: 29 Member
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    Sorry realized it wasn't in her index, here is the link to her cream of mushroom
    http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/05/homemade-cream-of-mushroom-soup.html
  • ajbeans
    ajbeans Posts: 2,857 Member
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    If I could get to my Pinterest account I'd link you to Cream of Something soup mix. It's a powdered mix that you can keep on hand to use in all kinds of things. When it stops giving me Error 500 I'll post it for you.

    Rotel is just diced tomatoes and green chiles. You can just chop up some tomatoes and chiles when you need them. It'll taste better anyway.

    Edit: Here's the recipe for the soup mix: http://www.thehenbasket.com/2011/09/cream-of-something-soup-mix.html It's shelf stable, so you can make a big batch and then just cook it up when you need it.
  • dargytaylor
    dargytaylor Posts: 840 Member
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    i don't have it here with me at work (work?? why i am on MFP LOL) but i just did a google search for homemade cream of ______ soup and alot came up. I actually have not made any yet, but would love to......share with us when you make some please!
  • MereMe
    MereMe Posts: 312 Member
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    Oh yay! I am so excited! I will post once I have done it - We have the whole week off next week so I would love to give this all a great go! The internet (and MFP) is such a wealth of information that I often find that I have a hard time "wading" through all of it! lol
  • Maryfullofgrace
    Maryfullofgrace Posts: 342 Member
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    I make my own cream of something soup! I first make my own chicken broth. Then....

    I got this recipe from the internet Tammysrecipes.com

    Yield:
    3 cups (about 2 cans)
    Ingredients:
    1 1/2 cups chicken broth*
    1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
    1/4 teaspoon onion powder**
    1/4 teaspoon garlic powder***
    1/8 teaspoon black pepper
    1/4 teaspoon salt (or less; taste to test)
    1/4 teaspoon parsley
    dash of paprika
    1 1/2 cups milk
    3/4 cup flour
    Instructions:
    1. In medium-sized saucepan, boil chicken broth, 1/2 cup of the milk, and the seasonings for a minute or two (longer if using fresh onions or garlic).
    2. In a bowl, whisk together the remaining 1 cup of milk and flour. Add to boiling mixture and continue whisking briskly until mixture boils and thickens.
    Additional Notes:
    *I use the broth from my oven-roasted chicken. Refrigerate broth and then take fat off the top. If you're using chicken bouillon + water for your broth, you may want to add a little extra seasonings, such as lemon pepper, extra garlic, or seasoned salt, since my broth normally has bits of those in it. You can also add bits of chicken, but if you have good rich chicken broth, you probably won't need any chicken in it.

    Nice thing is it makes the equivalent of two cans worth, so you can freeze one, or how most recipes go, you end up using two cans in most casseroles.
  • fisherlassie
    fisherlassie Posts: 542 Member
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    I used to use those cans too. I think it is just a white sauce with flavoring. Now I'm using yogurt a lot when I want that creamy tast. Ie. Bake chicken thighs spoon on some salsa bake for a bit longer then stir in whole milk balkan style yogurt (just bacteria and milk, no corn starch or other crap). I use Olympic 3.5 MF it is delicious!) Just a bit of yogurt to give it that creamyness and then it may need salt to taste. That is the other thing those cans have, lot's of salt! You can friend me if you like. I like to think about food and recipes with out all the junk in them. I think it is great you are doing this! Oh, you can do this recipe in the crock pot too.
  • sarahmaryfearnley
    sarahmaryfearnley Posts: 366 Member
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    Hey! I make almost everything fresh and from scratch.

    For storage ideas, please check out this thread, http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/391578-eating-well-on-a-budget

    I am honestly not trying to toot my own horn, there are some additional great tips from others that I forgot about or straight up didn't know.

    Good luck!
  • MereMe
    MereMe Posts: 312 Member
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    YES! Sodium has been TOTALLY kickin my tail and I think alot of it is from canned veggies and foods. That's alot of the motivation behind this too!
  • Maryfullofgrace
    Maryfullofgrace Posts: 342 Member
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    YES! Sodium has been TOTALLY kickin my tail and I think alot of it is from canned veggies and foods. That's alot of the motivation behind this too!

    Sodium was my thing too! Since I cut back to 1500 mg per day, I have been a lot happier, less "puffy" and have lost weight. Cuz once you get to 1500 mg a day, there isn't a whole lot left to eat except vegetables!
  • MereMe
    MereMe Posts: 312 Member
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    Anyone have tips on big sodium things to stay away from as well? :)
  • sarahemily72
    sarahemily72 Posts: 106
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    Thank you so much for that! I think we had the most! Yeah, KB!
  • ajbeans
    ajbeans Posts: 2,857 Member
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    Anyone have tips on big sodium things to stay away from as well? :)

    Honestly? If you're buying whole foods and making things from scratch as often as possible, and not adding salt to everything, you shouldn't have a problem with sodium. Frozen entrees are ridiculously high in sodium, but if you're buying frozen veggies and things that aren't overly processed, you should be ok.

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