Need help/info/ideas and just embarassed

[2pinks]

I know little about nutrition. I wish I knew a lot more so that when I went to the store I would just automatically know what's good, what's not, what are good substitutes, etc but I just don't. I hate it. I really really do. I would LOVE to know how to read labels to choose more wisely as well.

I have been very seriously considering changing mine and my families eating habits to be as healthy as possible. I don't even know how to cook fresh veggies, only canned! It's so embarassing! I HATE recipes on the web b/c if they're fattening they don't give you healthy substitutes or maybe i'm just not looking on the right websites. My family and I are not into "frou-frou" snacks and meals. We're more "steak and potato" people but I really want that to change.

I'm also considering cooking at least 2-3 meals a week that are strictly vegetarian. I think we just eat too much meat and it would help with the food bill as well.

I'm also SERIOUSLY thinking of trying to cut out as much artificial dyes, hydrogenated oils, and HCFS as possible.

Would anybody be willing to "mentor" me for lack of a better word? Are there some really good, informative websites out there? Books?

Also, I am wanting to start making my own babyfood as well. I did find a great website for that and I'm so excited!

[noobmom]

Congrats on wanting to make a huge positive change in your life! That's a lot to think about, so I'll just touch on a few points:

- canned veggies are absolutely the worse because of the overcooking and sodium content (not to mention BPA from can linings). Easiest thing to do? Switch to frozen veggies. They're partially prepped and you can "stock up" the way you're used to with cans. The taste will be very different, just commit to the change and don't back down. Once you get a handle on other stuff, you can make the transition to fresh veggies. Fresh vegs don't last that long in the fridge really (a few days, although there are tricks to make them last longer), so when you do buy fresh, don't go crazy and buy too much at once. Maybe start by learning to prepare one fresh veg a week. Since it's summer right now I'd go with tomatoes, squash or zucchini, eggplants, corn, etc. stuff that is growing right now.

- reading labels is easy. Can you pronounce it? Do you know where to find all the ingredients in the grocery store? If not, don't buy it. It's that simple. Michael Pollan (author of "Omnivore's Dilemma" and "In Defense of Food") wrote something along the lines of (paraphrasing), "Would someone's grandmother recognize it as food?" The "someone's grandmother" is to take into account the fact that we eat food from many cultures now. My grandmother wouldn't recognize enchiladas as food...but grandmothers in Mexico would. In fact, "In Defense of Food" would probably be a great book for you to read. Pollan summarizes the entire book thus, "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

Other than that...take it slow. Make just a few changes at a time so you don't overwhelm yourself. Get yourself a good cookbook or two. Don't worry about if your cooking is "fattening". Unless you're deep frying every day, any home-cooked meal that starts with fresh ingredients (I'm not counting recipes that use processed items like canned cream of mushroom soup) is going to be miles better for you than anything else that's out there. I think the Harvard Food Pyramid is a good source of info as to roughly how much meat versus veggies versus grains you should aim for:

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritio...mid/index.html

Bon Appetit!

[DashsMama]

The rule of thumb that I think is a good one to start with is to try and eat food as close to it's natural state as possible.

For example... Fresh, uncooked cherries are healthiest. Frozen cherries are not quite as healthy because some of the vitamins were lost during freezing, but they still have much of their vitamins and only their natural sugar so they would be a good choice if you couldn't get fresh. Canned cherry pie filling or cherry jam is less healthy still because the cherries have been cooked, losing much of their vitamins, and lots of sugar and maybe even high fructose corn syrup have been added. Maraschino cherries are worse still because they have been cooked, had sugar added and are loaded with tons of artificial food coloring.

The more you make food from scratch, the more you can control what goes in to what you're eating. We are a meat and potatoes family too, but almost everything we eat at home is made from scratch so I am able to avoid many over processed foods. I have found very good basic recipes at gourmet and foodie web sites, like Saveur.com or CHOW.com. "Gourmet" recipes rarely if ever call for canned soups, or powdered spice packets (both of which are loaded with salt and MSG) or other highly processed ingredients. Cooking from scratch takes more time, but it doesn't have to be tons of more time, and the food is usually so much tastier, healthier and cheaper per serving too.

If I were you, I would start by replacing some of your family's favorite canned or packaged foods with with the same food but cooked from scratch. For instance if you now serve canned chicken noodle soup, learn to make chicken soup from scratch. If you buy canned Manwich sauce for sloppy joes or powdered sloppy joe mix, learn to make it from scratch instead (it's pretty much just a sweet style of chili).

If you are new to cooking and don't have a well equipped cupboard don't worry too much about it. You don't have to go out and spend hundreds of dollars buying new jars of herbs and spices. Find a store in your area that has bulk herbs and spices and you can buy only what you need (a teaspoon of this, a tablespoon of that) for each recipe. It is much cheaper to buy flavorings this way, and they are fresher too.

Lastly, I read somewhere that if you divide your dinner plate in 4 pie-shaped sections that one quarter should hold your meat or protein, one quarter should be a starch (like potatoes or rice), and the remaining half should be vegetables. If your family doesn't eat many vegetable now I'd start adding those that most people seem to like: carrots, broccoli, green beans, peas and corn. Some of these are a little starchy, but they are good "gateway" veggies. They are also easy to cook. Just boil them until they're near to soft, drain, add butter and salt and pepper if you'd like, and they're ready. Wait to try things like kale and kohlrabi until much later on in your food journey. Also, some veggies are really pleasant to eat raw. My kids love raw sugar snap peas, carrots, sweet cherry tomatoes, and sliced cucumber and will munch on them while they are waiting for me to finish dinner.

I hope this helps you some. I am taking this journey myself right now, so I understand your hesitation and bewilderment. Just start slow and make gradual changes and eventually you'll be eating healthier than many people around you. Good luck!

[cristeen]

Originally Posted by 2pinks

I HATE recipes on the web b/c if they're fattening they don't give you healthy substitutes or maybe i'm just not looking on the right websites. My family and I are not into "frou-frou" snacks and meals. We're more "steak and potato" people but I really want that to change.

At this point, don't worry about "fattening" - because as you learn about nutrition, you'll discover that the American idea of "fattening" has nothing to do with science.

I would recommend starting by learning to shop the outside of the grocery store. Pretty much every grocery store is designed with the fresh food on the perimeter, and the processed food down the aisles. There might be some things you wander down an aisle for (tomato sauce/paste, rice, beans, etc.), but you should be doing 80-90% of your shopping around the perimeter of the store.

For the most part, concentrate on buying items that have 3 ingredients or less (most real cheeses have 2-3, for instance, while processed cheeses have more), where you can identify what those ingredients are. Make yourself a list of the ingredients you want to avoid and their alternate names (i.e. MSG has something like 20 different names), and take that list with you until you learn to recognize them.

Meal planning can really come in handy here, since that will ensure you have the ingredients you need for the meal you want to make. I concur with the pp on this one... check out "gourmet" websites for from scratch recipes. My personal favorite is www.epicurious.com (Gourmet magazine). There will be the occasional recipe that calls for a packaged item, but probably 95% of their recipes are from scratch. And if you need help figuring something out, this board is a great resource - there's usually someone around who can answer a quick cooking question. For now, I'd stick with 1-2 new recipes a week (maybe a new way to cook veggies, a new salad, or a new casserole). My preference is to print it out, make notes on it (changes I made, or would make next time), and if we like it, then I save it... if we don't like it, then I toss it. In a few weeks you'll hopefully have a stack of recipe to choose from when you're planning out your meals.

[Ola_]

You know what I've found helpful? Finding blogs that are about cooking foods that you'd like to eat. I find seeing how it looks and how it's made motivates me and makes me worry less about screwing it up. Plus it's less intimidating somehow. It's kind of a weird thing to do I guess, but it works well for me. Many of the recipes I've tried this way have been added to my regular meal list.

[lil_earthmomma]

You've received some great advice so far, and I just wanted to add that steak and potatoes can be a very healthy meal! Check out the Traditional Foods forum, where steak is often on the menu!

[organicmidwestmama]

Originally Posted by 2pinks

I know little about nutrition. I wish I knew a lot more so that when I went to the store I would just automatically know what's good, what's not, what are good substitutes, etc but I just don't. I hate it. I really really do. I would LOVE to know how to read labels to choose more wisely as well.

I have been very seriously considering changing mine and my families eating habits to be as healthy as possible. I don't even know how to cook fresh veggies, only canned! It's so embarassing! I HATE recipes on the web b/c if they're fattening they don't give you healthy substitutes or maybe i'm just not looking on the right websites. My family and I are not into "frou-frou" snacks and meals. We're more "steak and potato" people but I really want that to change.

I'm also considering cooking at least 2-3 meals a week that are strictly vegetarian. I think we just eat too much meat and it would help with the food bill as well.

I'm also SERIOUSLY thinking of trying to cut out as much artificial dyes, hydrogenated oils, and HCFS as possible.

Would anybody be willing to "mentor" me for lack of a better word? Are there some really good, informative websites out there? Books?

Also, I am wanting to start making my own babyfood as well. I did find a great website for that and I'm so excited!

lots of good advice has been given already. i think its cool that you are open to examining the way you have learned to eat and cook and that you are interested in changing. i think once you wean yourself from reliance on canned/pre-cooked and highly processed foods you will be amazed at the difference in taste compared to fresh, more close to whole foods.

as far as baby food goes its not an exact science but i just feed my almost 8 month old little bits of mushed up fruit, yogurt, and whatever we are eating provided she cant easily choke on it and its not spicy and there's nothing processed in it.

generally speaking i think canned veggies are not a healthy option, they lack enzymes good for digestion, vitamins have been cooked away, the texture is bad, the color is off, and sometimes bad-for-you stuff is added to them.

try adding one fresh vegetable or fruit to your dinner every day- ie. fresh raw cut up carrots, lightly steamed fresh broccoli with butter and real sea salt (real butter is good for you, hydrogenated margerine is bad), bluberries, cut up watermelon, baked sweet potatoes (not from a can, simply bake a sweet potatoe skin on until a fork can easily peirce it) topped with butter and maple syrup, orange slices, apple slices dipped in real peanut butter (peanut butter should not have any added oil, just peanuts, salt and thats it on the label).

[Magelet]

I would start with one thing at a time. Do not try to do everything, or you will well overwhelm yourself, and revert back.

I started by not eating corn if it didn't look like corn. I looked up all the things that were corn, and if it had a corn product in it (like corn syrup, maltodextrin, niacin), I found an alternative that didn't, or went without, or learned to make my own. (Admitedly, I still eat niacin, because even plain flour these days has corn based "added vitamins" *sighs*). Soon, I discovered that things tasted better this way. Then, I started getting rid of everything that I couldn't pronounce, or know what it really was. "Whey solids"? ummm isn't whey a liquid from cheese making? no thanks.

Now, that works best if you have some basic cooking skills to replace these processed foods from. If not, aquire them slowly. pick your favorite canned vegetable, and learn to make it from fresh. youtube is your friend. learn to make it really really well from fresh. (Its pretty easy with most vegetables.)

Though to be perfectly, 100 percent honest, I would throw the word "fattening" out of your diet. The biggest "fattening" foods are sugars, and overeating. fats don't make you fat. (I know, its a remarkable concept). sugars make you fat. eating too much food makes you fat. eating non food processed foodlike items can make you fat (mostly because they have sugar, AND too many calories for the amount of food.) butter, whole milk, cream, and fatty meats contain more vitamins and nutrients per calorie than almost any other foods. yes, margerine isn't very good for you, but let me tell you, butter won't make you fat. (go ask on the traditional foods boards how many people have lost significant weight by eating butter and coconut oil. I know I lost oh 30 lbs? The first 20 were just cutting out processed foods, the last 30, I think due to the butter, since I had platued. I'm now at a healthy weight for me, and remain there with no trouble at all.)

If you are still scared of fat, go check out the information at the weston a price foundation. there is a ton of info, maybe a little more than you need, but it will help you get over your fear of fat, and revolutionize how you eat. "Hey, butter tastes good, and is ok for me to eat? wow, cooking is so much easier!"

Cutting a few meat meals back, and replacing them with vegetarian isn't a bad thing, though lots of meat and potatos (with veggies and butter) works for many people. But a few vegetarian meals here and there will help you get other nutrients from the veggies. Just read about vegetarian cooking (gotta love cooking blogs of all sorts), because done badly, its well, kind of gross imo. good vegetarian cooking is great, but it can really flop and be tasteless, unless it has some fat, (where most flavor resides, and to help you absorb the nutrients. butter is ideal, coconut oil or real lard (non-hydrogenated) is equally great)

Seriously, give animal fat a try. and work on slowly reducing the amount of processed foods you eat, by learning to make replacements from scratch, one at a time. many are quite easy, you'll find.