Help Please!

[surrogate]

I am learning and I need help! Over the last couple weeks I decided we were going back to basics. I was tired of putting junk into our bodies, and my kids were suffering the effects. They are 2 and 4 and I figure if we start now, all they will remember is eating healthy.

However I am mind boggled. It started with cutting out junk-chips, sweets, etc. Then I learned about artificial food color, and decided to take it out...then about MSG....and GMO...and now oh my gosh I am overwhelmed!

I live in a TINY town, with a walmart and a winn dixie and that is IT. Organics are hard to find, and very costly. I just ordered seeds from victory to start growing for fall and next spring...but I just don't know what I am doing as far as anything else goes! I run daycare so I have to feed those children too, which is fine, but I cannot spend an arm and a leg.

Can someone just give me some pointers on where to start? Like we eat alot of PB&J. Is Jiff safe? There is no HFCS in it, and we use the natures own 7 grain bread... We eat alot of chicken too...I know not to buy tyson, but what other brands are there? Is the walmart brand bagged frozen chicken breast ok?

Oh and my grocery budget is $300 a month. It is my 2 toddlers me and my sister and then daycare kids for bfast and lunch

I feel like I am losing my mind with all this! HELP!

[serenbat]

Can someone just give me some pointers on where to start? Like we eat alot of PB&J. Is Jiff safe? There is no HFCS in it, and we use the natures own 7 grain bread... We eat alot of chicken too...I know not to buy tyson, but what other brands are there? Is the walmart brand bagged frozen chicken breast ok?

I would start by dumping the JIFF-ASAP!! just because it doesn't have HFCS in it is not a reason (at least for us) to even think of eating it- let alone feed it to kids----filled with sugar and GMO---get REAL peanuts and grind it (health food store near by?) most have grinders right in the store- if you don't have one right near you, find the closest and make a monthly trip and stock-up, in the long run this will save you money

I would do the bread if that is all you can find and you don't make your own

I would never buy WM chicken (we buy nothing from them-that's us)I would cut way back on the chicken and sub with beans or lentils or even egg dishes (other protein items), and buy less but BETTER chicken (organic)- if you only have two places to shop- I would speak to the manager of your grocery store and make a request for better items (to me organic chicken is a must-I don't like nasties) and if they know people are interested in an item, they will stock it

eat less of the bad stuff and small amounts of the better items

[rhiandmoi]

I would start with one thing at a time. Like start with your bread. Making bread at home is I think the easiest way to get started with TF.

It's easy and you don't really need anything special to do it. If you have never made bread before, I recommend starting with Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a Day. This book uses a wet dough method which requires very little handling, and if you wait until at least the second day to bake, you are also adding a soaking step.

Once you get a hang of bread, you can move on to what you put on it. You can switch to either a brand of premade peanut butter that only has peanuts and peanut oil, or you can begin grinding it at home. You can switch to jams and jellies that don't have artificial stabilizers. It should just be fruit, sugar, and pectin.

Once you have pb&j covered, then I would move on to the chickens.

The important thing, I think is to not overwhelm yourself trying to do everything at once.

[Magelet]

If you are overwhelmed, stop with making any more changes. Keep the changes you've made (no msg, no gmo, no artificial food color, etc), and don't make any new ones for a while. When they are comfortable, keep making new changes. If you get too overwhelmed, your progress will likely be reversed.

If organics are hard to come by, then I would focus on organic for animal products, and just try to limit my consumption of the dirty dozen.


Can someone just give me some pointers on where to start? Like we eat alot of PB&J. Is Jiff safe? There is no HFCS in it, and we use the natures own 7 grain bread... We eat alot of chicken too...I know not to buy tyson, but what other brands are there? Is the walmart brand bagged frozen chicken breast ok?

Jiff is not a good peanut butter. I suspect even walmart will carry a brand which is just peanuts and salt, and if not, ask them too.

I wouldn't buy the chicken under normal circumstances for me, at the least you want either a brand that is locally known to be high quality and safe, or organic. That said, I recognize that under certain circumstances if it is all one can afford, conventional meat may be nessicary to feed one's family. But I would ask around, what is the best regarded conventional meat.

Oh and my grocery budget is $300 a month. It is my 2 toddlers me and my sister and then daycare kids for bfast and lunch

I feel like I am losing my mind with all this! HELP!

[Llyra]

Another thing you might consider is looking to see if there are any farms in your area that sell directly to consumers, or community-supported farming ventures, or farmer's markets. Those can be hard to find in some areas of the country, and a lot of us who live in areas where we have numerous choices can sometimes forget that, but it's no harm to look.

Start here:
http://www.localharvest.org/

And try putting in your postal code and see what comes up. Often you can find a source of locally raised eggs, or local produce.

It's so hard when you have a very limited budget, because real food, good food, the food that's best for us, is way more expensive in most places in the country than "junk" food is. There are a lot of reasons for that. Have you ever seen the movie Food, Inc.? I would also recommend reading Real Food by Nina Planck as a good introduction to what you're looking for in food.

Another thing to think about might be introducing more fresh produce-- more fruits and veggies-- even if you can't get organics. Wash it carefully, of course. But the benefits of eating more fresh fruits and veg can't be underestimated. When you can't get fresh, look for frozen veg and fruit that contain no other ingredients besides the produce itself.

The changes you've made so far are fantastic ones. Other ones to think about: substantially reducing sugar, especially when it comes as a "hidden" ingredient in packaged foods, and reducing processed starches-- white flour-based foods like crackers or breakfast cereal, white rice.

Good luck! Our transition here from standard-American-diet food to real-food diet has taken many years. And I have the advantage of having numerous shopping options and a thriving local food culture. So I can see how without those influences, it can be a very hard change to make. But take it one thing at a time-- make small changes, and each one you make will have benefits.

Look for foods that as close to the form nature made them in as you can find. If there are ingredients you can't pronounce, or ingredients your great-grandma would never have used, avoid those choices. It can be done, even if your shopping choices are highly limited, but it takes some looking.

[surrogate]

Ok, I ordered my seeds (from Victory) to start growing fresh veggies, and my parents have an already thriving garden I can get tomatoes squash zucchini and eggplant from.

I have seen the Smuckers I think naturals peanut butter and we do get the reduced sugar smuckers strawberry jelly which from what I can tell has nothing fake in it.

I would *LOVE* to make my own bread, I try, but my breadmaker is awful and i cannot afford another right now.

There are no health food stores where I live or anything like that. The town I live in is a Farming town, however everyone farms Monsanto so everything local and at the farmers market is GMO.

I think I have seen some organic choices for chicken but it was a national brand, purdue maybe? And after watching Food Inc awhile back I stopped buying National Brands of chicken after seeing how those chickens were raised...

I think I am going to start slow and work with what I can get until I can rely less and less on what is at the store. I am on the Ga/Fl border about an hr outside of tallahassee Fl which I think I could find better choices there if I needed to drive once a month or so with a cooler..i also order stuff from amazon.

Organic is a foreign word here and people think you are nuts when you explain WHY you want organics, and to get into Monsanto with people here will likely get you killed lol!

[surrogate]

also can someone tell me how to look for MSG on a label? And the other names for artificial colors?

Thank you sooooo much!

[JMJ]

veggies: I would just focus on veggies outside of the dirty dozen. Growing your own garden is great. If you like veggies that are in the dirty dozen, your own garden might be a great place to get them.

peanut butter: I would either look for something that has just peanuts, or grind it from fresh peanuts. I don't know about walmart since I don't shop there, but a lot of stores have peanut grinders on the end of an aisle someplace, or some grain mills can grind peanut butter, if you ever get to that point.

jelly: This is also something you can make yourself. My mom makes fruit jellies that I think are just fruit, gelatin, and sugar, and she steam cans it to last the whole year. There are a few fruit spread recipes in Nourishing Traditions, or check the internet for some recipes of things that you could use instead of sugary jellies. At least look for something that doesn't have additives.

protein: Eggs are great, even if they are conventional. I would eat conventional poultry before conventional beef. Beans (other than soy) and lentils are great as long as you soak them to reduce phytic acid. They're also pretty inexpensive. Nuts are great, especially if soaked, and seeds are good in moderation if balanced with proper amounts of omega 3's in flax seed or fish.

grains: If you're buying bread from the store, I'd go for whole grain, all-real, oat-free (too much phytic acid) bread. If you have time, making your own bread is even better (and cheaper. You can get a bread pan or 2 from a secondhand store for cheap and make it in yor oven without a bread machine. Learn to soak your grains.

fat: This is where I would be careful about making compromises. If you can save up to make larger interenet orders of organs from US Wellness meats, coconut oil, pastured ghee/butter, etc, I think it would be well worth it to cut back in other places so that you can afford the good fats. Just my 2 cents.

As far as MSG and colors, I would be wary of anything that says natural or artificial flavors or colors. I heard that MSG is sometimes listed as "natural flavors."

[dogmom327]

For what it's worth, you don't need a bread maker to make bread. Making bread takes a bit of practice but it's relatively easy to do and it's really cheap (usually $.25-$.50 a loaf for whole grain bread).

[Carhootel]

Originally Posted by surrogate

also can someone tell me how to look for MSG on a label? And the other names for artificial colors?

Thank you sooooo much!

MSG = monosodium glutamate. you'll see it on just about every freaking label

[phathui5]

Our Walmart has natural peanut butter. They even sometimes have it in bigger jar sizes, which is nice because our house goes through a lot of pb.

[Magelet]

[QUOTE=surrogate;15467617]
I would *LOVE* to make my own bread, I try, but my breadmaker is awful and i cannot afford another right now.

I think I have seen some organic choices for chicken but it was a national brand, purdue maybe? And after watching Food Inc awhile back I stopped buying National Brands of chicken after seeing how those chickens were raised...
/QUOTE]

Making bread is quite easy even without a bread maker once you get used to it. I LOVE peter reinhart's bread bakers apprentice, does your library have it? It's really good for understanding bread making.

For chicken, quite frankly, it's unlikely that store brands are going to any better than what you saw on food inc. That's chicken raising in this country. There are farms which raise pastured chickens, there may be a few small local companies that raise *slightly* better chickens, but don't delude yourself that they'll be happy healthy chickens living chicken lives. It's really unlikely you will find chickens that weren't raised like that in the store. Organic chicken means organic food (non-gmo) but unless the farm/brand is small enough you can call/email the farmer to ask/see how the chickens are raised, it's a 98% chance that the chickens were raised like that. Sad, I know.

As for msg, check here:
http://www.aspartame.ca/msg%20names.htm

As far as I know there aren't hidden names for food dyes, but I could be wrong.
(mind you, soy sauce by itself contains natural glutamates, which unless you are allergic to, I feel are fine. that said, soy sauce in a processed food is likely to include msg.

[NettleTea]

Originally Posted by surrogate

also can someone tell me how to look for MSG on a label? And the other names for artificial colors?

Thank you sooooo much!

http://www.msgmyth.com/hidename.htm

http://www.ehow.com/how_2318290_avoid-food-dyes.html

[lakeruby]

Hi there! I know I'm very late to this post, but I'm in Tallahassee (which you said was an hour drive from you) and we have TONS of local farms around here, where we buy healthy milk, eggs and meat (including chicken). If you could drive here once a month to stock up on bulk items at our health food store (New Leaf Market) or even just at Publix, where they sell lots of organic foods, it would probably be worth it. Plus, if you could ever come on a Wednesday afternoon, there is a wonderful grower's market at Lake Ella, where most things are organic/naturally grown.

I would check out Full Circle Farm in Live Oak, in case that is near you. That's where we get our dairy & meat.

Other than that, I think others have had good ideas for you. Depending on what you eat, maybe you could try making your own bread (even without a bread machine), yogurt, etc and eating more bean and lentil based meals to cut food costs. Also, if you can buy whole chickens, then you can use the bones to make soup stock or bone broth....

Good luck!

[BeagleMommy]

Others have given you great information, but let me add that I bought my bread machine at a thrift store for $6. And it works perfectly. I see them all the time at thrift stores and yard sales.
I know breadmakers are less than ideal, but any homemade bread will have fewer and better ingredients than almost any store bought bread.

[glowbug508]

Msg?

This thread is very interesting. I am in a similar boat, just learning what is in my food and trying to cut things out. I long ago stopped eating products with MSG in them but every now and then I will share a bag of chips that has it and wonder, Why don't I eat MSG? I have no idea- what is wrong with it? What is it exactly?

[CT Mommy]

Good for you for making such a positive change in your life!! You and your family will definitely be the better for it!!

I know it can be overwhelming, but frankly, we are all somewhere on this "good food" spectrum, doing the best we can. I am certainly not 100% pure tf yet, i.e., I don't always make my own bread etc. but I will tell you that every step we take in this journey has resulted in us feeling better, healthier and living more authentically, which is why we started this to begin with. It's been a growth and learning process. Keep your goals modest and over time, there will be dramatic changes...throughout your life.

Good luck!

[LittleBattleAxe]

this has been an incredibly helpful read for me - just starting down the TF road. I have a fear of making my own bread -- I am a good COOK but not a great baker.

Does anyone subscribe to the Cooking TF weekly menu? I am wondering if it is worth ordering.

As for fresh produce, wouldn't a CSA work very well with TF? We have a great one here -- twice monthly delivery, and while some of the farmers may not be "certified organic" all of them are committed to organic practices.

Another question, when you, say, cook stock from chicken or beef, do you freeze it? For how long? And what do you do with it? My imagination isn't great when it comes to using stock, I come up with soup and soup.

[serenbat]

Another question, when you, say, cook stock from chicken or beef, do you freeze it? For how long? And what do you do with it? My imagination isn't great when it comes to using stock, I come up with soup and soup.

FREEZE- yes, in 1c, 2c and 6+c sizes
I don't keep stock frozen long enough to know, I use it within months of making and constantly remaking stock

WHAT TO DO---endless
it goes into almost everything -
with rice, with pasta (homemade rice a roni), added to many dishes - beef stroganoff, quinoa, both beef and chicken to pasta sauce (tomato based)- added when cooking meat and poultry, indian dishes, taco's/ mexican/ Spanish, many veggie dishes-middle eastern food (often I don't have lamb broth but use beef with ground lamb) and just eat it by it self

and several types of soup

[sellendie]

I agree with the ladies that said to not try to do everything at once. It is very overwhelming. If you take small steps, you will be amazed at how different your diet will look in just a year. Maybe set a small improvement for each month. Maybe this month you can focus on buying better peanut butters and jams. Next month you could tackle trying to make a loaf of bread (which is easier than you think without a maker), and so on. I was similarly overwhelmed when I first began eating a primal diet, but I had to stop, take a breath, and remember that every small effort is a step in the right direction.