Help me learn

[surrogate]

x post-hopefully done right this time lol

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!

[surrogate]

bump

[surrogate]

Am I doing something wrong? Is there a thread with more info already in it? I need help, badly! Please!!!

[Barefoot~Baker]

Ok I am not the best eater but I'll try to touch on the specific foods that you asked about...

I can't afford organic for the most part. I have my kids eating fresh fruit as a snack at least twice a day and for their lunches at school I give them canned fruit in 100% juice. I don't allow them to drink too much juice in a day, one portion if that, and then it has to be 100% juice.

We drink organic soymilk because I'm concerned about the hormones in milk.

I think Jiff is probably not the best choice because it probably contains a lot of trans fat, but you'll have to check the label because I'm no expert

I have them eating baked chips and limit their portions. I also buy flavored rice cakes.

I don't know about the brand of chicken, but I get Perdue at Walmart - there's nothing added to it.

My kids are terrible with veggies!

Let's see.....whole grain waffles & bagels...not sure what else.

As I'm typing I can see that I have a lot to work on too but I thought I'd try to help you out!

Originally Posted by surrogate

x post-hopefully done right this time lol

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!

[Artichokie]

do you have a farmer's market? Can you make a road trip once a month to a larger town that might have more options?

I would not serve my kiddo jiff b/c it is full of sugar (idk what kind). You want to look for a peanut butter whose only ingredients are peanuts and salt. Jelly is the same - you want fewer ingredients and if you can find one w/o sugar (or at least fruit sweetened), all the better.

I know some walmarts do have organic and locally produced sections, so you might ask about that.

Do you mind sharing where you live? ppl might be able to help more if we had some idea.

[blueridgewoman]

Could you switch to a peanut butter that's a "natural" style at least? I'm not sure on brands but really, peanut butter should just have peanuts and maybe salt. That's about it. You'll have to stir it each time you use it, but that's pretty easy. Even if its not organic, a lot of stores are carrying natural pb these days.

As for bread, the HFCS is the big thing, I think. I know Nature's Own is HFCS free so that's a start. You might try doing something like, rather than serving PBJ, spreading peanut butter on celery sticks and then having other options.... We do a lot of lunches that consist of yogurt, carrot sticks and hummus, cut up fruit, etc. Sometimes, changing what you serve and finding new standbys can be easier than trying to make your old standbys fit your new diet, if you know what I mean.

[velochic]

I'd start by reading the thread here called "Top 5". I was just reading it yesterday and it had some good stuff in it. I didn't reply because I couldn't really add to what was already said and I didn't want to keep repeating what others were saying.

Also, check out the Frugality and Finances forum for tips on saving money at the grocery store while still eating healthy. There are always threads about that over there.

I think the best place to start is to make a commitment to eating only foods with an ingredient list you KNOW or that your grandmother would recognize. Grandma didn't know HFCS, mono and diglycerides or calcium proponate (I'm sure I'm mangling these chemical names, but they're ones I can vaguely remember). Every time you pick up something that is packaged, look at the ingredient list and if any of the ingredients are not recognizable, put it back. For example, we do eat potato chips once or twice a week with our lunch sandwiches. The ingredient list of Ruffles is "potatoes, sunflower oil, salt". I won't buy any of the other chips because they have all sorts of other crap in them, but I will buy Ruffles because I know all 3 of those ingredients.

I also try to think along the lines that "if I can see and touch the actual food, it is usually healthier". What I mean is that, for example, green beans in a can... I can't see the actual product. Green beans in the produce department... I can actually see and touch the food before I buy it. I'm going to buy the fresh green beans. Now, with that in mind, I also remember what is and is not in season, because sometimes canned or frozen *will* be healthier than fresh, especially if I can buy it organic.

As for the Jif... I have to admit that we eat it here at our house. Dd is on such a severely restricted diet (she has an intolerance to artificial ingredients, preservatives, MSG, and we do not eat anything with HFCS) and she (and I, admittedly) love Jif. However, know that it has FULLY HYDROGENATED vegetable oil (so a lot of very unhealthy trans fats). I limit dd's peanut butter intake to one sandwich a week. Now, I make my own low-sugar jam and can it, so the J of the PB&J is a heck of a lot better than commercial jelly, but still. If you can completely kick the Jif habit, you would be much, much better off. We've tried eating natural peanut butter. I wish we could love it like we do Jif.

I also think that if you commit to having only real food for snacks, that that is a huge one. Never chips or something like that for a snack. Only whole foods.

One last thing... if you are going to put in a garden, learn how to can your own food.

Best of luck to you. Dd and I are on a road trip now and we brought a cooler with us. Even when you're away from home for a week or two, you can eat really healthy.

[Zevy]

Originally Posted by surrogate

x post-hopefully done right this time lol

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!

Its easy to get overwhelmed. Just take it one step at a time. You don't have to change everything, and you don't have to do it all now.

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?

You can make do with this.

Even if something says its HFCS free, look at the ingredients. If you see 'partially hydrogenated', it has HFCS in it. Technically if there is less than 5 grms of anything, they can call it '0'. Now, whether or not 1 gram of HFCS is going to make a huge difference in anything...who knows. But if you don't have to stir the pb, it has something added to it and it isn't 'natural'. So look for 'natural' nut butters, and expand outside of PB! Almond butter, etc., if you can find it.

I would not buy non-organic meat. Walmart bagged chicken is going to be just as bad. If you can't find organic meat, maybe try playing around with more vegetarian meals...beans are very cheap and you can play around with interesting recipes. Whole wheat pasta, potatoes, sweet potatoes, etc.

Check your labels on your breads...most have added salt and sugar and HFCS. I have a bread maker and I just make all my own bread. That can actually be cheaper.

Frozen veggies are really really cheap and easy to use. And they are just as healthy as fresh, sometimes more-so since they are frozen just when they are picked. I buy bags of frozen corn, peas, carrots, squash, broccoli, etc.

Basically, just start by reading labels. If you see a long ingredient list, don't buy it. Find your own recipes for breads, granola, etc. Fruits and veggies are good snacks for children. You can find plain yogurt and mix your own fruit in it for a snack...cottage cheese is also good. Hummus, bean dips, can all be made home-made if you don't want to $$ for them.

And just take it one day at a time.

[surrogate]

Thank you guys so much! It is starting to get easier. It has been 2 weeks now, and it is getting to where I don't miss the crap. Now granted we didn't kick the jiff, we are working on everything else. I saw Jiff now makes a naturals peanut butter, we might try it.

Here is what I found so far at our walmart, I haven't tried winn dixie because they are soooo much more expensive, but there is some stuff I am going to need to look for there.

Walmart now carries a brand of hormone free organic chicken I found it today it is new. They sell it in fresh and frozen. I also saw perdue is hormone free now.

we have no organic or local produce so I only got the fruits that are OK to eat non-organic

They had no organic butter...i had to get walmart brand.

No organic cheese, got the walmart brand of that too

we have been doing fruit, pretzles, and cheese sticks for snacks. We ate the last of the horizon organic cheese sticks today...gonna have to find another store that carries them I bought them out of town. I order the annies bunny cookies/crackers from amazon usually when it is in my budget.

I had to get cottage cheese for lasagna we are making, and they didnt have any organic or hormone free of that either, I also needed chili tomatoes for chili, no organic chili tomatoes.

It is so hard to try and find decent selections at my walmart...ugh! Gonna price out winn dixie, but i think it will double my grocery budget

[Magelet]

Even if something says its HFCS free, look at the ingredients. If you see 'partially hydrogenated', it has HFCS in it

I think you mean it has trans fats? I don't know why partially hydrogenated would be high fructose corn syrup.

Good for you, I'm glad it's going easier. Definitely try the naturals peanut butter.

Here is what I found so far at our walmart, I haven't tried winn dixie because they are soooo much more expensive, but there is some stuff I am going to need to look for there.

Walmart now carries a brand of hormone free organic chicken I found it today it is new. They sell it in fresh and frozen. I also saw perdue is hormone free now.
great, organic chicken is much better than regular chicken.
we have no organic or local produce so I only got the fruits that are OK to eat non-organic
Sounds good. You might have other sources of local produce you don't know about yet (backyard farmers willing to share/sell, people with extra fruit on their trees, etc, but don't go looking for it yet, keep going at a reasonable pace
They had no organic butter...i had to get walmart brand.
Hey, you know what? Even conventional butter is way better than margerine. So your doing pretty good here. Also, I remember in Food, INC there was a section on walmart guys boasting about how since people wanted organic yogurt, they started carrying a good organic yogurt, that they wanted to carry what people wanted. So keep bugging your walmart, telling them you want organic produce and organic butter and organic cheese.

No organic cheese, got the walmart brand of that too
If it's real cheese, that's doing great. You might not have access to organic everything, but you can still always eat pretty well even if not organic. And keep bugging them about wanting organics.

we have been doing fruit, pretzles, and cheese sticks for snacks. We ate the last of the horizon organic cheese sticks today...gonna have to find another store that carries them I bought them out of town. I order the annies bunny cookies/crackers from amazon usually when it is in my budget.

I had to get cottage cheese for lasagna we are making, and they didnt have any organic or hormone free of that either, I also needed chili tomatoes for chili, no organic chili tomatoes.
What are chili tomatos? I presume tomatoes with chili spices? Can you buy the spices seperately and get regular canned tomatoes (that they maybe have organic?) and add your own spices? It would probably be healthier and cheaper even if they don't have organic.

[Otto]

Originally Posted by velochic

As for the Jif... I have to admit that we eat it here at our house. Dd is on such a severely restricted diet (she has an intolerance to artificial ingredients, preservatives, MSG, and we do not eat anything with HFCS) and she (and I, admittedly) love Jif. However, know that it has FULLY HYDROGENATED vegetable oil (so a lot of very unhealthy trans fats).

Fully hydrogenated oils (in principle) should contain zero trans-fat.

[surrogate]

Originally Posted by Magelet

What are chili tomatos? I presume tomatoes with chili spices? Can you buy the spices seperately and get regular canned tomatoes (that they maybe have organic?) and add your own spices? It would probably be healthier and cheaper even if they don't have organic.
.

Yeah they are just tomatoes seasoned with chilli spices. They did have the organic hunts/hines plain diced tomatoes, they were $1.60 a can, the WM brand chili tomatoes were .57 a can...so I got the WM brand. My parents are growing tomatoes that should start being ready this week, so hopefully those will be the only ones I have to buy.

There is a publix about 45 mins away, I think I am gonna try looking there and seeing what they have and then split my choices between Walmart, Winn Dixie, and Publix. Hopefully only making the publix trip once a month for what winn dixie doesn't carry.



Also about the local produce, I live in a rural agricultural town, every farmer in america knows it because once a year we host a farming expo, people come from all over the US and abroad to attend...so guess who all these farmers have under their wings....you got it, Monsanto. EVERY bit of land farmed in my town is Monsanto...hence why I am growing my own veggies.

[BetsyS]

I love that farm expo (and I'm not even a farmer! LOL).

You'll be shocked at Publix, honestly. We live in north GA, and I recently got my brother to switch from Walmart to Publix. It's like a whole new world opened up for the boy. LOL.

We try to eat healthier, but not as healthy as some of the people on MDC. My kids drink a lot of milk, which isn't all that healthy, but they like it, and it does have some redeeming qualities, in my opinion. I make sure that they drink hormone free milk (which both Walmart and Publix is), and I leave it at that. Not raw or organic (which is beyond my budget).

I try to serve fruit once a day at least (but my kids and family aren't huge fruit lovers). Vegetables more than that. Whole grains. Lots of beans. One likes meat, and one doesn't, and they eat small portions, so I don't stress about that. I try to buy as natural as possible. Bananas for a snack instead of pop-tarts or Cheezits. You get the idea.

They drink water and milk only. Juice is a HUGE treat reserved for birthdays and vacation. I serve some canned and frozen veggies and fruit. Especially out of season. Like, right now, it's june. If they want applesauce, it's coming out of a jar, you know? In apple season, they'll eat apples.

I think we do okay--of course, there is room for improvement, but we do okay with what we have.