What is the deal with SUGAR?!?!?

[Lila]

Rant: I got groceries today. Why does EVERYTHING have sugar in it?!?!?! You have to read the labels of 20 different brands before you can find things without "high-fructose corn syrup" and products that claim to be sugar-free alway have some artificial sweetener or something!!! Applesauce? Aren't apples sweet NATURALLY? What about BREAD?!?! Why does bread need to be sweetened? And peanut butter! Who wants sweet peanut butter? I can't afford to shop at the health store, and I don't have the energy or space or time to make things like spaghetti sauce or apple sauce, etc... So I have to buy them. Why is it that we low-income families are thought so little of that our health is put at stake? I have to spend more money to buy things with fewer ingredients, and I end up spending about 30% longer at the store to read ALL the labels. I don't trust ANY labeling anymore. How can something claim to be "naturally sweet" that has high-fructose corn syrup right there on the ingredient list?!?! I told my husband that the next 10 raises he gets should go toward raising our grocery budget so we can eat WELL!!!

Sorry for the rant. Thanks to anyone who listens.

[sunmountain]

{{{{lila}}}}

I hear ya, sister. I have $219...oops they just raised it to a WHOPPING $253!...in foodstamps for our family of six (ok, dd is still bf). For the most part, that is all I spend. Some of my $$$-saving tricks include:
Frozen veggies, mixed are best, but also spinach and broccoli
Frozen fruit/berries
Bags of apples, or the large baskets from local growers during harvest.
And I only buy what is on sale and work our menus around that. With some practice you will find that sales go in cycles at certain stores and you can predict when the frozen veggies will be 88cents instead of $1.39.
I do only buy natural peanut butter, and not much snack food.
Applesauce is easy to make, just peel,core, chop, add a little water and cook til mushy. Buy canned crushed tomatoes and add your own seasonings while it's heating up for a good spaghetti sauce.
Learn to make a good cream sauce, add veggies, tuna, chicken, choppped boiled eggs, etc...serve over toast. Kids love that. It's our comfort food.
We also buy frozen ground turkey for 99cents/lb and use it in place of ground beef.
Master a good lentil soup recipe (Moosewood Cookbook).
PM me if you want our Fudgie No-Bake recipe, uses oatmeal and is a good quick cookie for the family's sweet tooth.

It is hard to see all the crap people buy, I used to be a cashier at a grocery store. But, with a little practice, you can spend a lot less and buy good basic real food. Even if it's not organic. But if the organic is on sale, you can bet your bottom dollar I stock up on it!

Hope that helps.

[PM]

I feel like the only person here (in Paris) who reads labels. I often find myself commenting out loud to Iris on the sugar content of foods. People must think I'm crazy! It took me about 5 minutes the other day to find an applesauce with no sweeteners. Not only do I do this for Iris, but I am now on a no-sugars (no sugar, honey, nutrasweet, maple syrup NOTHING), no flours diet. It is hard! It's amazing how hard it is to find something to eat with no sugar in it.

I totally agree about the frozen veggies. Dh goes to the market every Sunday but he's not around for 6 weeks and I just don't like going to the market (the guy cheats me every time!). So I stocked up on frozen. So easy!

Sunmountain - I'm pm'ing you about that recipe!

[kerc]

tomato sauce --
mix together:
cans of tomatoes
garlic
basil
oregano

and either heat it up and leave with chunky tomatoes or blend it first then heat it (I hate using the blender for hot stuff).

sometimes dh adds a little white wine -- if we have it leftover from something.

and we sometimes add veggies -- peppers, mushrooms, olives -- whatever you like in your sauce.

if you are using the blender method -- you can add things like cooked carrots if your family doesn't like to eat veggies but will eat tomato sauce.

[3boysmom]

I agree that there is too much unnecessary sugar in things, but bread needs to have some sugar in it to feed the yeast so it can do its job. It only takes about a tablespoon per loaf though so it should be pretty far down in the ingredients list.

[Irishmommy]

Well, I buy a no-name unsweetened applesauce in our regular grocery store that lists as its ingredients apples, ascorbic acid. I've made my own applesauce, but I found the labour wasn't worth the output considering that almost 2 days of labour was eaten in about a month!

[LavenderMae]

Mott's(Healthy Harvest) makes unsweetened apple sauces. They have plain,strawberry,country berry and peach. Smucker's(Natural) makes an unsweetened peanut butter.

[Mama Lori]

First: I really understand and totally appreciate your frustrations. I agree, it should not be so difficult and expensive to simply feed our families good wholesome foods. Sugar is everywhere, it's ridiculous.

Second, two words: TRADER JOE'S. There are so many cheap things you can get there, many of them organic. IF you have one near you, of course. I buy the Trader Joe's brand (it has Trader Joe's label but the ingredients list is identical to Alvarado Street) Barley Bread and it's sweetened only with raisins. It's $2.09 a loaf. I am sure they have a cheap, unsweetened applesauce. I actually buy my pasta sauce at Whole Foods because it's 59 cents for a 12oz. can. (not organic) Trader Joe's also has natural peanut butters, less than $2 a jar. Crackers, really cheap. Cheese, cheap. You do have to read labels at TJs b/c some of their stuff does have corn syrup. But they have tons of stuff that doesn't, and tons of natural and organic foods for really cheap, in my experience way cheaper than Safeway or other grocery stores. If you eat meat they have a really good natural chicken-turkey sausage, $3.99 a package.

[sunmountain]

Irishmommy, two days?
It might be more efficient to just make it as you go...

[Irishmommy]

Okay, so it wasn't two solid days, it was two days with four kids "helping" too. I only got 12 500 ml jars out of it. Would you believe, I've never considered making it as I went along.:

[sunmountain]

The KIDS were helping?
No wonder you buy it in the jar

ok ok, I do, too, but my kids like it better when I peel a couple and make it myself.

[oceanmommy]

sunmountain:

PM me if you want our Fudgie No-Bake recipe, uses oatmeal and is a good quick cookie for the family's sweet tooth.

I want the recipe ! I will PM you then .....