Category Archives: No Processed Food Challenge

New Change

Remember how I only allow myself to make one major change every 2 months (you can also look at the “Where do I Begin?” section at the top to get ideas of what changes to make)?  Well, March is upon us so it’s time for the next one.  January was the start of making my own bread, and it’s been great.  I make 3 loaves about every 10 days, and pop them in the freezer until I need them.  Anyway, my next major change is going to be absolutely no food coloring.  I don’t use it often, because we try not to have many processed foods in the house, but sometimes I use it to make green pancakes for St. Patrick’s Day, or for decorating cakes or something.

I was reading some stuff on Wikipedia (so it MUST be true, right) about the kinds of things permitted to be added to our food and it’s horrifying.  Many kinds of artificial colorings are banned in other countries, but not in the states.  Check out the first one listed: Brilliant Blue.

“As a blue color, Brilliant Blue FCF is often found in ice cream, canned processed peas, packet soups, bottled food colorings, icings, ice pops,blue raspberry flavored products, dairy products, sweets[2] and drinks. It is also used in soaps, shampoos, mouthwash[3] and other hygiene and cosmetics applications. In soil science, Brilliant Blue is applied in tracing studies to visualize infiltration and water distribution in the soil.

Brilliant Blue FCF has previously been banned in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerlandamong others[citation needed] but has been certified as a safe food additive in the EU and is today legal in most of the countries. It has the capacity for inducing an allergic reaction in individuals with pre-existing moderate asthma.[4] In the United States production exceeds 1 million pounds annually, and daily consumption is around 16 mg per person.[citation needed] Extensive testing has led the National Institutes of Health to conclude that color additives do not cause hyperactivity.[5] ”

Does this concern anyone else?  And 1 million pounds annually?  Why is it allowed here and not in those other countries?  Yikes.  Pretty nutso.  Anyway, click on a few other colors and look under “Health and Safety.”  That’s enough to make me use spinach as a green dye, and beets for red, instead of food coloring for the next little while.  Here we go, March and April.  Coloring’s out!

Homemade Crutons

Do you ever have about a thousand heels from bread loaves lying around your house?  I always do, and I know no one was going to eat them.  I have really missed crutons since I decided to try to limit the processed stuff around here, so I tried to make some.  It turns out to be the easiest thing I’ve ever made.  So fast and so simple.  It literally took 10 minutes start to finish.  I’m pretty sure you can’t mess this one up.  My boys’ naps miraculously overlapped this afternoon, so I had an entire hour to myself to savor these crunchy morsels on a yummy salad for lunch.  I may or may not have watched some junk tv while I ate.  Don’t mind if I do (did!).  I love it when the stars align!

Homemade Crutons

  • 1 cup bread, cubed
  • 1 Tbs olive oil or butter
  • 2 Tbs parmesan cheese
  • 1/4 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/4 tsp onion powder

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 350
  • Toss bread with oil
  • Combine cheese, garlic powder, and onion powder, and then mix with bread
  • Spread on a cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes, or until bread is golden brown

I was too greedy to share these with anyone, and I savored every bite.  Man, I love a crunch in my salad.  It adds so much.  I put the leftovers in a plastic bag to use the rest of the week.  I’ve seen many recipes call for an entire loaf of bread, and you make a big batch, but for me this was just a simple way of using some leftovers for a few single servings.

Okay, now for the No Processed Foods Challenge Update.  Original rules can be found here, but this time around I am being a little bit more lax.  Instead of absolutely no sugar, I am allowing sugar in small amounts as long as it is in something I made from scratch.  Like the spinach muffins from earlier this week, or even oatmeal cookies.  I know sugar itself is processed, but I need to have a little bit of wiggle room, and it makes me feel better than having Chips Ahoy or ingredients I can’t pronounce.  Having said that, I am not planning on having that stuff every day.  It’s just for a special treat every now and then.  That’s basically the only modification.  Everything else is the same.

 

 

 

What’s for Dinner Wednesday

Wow, I don’t know why I feel so slammed this week.  It’s taken me forever to get back in the swing of things since the holidays.  I have so many things on my to do list, and a million things running through my head that I want to talk about on here, but I can’t seem to get organized!  Bear with me…I’ll get it together soon.  Anyway, one thing I AM managing to accomplish is an occassional meal for the fam.  :)   Tonight we had a delicious combo of vegetable chowder and spinach muffins.  Yes, there is sugar in the muffins, despite my no processed food challenge.  I have more to say on this subject, which I will tackle tomorrow so stay tuned.  For now, just ignore that little detail and enjoy these yummy recipes.


Cheesy Vegetable Chowder (originally adapted from For the Love of Cooking)

  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 1/2 sweet yellow onion, diced
  • 1 cup of carrots, diced finely
  • 2-3 stalks of celery, diced
  • 3 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 2 tbsp flour (divided)
  • 6 cups of homemade vegetable or chicken broth
  • 2 cups of potatoes, peeled and diced
  • 2/3 cup of milk
  • 2 cups of broccoli florets
  • 2 heaping cups of sharp cheddar, shredded

Directions

  1. Heat the butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat.
  2. Once the butter has melted add the onions, carrots, and celery then sauté for 3-4 minutes.
  3. Add the minced garlic then cook, stirring constantly for 1 minute.
  4. Add 1 tablespoon of flour then stir until well combined and cook for 1 minute.
  5. Add the vegetable or chicken broth and mix well.
  6. Add the potatoes then cover with a lid and simmer for 35-40 minutes; add the broccoli florets and cook for an additional 15-20 minutes or until all of the vegetables are softened.
  7. Add the last tablespoon of flour to the cheese and toss to coat evenly then add to the soup along with the milk.
  8. Stir frequently until the cheese has melted and is well combined. If you want an even thicker soup, mix some broth with some corn starch to make a slurry then add to the soup and stir until thickened.

Consensus

The Mr.: Liked it

Me: Loved it

The Wild One: Ate about half of it, and I had to put it over bread for him to eat it.

Tornado: 50% in his mouth, 50% on the floor.

***

Spinach Muffins (orginally adapted from Weelicious)

  • 1/2 Cup Unsweetened Applesauce
  • 1 Large Egg
  • 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 1 Cup Fresh Spinach, packed
  • 1/3 Cup Sugar
  • 2 Tbsp Vegetable or Canola Oil
  • 1 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour (I used whole wheat)
  • 1 tsp Baking Powder
  • 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
  • 1/2 tsp Salt

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
  2. Place the first 6 ingredients in a food processor and puree.
  3. Place the remaining ingredients in a separate bowl and combine.
  4. Pour the spinach puree in a large mixing bowl.
  5. Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet until combined.
  6. Scoop batter into a greased mini muffin tin, filling each cup 2/3 of the way.
  7. Bake for 12 minutes.

Consensus

The Mr.: He had to leave town before he could taste it!  Oh well, more for me.

Me: Double yum.  I had two.

The Wild One: “Mommy, these muffins are super delicious.”  Also had two.

Tornado:  I taught him how to say, “mmmm” and he ate a half.

BREAD SUCCESS 1st Edition

Well…it’s only semi-true.  This recipe makes 3 loaves and one out of three turned out perfect.  The other two…a little substandard.  BUT, one of them was beautiful!  So the question is – What did I do differently?  Absolutely no idea.  I’m going to try again this week and see if I really am getting better, or if that was just a fluke.  Ha!  As it turns out, it was the Rose Bowl and we had to cheer on our Oregon Ducks so we had a few friends over.  They all sampled the bread, and it was a success.  I have mixed feelings, because I’ve had so many failures that I don’t want to get my hopes up, but on the other hand, I am thrilled I actually made a loaf that worked out!!  It IS possible!  We were so caught up in the excitement that I failed to take a picture of the beauteous loaf, so we’re stuck with a few slices.


Here’s the recipe from whole food kids (her kids are cute, huh?  all TEN of them!).

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Bread (makes 6 loaves)

Ingredients

  • 7-½ cups warm water
  • 2 tablespoons and 1-½ teaspoons active dry yeast
  • ¾ cup honey
  • ¾ cup butter, softened
  • 2 tablespoons and 1-½ teaspoons salt
  • ¾ cup nonfat dry milk powder
  • 15½ cups whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup vital wheat gluten
  • 2 cups quick-cooking oats

Directions

1. Preheat over to 350 degrees F. In very large bowl, combine warm water, yeast and honey. Let yeast dissolve for about 5 minutes.

2. Add remaining ingredients. Stir to combine, then knead on floured counter for about ten minutes, adding more flour if needed to form a soft ball that sticks to itself.

3. Place in a greased bowl, cover with moist towel and let rise until doubled in bulk, about an hour.

4. Punch down and knead for one minute, then form into six loaves and place in well-greased bread pans. Cover with a moist towel and let rise until doubled in bulk, 30 to 45 minutes.

5. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until bread is golden brown.

6. Take out of pans and let cook on racks.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.  Slap some yummy jam and or butter and honey on that baby and you will swear off Atkins forever!!

ps – Today marks day one for the No Processed Foods Challenge.  More on that later this week.

Happy New Year! And Resolutions!

Hey everyone.  I hope you are all safe tonight and have a smashing time ringing in the New Year!  The Wild One caught a little stomach bug so we are keeping it pretty low-key this year.  Once the kids are snuggled in their beds The Mr. and I are cozying up with a movie and some homemade ice cream (recipe coming soon!).

I am starting up the No Processed Foods Challenge again this week…Probably about January 4th because it will take me that long to get my act together.  Feel free to join me!  Even if you only decide to do it for 3 days, or for a week.  You have four days to talk yourself into it.  You will feel a HUGE difference.  I have been noticing the side effects of “eating normally” again – most notably that I can’t run as fast or far without cramping or not being able to breathe. :)

Here are some of Granola Mom’s New Year’s Resolutions:

+ Take better pictures!  I am signed up for a photography class and am so excited about it!

+ Read one book a month minimum – Sounds pretty lame, but you’d be surprised at how hard it is for me to find the time/energy to do this!

+ Get more sleep – Going to try to be in bed by 10:30, which seems absolutely impossible as I am typing this.  When there is a will, there’s a way!

I have a couple more personal ones I am working on too, but that’s the gist of it.  Notice how there is nothing in there about my body, weight, or diet.  Feel free to jump on that bandwagon and find more emotionally healthy goals.

Here’s to Health and Happiness in the New Year from the Granola Fam!

Homemade Graham Crackers – No Sugar!

Once we cut back on the processed food, we cut out graham crackers.  :( I think my kids were pretty sad ( and I was too).  It’s the standard toddler snack!  It has been a tricky adjustment, because crackers are such an easy and tasty snack.   But Nabisco Honey Grahams have partially hydrogenated soybean oil and that stuff is junk.  So, we’ve just gone without, until TODAY!  I tried making these from scratch, and it went pretty well.

Homemade Graham Crackers

(Originally Adapted from Megan at Food and Whine)

  • 1/4 cup canola oil
  • 1/2 cup honey
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1 tbsp molasses
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 2 tbsp ground flax seed

Directions

1.  Mix the oil, honey, milk, molasses and vanilla.  In a large bowl, combine 2 cups of the flour, baking powder and flax.

2.  Combine the wet and dry ingredients.  Slowly add the remaining flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until the dough is no longer sticky.

3.  Roll out the dough as evenly as possible directly onto a greased baking sheet.  I just flipped mine over and used the back since it doesn’t have a lip.  Poke holes in the dough with a fork.

4.  Bake at 350F for 10-15 minutes until lightly browned.

The Wild One helped me make it and he ate the dough and the crackers.  They taste pretty different than the store bought crackers, but they are still pretty good.  It’s nice to have an option of a non-sticky, non-juicy snack we can eat on the go.  Saturdays are starting to become my food prep day a little bit.  I make bread, muffins, granola, or whatever else to last us through the week.  This switch has been such a challenge, but we are slowly starting to get the hang of things.

No-processed-Food Challenge Update:  The challenge officially ended last night.  We had a small dinner party here last night, where we had some dessert, and a little bit of processed food in the main course.  I…felt…horrible after everyone left.  My stomach was upset, I was bloated, and I just felt…gross.  It’s so crazy to me!  I was eating like that on a daily basis and probably felt like that on a daily basis, not realizing that I felt horrible.  That was my normal.  I am a believer in this stuff.  It is really changing our lives a little bit at a time.

What’s for Dinner Wednesday – Vegetarian Edition

My very most favorite thing about Thanksgiving is the sweet potatoes.  They are almost good enough for me to hide them under my bed and eat them in the middle of the night.  I loooooove them.  I was so excited to find this recipe that doesn’t have brown sugar.  It fits in my food challenge, and honestly it tasted like it had brown sugar!

Sweet Potato Casserole

(originally adapted from 100 days of real food)

Potatoes

  • 2 medium to large sweet potatoes
  • 3 tablespoons butter, preferably unsalted
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
Topping
  • 1 cup pecans, chopped
  • 1/3 cup whole-wheat flour
  • 4 tablespoons butter, preferably unsalted
  • 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Peel, cube and boil sweet potatoes until tender. If you cut the cubes small enough (1 ½” to 2”) they shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes. Drain potatoes.
  3. Add the butter, vanilla, milk, egg and syrup to potatoes and mash/mix together by hand with a potato masher or fork or you can use an electric mixer.
  4. Transfer mashed potato mixture to a square casserole dish.
  5. Mix together the pecans and flour for the topping. Melt the butter and syrup together and stir into the pecan mixture.
  6. Evenly spread pecan topping on top of the potatoes in casserole dish.
  7. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until bubbly.

On the side we had:

Roasted Green Beans with Parmesan Cheese

  • 3-4 cups fresh green beans
  • olive oil
  • salt
  • 1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
  2. Wash greenbeans and break the ends off.
  3. Spread them out on a cookie sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, toss them so it gets evenly coated.
  4. Place in oven for 10 minutes
  5. Remove and toss vegetables again.
  6. Cook for another 5 minutes.  Remove and sprinkle with parmesan cheese

Consensus:

The Mr.:  Loved it

Me:  I normally hate green beans, especially fresh, but these have a completely different flavor.  I honestly loved it.

Both Boys:  Could not have cared less, although I did find Tornado choking on one he found on the floor a few hours later.

Processed Foods Defined

I’ve been writing a good deal about this stuff since my 30-day challenge, and I’ve gotten some questions about what my definition of a processed food is.  It’s a complicated question, but here is the process I go through and my philosophy on it all:

1.  Eat food as close to its natural form as possible

The less steps from natural form to your house, the better.  Like if you buy whole wheat flour, it has gone through two steps when the wheat germ was removed and the wheat kernels were ground into flour.  Would I like to buy my own wheat kernels (or better yet grow it in the backyard) and harvest and grind it?  Yes, but it isn’t possible at the moment.  I have to take second best.  More thoughts on the matter:

  • Example:  Corn Chex – What is the natural form?  Corn.  It’s had to go through many many stages to get made into that waffled square, even though it is considered a “healthy” cereal.  Many things were added, many things taken away, many things altered.
  • Example:  Produce –  This is a seemingly easy one.  Obviously an apple’s original form is an apple.  But then think about this…Was it an apple picked from an orchard just a few miles from the store, or was it an apple genetically-engineered to grow larger/faster, sprayed with toxic chemicals, picked green, and ripened on a truck?  Kinda frustrating isn’t it?   This is why I love farmers markets and backyard gardens.
  • Dairy products:  This kind of falls in the same boat as produce.  What is the natural form of cheese?  milk.  Pretty good in my book.  But now I am starting to think about what KIND of cow it came from and what that cow ate, and how it was raised.
  • I don’t have a farm so i am forced to buy some packaged things.  Even buying something very close to its natural form, like peanut butter has to be processed and packaged at a plant.  Which brings me to my next point.  When you have to buy a processed food (meaning bought in a package of some sort) make sure that…

2.  The ingredients on the label are real foods.  No additives or preservatives or things you cannot pronounce.

  • Example:  Bread – Do you know the ingredients of homemade bread?  Flour, Yeast, Salt, Oil, and Honey or Sugar.  Compare that with Sara Lee’s 100% whole wheat bread.  Water, Stone Ground Whole Wheat Flour, Wheat Gluten, Cottonseed Fiber, Yeast, Brown Sugar, Salt, Vegetable Oil (Soybean Oil, and/or Cottonseed Oil), Yeast Nutrients (Monocalcium Phosphate, Calcium Sulfate, Ammonium Sulfate), Dough Conditioners (May Contain One or More of the Following Mono and Diglycerides, Ethoxylated Mono and Diglycerides, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Calcium Peroxide), Honey, Wheat Bran, Wheat Protein Isolate, Sulfiting Agents, Vinegar, Natural Flavor, Soy Lecithin, Guar Gum, Sucralose, Cornstarch, L-Cysteine, Sorbic Acid, and Calcium Propionate (Preservatives).  Wow.  This would be considered a “healthy” food by most people.  But what exactly are we consuming?  To be honest, I am not really sure…
  • I think you get the idea here.  Packaged, boxed items that are considered “food”  but that contain mostly manufactured ingredients.

During this challenge, I’ve been trying to make from scratch a lot of things I would normally buy like bread or crackers.  We have all felt wonderful during these last several days.

I’ve made an executive decision, however.  The challenge will now be shortened due to the holidays.  I love the challenge, and I am going to do it again, several times (join in!), but there are just too many traditions that I want the kiddos to be able to participate in, i.e. gingerbread houses, hot chocolate, and candy canes.  It’s the holidays!!  No, we won’t go crazy, and we will continue to limit the processed foods, but a little indulgence this time of year is okay in my book.  You understand.  SO having said that, our last day will be this Friday.  It will have been a 2 week challenge (a very AWESOME two weeks).  Looking forward to the next one.

What’s for Dessert Wednesday

Let’s get real for a second…I am DYING with this no sugar thing.  oh my goodness.  I didn’t realize I was this hooked on it, but I have always had a bit of a sweet tooth.

In an effort to help, my sister gave me her secret recipe for banana shakes, so I tried it out tonight.

Banana Shake

  • 1 frozen banana
  • 1-2 cups of milk
  • peanut butter
  • pumpkin pie spice

Dump it in the blender and mix it up.  Pour it in a glass and voila!

Consensus:

It was refreshing, yes, but still not quite sweet enough for me.  I am going to do some experimenting and see if I can add some cocoa powder and honey or something… stay tuned.

 

Here’s what we’ve been eating lately:

Breakfast:  whole wheat biscuits (in the shape of footballs!),  eggs with cheese, fruit

Snack:  pears and raisins

Lunch: tortillas with hummus, corn, plain yogurt with strawberries

Dinner:  Layered Vegetable Enchiladas, salad with blue cheese dressing

Note:  This was a little bit dry, so we put some green salsa on it and then it was AMAZING!  And so healthy!!

 

Low-Fat / Sugar-Free

I recently read a blog post (here) that brought up some things I have been thinking about lately, so I wanted to share.  I’ve been sitting here scouring over the many nutrition books I have in our bookcase trying to find studies and info on this topic, but I can’t!  I will just speak from memory (I hope you don’t mind)…take it for what it’s worth.

I used to be a certified personal trainer.  I only used it a bit, but it frustrated me that there are so many misconceptions in the “health industry” and people have things ingrained in their heads.  It is very difficult to get people to change the way they think, especially if it is the opposite of what they have always heard, and especially when “experts” and the media are constantly throwing them messages.  There’s been a huge “low-fat” craze in America for the past couple decades.  Nutritionists, Scientists, Professors, and even Doctors have been recommending a low-fat diet to boost our health and prevent disease.  The ironic thing is that since the low-fat craze started, we’ve actually gotten fatter and sicker.  I know other factors play a role too, but the low-fat thing has a lot to do with it, in my opinion.  Sugar has been a culprit too and the food industry has come up with all kinds of products to replace it (ie nutrasweet, which ended up in an extensive controversy).  I’ve been thinking a lot about this because for these products to hit the market, people have to mess with the molecular structure of a food.  It can’t be good.  We have been consuming fake food and thinking it’s healthy.  It irks me.  I always envision eating something that is not meant to be eaten, like cardboard.  Can your body digest it?  Yes, but that doesn’t mean that you should eat it, or that it’s good for you.  Although I am convinced that if they added enough things to a piece of cardboard they could get it to taste good.  Slap a few labels on there about it being filled with fiber or protein and we’d have a frenzy in the grocery store.  Tricky guys, those food manufacturers.

Anyway, going back to the low-fat fad, here’s the breakdown:

1.  We need fat.  Our brain is made up of 60% fat, and the neurons inside are wrapped in a sheath made up of mostly fat.  Some vitamins can only be absorbed if fat is present in your diet.  Cell walls in the body have fat that determines the permeability of the cell.  It’s a good thing.

2.  There are good fats and bad fats:  Trans fats are man-made and absolutely HORRIBLE for you.  Avoid them at all costs.  Saturated fats (mostly in animal products) aren’t the best either, but even some studies have not shown a link between saturated fat and diseases.  Eat natural fats mostly produced by plants and you’ll be set.  Nuts, avocados, fresh fish, olive oil, etc.

3.  I won’t go into detail about monounsaturated, polyunsaturated fats or omega-3s or omega-6s, but I will say this:  Fats are made up of a certain number of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms.  Low-fat or sugar-free products have messed with the molecular structure of things: breaking a double bond here, or adding on an atom there, etc.  It changes the shape of the molecules to where the body processes it completely differently.  It’s horrible on your system and horrible for you.

I have not purchased anything low-fat or low-sugar or sugar-free for years and years, and I have also not looked at the nutrition labels (aside from ingredients) for the same amount of time.  Eat real food.  It will not make you fat.  Fake food is the culprit, and the sooner we recognize it, the sooner we can start getting our health back.

Off my soapbox. :)

Day 4 of no processed foods went great.  More to report tomorrow.