Today I was all geared up to write a post about the evils of processed foods & my measures to try and remove as much of it as I could from our pantry & our lives. My next big endeavor is baking our own bread all of the time, but in the meantime I’ve eliminated a lot of things over the past few months. (Right now I’m hanging on tight to my small cups of unsweetened applesauce & cheese (in all varieties) because, well. Do I look Amish? I think not.) Oh, and don’t look at the case of toxic Kraft macaroni & cheese lurking in the back, because duh. It is called comfort food. A few indulgences aside, I do make as much from scratch as I can, including biscuits, cookies, tomato sauce, pizza dough, pizza sauce, infused olive oil, bread, and even pasta when I’m feeling adventurous. I’ve stopped buying frozen meals, the only “chips” we have are Stacy’s Naked Pita Chips from Whole Foods, & this summer I’m going to try my hand at making my own hummus. The hummus, and B’s new hobby of making pickles will go perfectly with our CSA Veggie Box Subscription I’m signing us up for - locally grown organic goodness! Call me Betty Crocker, but I like the challenge & I like serving my family and friends wholesome meals even more.
The post was going to be punctuated by the fact that today, when Rhett Butler finally succeeded in eating a chicken bone he found on the sidewalk (5 am, cold outside, epic battle to retrieve said chicken wing, ending in yelping and him swallowing it, whole(ish)) and I was told to give him half a loaf of bread to “encase” the bone, all I had on hand was super organic whole wheat flax seed bread from Whole Foods. Even the dog is eating well! Pat on back, achieve level 10 of superiority. (Smug look on face, natch. )
Then while working from home (see above suicide attempt by canine companion) I exploded a bag of rice in the microwave. To be exact:
I think we can all whole heartedly agree that one cannot throw stones when living in a glass house.
Or lecture the world on the evils of chemicals & processed food when they can’t read the directions Exhibit A For the Demonstration on Chemical Additives.
I guess I’ll return that patchouli to the market.
Overflowing Brain (Katie)
March 5th, 2010
I’m preparing to write a rebuttal to your processed foods crazy talk. Just wait.
I’ll convert you. Processed food are for winners. 1 out of 1 doctor agrees.
suz
March 5th, 2010
I don’t think rice counts as processed food. Unless it has a bunch of junk added to it I’d say it’s a convenience food, not a processed food. I use those steam-in-bag veggies all the time and don’t consider them processed.
I’m totally with you on the no processed food. I’ve been making an effort too in the last month or two, and I have a lot fewer everyday headaches, I’ve lost 5 more pounds without really trying, and I don’t have that late-afternoon crash. I’ve done a lot of reading about what those chemicals do to you, and I’m a total convert!
Let’s just ignore Katie.
Megan
March 5th, 2010
Sounds like a rice cooker is in order. I have one I got from Walgreens, of all places, and it is amazing.
And hummus is super easy. I have a great recipe I can email you, if you’d like.
Daisy
March 5th, 2010
Megan- I’d love your hummus recipe. I actually have a rice cooker (Christmas gift from my brother!) but I was too lazy to get it out. Lesson learned!!!
s.
March 5th, 2010
i generally can’t stand the taste of a lot of processed foods, so i suppose i’m lucky. frozen meals? i hate bell peppers and can taste the tiniest bit of salt, so none for me! i do love my kraft mac n cheese now and then, though. and i’m not going to give up pasta (or cheese! DUH!) but 80% of ‘convenience foods’ that have preservatives and chemicals in them i don’t eat.
i think people who eat a lot of the processed and pre-made stuff think that cooking from scratch takes too much time. but i learned from my very jewish family (we love our freezer) to make a few meals out of something and FREEZE it. sauces get frozen in containers that easily defrost for a meal or two. soups too. love making mini meatloafs and freezing them. this works with TONS of stuff. defrost and reheat. and it really allows me to keep my diet more healthy.
and i recently started making my own bread using my kitchenaid with a dough hook.
Legally Fabulous
March 5th, 2010
I’m with Overflowing Brain on this one.
By the way – I ate McDonald’s 3 times this week. WHY can’t I lose weight?! Oh. Right.
FML.
Legally Fabulous
March 5th, 2010
p.s. i can read your blog in chrome now, hooray!
Texas
March 6th, 2010
Making your own hummus will change your life. It’s maybe the easiest thing in the world.
s2
March 8th, 2010
this rice is processed. the ingredient list is as follows: WATER; JASMINE RICE; CANOLA OIL AND/OR SUNFLOWER OIL†; SOY LECITHIN; NATURAL FLAVOR; NIACIN; IRON (FERRIC ORTHOPHOSPHATE); THIAMINE (THIAMINE MONONITRATE); FOLATE (FOLIC ACID).
soy lecithin is usually gmo, unless otherwise stated, and they add all of the nutrients at the end there because when they process the rice it strips all of the nutrients away. they have to have something good on that mandatory nutrition label.
so it was actually a processed food blowing up in your face. try brown rice.
Liz
March 8th, 2010
I feed my dogs raw chicken as in whole raw chickens all of the time. A dog only needs to make it small enough to fit down it’s throat. Digestion begins in the stomach for dogs. You need to take this whole “organic, healthy” attitude to a whole new level with your dog. Dogs are carnivores and as such do not require bread, grains, veggies or highly processed commercial(crap in a bag) dog food. I haven’t fed that for over 5 years and have never looked back. None of the nastiness of commercial dog food. i.e. small poops, little smell, none of the yeasty smell.