Monthly Archives: August 2014

 

8.  Work on replacing foods each month that I buy as a “convenience food”. 

This has been a fun one to do.  I am always up for the challenge of making new foods.  If I can cut down our grocery bill by doing it and the benefits of knowing it is GOOD for my family not full of chemicals—then all the better.

How I did this was I started taking note of things that we buy A LOT of. Things that were in little packages.  Those little things that added up on my grocery bill. Some of the first things that I noticed we bought much of and I KNEW it wasn’t very good for my family were:

Chicken bouillon—this was my “go-to” spice.  Whenever I needed to spice up my macaroni and cheese, I would add chicken bouillon.  If I needed to flavor my soups more, I would add chicken bouillon.  Mashed potatoes, pasta, just about everything tasted better with chicken bouillon. I had to find an alternative.  Which I did.

This recipe is made with nutritional flakes.  I was concerned that maybe I would spend more for the “homemade” version verses the store bought kind, but the cost is similar.  And guess what??  I have STOPPED flavoring everything with chicken bouillon.  That Parmesan cheese container full will last me a few months.  Where if it was filled with sodium-rich, preservative filled chicken bouillon, I would have used it up within 2 weeks!!

Click here for my version of homemade chicken bouillon.

Taco seasoning—-this was another item that we would buy much of each month.  We could easily purchase 6-8 packets per month.  If you look at the ingredients listed on the package–it  is an easy fix to make it yourself MINUS all the preservatives and “extras.”

This version is “hot.” That benefits me because we usually make taco’s for dinner.  In our family we could easily go through 4-5lbs of hamburger if everyone is having one.  To cut down, I decided to pull out my homemade refried beans and offer burritos for some of the children as well.  The taco seasoning is “hotter” tasting so my little ones prefer the refried beans.

You can scale back on the cayenne pepper if too spicy.  If you mess up and it is too spicy, just add some more of the ingredients to your mix and it will make it not so spicy.  Click here for our version of taco seasoning. 

Ranch mix—this was one of those items that we would buy each month and I did not like spending the extra $5 just to flavor those few extra dishes.  We use ranch mix in spinach dip, to mix with sour cream to make a veggie dip, or added to mashed potatoes to perk up the flavor.  That is about all we use it for.  I make a large 4 cup container and it has lasted us 2-3 months.  Click here for our version.

Okay, now that I was on a roll making these items, I kept going.  I started looking at my pantry shelves and seeing what it was I could make instead of buy.

 

Here was my “full pantry.”  This was after shopping for the month and having some items stored up.  I liked the satisfaction of having my shelves full of food.  Made me feel good.  Then I realized this was all canned, preservative filled, and some–convenience food. What was I thinking?

I started with my cream soups.  I like to buy a half of a box of soups per month to help mix into my recipes like Salisbury steak,  burrito casserole, and tater tot casserole.  This was something I definitely wanted to replace because whatever was in that can, cannot be as good as homemade.  I started searching, most recipes that I found were ones that you have to mix it up right then.  I still wanted the convenience of a can but with the knowledge that it was “homemade and perservative free.”

Our version is a dry powder mix and I store it in my freezer in a plastic container.  Whenever I need my cream soups, I mix up a little.  Click here for cream soup recipe.

I only make cream of mushroom soup and cream of chicken soup.  For the chicken I would add 1 Tablespoon of chicken bouillon.  For the mushroom one, I have frozen diced mushrooms that I use.  I used an ice cube tray, froze them, and popped them into a plastic baggie.  Whenever I need to make cream of mushroom soup, I pull out the cube from my plastic bag in the freezer and add it to my liquid.

Bacon bits– This was another downfall that my children, and I love.  We really like to sprinkle it on eggs for a quick perk.  We also love making pizza’s on pita bread for lunches and this with some tomatoes and Parmesan cheese is really good.  But bagged bacon, how can that be good?

For 1, we don’t usually buy pork products as I know they are not good for you.  For 2, the price is ridiculous just for the convenience.  So, why did we buy it?    I don’t know, but I had to stop.  Buying 5-8 bags per month, is wasteful.    I decided to make my own.  I don’t usually make bacon, because it takes awhile to make, plus the mess involved.

What I did, was I bought my turkey bacon and made ALL of it, in one day.  I cooked my strips and put them in plastic bags to freeze for BLT sandwiches another day.  The rest of the bacon, I put in the food processor and then put in containers.  Now, I have homemade bacon bits.    These work great in the freezer, because of the grease, they easily break apart.  You can pull out what you need and put the rest back in for later.

Baking powder– I stopped buying deodorant that had aluminum in it, but I was still using baking powder for ALL of my baking and guess what?  It has aluminum in it.  You can easily make your own version without it.  Click here for recipe.

If I look at my pantry and look for those “packaged staple items,”  we don’t have much more.  The only other items that we buy packaged would be:

• jello
• pudding
• cake mix
• frosting
• ice cream cones
• graham crackers

These items would only be bought for special occasions and parties.  Not a staple item, more of an easy treat.

Now that we have eliminated our dry mixes, keep watching for how we keep purging from our convenience food mentality. part 6

 

The challenge: to establish routines

How many of us moms, can go about our day and later on question, if you remembered to brush your toddlers teeth that morning?  Or if the dog got fed today?

How easy it can be to forget the simplest of tasks because you fail to have a routine set for every morning and evening.

Why make the change:

Every family needs routines.  Routines help us to organize life, give  it a  sense of purpose, plus cut down on the chaos because people know what to expect.

Having routine helps maintain a sense of peace and order in our life.  If we know that each morning we have A, B, and C to do, then we do it without thinking.  If our children know that each morning we have A,B, and C to get done before they can go off and play that makes morning time much more stress free when trying to establish some basic tasks and chores in the morning.  It allows you the parent to not have to constantly “nag” your child to get certain tasks done.  Plus they get done without question.

How to make the change:

How do you go about making new routines?  You begin by making a list.  You make a list of things you want to accomplish yourself in the morning and evening.

You then can make lists for your children of the different tasks you want them to complete before school.

Be specific. Here is my sample morning routine list:

• wake up/shower/get ready
• drink a glass of water
• make a cup of coffee
• have personal devotion time
• quick wipe the bathrooms
• throw in a load of laundry
• make breakfast
• wake up children
• eat and take vitamin
• clean up kitchen/dishes wash
• Begin day…..

Do a similar one for nighttime:

• do a quick pick up of house
• feed/water animals
• make sure breakfast prep is ready
• fill coffee pot with water
• read a book vs watching a movie to fall asleep to

These are just samples, yours will fit your lifestyle.  I know that personally when my children have some order in their lives they are much better behaved.  They know what they have to do and they get it done.  There isn’t nagging from Mom, they know what is expected.  It gives them a sense of accomplishment.

Print your list off and place it in an area to see.  You can also make checklists for your children to check off each time they complete a tasks, gives them more accountability to get things done.

 

I will continue next week in this series on how we make the switch from processed foods to whole foods but I want to take a break and give you our weekly food menu to see how we implement changes.

Week 1 eliminating processed foods menu

Sunday

breakfast: breakfast burritos—we went with these because Sunday mornings are busy getting everyone ready for church.  I usually make these and then take them with us in the car for the 40 minute drive.

***I made these last month and kept them in my freezer.  I did make them with store bought tortillas which I will switch to a whole wheat with less than 5 ingredients next month.  We did use breakfast sausage–which I won’t use next month just  turkey bacon bits that we have been making.

lunch:  peanut butter and honey sandwiches-since we are at church for usually about 2 hours and I don’t allow them to snack during that time, by the time church is finished they are famished.  I bring peanut butter and honey sandwiches all packed in a cooler to be eaten on way home.  I also pack their water bottles, whatever vegetables we have cut up, and some easy fruit like grapes, bananas, or cut up apples.  My husband and I can munch on fruit or veges on way home but still be hungry for dinner.

***I used store bought peanut butter because we had that in the pantry, but I will be making my own next month when I am out.  Bread was store bought as well, we try and get the lesser ingredients natural one Koplingers at the bread store and freeze it for the month.

dinner:  easy chicken and rice casserole—I make this in the crockpot before we leave for church, then we can eat an early dinner. I used my homemade dried soup mix instead of canned with this.

 

Monday

breakfast: homemade yogurt and granola

lunch: munchie plate full of finger foods– peanut butter and crackers, cucumbers and carrot,watermelon and grapes, smoothies, cheese cubes

***again store bought peanut butter, because in pantry and crackers because I have saltines still in pantry.

dinner: chicken nuggets, -What I will change in this recipe is the bread crumbs.  I will be making my own in food processor with some day old homemade bread, when I am out of the canned stuff in my pantry.

sweet potatoes with dab of butter and sea salt,  broccoli steamed, and watermelon

 

Tuesday

breakfast: pancake muffins–we did use REAL maple syrup this month, little more costly but if we do muffins then we can use sparingly.

lunch:  chicken and rice soup–with leftover chicken and rice from dinner sunday.

**I did use processed american cheese but next month when I am out of the stuff I have on hand I will be making my own—excited for that:)

dinner:lentil rice casserole, chips and salsa, watermelon

Tonights dinner I had to make in the crockpot because I had errands to run, works wonderfully.  I did use tortilla chips–I think the only other “better” option would be to make my own from whole wheat tortillas and then bake them?!?!!?  Not sure will work on that.  Salsa we have discovered how easy it is to make salsa.  Love it!!!

Wednesday 

breakfast: oatmeal

lunch: munchie lunch–hummus and pita chips, cucumbers and carrots, grapes

dinner : mexican haystacks

We had guests over this day and it worked out well to make a big batch of mexican haystacks.  That way if you have anyone that doesn’t particularly enjoy something they can choose it or leave it.  It is a good, cheap large family/friend meal:)

***Our local grocery store had grapes on sale for $1.99 for a bag of them, which is cheaper than anywhere else.  They taste amazing.  I had boughten 10 bags of them, came home washed them and laid them on a cookie sheet and put in the freezer. When frozen put in plastic baggies.  These are delicious to snack on.  We serve a few with lunch.

Thursday

breakfast: breakfast burritos

lunch: peanut butter and honey sandwiches, cucumbers and carrots, watermelon

**this was store bought peanut butter and bread–just until we use it up.

dinner:  leftover lentil rice casserole on whole wheat tortillas and topped with lettuce,salsa, shredded cheese, and sour cream.

***This was a great, filling meal.  Completely meatless but with all of the vegetable toppings my husband said it filled him well.  I was out of sour cream so I substituted homemade plain yogurt for it.  I will probably avoid sour cream and just use yogurt because it has calcium in it and no “extras.”

Macaroni and cheese—we did not use chicken bouillon from store, I used our homemade “healthy” version.

***this had velveeta cheese, leftover nacho cheese from the haystacks and was made with white flour noodles.  I would like to use whole wheat in future and again, make my own velveeta cheese.

Friday 

breakfast:  oatmeal

lunch and dinner:  taco chili haystacks

We had another large family over to visit this day and I needed to feed a big crowd–think 20!!!! I made a big batch of the taco chili with my dried beans that I cooked and froze, I used bulgar burger with my hamburger to stretch the meat.  Taco seasoning and Ranch mix both were homemade.

I made a big pot of brown rice, and had toppings like lettuce, onions, green peppers, mild pepper rings, salsa, shredded cheese, and sour cream—again using my nonfat yogurt.  I did have a bottle of ranch and some corn chips to add on top.  These are definitely not whole foods and I can improve upon them, in time.

Saturday

breakfast:  egg, bacon, in a muffin cup

lunch:  leftover chili mixed with leftover macaroni and cheese—this made a yummy chili mac for lunch.  Worked out well because I kind of “overcooked” the macaroni and when mixed with the chili it tastes fine:)

dinner: beef shish kabobs,  grilled zucchini, watermelon, and radiatore salad.

**dinner was good except for the radiatore noodle salad.  I need to make it with whole wheat pastas and real chicken pieces, not lunchmeat.

 

Snacks for the week:

It depended upon the day whether we had snacks or not.  I am TRYING to get away from doing 3 snacks a day.  We are down to one at night time and one sometimes in the afternoon.  Usually it is the little ones that need something to keep their tummies good until dinner.

We have been having popsicles every night.  We are usually outside swimming or playing and popsicles kind of work nicely for a treat after a fun day of playing.  As the weather changes, we won’t be having popsicles and I look forward to doing things like popcorn again.

But when we have guests, which we did this week, popsicles are ALWAYS an afternoon treat.

Each day, I made sure to have a plate of vegetables cut up on the counter.  Produce is in season right now, so we can get cucumbers by the bushel, sugar snap peas, and carrots are on the counter pretty much all day.

I made a homemade trail mix and snack mix for the children.  They are getting better acquainted with it, but they are not highly enthusiastic to it.  In time, if I offer a little bit each day.

Drinks

We keep it simple with water for most all of the day.  The little ones get diluted 1/2 and 1/2 apple juice and water for breakfast each day.  The two year old gets another sippy filled with this in the day too.  We serve milk if we have it at dinner time.  Mostly they drink water.

Myself, I have a love of coffee going on.  I will drink my water throughout the day–I put in a peppermint tea bag to keep it flavored, but coffee is a flaw in my life.  I am just making my first batch of kombucha tea and am so excited to be able to share about it in the next few weeks.  I would ultimately like to replace my coffee with kombucha tea.  One of my goals.

Wrap up:

Fresh fruit and vegetables are a plenty around here at this time. I try and focus on buying lots of them and serving them each day.  We usually buy 2 watermelons a week since they are cheap this time.

 

This week processed foods are:

peanut butter

store bought bread

tortillas

coffee and creamer

velveeta type cheese

tortilla chips

corn chips

ranch

white pasta

lunchmeat

If I missed any, I apologize.  I will work to eliminate these as well.

Keep looking for part 4