I'm fortunate to have learned to cook from my mom who only cooked from scratch using fresh produce and recipes that were handed down from her mother. Back in the day there was not much of a selection of processed foods and whatever was available was probably very expensive.
The only packaged items my mom used were rice and
Today things have changed, and even though we cook from scratch we have fallen into the convenience food trap. It's the trap that is causing us to become 'sugar and sodium junkies' and we're adding junk in our trunk -- who needs that!
The kicker to this trap is that we can never lose the weight we gain from eating all that 'junk' and it's making us and our kids sick. So if there is some way we can help our kids and ourselves to stay well we want to try.
My daughters and I want to try to make changes in our eating habits and hope that we can convince the kids and gramps that everything is more delicious when we make it from scratch. How lucky for us that their husbands are great cooks in their own right and will be supportive in our quest. That helps!!!
We slowly started ditching the commercial baked goods - no hardship there because we love to bake. The next step is to find recipes for other foods that we can make at home without buying additional equipment or ingredients that are difficult to find.
Subscribe to my feed and follow on twitter, facebook and pinterest to stay up to date with the recipes that we will be making and the
What do we all love to eat?
- pizza
- burgers
- pop tarts
- pretzels
- cookies
- ice cream . . . I could go on, but I'm getting hungry now so I have to stop and make dinner.
See you soon!
Mangia!
Winelady Cooks
Amen sister! You said it well. I am trying to bring balance into my own home, less processed foods more REAL food. It is tough when you are stressed and over scheduled-it has become the American way. Our culture promotes this type of eating (sigh).
ReplyDeleteGood luck to you! I hope you will share your journey back to healthy eating with us.
Velva
Hi Velva, Thanks so much for commenting. I'm on a little bit of a mission to help us (my family), and also anyone else out in blogsphere who want to make some changes, by sharing recipes that I've made for my family and they actually like. Sometimes that is more challenging than actually preparing the recipe.
DeleteHope you follow along and share your thoughts with us as well.
Thanks so much,
Joanne
This really gives us all something to think about. Thank you for pointing out the dangers of junk food.
ReplyDeleteHi Rhia,
DeleteThanks so much for your comment. Our lives are so hectic that I know we are all aware convenience foods are not as healthy for us as fresh foods, but we just brush it off because we are so busy. I've taken this on for the health of my family and thought I would share it hoping that it may be helpful for others as well.
Thanks for visiting,
Joanne
I'm going to have to follow this blog more I think. It's really hard to eat healthy though when you're not the primary grocery shopper in the house. Although I'm trying to convince my parents to quit eating that crap like TV Dinners, etc. Sugar has no nutritional value, it's just empty calories, when you take the fat out of something, they usually add sugar, or corn syrup which may be genetically modified. Processed food it crap, enough said on that though.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if you know this or not, but if you have anyone with Acid Reflux that can't eat Tomatoes, next time you make Spaghetti or something with sauce, add a little sugar to it. Will cut down on the acid build up.
Hi Roger, Welcome and thank you for commenting. I look forward to seeing you soon and sharing your comments. Thanks for the tip for help with acid reflux. I do add agave, or sometimes a fresh carrot works even better.
ReplyDeleteHope to see you soon,
Joanne
Thanks for point out the dangers in the junk food.
ReplyDeleteI am trying to cook from scratch more often than what I was so far it is getting better. thanks for sharing with us
It is one of my goals in life to teach my children that fresh will always be better. Not Your Ordinary Recipes
ReplyDeleteNot Your Ordinary Agent
Two of my children was diagnosed with ADHD and when I saw that I said to the trash with those sugary snacks! I've lost 15lbs and my kids are much happier without "pink slime" and "red dye #7"! I will be signing up and staying tuned! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHi Thomasina,
DeleteThanks so much for your comment. We don't realize the affects sugar has on our bodies. I've been trying to eliminate white sugar in my recipes and I'm feeling better myself. Making changes can be a long process but I keep thinking every little bit of change helps. Keep on trying!
This past year has been a real eye opener for me and what I eat. I notice a total difference when I leave the processed foods behind and go for a more healthy, homemade alternatives. I'm excited to see your recipes as I'm always looking for something new to try. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThank you everyone for your comments. There are many of us who feel the same. There are no perfect answers for our food concerns, but we can make the simple changes and try our best to eliminate the stuff that's not 'real'..
ReplyDeleteI look forward to sharing.
this is an article after my own heart! I was raised the same way! I didn't know how to cook "convenient" food when I was in college, I learned there, because I didn't have the kitchen essentials to cook everything from scratch. But now I've become dependent on it and my heatlh and my kid's health is suffering because of it!
ReplyDeleteI did a weight loss program, and part of it is that there are NO processed foods. Everything I eat, has to be made from scratch because I have to make it without the added butters, oils, sugars and processed preservatives, etc. The change in my health and that of my family has been AMAZING. And even though I'm at the maintenance part of the diet phase now, I am still continuing to lose weight because I'm still cooking from scratch, not eating processed foods, and I can no longer stand the taste of about 70% of the processed foods i used to eat all the time that got me to this over weight mess to begin with!
This is a great article, great goal and I can't wait to see what you have in store for us!!
Hi Amber,
DeleteI really appreciate your comment. Sometimes these changes can be a little difficult, but when you commit to it you notice the difference. For me, I can't eat any type of 'junk' food without it causing me to feel uncomfortable - so I never eat it unless we are out and there is no alternative - but that is rare because I do try to think ahead.
Thanks so much,
Joanne
I Love cooking from scratch and believe it is more healthier. I didn't grow up on eating a lot of junk and didn't eat sweets till I moved down south for two years. I love trying out new recipes and believe, that it's always cheaper to cook and eat at home.
ReplyDeleteHi Cooking Lady,
DeleteThanks so much for your comment. I hope you enjoy some of my recipes. They are really simple and basic since I have to be sure that the family likes it - they are a little bit picky.
Looking forward to sharing,
Joanne
Great site...thanks! We are also trying to avoid GMO's which of course is difficult because they aren't labelled as such. So we try to buy organic and avoid anything with corn, soy, canola. Just found out sugar beets are GMO so I'm trying to find affordable cane sugar products.
ReplyDelete