Saturday, February 9, 2008

Another question, no recipe

Sorry...
I don't have a recipe to go along with my question either.

So here's my deal ... (and maybe I'm over analyzing cooking here and so you can just let me know that too)...
I want to make nutritious and healthy food ... every meal... every day. But the majority of things being sold are full of preservatives and additives. But those are the cheaper things to buy. Even the easy recipes call for things that have a lot of sodium and fat. So as a steward of my family's resources and of their health, here is my question.
How do I plan for healthy, rich, yummy, and relatively inexpensive food with out driving myself insane by worrying that I'm not using all "organic" natural foods and making everything from scratch? Is there an easy way to meal plan in making all food from scratch without going to school again to learn about nutrition? How do you ladies do it?

5 comments:

livinginthemidwest said...

I'm there with you Tab. That has been my goal lately too. First thing I do is try not to buy anything with corn syrup, hydrogenated oils and bleached flours (it's amazing how many products there are out there). I think I've watched Dr. Oz too many times. :o) Thankfully our Costco has started carrying a lot more natural foods and organic foods. So I do a lot of label reading and Costco shopping. I've also got a vegetable and fruit wash to wash off the pesticides and preservatives too. But it is challenging to make from scratch meals so I try to find simple recipes. It actually gets easier the more I do. But we still eat foods with preservatives or hydrogenated oils it's just not as often. I just want to be more careful what my family puts in their bodies. Anyway I could go on and on but I don't want to make this too long.

Anonymous said...

Ok, I definitely DON'T have a great answer to this...it's actually the same problem we deal with, too, especially now that the girls are eating regular food. For some reason, it was ok for Aaron and me to eat not so healthy, but things have changed - and definitely for the better. Anyway, for me, all I can come up with is choosing the things I really feel need to be "organic" or natural and splurge on those while trying to cut back on other things. For example, I think it's really important for the girls to have organic milk/dairy products. I also try to buy things like applesauce or oatmeal that are lower sugar or no sugar added. And another thing is I buy everything wheat that I can - noodles, crackers, bread, waffles, etc. I guess I just think any little thing can help! I'm excited to hear everyone else's answers to this question. It's hard...I feel like you have to decide between healthy but expensive or not good for you but cheap. Sorry this is long!

Tabitha said...

Thanks for ideas and for the encouragement that I'm not alone in all the work I put into shopping and cooking. It is a big job! :)

shanna said...

Hey girls. Ok, this one is really hard. We can't afford all organic either, but I found this website that lists the most important foods to eat organic if you can't afford all organic. www.kidsorganics.com.
On the left-hand side of the page, it's the 9th choice. A little corny but this is the third source I've read that list the same things.
You can't find a whole lot organic at Wal-mart but that's slowly changing. The freezer section has cascadian farms veggies (I get the carrot, pea, and corn version). They are about $2.00 a bag but they last us two weeks (with Eli eating these for lunch and dinner with others things almost daily. We eat them too.) Walmart also has organic rice and milk. For the veggies and fruits, I usually stop by Kroger in Dalton, which has a large variety of organic produce but all of you are probably closer to Green Life. I found carrots and potatoes there the other day for cheaper than non-organic at my local grocery. I think this all boils down to time and not many of us have lots of it but I think it's worth it. Like Erin said, it really gets easier as you do it more. Once you become a label reader, you just remember what brands are "safe" and which ones aren't so much and it goes faster. Sorry this is so long!

shanna said...

Hey girls. Ok, this one is really hard. We can't afford all organic either, but I found this website that lists the most important foods to eat organic if you can't afford all organic. www.kidsorganics.com.
On the left-hand side of the page, it's the 9th choice. A little corny but this is the third source I've read that list the same things.
You can't find a whole lot organic at Wal-mart but that's slowly changing. The freezer section has cascadian farms veggies (I get the carrot, pea, and corn version). They are about $2.00 a bag but they last us two weeks (with Eli eating these for lunch and dinner with others things almost daily. We eat them too.) Walmart also has organic rice and milk. For the veggies and fruits, I usually stop by Kroger in Dalton, which has a large variety of organic produce but all of you are probably closer to Green Life. I found carrots and potatoes there the other day for cheaper than non-organic at my local grocery. I think this all boils down to time and not many of us have lots of it but I think it's worth it. Like Erin said, it really gets easier as you do it more. Once you become a label reader, you just remember what brands are "safe" and which ones aren't so much and it goes faster. Sorry this is so long!