The Problem With Pins (and Faux Health Food)

One pin that I opened today looked very promising.  It advertised "34 crock pot meals to make ahead of time", for a very small price.  A lot of the ingredients were healthy (not packaged stuff).  The problem is, none of the recipes appealed to us.  We don't eat stew.  We don't eat sausage with noodles.  I make my spaghetti sauce with different ingredients (although hers is a good starter to add other ingredients to, for certain!).

It was a great concept, but it won't work for my family.  I'm sure too, that the one that I will compile won't work for other families.  That's just it, you have to find your own.

Her basic tips are great.  Find stuff on sale.  Coupon!  Price compare. My tip?  Do all of the above, but make your bases and mixes.  You can say a meal is healthy if it has the basic food groups in it, sure.  But if you're using additive-laden packaged stuff in the mix, it's not actually healthy.  It's faux healthy.  You're fooling yourself into thinking that you're eating properly.

Once upon a time, I was a young single mom-to-be, who was introduced to the WIC program.  Friends forewarned me "Oooooh, they are going to make you eat HEALTHY!", with great disdain in their voices.  I thought that healthy was probably a good thing, considering I was busy creating a human life, after all.

I was nervous, wondering if I ate healthy enough for their standards; automatically assuming that I didn't.  (I have an intense love for pizza, and the junky frozen kind was my go-to, and yes, it is JUNK.  Stop fooling yourself that it's not.)  When she asked me what I ate for lunch that day, I cringed and said "A baked potato with cheese and broccoli"  (I neglected to say that it was from a certain fast food chain, figuring that would only make her yell at me more)

She acted like I'd just won the lottery.  She thought it was great!  I then admitted where it had come from.  She didn't care, it was as if she was just elated that I didn't eat a whole box of snack cakes for lunch.

That's right, I ate fast food, and the nutritionist thought it was great.  It felt very wrong, somehow.  Like the time when I was watching the news, also as a mom-to-be, and the anchorman announced that school lunch programs were "now allowed to consider ketchup a vegetable".  Yes kids, that really happened.  I don't know if it's still on the books as allowable, but back then, it certainly was.

You may be saying to yourself right now:  "Pizza has the basic food groups!  Baked potatoes ARE good for you!"  You're right on both count--just not when they're loaded with artificial ingredients like packaged food and fast food.  You certainly can make your own from scratch, and make them healthy.

It's all about what is really in what you eat.  That's what we need to pay more attention to.  Portion control and ingredient control are the two basics in healthy eating.  Balance is also key; not too much of this or that--just enough of everything that's truly good for you.

You might also be thinking that because I had reservations about that WIC appointment, that I changed the way that I ate right then and there.  Wrong.  It's hard to change.  It's hard to overcome an addiction.  Additives are addictive (quite literally), and so is convenience.  I realize that sometimes convenience is necessary.

I won't say that I don't cave in to convenience.  What I will say, is that I have a plan to set up my fridge, freezer, and pantry in a way that convenience is also healthy. It has been said that it takes 30 days to begin a new habit.  30 days isn't too long to make a life change.  I pledge to become a habitually healthy eater, and change my overall health in the process.

I also realize that sometimes, it's hard to shell out the extra money that it costs you in the beginning.   It's true, it does cost more to start, but it won't always cost more--and you only get one body.  It's priceless.  Unhealthy food CAN kill you, and it can also just make you very sick, which costs even more than eating healthy does.  In the long run, eating healthy honestly is less expensive.  Sometimes it's just hard to see that when you're starting out.

For the record, that WIC appointment was 14 years ago, and I'm still just starting out.  Again.  After many starts, and restarts.  I'm not a perfect eater, by any stretch of the imagination.  I just hope to be a better eater someday, and that my children will be, too.

Pinning was the last beginning for me.  I have pinned all sorts of recipes, both healthy and not.  The reason that I still pin unhealthy things is that I am going to try to make them healthier.  They just sound soooo good!  I haven't been very good about testing them out.  That's why I started the blog, to kind of hold myself accountable.

What You Won't See Here

In light of my disappointment with almost every recipe "collection" that I've seen so far, I figured I'd better give you a list of food ingredients that I will never feature in a recipe.  I personally don't like to make things that I won't eat.  I do that occasionally for my family, because I don't care for seafood, turkey, or biscuits and gravy. The only meats that I include are pork, beef, and white meat chicken.  I just don't care for the taste of other meats.

My recipes will not include:

beets
turnips
sweet potatoes
raw tomatoes (unless they're being cooked in the recipe)
cucumbers
peaches
mango
cantaloupe
melons
rhubarb

Although I do try new foods, there are some that I have yet to try, so you may not see recipes including these, unless I can whip up something that I personally consider to be palatable with them:

chard
bok choy
endive
escarole
kohlrabi
jicama

I'm sure that the lists will change over time.  What won't change, is the not using additives or artificial ingredients.

I just deleted a faux-healthy pin a few minutes ago, because it called for canola oil.  Sad!  After deleting it, I realized I probably should have tested it out with a healthier substitute first.  It was a recipe for home-made mayo.  I did however, keep the other one that I have, which asks for organic pressed coconut oil in its place.  See how easy it is to substitute?  Maybe I'll find the other one later, and give it a shot with a sub oil.  It certainly sounded tasty, other than that.

Yes, I plan on making all of my own condiments, bases (like "cream of x" soup), sauces, toppings, and flavoring mixes for my recipes.  I'll include the recipes for those, as well.  I don't plan on "cheating" on a recipe, by adding say...bottled ketchup when I know full well that I can make my own healthy version instead.

It will be time consuming.  It will also be worth it.

I also plan on making all of my own pasta and bread products.  Yes.  All of them, including tortillas--and with GF flours.  It will be a major make-over for us!

Let's Get Started

First and foremost, if you have any food allergy, or for any reason, have been advised by a physician that you should avoid any food or ingredient, absolutely avoid it.  I cannot be held responsible for you eating something that you know you shouldn't.  Please use a substitute instead, if it's a seemingly necessary component.  I will have links to substitute lists if you need a quick reference.

As I said in another post, there is a start-up cost for eating healthy.  Think of it this way, though:  you won't have to order expensive specialty food from a diet organization, and as long as you have a good stock of your basic ingredients on-hand, you won't ever have to go grocery shopping when you really don't feel up to it.

One of the best investments is a vacuum sealer for food storage.  I can't recommend a brand, as this is an item that I've not yet purchased for myself.  However, I know that even in off-the-shelf plastic "zip" bags, food tends to go bad if not used quickly or frozen.  Therefore, vacuum sealers are a better investment in the long run, but disposable bags will do in the meantime for shorter term storage.  I would recommend buying some inexpensive rectangle baskets to stack your bags in, whether they are "zip" bags, or vacuum sealed.  From what I understand, there are some vacuum sealers that have jar attachments, so that you can "can" things as well.  Never having "canned" in my life, I really don't know how that works.  Yet.  It's on my to-learn list.

Alternatively, you may wish to purchase some larger food storage containers with lids.  Seriously consider the cost of the bags, baskets, and/or containers before deciding against the vacuum sealer.  What works best for one person, won't work for everyone.

I just put a manual citrus press on my wish list! This is why:  5 Reasons to Drink Lemon Water  

I really like the type that she has, a counter-top model with a manual lever.  They can be found pretty cheaply on eBay and Amazon.  However, upon reading reviews on a couple of inexpensive models on Amazon, I'm re-considering buying a plastic hand-held or bottle-top model instead.

Other items on my wish list include a pasta maker and pasta drying rack (and a handy-dandy ravioli stamp, although a knife and fork will do for cutting and pinching rectangles).  I plan on testing out some home-made pasta recipes using GF flours.  I don't care for any of the store-bought GF pastas that I've tried so far, and I've heard that fresh pasta tastes far better anyway.  My theory is that fresh GF pasta *has* to taste better than store-bought, right?

If you're switching over to GF (and perhaps other allergen-free) foods, it's said that you should replace your cookware that has previously touched allergen-laden ingredients.  I would think you could just wash them really well, but I've read that it doesn't fix the problem.  I'm no expert on that, either.

Whether you're going to "can" or not, a few canning jars can't hurt.  I haven't learned the ins and outs of canning and storing food in such jars yet, so I don't know what kind of sealing is necessary per block of time that you'll be storing the food.  I plan on making my own condiments, sauces, and dressings--so I will need canning jars for sure.  For short-term storage, you may be able to just clean out the jars you've bought with the store brands in them.   However, judging by the tip about cross-contamination from containers/cookware previously touching allergy-laden ingredients, you may want to just start fresh with new jars. 

Another thought on this is, the recipes may make more than those containers can hold--so you may need extra containers anyway.  I know that when I made my own taco seasoning not long ago, I had to use a larger storage container than I expected.  My estimation would have been about half the size that I wound up with!  The spaghetti sauce recipe that I use only makes a little more than necessary for one meal, but I'd like to make some in advance, for days that I don't feel up to making it on the spot (and really, if I can pour a little off from each batch, I basically get a "free batch" with none to waste!).

I promise, as I learn to "can", I will post tutorials for that, too; along with a "necessary equipment" list.