Our Journey to Cleaner Eating Part 2: Things I Can't Figure Out HOW to Get Rid Of

I'm thinking that the first installment of this little series should have been titled "Processed Foods I'm Not Willing to TRY to Get Rid Of".  LOL


Ketchup:  we do use Simply Heinz that does not have HFCS

Mayonnaise:  it's made with soybean oil, and soybeans are one of the highest GMO crops in our country, so not good.  I have seen some recipes around for making your own, but I haven't tried it yet.  Maybe it will go on "the list".

BBQ Sauce:  The one that I have found that does not contain HFCS is Bulls-Eye.

Cream Cheese:  My kids eat a lot of cream cheese.  I'm on the lookout for one with no preservatives.  I usually buy the 1/3 less fat version, and based on the ingredient list on the back, I'm thinking the full fat version may not contain the preservatives.

Jumping off on a slight tangent for a moment:  Full-fat stuff doesn't scare me.  In fact, I like it better.  It makes us all feel more satisfied, we can use less of it (cost effective - woot!), and I think that it's healthier because it contains less ingredients.  It's what things are supposed to be made of, not all of the chemical-laden or altered substances that are added to fat free and low fat stuff to fill the void of what is really supposed to be there.  In the early 1990s (or whenever it was) when the whole "fat-free" phase came along, processed food production went into overdrive.  Remember Snackwells??  The cookies that were supposed to be fat-free and oh-so-good??  Yeah, well, I ate about a box of those puffy marshmallow chocolate cake ones very few days in the college dorm.  Let me tell you, I didn't fare well.  Oh, but then they started realizing that all of these fat-free things were loaded with fake sugars, calories, and chemicals as fillers.  Sadly, at that point, people had already changed their brain chemistry and had become addicted to these chemicals and these fake sugars.  In my own, *rather insignificant and not supported by anything at all* research, I thought back and found that the process food industry took their first major growth around the widespread availability of the microwave.  All of the sudden, TV dinners, "Lean" Cuisines (don't even get me started on those), Hot Pockets, microwave popcorn, and all sorts of disgusting stuff hit the store shelves and was a miracle to the mothers who had formerly slaved over preparing food for their families.  This was GREAT!!!  So easy!!!  And unfortunately, no knowledge or even a hint of what lied ahead.

Round two of the processed food growth spurt was, as I  mentioned above, the fat-free phase.  This really took disgusting food to a new level.  Nobody had ANY clue of what manufacturers were using to create this "foodstuff".  Sadly, again, our brains didn't know what to do with these chemicals and fake foods.  Once again, they became addicting and people's bodies couldn't stop wanting this stuff.

The fat-free phase made people scared to death of fat, especially saturated fat.  I'm just going to throw out my own opinion on this, and I am speaking as someone who has genetically high cholesterol. Saturated fat is not the enemy.  Processed foods and carbs are the enemy.  My cholesterol has held steady or gone down (NO meds) since we changed to non-homogenized milk (next post), real butter, and not the leanest meats, since the super lean have less flavor.  A dear friend of mine was diagnosed with a pretty serious heart condition in her late 40s.  She has since dropped several pounds.  I asked her what she was doing, and she told me that her cardiologist said that the best thing to do was to quit the processed foods and refined carbs. She switched to real butter and better cuts of meat (hello, saturated fat!!), but cut out the processed foods and the "white stuff", i.e. bad carbs.  Don't be scared of the real stuff, people.

Now, back to it.

Lunch Meat:  I don't even have a clue what to do about this, so I don't even think about it.  Too much stress.  I tried the nitrate/nitrite-free version once and it was gross.  My kids are still fans of hot dogs, too, but I try to limit them to once a week, and NO mechanically separated meat.  Google if you want to be disgusted for the rest of your life.  Consider yourself warned.  Trust me, you will never knowingly purchase it again.  Should I post a link??  Ooooh - I think I will!  Just so I can tempt you and stop you from putting your money into that industry!  OK, this is the quickest one I can find, and I think it might reference McDonalds.  I don't think they use MS meat in their nuggets anymore, but many manufacturers do use it.  I think it has to be listed on the ingredients list if they do use it, so just look there.  I have seen it as the first ingredient on certain hot dogs and certain chicken nuggets.  Just check and make sure you are not buying this stuff.  If you are feeling like living on the wild side today, just click HERE.

Chips:  I try to pick things with the fewest ingredients, so they would not be considered "too" processed, I don't guess.  Butter Snap pretzels and other pretzels are a staple, as well as Stacey's Pita Chips.  Veggie Straws are big favorites as well.  I will occasionally buy the Archer Farms baked varieties.  All in all, we limit these anyway and they aren't a horrible thing considering.  We just try to pick the ones with the fewest ingredients.

So, those are my things that I struggle with finding a good replacement for, either something that tastes decent or gets the job done.  If anyone has a suggestion for a good replacement for one these foods, please share it in the comments section!!

And stay tuned for Part 3:  Things That Have Been the EASIEST to Change!