October is unprocessed food month. Andrew Wilder from ‘Eating Rules’ is on mission to help people eat healthier ! How ? By cutting out or cutting down on processed food ! He’s asking people all over the world to take the October unprocessed challenge ! As much as I love the idea, eating totally unprocessed food is going to be really difficult. So, I am going to do my part by cutting down on processed food as much as I can. I’ll admit that I was a little skeptical about doing this but then I read the fine print : DO WHAT WORKS FOR YOU ! No matter what your goal, even if it’s small, it will make a difference. So, I am going to make some changes and take some baby steps towards a healthier lifestyle for me and my family.
Defining Processed Foods and Unprocessed food !
This can get complicated, so am going to use Andrew Wilder’s definitions. Made sense to me !
We call it “The Kitchen Test”. If you pick up something with a label, and find an ingredient you’d never use in your kitchen and couldn’t possibly make yourself from the whole form, it’s processed.
On the flip side : Unprocessed food is any food that could be made by a person with reasonable skill in a home kitchen with whole-food ingredients.
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Here’s my Plan !
Since I usually cook meals from scratch with fresh herbs and spices processed meals are not an issue. However, I plan to cut down on the sauces, snacks, jellies, granola bars, ice cream and baked goods that I buy. Making my own snacks, chips, sauces ….. hmmm I need more hours in a day. Well, working mom with 2 kids I’m going to do the best I can to help my family eat healthier. I am also planning to read labels more diligently and cut back on products that have ingredients I don’t understand. By reading labels I may actually get some good stuff. Example: today at Jamba Juice I picked up a pack of green apple chips and scanned the label. It read apples & nothing more. It did not cost much more than a regular bag of chips too. Good stuff ! Better still, if I can make the chips which I plan to do over the weekend. So October, here I come …. baby steps to eating unprocessed foods which will result in a healthier me 🙂 ! Looks like my waffle maker and juicer are going to get used a lot more !
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What I plan to blog ?
Obviously, healthy wholesome “from scratch” recipes ! Some practical ways to go unprocessed without breaking the bank ! Since I am walking the walk, I will be able to share my tips.
Coming up this week :
Coconut water fruit smoothies: I had these at jamba juice last week and totally fell in love with them. I am going to use pure coconut water from a real coconut. Check back for the recipe tomorrow. Since coconut water is loaded with electrolytes, they will double as a nice “‘after workout” drink.
Home made pumpkin puree : Many recipes require pumpkin puree and I making my own and freezing extra for future use. No more pumpkin puree out of a can!
Pumpkin ricotta flax oat muffins with craisins and walnuts : Ah, you guessed right! the pumpkin puree is for this wholesome recipe ! If you want to check out this healthy muffin, come back on Sunday !
Do you want to join thousands of others and take the Unprocessed Challenge? You can sign up here.
If you had to give up processed foods what would be your greatest challenge ?
Hi there! I’m Sunithi, AKA Sue, a registered dietitian with a sweet tooth and a passion for eating healthy (quite a combo) currently working as an independent consultant in the DC Metro area. I’m also a blogger, health nut, nutrition geek who jogs to keep sane :)! I love to revamp recipes and add some ‘Nutrition Bytes’ to them. All my recipes are gluten free! I also blog on natural health and fitness! Visit often and drop me a note if you have any nutrition queries!
Great !! Feel like signing up too. So many foods are processed & simple to make at home actually ! I’m good with the food part. It’s the energy bars & sports drinks I’m addicted to ! Will look into it and see if I want to sign up ! Good for you !
Yep ! most of those bars & drinks have unreadble stuff in them. Just hydrate with water and lemon. Sign up, you’ll prolly like it ! Let me know if you sign up 🙂
Doing it yourself is one thing and doing it with the family is totally another ! I could probably do this and let the children not be as strict, but not sure how that’ll work since I will be craving their stuff 🙂 Good for you ! Will keep up with your unprocessed travels this month.
Yep, most of the junk I buy is for the kids :(. They’ll prolly grumble, so let see how it goes ! Making some apple chips and dips on weekend to keep them happy. I may just do this alone if I can’t get them to buy in. Thanks for promising to check in !
Can’t wait for the coconut water smoothies !!!!!!! love them too but at 5 bucks for a small one I’ll go broke. Your’s is cheaper I hope ? Will check back tomorrow. All the best !
Post is ready, but taking pics tomorrow. Came out quite well. Tested it today ! Much cheaper. Check back tomorrow 🙂 thanks !
You Go Girl ! Maybe will join you after I binge on choco donuts today . You knwo me , No will power 🙁
If you try it you’ll be ok ! Come on, join me 🙂 We can make healthy from scratch donuts ! Promise !
I’m looking forward to seeing how this goes. I’d love to try it.
Me too ! So far so good. Hard with kid’s wanting stuff. I may just do this alone I think 🙂 Thanks for checking on me ! If you want to try it, let me know.We can check on each other 🙂 D !!
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