Avoiding Ultra-Processed Foods Thread anyone?

[Treezan82]

I watched the recent documentary on Ultra-Processed foods and just generally would like to improve my health. Anyone else?

We already eat a lot of home-cooked food and make our own pasta sauces etc but def still room for improvement.

Some obvious swaps I plan to make:

Frozen pizza - home made pizza
Frozen nuggets - home made nuggets
Bake cake or biscuits at the weekend and that's it - don't buy any of the packaged stuff

Some things I'm stuck on:

Kids' breakfast. They love toast and cereal and both are full of unpronounceable ingredients. They love fruit too but need something else to fill them up.

Yoghurts - again, kids love them but are there any brands that aren't so full of crap?

Noodles - we just eat plain ones as part of home cooked recipes but even they contain potassium carbonate.

Would love to hear your swaps/alternatives/healthy, veggie-packed recipes!

We get a loaf or two of unsliced granary from Tesco's so will use that but do keep a loaf of sliced granary in the freezer for emergencies.
Also crumpets and teacakes for always starving teenager. Teen often makes himself a smoothie (bananas, oat milk, peanut butter, cocoa) as well.

DC have only recently started sorting their own breakfast out so I'm reluctant to intervene to make something healthier but more work for me.

I’m slowly switching my family over to an less processed diet. We’ve slipped into bad habits during the pandemic as I’ve lacked time and energy to cook/bake from scratch.

Shop bought bread is fortified though, so do the benefits of this not outweigh the negatives?

I'm joining in! We're having a complete rehaul of our diet from Monday so we're using this weekend to plan it out properly. I've just started maternity leave so I'm hoping to be able to take advantage of the fact that I'm home all the time to get us into good habits. Lunches are the hardest for me - as a meal I find it just gets in the way of us going out and doing things, so tend to just throw on whatever is quickest. That's going to be the challenge for me!

@ASchuylerSister

I’m slowly switching my family over to an less processed diet. We’ve slipped into bad habits during the pandemic as I’ve lacked time and energy to cook/bake from scratch.

Shop bought bread is fortified though, so do the benefits of this not outweigh the negatives?

No. Wheat itself is a powerhouse actually. Yes lots of people have problems with gluten but there are tons of nutrients in wheat. White flour not so much though but bread doesn't need to be fortified. Actually nothing really needs it, fortification is only there because of how poor the average diet is.

I would recommend a freshly baked sourdough preferably not a white one.... sourdough has lower glycemic index, easier to digest, and has more healthy bacteria. Typically there is no sugar or oil added as well if you get a freshly baked one.

I don't think you need to eliminate everything all at once though, nutrition is a lifelong journey, as long as you keep working to eliminate processed foods from your diet you don't have to do it all at once. So if you feel you need to hang onto packaged breads for a while, that's fine, you shouldn't feel guilty about that. Work on one or a couple things at a time.

Walkers crisps may be potatoes and oil but it isn’t as simple as just looking at the ingredients. It’s how they’re cooked and packaged too. They’re not packaged in air.

@ASchuylerSister all UK bread flour is fortified
www.wessexmill.co.uk/acatalog/Fortified-Flour.html
Some very decent cheapish bread makers around

You could try rice noodles instead. Or swede or courgette made into noodle shapes

Make homemade bread in a bread machine if you're time poor. It's great for easy toast based breakfasts. I often do 50/50 wholemeal/white. However, it's a pain to try and slice when fresh, so bake it the day before.

@HasaDigaEebowai

Walkers crisps may be potatoes and oil but it isn’t as simple as just looking at the ingredients. It’s how they’re cooked and packaged too. They’re not packaged in air.

Air is around 78% nitrogen.

Breakfast - mine have porridge and fresh fruit
Or a merge pile of nuts, fresh fruit and Greek yoghurt

Lunch - sandwiches (tuna Mayo or cream cheese and mackerel or salmon and cream cheese) or soup (I never make my own. Covent Garden fresh!) and toast.
Carrots / cucumber and nuts

Dinner
Huge pile of veg and then the usual (spaghetti Bol et)

I ONLY buy organic fruit and meat.

I am perfectly happy with the occasional ultra processed treat like a cornetto or some crisps.

It’s costs a fair bit but my children have been ill maybe twice in their lives! (11 and 9!). Oh good we I hope I haven’t jinxed this now!

We trialed a ban of UPF this week, now it is a little easier for us as allergies mean a great deal of UPFs just can’t be eaten by us and a lot of the food we eat isn’t readily available as ready or partially made in the UK.

We did okay, I made a few snacks earlier in the week that my son could have, drinks was the one thing we struggled with, we usually have belvoir squash and we thought juices from concentrate would probably be UPF.

It was an interesting programme, but I struggle with my ds13 who has autism and if it doesn't come out if a packet, he won't eat it! He'll have homemade brownies, but anything savoury I cook from scratch he will avoid.
My daughter otoh has taken the message of the programme and is trying to cut down on junk foods.

Anyone else with autistic /picky eaters who won't eat eggs, fish, meat, rice, beans but only 'beige ' and fried food?

I always used to make enormous vats of home made tomato sauce-either with tons of tins of tomatoes, or a whole cheap fresh box of them in the summer (£3-4). Made into sauce with onion cooked in olive oil, garlic and sometimes oregano, and a tiny pinch of sugar if necessary. I would freeze individual and family size portions of it in a huge pile, and it was great to defrost quickly for pasta. Kids all grown now.

@MackenCheese

It was an interesting programme, but I struggle with my ds13 who has autism and if it doesn't come out if a packet, he won't eat it! He'll have homemade brownies, but anything savoury I cook from scratch he will avoid. My daughter otoh has taken the message of the programme and is trying to cut down on junk foods.

Anyone else with autistic /picky eaters who won't eat eggs, fish, meat, rice, beans but only 'beige ' and fried food?

My asd ds is exactly like this. He lives off beige food. Nuggets, chips, bread, cereal, cheese, crisps. No fruit. No veg, no meat, apart from the nuggets which are questionable! He will eat the quorn nuggets. It's hard!

Also natural (genuine) Greek yogurt is jot bitter, in the way some natural yogurt can be. We also use milk to make more kefir from existing (bought) pots and add crushed raspberries.

@Treezan82

We recently made home made pizza and it was really nice to make with the kids - I think we will do it again but batch cook a few and freeze. We both work full time so we still need quick dinners.

pizza dough freezes really well, let it rise for the first time then cut into 4 portions, ball them up and freeze them. then when they defrost to room temp roll out into circles and let rise/rest for 30 mins. bung on toppings and cook for 10 mins

We're trying this. Bread maker and Greek yoghurt. Porridge for breakfast

Dh loves pitta, flatbread etc but not sure how much appetite I have for making these weekly - although I can and do for special occasions. He also likes the disgusting palm oil filled bakery biscuits so trying hm brownies to replace these.

Crisps I've switched from mini cheddar to seabrooks. Omg the ingredients in mini cheddars!

Chocolate is going to be hardest, love a caramel wispa, a square of dark chocolate just isn't the same.

DC too little to make a fuss at the moment.

@MackenCheese

It was an interesting programme, but I struggle with my ds13 who has autism and if it doesn't come out if a packet, he won't eat it! He'll have homemade brownies, but anything savoury I cook from scratch he will avoid. My daughter otoh has taken the message of the programme and is trying to cut down on junk foods.

Anyone else with autistic /picky eaters who won't eat eggs, fish, meat, rice, beans but only 'beige ' and fried food?

Has he seen the programme? Might help?

You can often breadcrumb healthy stuff. Ie look like birds eye chicken nuggets but actually organic chicken and home made and rolled in breadcrumbs. You can do the same for loads of different types of fish too.

Does he like cheese? Tried Halloumi fries? Mozzarella fries? Just to broaden taste

@KitchenWarrior

We're trying this. Bread maker and Greek yoghurt. Porridge for breakfast

Dh loves pitta, flatbread etc but not sure how much appetite I have for making these weekly - although I can and do for special occasions. He also likes the disgusting palm oil filled bakery biscuits so trying hm brownies to replace these.

Crisps I've switched from mini cheddar to seabrooks. Omg the ingredients in mini cheddars!

Chocolate is going to be hardest, love a caramel wispa, a square of dark chocolate just isn't the same.

DC too little to make a fuss at the moment.

Teach your dh to make the pitta and flat bread!

If all falls on you, then entire project will end up being a pain in the arse for you

@HTruffle

I am trying to do the same. My children have been eating either bran flakes (not perfect but much more minimal processing than some things) or plain oats with natural yoghurt and pomegranate seeds on plus a drizzle of honey. Quite sweet all in all. My daughter has a nut allergy but if not you could add flaked almonds for additional sweetness.

As for snacks it’s hard to find a straight swap for crisps isn’t it. Interested to hear ideas on this one. I wonder how easy it is to make breadsticks?! I also hear you can cook potato skins in the oven (saves on waste too!)

My grandad used to make crisps by slicing potato with a peeler and frying in (quite a lot of) oil. Then just added salt and vinegar. I have started snacking on rice cakes with peanut butter instead - both of those are easy to find low processed versions. Let me know if you find a good breadstick recipe!!

@WindFlower92

I'm joining in! We're having a complete rehaul of our diet from Monday so we're using this weekend to plan it out properly. I've just started maternity leave so I'm hoping to be able to take advantage of the fact that I'm home all the time to get us into good habits. Lunches are the hardest for me - as a meal I find it just gets in the way of us going out and doing things, so tend to just throw on whatever is quickest. That's going to be the challenge for me!

Lunch is a PITA for us as well. Mid week is fine its just the weekends.

Home made pizza is great and really fun for kids too. I did one the other day for the first time in ages and thought why don’t I do this all the time? No extra cost, just use flour and yeast which was already on the cupboard. Very yummy too - not sure how much healthier though as I therefore ate many slices!
With children who are fussy or have sensory issues I do find that with mine it makes a huge difference when they’ve helped to prepare the food themselves. I also work in a school - when we do a food project in DT parents often comment that they are surprised by the fact that the children have eaten what they brought home. It’s not nice to waste something you have made and it’s all a bit less alien when you’ve prepared it all.

It seems impossible to me. I eat bread every day. What would I eat instead?

Walkers crisps may be potatoes and oil but it isn’t as simple as just looking at the ingredients. It’s how they’re cooked and packaged too. They’re not packaged in air.

Well they’re not vacuum packed...

My little boy loves homemade pizza I made a wrap style base as quicker it's just 250g flour, tablespoon olive oil, 150g water, leave for 20 mins then roll out and dry fry. Then I add toppings and oven bake with mozzarella. It's really easy.

We also do homemade chicken goujons with Panko breadcrumbs as super crispy.

I think normal bakery bread is fine, it goes off quickly which I think is a good sign!

You can mush up raspberries with flaked almonds and add to yoghurt which is delicious.