If you're trying to cut out ultra processed foods...

[mibid]

What do you tend to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner?

Live alone with DS4 and trying to cut them out. We usually eat a lot of pasta.

Breakfast is usually eggs or some variation of oats with fruit, nuts, natural yoghurt etc.

Try to buy organic fruit but it's so expensive.

Going to buy a bread maker and hopefully start making my own mayo too.

I'd love to hear what others are doing.

Thanks, that makes more sense. What I had read before classed bacon and Parma ham as UPF. I see sausages are down as UPF but I don’t see why all types would be - there is a massive range in composition of sausages and some are full of all of weird stuff with weird casing.

The Waitrose No 1 chocolate bars don’t contain emulsifiers (at least the 90% cocoa one doesn’t).

M&S has pesto and sun dried tomatoes are without seed oils (I try to avoid). Have recently discovered how easy mayonnaise is to make which is pleasing me greatly.

Lindt Excellence Dark 70% Cocoa Chocolate doesn't have emulsifiers in. Good for putting in cookies or cakes or just eating!

I don't think all sausages are UPF, although I suspect most are. It just depends on the ingredients. I'm sure it's possible to buy quality ones without the additives.

Please could you share your mayonnaise recipe?

Thank you

Some butchers will make them for you. I suspect they're more expensive than the very worst cheap ones (eg 56% pork or whatever they are) but probably not much more than the better quality supermarket sausages.

I don't eat them often but, when i do, I look for ones that are 97% pork. Simply because there can only be 3% of crap in them!

Actually I'm trying to find some non-upf sausages and it's proving challenging, so maybe they all are.

Of course.

150 ml oil (like I say, I use mild and light olive oil (any more than that tastes horrible!) or almond oil.

I egg

Apple cider vinegar (I use the one with the mother - really cheap in Lidl!) and dijon mustard to taste. Start with about 1/2 tsp of each.

Use all ingredients at room temperature other wise it doesn't thicken properly.

I use a stick blender. Put all the ingredients in a jar just wider than the blender head. Don't move the blender around. Put it at the bottom of the jar and whisk. You can hear when it's thickened so lift the blender slightly and repeat until its all done. You can add more ACV and mustard when it's thick to get the desired taste. Really simple!

Your oils are the same as rapeseed in terms of UPF. No difference at all. In fact rapeseed is higher in nutrients and lower in fats. Only cold pressed virgin olive oil is lower processed.

Industrialised seed oils aren't good for you.

The equivalent to butter vs margarine.

I'm not aiming for low fat.

Thanks for sharing the mayo recipe. Is a stick blender o w if this blenders you use for soup/ purées etc?

My zero UPF menu today will be:

porridge oats with honey made with full fat milk. All organic / local.

Sourdough granary made at local bakery with feta and avocado

Pasta with roasted courgette, tomato, mushrooms and garlic with mozzarella.

Snack is nuts with 100% chocolate drops.

I use a stick blender. I think the method is different if you use a bigger blender - but you'd be able to find out by googling.

I remember being put off making mayo for years when it was all about adding the oil slowly! So I've only done it stick way!

Thanks @GreyCarpet for the recipe - looks very doable! How long does it keep in the fridge?

@mibid

I need to find it first! In the midst of a big declutter.

I make both white and wholemeal versions.

Both methods are the same. The most important thing to ensure a soft tasty bread is "DO NOT KNEAD!"

I use this quantity for a decent size loaf, and it freezes well. I don't measure, just use cups. It is very easy to make and tastes delicious.

3 cups plain flour (for plain version), or 1.5 cups plain, and 1.5 cups wholemeal flour for the brown bread version.

1 teaspoon bicarb (bread soda)
1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon sugar (sugar can be omitted).
1.5 cups natural Greek yogurt
4 tablespoons whole milk (can add more if dough is too dry)

I don't sift, Just put flour, salt, sugar, bicarb in a bowl

Mix yogurt and milk together

Add to flour mix.

Bring together with wooden spoon. Do not overwork the dough, bring it into a ball with hands when it is just together.

Remove dough to floured tray. Shape into a round or square, again GENTLY, just pat it into shape. Place a deep cross in the dough (to let the fairies out!). Brush top with milk if you want, I don't bother.

200d for 40 minutes. It is done when it sounds hollow if tapped on the bottom.

If you don't like hard crusts, place a clean tea towel on top of loaf as soon as it is out of the oven. That will keep crust soft.

About a fortnight 👍🏻

I think there is a lot of confusion about what UPF is. There is a lot of alarmist nonsense about how all food is processed and so UPF is unavoidable. That’s just not true. Once you are aware of it, it’s really not that hard to avoid and it certainly doesn’t involve making everything from scratch. E.g most pasta is UPH - unless you buy supermarket filled pasta (e.g. tortellini) which often has highly processed ingredients and is’t very nice anyway.

I think the one staple item that is a bit problematic is bread, as most supermarket bread is UPH. You can buy non UPH bread but it is harder to find.