Cutting back on UPF

[UndertheCedartree]

Like many I'm wanting to cut back on UPF for myself and my DC. I'm looking for some tips really as despite trying to cut back I feel I haven't managed to cut back as much as I'd like.

My challenges - I have a mental illness and particularly in the 2 or 3 weeks leading up to my B12 injection I get extremely fatigued and depressed. This makes it hard to make healthy meals. At these times I buy more convenience food/ready meals/takeaways.

Also my DD has a bit of a restricted diet due to her autism. It can be hard finding meals we will all eat.

If junk is in the house once I take my meds which gives me terrible sugar cravings I will want to eat it. I usually have in brunch bars as DD has one every day for snack at school, brioche/croissant as I often have to take Dd's breakfast to school, mini cheddars/other crackers/fruit yogurts/ice lollies for snacks for the DC.

Just a note we are vegetarian - we probably eat too much vegetarian convenience food due to DD.

Would love to know how you went about it, what snacks you give your DC and what meals you make.

Just pick 1 or 2 items you can easily change. Small changes over time are more realistic to stick to

For example kids ice lollies, can you buy some moulds and do homemade? (I blizz frozen berries with Greek yogurt for example). Or can you look at one with better ingredients ie some are more frozen yogurt with fruit, or just pure fresh fruit juice.

Stuff like crackers/ cheddar biscuits look at the ingredients, they might not be too bad tbh, if if they are try alternative brands

We started by including as many vegetables as we could - you possibly have a head start on this.
we have tried making our own versions of things we miss - chicken nuggets
we haven’t excluded it entirely but have made good progress

I see this a lot on here. My child has to eat junk as they have autism/special needs……
what did these kids eat before UPF was invited? Normal food, surely……….?

What likes and dislikes do you both? What are favourite meals in the home? If we know those things we can suggest little changes you can start to make.

Myself and DS love vegetables but DD does not!

What should I be looking at in the ingredients?

I haven't said that at all. What did these kids eat before UPF? Just a very restricted diet.

Me and DS will eat mostly anything.

DD favourite meals - pasta with tomato sauce, pizza, Quorn nuggets and chips, vegetarian sausages and mash, most healthy meal she likes is fajitas with kidney beans, refried beans, onion, cheese and avocado.

Does it have to be a certain tomato sauce, or would she eat one if you had cooked other veg and blended it in? Pizza could use the same sauce if she is able to eat home made pizza, you can make dough in 20 minutes, its fine if you don’t prove it etc. Would she eat the fajita fillings with other things to make more meals, like jacket potatoes etc.

@UndertheCedartree - any ingredients that don’t look like something in your kitchen. And ideally least ingredients.

Fresh bread from
bakery or even bakery section of supermarket tends to have far less preservatives than packaged bread

My autistic son has a very restricted diet as do most autistic children. Perhaps educate yourself on it. It's bloody hard work, stressful and frustrating. At this point, him eating anything is better than nothing.

For snacks I have nuts and fruit with greek style yougurt. Rice cakes with low fat soft cheese or humous.
Do you have an air fryer with dehydrate? You could try apple or banana chips.
If I am really hungry before bed, a teaspoon of peanut butter works for me
For meals. When you do have time and are cooking just make a bit extra to freeze for those busy nights.
Also look for tray bake recipes. Can get everything chopped and in a roasting dish when time is good and just stick straight in the oven when you get in and it can cook while you get changed etc.

Most would be left to die from chest infections etc. They'd eat a bland diet, porridge, lard on bread, sausages etc. I have friends from across Africa, they leave the children on PAP, but again it's only been the last ten years that attitudes are changing, so we don't have historical examples. If you couldn't work, you wasn't prioritised, food wise and the stuff you were fed would mirror the UPF, texture wise, of today.

It is very difficult with fussy eaters- particularly as the nature of UPF appeals to a fussy palate and ‘real’ food alternatives can be much more challenging if you’re used to UPF- eg different textures, much more variation in flavour, less consistency of the food.
I don’t face the same challenges as you but these are the changes I’ve made- hope some are helpful!

Swap to less processed versions of products- eg oven chips made with just potatoes and oil instead of coated ones, potato crisps not Wotsits/Pringles/Monster Munch.

I make most of our own bread now- but I have a stand mixer and plenty of time currently! A bread maker is good for loaves and dough as well. I often make a few pitta breads with leftover pizza dough and stash them in the freezer.

I’ve stopped buying most cereals so breakfast is porridge/toast/ eggy bread etc. I do buy Raisin wheats which luckily the children like.

I love Greek yogurt with fruit/jam/maple syrup but haven’t had any luck getting children to eat it..: They are annoyingly fussy though.

I make very simple tray bake cakes (from Mary Berry’s fast cakes book). Takes minutes to make and then cut into squares to have as a sweet treat instead of shop biscuits etc.

I hope some of this is helpful- it is almost impossible to cut out UPF entirely especially with extra challenges!

I can certainly try. I've been using a jar of sauce and chopped tomatoes up til now.

I can try a homemade base too, although it feels a bit daunting. I have anxiety around mess.

That's a good idea about trying the bean mix with other meals.

I only eat sourdough but I buy wholemeal bread for the kids. Buying from bakery is an easy swap, thanks

Meant to say but they moan they want white!

I had a breakdown and they lived with their dad mainly for 3 years. He is not into healthy eating at all. Got them into lots of bad habits like white bread, sugary cereal and Nutella!

Exactly.

May be when you are feeling well, batch cook and freezer so when you have low energy levels easy and healthy. Also making Moroccan cous cous is minimal cooking and tasty / healthy and can be eaten hot or cold. I can send you the recipe if you like?

Also understand re your autistic child and can imagine it is beyond hard. My younger dd only ate pasta, bread, cheese and bananas up to age of 4 with a few other bits. That was tough so I have empathy with this challenge.

Genuine question here - are protein based alternatives considered UPF (so things like beyond meat burgers rather than say breaded fake chicken).

When you are feeling well work out a list of some quick easy healthy meals you will all eat that you can make in advance or on auto pilot when you are not well.

If your kids are able, try to get them to learn to make a meal that doesn't include UPF that everyone will eat. That way they can also do some of the cooking, particularly when you are not well.

Also try really hard not to buy any UPF and just have plenty of fruit available for your sweet fix.

Equally any positive changes you make are great.

Why not try Green Chef or Hello Fresh, they do lovely veggie dishes. It got me and DS eating a lot of vegetables that we wouldn't normally eat. I learnt to cook much better and I learnt a lot of recipes from these and now I just buy the ingredients myself as it works out slightly cheaper.

One thing at a time and don't be too quick to change things. My favourite at the moment is roast veggies for a warm salad on spinach. In winter a batch cook stews and curries. The UPF is still there but I've a bit more control over it.

Hello fresh have a recipe book that's really good called these recipes work