UPF Discussion Thread

[sunlovingcriminal]

Hi all, wondering whether any of us here would be up for a UPF discussion/support group?

We recently watched the panorama documentary on UPF, as well as reading the ultra processed people book- and have decided to make a lifestyle change for our family.

So, out with the cereal, fruit yogurts, packaged breads, squash and pre-made sauces

And in with the homemade everything...

It is taking a lot of prep and cooking. We're both a bit exhausted and overwhelmed but quite determined.

We have 3 teenage boys- so it's going to be interesting seeing whether we can get them to enjoy both the cooking and eating.

We're one week in and I do already feel better. I am not as hungry- my urge to snack has gone- and my reliance on artificial sugar fixes seems to have diminished.

Still on the hunt for alternatives to stock cubes though! Other than making from scratch (which I fear may be inevitable!).

Would be great to hear some inspiration from others, or great non-upf swaps!

It’s a Rukmini Iyer one - will try and find a link . Thank you for naan bread recipes .. will have a look .. just recovering from my from scratch spanikopita being rejected - teenage boys are brutal 😂

They're mad - spanakopita is the best 😋😋

https://thehappyfoodie.co.uk/recipes/rukmini-iyers-lime-and-coconut-dal/ this one though I add ginger

@doingthehokeykokey - use measurement cups? I like cups actually for easy recipes, handy with children also as they can measure easier if they can’t read.
we have the Joseph Joseph ones, about £10 and stack to save space. But any type works.

A US cup is 240 grans .. so 1/2 cup 125 grams .. I used these measurements today and it worked out fine

I have teenage boys too chocolateatanyop
I have had many recipes rejected. And some get the thumbs up then are later rejected cos I make them too often ! I have a book I write down any that work well so I am starting to build a bit of a plan.

Yeah well I could work that bit out 😂I was hoping for some fail-safe formula as per @Chocolateatanyop (thank you!). I’m getting more and more averse to buying more ‘stuff’ particularly for just one recipe.

Wedgewood peter rabbit, jemima puddle duck cups etc are one cup. So are my pantone cups. If you can find a straight sided container that does the trick, you are good to go. Should be easy to find a near enough jam jar to use.

If you're converting cups to metric you have to be aware that it's not a straight conversion - because it depends what you're measuring. I have cup measures but if I'm converting ever I google each individual ingredient that needs doing. For eg butter, packed brown sugar, not packed white sugar, flour, milk will all weigh differently for one cup.

I make naans using a standard bread dough but instead of water, I use milk or a mix of milk and yogurt and a little butter. Normal amounts of bread flour, salt and yeast depending on how many you're making - 5-600g of flour and about 400ml fluid make about a dozen.

Make dough - it needs to be a slightly sticky ball of dough - and let rise until double in size. Divide and flatten either by stretching or rolling and leave to rise again for half an hour or so. Heat a pan - preferably not non-stick because you want it really hot and then dry fry. When you put it in the hot pan, it will start to bubble up. Flip and cook other side. I have a large plate waiting and while one is cooking, I brush the one I've cooked with garlic and herb butter.

They're really quick and easy to make and can be frozen.

Yea cup to h isn’t straight forward. Ie one cup of flour isn’t the same gramage as one cup of sugar.
Some recipes I do convert to g if more accurately better, but I find cups just as handy for others.

I'm just getting eyes opened regarding UPF and trying to cut down. Small steps at a time. When baking, esp treats, does anyone have any freezer tips? I've got 2 issues:

1 - I've been wrapping industrial portions in clingfilm which is tedious and using too much plastic but need to keep things from freezing together and my freezer is terrible for freezer-burning food that isn't well wrapped

2 - all the ziplock bags of yumminess are a mess inside my freezer (American style so hardly any drawers, all on a shelf) and I can't see what's in there and they keep falling out when I'm looking for something.

Anyone got any tips for how they manage these aspects of increased baking??

If you Google cups to grams conversion images it comes up with a whole host of charts .. I got lucky with my previous recipe because I was working with all wet ingredients I think ..

Why is citric acid a bad thing? Could someone explain about the mould please ?

@Turtleoo I would see if you can get some pull out see through boxes like they have for fridges. I know Wilko sell them.

Then I’d do a freezer audit.

Either take a small child with a pen and a pad of paper… or if said child is FAAAAARRRRR to grown up to help his DM out, use the voice memo on your phone.

Go through everything quickly, noting what you’ve got and which shelf. Then close freezer door and come up with a storage plan at the kitchen table.

I’m a great user of sharpie pens .. I use plastic boxes and write what it is and date frozen on the box .. then just pile them up . I also have different types of food in different spaces - so I have a protein and batch cooking drawer /fruit veg draw / bread drawer .

When storing things you don’t want to stick together in freezer ie fruit, muffins etc, freeze in on a flat baking tray with silicone liner. Freeze it all so it’s not touching. Once frozen you can then decant into Tupperware and they won’t stick.
I like ikea glass Tupperware with lids. It’s suitable for freezing, mice and oven so if you freeze something like lasagna or homemade sauces you don’t need to decant to cook. They are pretty reasonable price wise also

Regarding cup measures

This website has the ability to select the food you are measuring, a cup of white sugar weighs more than a cup of flour, and if you pack the soft brown sugar or not (it's why a lot of american recipes are not great! too much to go wrong)

But this is a better solution:

Cooking Conversion weights

Citric acid production explained here: www.lymedisease.org/unknowingly-ingesting-mold/

We're trying to cut it out in our non-upf mission. But like everything it's about individual/household's own parameters! It might not bother you!

Thought I'd just share that I got a freebie bottle of bbq sauce from www.sauceshop.co yesterday. I've looked through the ranges and it seems entirely upf free. (Not sure if it's already been mentioned). I'm going to try out the ketchup!

@sunlovingcriminal - oh god that’s pretty scary tbh. I generally thought it was just lemon juice

Thanks for the freezer suggestions @Ohyeahwaitaminute @Chocolateatanyop @Caspianberg , I will look into some boxes for the freezer and reorganising it all so I know what's on each shelf

I think I’d like more info on this. Do you have other sources?

@doingthehokeykokey there's a tonne of stuff online! But as I said, it's about individual tolerances and what you're prepared to cut out. However regardless in 99% of cases citric acid in food manufacturing isn't lemon juice!

There's an all called Open Food Facts that says tomato sauce with citric acid id Nova 1, so fine to eat on a non upf diet.

Surely it doesn't matter how citric acid is made, chemically if it's identical to the stuff from lemon juice then it's the same?