Low Cost Alternatives to Processed Foods

[Currywurst1]

Like many people at the moment we are trying to cut down on processed foods but I am also conscious of keeping costs down. I also don't have the time to make everything from scratch so looking for suggestions for low cost and quick/easy to make alternatives to processed foods.

I eat a lot of natural yogurt and have been meaning to try it myself so I think that could be a good point to start.
I also eat a lot of porridge and have recently heard about a lady who makes her own porridge oats which could be something I would be interested in but I am asking myself if porridge is something that is worth the effort as I can't imagine that shop bought porridge is something that has been massively processed.

Main processed foods that we have at home are:
Breakfast cereal
Self raising flour
Biscuits
Canned lentils/chickpeas
Bread
Wraps

For breakfast cereal just mix porridge oats with raisins, chopped up dried fruit and slightly pulverised hazelnuts (leave a few chunky bits) and you have your own muesli.

Or make overnight oats the night before with yoghurt and milk, adding nuts, fruit (bags of frozen, especially if wonky, are often cheaper than fresh), whatever you fancy.

I do this with a mix of Greek yogurt & kefir, then slice a banana into it in the morning.

Soda bread is superquick
Plain flour
Water
Bicarbonate of Soda
Salt
………no kneading, just bring ingredients together and bake.

@EmpressaurusDelleGatte I like the idea of using kefir 😊

Re chickpeas, yes soaked from dry tastes better. The trick to saving time, cost, and nerves lies in using a pressure cooker which also makes them come out more evenly soft. If you use them often & have the space to batchcook and freeze it's well worth it.

Re porridge, play around with using steelcut oats rather than flakes and see how you like it?

Sourdough bread: no need for a friend with a starter. They're fairly easy to start going from scratch using rye flour.

Buy dried beans, chickpeas, lentils and rice. They don't expire. Cook as needed.

From what i remember the problem with the quick oats is that they are ground smaller, which means they cook quicker, which then means they get digested faster and it ends up being a heavier blood sugar load (or something)

I read somewhere that jumbo oats are best, but I can’t remember where.

Someone on another thread, about something completely different I think (cant remember what it is) has recommended Carlin peas. I have never heard of these but extensive research yesterday shows you can buy them in jars in Waitrose, they look fabulous. Particularly for Armageddon.

I thought they shouldnt be kept for too long? I had a bad experience once with a bag of red lentils which may have been in the cupboard too long and they just wouldnt cook, not at all

I can't imagine that's any cheaper than buying value porridge oats! I don't even know where sells un-flaked oats and I bet they're more expensive than the cheapest flaked ones, plus there's the cost of the machine to factor in.

Dried pulses can work out cheaper but then you have to work out the increased energy cost of cooking them.

The examples of food you've used are the foods I consider to already be low cost unprocessed foods tbh!

I dont eat Ready Brek personally, I have pinhead oatmeal and cook porridge, but OH tends to have phases where he buys a massive box of RB, uses one portion and then its stuck there in the house for ages. I started a thread about how to use this stuff up and am going to make a cake with it once I get the wherewithall

But the reason it irks me so much when people make up stuff about whats in things is that they dont think, they just bandy round 'oh its got added sugar and salt' and no one corrects it and it feeds in to this misinformation which is so unnecessary around food.

Another one that gets my goat is when people (and Ive heard chefs even say it, I think it was printed in the Guardian of all places as well) say that there is added sugar to tinned tomatoes and that they're a horrible 'processed food'.

Its not true and its completely unnecessary to keep demonising foods that are ok for you.

Rant over

I wouldn't worry too much about your list except making own bread and biscuits.

The others are minimally processed to start with.

You need to balance out your approach and not to be obsessed, you obviously eat a very good diet!

I thought OP was winding us up, but look!

https://www.ukjuicers.com/komo-flicfloc-manual-grain-crusher?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA_qG5BhDTARIsAA0UHSK3NDb5bIzDsw1AdxOnrGtwpznj0PYJL1UUzo5_LgJHvoiMMOm2ya8aAht3EALw_wcB

Most of those are processed, not UPF but still processed.

OP

I think it is about getting minimally processed. Even if you cook a cabbage grown in your own garden the chopping and cooking are processes.

OP, you need to decide what exactly you're trying to achieve. As others have pointed out, thinks like oats - assuming they're not the instant oats - are processed, but not ultra high procssed. What most people are trying to avoid are UPF foods which are the ones with a load of extra things added for taste or to make them last longer.

So oats and natural yoghurt -just keep buying them as you are.

Other cereals can be less than ideal. A lot of people make their own granloa with oats, nuts, fruit and some kind of sweetener like maple syrup or honey. You could do that if you want or stick to things like weetabix.

Bread - the Jason's sourdough breads are not UPF. Ditto, I think the Crostina bread/wraps aren't (but check - I might be getting that wrong). the easiest bread to make at home is a quick flatbread using flour, oil and yoghurt (oh, and flour is fine too - yes ,it's processed, but it doesn't have added ingredients).

Bread maker

Crosta amd mollica wraps are so good and don't have any UPF

But the reason it irks me so much when people make up stuff about whats in things is that they dont think, they just bandy round 'oh its got added sugar and salt' and no one corrects it and it feeds in to this misinformation which is so unnecessary around food.

As I understand it, the oats are ground to a powder to make Readybrek. This makes them the equivalent of predigested, so when people eat it, they have a spike in blood sugar more quickly than porridge oats. Readybrek is therefore a higher GI than porridge. Porridge will keep you feeling full for longer.

In addition, an independent dietitian told me in a discussion about how to lower DD’s high cholesterol and increase her fibre, that Readybrek is not as effective as porridge, because of the steel mills, the oats have been put through.

Completely agree, I know this. I dont eat the stuff as I said. (although once its gone into the cake I plan for it, I will be consuming it freely!)

And if the poster had said that, thats a completely different thing

But making up what is in a product before you even get to the rest of it, isnt on. There will be people reading this thread that arent as anal as me or havent needed to look into ingredients and GI levels like me (and presumably you) who wont know that.

You need to stop trying to find replacements that seem less processed and simply eat more whole foods.

So don’t be trying to make your own bloody cereal. It’s not really going to be much less ‘processed’ than the healthier cereals you can already buy. Swap for oats, eggs, fruit, veg. Porridge with fruit and nuts. Spinach and mushroom omelette with fruit salad.

If you are the type of person who finds it too much to simmer a red lentil for less than half an hour, your current ideas are not going to work.

Spending a fortune on an oat rolling machine and the higher cost per kilo of oat groats is a weird way of saving time and money. Just buy some perfectly good oats from the supermarket.

Same with yogurt, just buy plain yogurt: greek style, skyr or ordinary.

You can get less processed wraps (read the ingredient list) or just replace with pitta bread.

Have you seen a therapist about orthorexia?

JFC absolutely nothing in the OP suggests the OP has orthorexia. What is it with people throwing these terms around all the time????

My Instant Pot electric pressure cooker is a brilliant machine, cooks legumes in less than 15 mins after overnight soaking. Make my own yogurt, porridge for a few days and just had a lovely soup made with veg and lentils and nothing processed in sight. You can buy Organic Porridge oats from Aldi for £1.99 - kg.
Buy sourdough from local baker which is wonderful so can't be bothered making that but lots of my food is cooked from scratch in IP.