I am changing our families diet radically. How hard is it going to be, honestly!!!!

[Blossomhill]

We are off to Bibic next week to help my dd (5 and a half with sn) and part of it involves dietary change.
I will hold my hands up and say we do eat quite a bit of convenience food and that is going to and has to change.
I want to completely change the way I eat and cook and want to stop using processed foods for good. I have to say the recent Sudan1 and Jamie Oliver school dinners has confirmed that I need to do that for my whole family.
I am just so worried that I will need to go shopping everyday and that it will take lots of tim, although I am prepared to do it for the sake of my children's health and well being. Don't get me wrong they do eat lots of vegtables, fruit and I do cook some fresh meals. What I mean is they don't eat Turkey Twizzlers or things like that.
I am hoping to make my own bread as a very kind friend of mine gave me hers.
Any of you that know me know that I am not very organised, scatty even. I really need to do this to firstly help dd with ehr concentration and sn and obviously ds is just as important too.
So please tell me realistically what I should expect, if there are any time saving tips, recipies I may find useful.
Thank you, you are all so kind xxx

All I can add is that, like everyone else, when I make stuff I try to freeze portions for times when I can't be bothered cooking. Good luck Blossomhill!

I suppose the most disheartening is when you have spent time cooking and they don't try the stuff but persevere. You will sometimes feel like screaming but just let it be and try again. I started cooking when dst (3) started weaning and of all of us DH enjoys his meals the most!

I try to buy some things organic but it can be off-putting when on a tight budget. That veggie box seems a good idea but not much choice for up in Scotland but what is in their popular box. It sounds expensive but we probably spend that on fruit and veg in a week anyway and to have it guaranteed organic.

Singersgirl, what is the recipe for yoghurt ice-lollies, please? They sound like something that would go down a treat in this house!

No, TwoIfBySea - the most disheartening is when you put all that effort and not even you like it . Don't have the heart to lay down the law when I'm struggling to take more than a couple of mouthfuls...

... fortunately the true culinary disasters have been few and far between but they were memorable

Trying to get rid of all of the processed food this week so we can come home to an empty fridge/freezer

Pasta is good for you if you use the one made out of durum wheat, its not as processed. Also I don't make sauces using tinned tomatoes any more as one large tin contains more than the RDA of salt advised for an adult.

Bloody hell Bubbles, where are you buying your tomatoes?! Sainsburys chopped 400g tin contains 0.4g of sodium (1g salt) - okay, not ideal, but nowhere near the RDA for an adult!! The organic chopped tomatoes are 0.24g sodium per can. Can't access the Napolina nutritional information at the moment...

Twoifbysea, the recipe for yogurt lollies isn't really a recipe - more a case of pour your chosen yogurt into ice lolly moulds and freeze! We use Rachel's Organic Low-fat Vanilla and Wholemilk Maple Syrup yogurts. They seem to freeze OK and the kids like them. It's just I often don't get round to doing them!

Georgina, its was Gillian McKeith said (I think) about the massive amounts of salt in the tomatoes.

Gillian McKeith is a quack... personally I wouldn't believe a word she says!! She's been exposed in the Guardian several times for her incredibly poor science and fake qualifications.

blimey - just checked my tomatoes - Tescos chopped toms have 0.1g sodium per 100g, Tescos value chopped toms - trace sodium per 100g (0.1g in 200g)

better stick to the value toms

lol iota - you don't really expect it to be that way around do you? Mind you 0.1g to the 100g isn't a lot of salt anyway (according to the Food Standards Agency something with a lot of salt is 0.5g of sodium per 100g of product, something which is classed as a little salt has 0.1g of sodium per 100g - hence completely exploding the myth that tinned tomatoes are high in salt... (well, at least if you buy 'em in Tesco ))

Actually, in Sainsburys too... can't read my own posts - I worked it out per can - so there's is 0.1g of sodium per 100g too.