Can I just share with you that it has been 6 weeks since we have been on a non-processed diet!!!

[Blossomhill]

I am so proud of myself. I know that may sound weird saying that and blowing my own trumpet but I honestly never ever cooked. Everything was either ready made or from the freezer.
Well in the past 6 weeks I have made loads of home-made healthy foods. This week I have made a carrot and a banana cake, vegtable lasagne, chicken nuggets, sausage stir fry and fish cakes. The food is so much more filling and tastes so much fresher.
I have had to change my life a bit as you do need to be prepared and there is lots of washing up (even though we now have a dishwasher there are lots of pots and pans etc). Also the initial outlay of stuff was quite expensive, such as herbs and spices, flour, new cake tins, trays etc but now I have everything it is actually working out cheaper.
I plan everything 4 days in advance and then do a shop. The reason I do it every 4 days is that things can go off quickly so that is just about the right amount of time to keep things fresh! Also gives me more time for new ideas!
1 thing I will say is that the book I use loads is "The dinner lady" and has been such a hit with all of us. I have cooked most of my stuff from there and am very impressed!!!
Hope u don't mind me sharing this with you.
Oh, oh and the biggy is my dd who has communication difficulties and finds concentration very hard has really benefitted from it. She is so much calmer and communicates better. Even the school have noticed big improvements. My sons ezcema has also cleared up so we have all benefitted

I love the Annabel Karmels books too. Has been a great source of easy to read and make dishes.

Blossomhill, was teh carrot and banana cake easy to make. COuld you CAT me the revipie if you have time??? I would love to try it:-)

Yes sure Carmeli Could you do me a favour and CAT me and then I'll remember to do it as I am so scatty!!!!! Thanks x

Recipe is here, BH - and 1 cup of heavy cream is 1/2 pint of double cream in my book

Blossomhill, I'm so glad that the diet is helping your daughter so much and, even though you might not have expected it, your son. My DS1 is also so much calmer when he is not reacting to stuff. Like you, they didn't eat loads of sweets or junk before, but a lot of it was processed in some way or another.
I'm on a pudding binge this week - made baked egg custard on Tuesday, golden syrup sponge yesterday (of course it's not particularly healthy, but it's got no additives or trans-fats etc and I've made it with 'intelligent' eggs!) and I think rice pudding with home-made pear jam tomorrow. Also made cream of lettuce soup on Monday, which was surprisingly nice (we called it 'frog soup' to the DSs' amusement). Had a friend to play today so did homemade breaded chicken goujons with mash and veg. I'm a complete convert to home-made stuff now and very boring on the subject to boot.....I hope your success story will encourage even more people to give it a go!

hi honey

thought your first post said you made a 'carrot and a banana...!!!!
my goodness your clever

Singersgirl - it's nice to speak to another "convert". I think that it is a very daunting thing to do initially. It took me a good couple of months to gear up for it but now I could not go back to feeding my kids 2nd rate food. I know now how easy it is to do, you just have to be organised and put your mind to it. The thing I love now is that I can pour over recipie books and find exciting new recipies, whereas befroe I'd be going up and down the ready meal aisles really not knowing what to buy. It is also far more expensive to buy ready made than it is to buy fresh.
I think the homemade baking is great. I really don't think that a couple of treats a few times a week harms them. Dd loved making the carrot cake with me so it's also educational too!
Evesmama - hi sweetie LOL at me making carrots and bananas, although a friend and I were discussing getting an allotment so you may not be too far off !

Thanks HM for the recipie

My DS 8yrs used to winge about going to Mcdonalds for tea mostly I refused. After seeing a little of The School dinner programme where he showed what was in th nuggets he turns up his nose and looks quite ill when I jokingly suggest Mcd's for tea.

I wish the programme had less swearing as DS would have really enjoyed it.

I threw out the packs of turkey drummers I had in the freezer after reading skin was listed as an ingredient.

hey! thats a good idea!

and dd could help with the planting and watering etc

i bought dd a plant last weekend, we potted it together and she chose where to put it...she says good morning too in and we open the window so it can see the sunshine and grow big and strong
its all about the fantasy isnt it
i think your dd would love to be involved, even if its just digging them up with you

Well done BH!

I decided to start making some of our meals, I think we probably have about 65 - 70 % home cooked now, the rest is processed because I work evenings and simply don't have the time (as you say, some meals take hours and the washing up is a fright)

Now I'm dropping evenings, I'm going to cook everything (I LOVE annabel karmels family cookbook, it's fantastic) plus I may well have mindees to feed each day now from next week so I want to give them something worth eating - I don't feed ds turkey twizzlers and chips so I shouldn't get it in just for them!

Your recipes sound great think I need to get that book

Skribble - I have to say the smily faces and nuggets went straight in the bin in this house too. Why on earth should we pay for such poor quality food ???

Evesmama - yeah it's definitely something I am going to look into. Even if I make a little patch in my own garden!

Lunavix - thanks. A big well done to you as I know how hard it is to juggle everything when you work, you should be very proud of yourself.
Definitely get the dinner lady book as all of the recipies have gone down so well here and are easy to do too!

Well done you. I'm so impressed cos I remember you wanting to start, finding it difficult and now you've succeeded. Well done!!!!!

Thanks Marslady Luckily I have a night off and dh is making a vegtable chilli tonight!!!

Might move in with you and give myself a break from cooking.

Blossomhill - thanks for the Dinner Lady - the book looks really good and has gone on my wishlist. I can really rate the Annabel Karmel's Family Meal Planner - that's our bible at the moment - similar idea, fairly easy recipes with easy to find ingredients. Much less faffy than Jamie Oliver's offering...

where do you get the dinner lady book - amazon??

I found it on amazon here

Tracyp - it's here :-
here

Georgina - posts crossed

Haven't read the thread but well done BH!

well done BH. What is Aussie Pie?

well done! I so want to be a domestic goddess too, in an earth-motherly sort of a way! Is the dinner lady book good for veggies?

Thanks - www
gingerbear - aussie pie is a layered pie that goes like this:- mash at the bottom, layer of sliced boiled egg. layer of mash and then topped off with cheese cause. Lovely with organic beans!
ionesmum - yes it does have a lot of veggie recipies but does also have meat ones too
christie - luckily enough dh is doing it too so that helps

bh..sounds fab! Can i just say (hope you don't think this is patronising) that delicious as it sounds,a lot of what you make sounds very labour intensive and time consuming. Two hours to make a lasagne! Bloody hell!
I like cooking very much,but don't know if I'd spend 2 hours on something unless it was for a special dinner.
Most of my standards take 20-30 minutes to prepare. If you're interested,I can share....

Off out for a delicious Turkish lunch now!!