Whole Foods and Clean Eating chatter (Full Version)

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Mrs.Wifey -> Whole Foods and Clean Eating chatter (5/12/2008 12:00:47 PM)

So, what are you ladies doing in regards to eating whole foods? I know as I get more in shape we will make even more of a switch to whole foods/clean eating. Right now our main meals are whole foods(with the exception of my Pizza weakness) but our snacks are not.

What changes are you making? Do you have any recipes to share? How do you define "whole foods"?



HisCovenant -> RE: Whole Foods and Clean Eating chatter (5/12/2008 1:33:39 PM)

I define whole foods as naturally occurring and try to make everything from a recognizable material. I eat loads of yogurt, nuts, veggies, fresh fruit, poultry, lean beef, bison, and whole grains. Brown rice is my favored whole grain. I don't eat things that are processed even if they are considered whole. You can get a lot of whole junk food if you're not vigilant. I've been burned by that before. There are exceptions to that, like I do buy whole grain flours, cheese, vinegar and olive oil which are processed. Currently, I don't consider protein powder or tofu as a whole food, but am researching that and may change my mind.

I make whole foods pizza with whole foods crust, ground bison (which I season w/ minced onion, garlic, & italian spices as I brown it,) veggies, and cheese.

Tonight we're going to have a veggie dinner including fried okra. I'll wash the okra, cut it, place it in a bag with salt, pepper, whole wheat flour, and pan fry/bake it in olive oil. Fried veggies are actually better with whole grain flour instead of white flour. It gives you the body that corn meal has and you get all the nutrients of a whole grain.

My favorite whole foods snacks are:
New 100% whole grain wheat thins w/ cheese
70% Dark Chocolate square
Red bellpepper w/ hummus
Fresh Fruit
Yogurt w/ honey & raw almond butter
Raw nuts



HisCovenant -> RE: Whole Foods and Clean Eating chatter (5/12/2008 2:04:41 PM)

I forgot about pizza sauce. Zoebob sent this to me in a PM and this is what I do:

Sauce:

1 can of diced tomatoes (I think it's about 12 oz.)
1 can tomatoe sauce (6 oz I think)
garlic
basil
oregano
fennel
tabasco

Run the diced tomatoes and a clove of garlic through the food processor to puree. You could add onion if you want. simmer with the tomato sauce, some basil, oregano, 4-5 crushed fennel seeds and a dash or two of tabasco (just to give it a little bite)

I also have been known to add a bit of bell pepper to the blender before I simmer the sauce. [;)] It's really good and sugar free- with the exception of the natural sugar in the tomatoes.



MrsTracy72 -> RE: Whole Foods and Clean Eating chatter (5/12/2008 2:12:38 PM)

I have been trying to cook and eat better and so far the only complaints have come from my husband. I have this oatmeal pancake recipe that you mix up the night before so the oatmeal gets all mushy and there is only half a cup of flour in it. I used oat flour once and added wheat germ, and next time I am going to try adding ground flax instead. But we cook them for dinner and top them with strawberries, bananas, pecans, and a bit of sugar free syrup. They are awesome and the kids beg for them.

I have also tried not to use white sugar and less sugar in general along with white flour. I have mostly eliminated oil from things I cook and try less frying and more baking. I make two vegetables now instead of one so that we can fill up on those more than the starches and meat.

For a while it was great, but now we are in the home buying and selling process so meals at home have become rare. I can't wait to get this over with so that I can start cooking again. But this is going to be a great thread with lots of great info/advice.

Oh, and when I find where I packed my cookbooks, I will post that recipe.



HisCovenant -> RE: Whole Foods and Clean Eating chatter (5/12/2008 2:18:35 PM)

I do 2 veggies instead of a veggie and a starch most nights, too. We get enough carbs without planning to have a starch at every meal.



MrsTracy72 -> RE: Whole Foods and Clean Eating chatter (5/12/2008 2:21:23 PM)

I have this weakness for noodles or rice. I just love to have them. But I have been measuring out what the packages say a serving are and trying to hold to that and no more. I have also been doing the same with cereal. I eat decent cereal, but when you measure out a serving, you get a huge dose of reality when you see how much overeating you are doing without knowing it.



HisCovenant -> RE: Whole Foods and Clean Eating chatter (5/12/2008 2:25:17 PM)

Very true! It's enlightening to measure. I had a hard time until I bought a scale... some give their serving size as grams or oz. I was really surprised to see how small 2 oz of pasta really is.



StephK -> RE: Whole Foods and Clean Eating chatter (5/12/2008 2:32:14 PM)

If it's refined I try very hard not to eat it. I have an older family member staying with me who has been put on a very strict low sodium diet and it has been eye opening seeing how much sodium is in some foods. I focus on lean protein, healthy fats, vegetables, low glycemic fruit, nuts, and a limited amount of whole grains like brown rice, sweet potatoes, etc.



Auben -> RE: Whole Foods and Clean Eating chatter (5/12/2008 2:37:46 PM)

We're working on adding more whole foods in our diet. My youngest has epilepsy and high/low sugar is a trigger for him. We don't keep sweet things/processed foods around much.

I'm working on broadening my meals (not much of a cook) and incorporating more veggies the kids like.

Its also easier to eat local when you cook with whole foods.



Mrs.Wifey -> RE: Whole Foods and Clean Eating chatter (5/12/2008 2:39:52 PM)

Oh yeah, I've been eating the "serving" size for rice and other foods for awhile, I do need to buy a scale though. 1/3 c of rice is such a small amount that I don't even bother anymore, although I do still make it for DH.

For me, it's also been alot of making things from scratch instead of buying them pre-made. Pasta's aren't hard to make, although they do take a bit more time and I'm pretty sure I could freeze them. Nothing beats homemade pasta, or just foods in general.

We have pretty much cut anything pre-packaged out of our diet, along with most HFCS(although not all). I find it easier to cut out of my diet, and DD's diet then it is DH's. He needs WAY more calories/carbs/fats then I do and I have trouble finding a balance between what he needs and what I need.

That tomato sauce sounds good, Zippy. Very similar to the recipe of my Dad's that I already use. Both of my parents are diabetics and are also making a move towards whole foods, they can have "whole" carbs and they don't have the same effect on their blood sugar as processed or even store bought "whole wheat" bread does. My Dad makes all their bread for the week on Sunday and they eat the oddest things for breakfast but it seems to be working and they are both losing weight. My mom is almost as thin as I am[8|] They also eat a TON of middle eastern type foods, but we grew up doing that so it isn't really anything new. I should probably do the same thing, it would be better for me.

So, what do you do about things like Alfredo or Salad dressing? I have mostly been buying Annie's for creamier dressings like Ranch, and then I make my own vinaigrettes. I do Alfredo from scratch, I suppose it's still whole since I only use whole ingredients in my recipe.



MrsTracy72 -> RE: Whole Foods and Clean Eating chatter (5/12/2008 2:44:23 PM)

I have a food saver and "Pre-package" lots of things myself. When I get time and the right things are on sale, I do put together meals and use the food saver bags to store them. The great thing about that, is all I have to do is pull them out of the freezer and thaw and cook. I also do that with lunchmeat too. I buy it whole, slice it myself and then bag and freeze it.



StephK -> RE: Whole Foods and Clean Eating chatter (5/12/2008 2:46:27 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: MrsTracy72

I have this weakness for noodles or rice. I just love to have them. But I have been measuring out what the packages say a serving are and trying to hold to that and no more. I have also been doing the same with cereal. I eat decent cereal, but when you measure out a serving, you get a huge dose of reality when you see how much overeating you are doing without knowing it.


Portion distortion is a big thing. I found some 6 oz bowls yesterday at Walmart because it was an easy way to limit those foods with a 1/2 cup serving size. *cough*BlueBellIceCream*cough*



Mrs.Wifey -> RE: Whole Foods and Clean Eating chatter (5/12/2008 2:51:52 PM)

Tracey, I have been contemplating a food saver, especially for times like this when I am going to be out of town for 2 weeks and DH will need something easy to eat. Or even just for nights when I don't feel like cooking.

I also bought some Ramekins to help with portion control, even though I don't worry about it as much when we are eating whole foods.



agapetos -> RE: Whole Foods and Clean Eating chatter (5/12/2008 3:05:21 PM)

I class 'whole foods' as foods that have been as refined as little as possible. I try and watch what I eat, but I'm not obsessive about it and I'm probably not as disciplined as I could be.

I'm doing more cooking than I have in a long time and increasing the amount of fish, fruit, veggies that I eat. The meals I make are generally low gi, but they're pretty much healthy if they're not low gi.



HisCovenant -> RE: Whole Foods and Clean Eating chatter (5/12/2008 3:18:01 PM)

I "package" my own freezer foods, too, but a lot of that is because of cooking for one or two. For example, I have 4 packages of cabbage in my freezer because dh won't eat it and I won't end up letting the cabbage ruin if I freeze more than the serving I ate fresh.

I don't make Alfredo because I don't like it on whole grain pasta.

I also don't eat creamy dressings very often. I've never been a fan of creamy dressings, blue cheese excluded. If I do want a creamy dressing I usually make a salad of chopped tomatoes and iceburg lettuce and mix with salt, garlic, pepper, and Omega-3 mayo. I let it sit in the fridge for about 30 minutes so the salt can sweat moisture out of the veggies. If I want blue cheese, I just use blue cheese with my vinaigrette.

Anyone have any tips for buying fresh fish? When fish tastes fishy, I hate it. When it tastes fresh, I love it. I'd like to add more to my diet, but have been burned too many times. I've tried both the fish counter as well as frozen fillets and find the odds are about 50% that it won't be fresh. How can I know if I can stomach it?



StephK -> RE: Whole Foods and Clean Eating chatter (5/12/2008 3:29:48 PM)

If the fish smells fishy it's not fresh. No matter how you cook it you won't be able to get rid of that fishy taste.

http://seafood.lifetips.com/cat/59282/buying-fresh-seafood/



agapetos -> RE: Whole Foods and Clean Eating chatter (5/12/2008 3:32:20 PM)

I have to admit, I eat a lot of tinned fish ~ which doesn't loose any of it's nutritional qualities. I'm still learning to deal with touching and cooking (without overcooking) fresh fish.

Have a look here and see if there are any useful tips for you.

I don't do creamy dressings much. If I do, I use yogurt quite a lot instead of mayo.

I avoid artificial sweetners, colours and additives wherever I can. I don't drink much caffeine and I make sure I drink plenty of water every day.



HisCovenant -> RE: Whole Foods and Clean Eating chatter (5/12/2008 3:38:50 PM)

Aga- that article won't let me read it b/c I'm in the USA. The article that Steph posted had lots of info, though.

I do that same thing with avoiding artifical sweetners. Currently, I am either a honey or stevia girl. I don't use more than 4 tsp of honey in 1 day. Diabetes is in my family and I sure don't want to abuse the organs that control sugar absorption!



LaurainAL -> RE: Whole Foods and Clean Eating chatter (5/12/2008 4:08:15 PM)

What exactly is stevia?



HisCovenant -> RE: Whole Foods and Clean Eating chatter (5/12/2008 4:29:16 PM)

It's an herbal sweetner. Here's a good article explaining what it is and the contraversy surrounding it.



miasma -> RE: Whole Foods and Clean Eating chatter (5/12/2008 4:48:44 PM)

I've long been interested in vegetarian and vegan eating (was a vegetarian for about 8 years) - now, I'm really loving eating raw.

My diet's pretty simple: if it's not fresh and healthy, I don't eat it. I don't buy canned anything, frozen anything, pre-packaged anything, etc. I try to eat raw as much as possible. No fake food.

I don't sweeten anything.

I avoid grains - all of them - as much as I can.

I buy as locally, and as seasonally, as possible.

Read the labels. Don't be a sucker for buzz-words and marketing campaigns.



HisCovenant -> RE: Whole Foods and Clean Eating chatter (5/12/2008 4:51:02 PM)

What percentage of your diet is raw?



StephK -> RE: Whole Foods and Clean Eating chatter (5/12/2008 5:17:33 PM)

No whole foods and clean eating thread would be complete without a link to the world's healthiest foods.

Eat Well helps you locate local farmers, grocers, farmer's markets and restaurants.



charity7 -> RE: Whole Foods and Clean Eating chatter (5/12/2008 5:25:50 PM)

I can and freeze organic vegies all summer--I make all my own tomato sauces and salsa---we eat fresh fruits and veggies and I make our bread--now the boys will eat some crackers, pop corn, and other snacks but I dont snack at all or if I do its fruit



HisCovenant -> RE: Whole Foods and Clean Eating chatter (5/12/2008 6:37:51 PM)

I wanted to correct myself about 100% Whole Grain Wheat Thins being a whole food. They have HFCS and artificial ingredients. I buy them for dh and occasionally eat them. It struck me as I was chosing a snack this afternoon that they are not strictly a whole food. [;)]



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