No more processed food

mom0299

DIS Veteran
Joined
Oct 17, 2006
I am making a committment to stop buying processed food. I know I can't stop cold turkey (my family would protest). I am going to start with the junk food snacks. I am on a search for healthy reipes for cookies, granola bars, etc. I realize that these will include sugar and some other things that are not so "healthy", but at least I will know exactly what's in them. I might even try making my own yogurt. Has anyone else done this? What are some things that you make?
 
I make these Peanut Butter granola bars every week now. They are SO SO good!!


Giada's Peanut Butter Granola Bars

Ingredients
Vegetable cooking spray
1 egg white
1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup (1-stick) unsalted butter, melted
2 cups old fashioned oats
1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted, *see Cook's Note
1/3 cup miniature chocolate chips

Directions
Position an oven rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray a 7 by 10 3/4-inch nonstick baking pan with vegetable cooking spray. Lay a 6 by 18-inch piece of parchment paper in the pan, allowing the excess paper to hang over the sides. Spray the parchment paper lightly with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, using a hand beater, beat the egg white until frothy. Stir in the peanut butter, brown sugar, and honey. Add the melted butter, oats and almonds. Stir to combine, then add the chocolate chips.

Using a rubber spatula, spread mixture into the prepared baking pan, pressing lightly to form an even layer. Bake until the edge of the mixture begins to brown, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for at least 1 hour. Cut into 1 1/2-inch squares and serve.

*Cook's Note: To toast almonds, arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake in a preheated 350 degree F oven until lightly browned, about 8 to 10 minutes.


I don't use the chocolate chips and I use more honey instead of the brown sugar (although the brown sugar does make them yummy!). I also use Krema which is a natural creamy peanut butter I love (which requires no refrigeration or stirring like a lot of natural peanut butters do). I cook it for a few minutes longer than the recipe calls for but they still stay chewy. After they've cooled I cut them into bars and individually wrap them so I can just grab and go.

*I also don't use cooking spray. Too many chemicals in it for my liking.
 
I am full agreement with you.. I would rather make my own snacks and know exactly what is in them, then buy all that processed junk.. I did this almost a year ago and the family has accepted it quite well!!

I will get out some of my favorites and post them..
 
ok I'm signing up for this one its something I've been working on slowly but fall off of. So far we use little if any canned food. I have a summer and winter csa and promised my self that this summer I will make my own pasta sauces and try to bottle a few things instead of buying ready made. I also want to make soups to freeze.
 


Wait I do make my own yogurt. So here goes I would buy a yogurt maker but make sure you get one with glass cups. Since the yogurt maker heats up you don't want any unwanted chemicals leeching into your yogurt. The higher the fat content in your milk the thicker your yogurt will be. I buy my yogurt starter at wholefoods but I know you can find it online also. I don't add sweetener but I do add vanilla and then I mix in fresh fruit or marmalade when I serve it or honey yum. You should be able to find a yogurt maker for about $30 and starter is like 3 dollars I get 9 small cups of yogurt out of half a gallon of milk.
 
I am full agreement with you.. I would rather make my own snacks and know exactly what is in them, then buy all that processed junk.. I did this almost a year ago and the family has accepted it quite well!!

I will get out some of my favorites and post them..

I can't wait to see some of those recipes. So far I've made cookies and granola bars. Neither of those recipes were big hits with my family so I'm looking for some great ones!
 
Evi,
What you are doing sounds great! I don't have a csa, but last year we planted our first garden. I made spaghetti sauce with the tomatoes and we ate a lot of fresh produce last summer. I put some things in the freezer. It's about that time now to start thinking about what I want to plant this year. We also have an apple tree and a peach tree.
I've heard about homemade yogurt. My family loves yogurt. Would you mind sharing your recipe?
 


This is the Yogurt maker I use its not super fancy and doesn't have auto off function. But you'll need to put your yogurt strait in the fridge when its done anyhow.

I use this starter
its really easy though a bit time consuming and has all the directions on the package.

All you'll need is about a half a gallon of milk maybe a little more and a thermometer and a small kitchen fan or some ice water.

When making yogurt you need to warm up milk to temp on package then you have to let it cool down to another temp before adding the starter (i use a small fan to cool it off quickly or you could try an ice bath but you need to be careful to watch the temperature). After I add the starter and mix well I add about 1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla and stir it up and then I incubate for about 5-6 hours then refrigerate. I usually use 1 percent milk and add about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of powdered milk it gives a better texture then using whole milk I find. You can really add whatever flavors you want in the form of extract and you can also sweeten your yogurt (I prefer not to). You could also use sheeps milk but I didn't think it tasted as clean as when you buy it in the market so I stuck with regular milk.

I have tried making yogurt from yogurt you take 4 1/2 cups of milk and warm it up to almost scald and then cool it down to about room temp and add 1/2 to 1 cup of yogurt. In theory it should work but my experience hasn't been so good I think that even when I've used organic yogurt maybe the cultures aren't right. I've gotten better results using Greek yogurt. If you want to go this route instead of buying cultures I'd try to find a place that makes there own yogurt. Some greek or middle eastern restaurants in your area may.

If you want to experiment without a yogurt maker I've seen recipes online that require you to buy live yogurt cultures and you feed them milk and it sours at room temperature to yogurt. I know this is how they make yogurt in Mexico but it was a tad bit iffy to me to leave milk to just live on my counter top. Its similar to a kambucha where you feed it and then wash it and start over really interesting stuff but a little more then I'm ready to commit to there's a little on this here http://organiclivingcorner.com/default.aspx.

I always wanted a kombucha baby but since I'm the only one who likes it in my house it wouldn't be worth all the work I think.

If you have specific questions on temps and stuff I can look them up but each starter will have there own directions.

Once you make your own yogurt its hard to go back.
 
I am making a committment to stop buying processed food. I know I can't stop cold turkey (my family would protest). I am going to start with the junk food snacks. I am on a search for healthy reipes for cookies, granola bars, etc. I realize that these will include sugar and some other things that are not so "healthy", but at least I will know exactly what's in them. I might even try making my own yogurt. Has anyone else done this? What are some things that you make?

i cant agree with you any more......
i seldom have snacks, junk food......
I usually have more vegetables for my everyday meal.....
 

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