Menu Report

Recently, we decided to get rid of every food in our home that contained sugar.  Sugar really is so bad, and is even considered toxic by some health experts, and I was tired of how worn out and unhealthy I was feeling.  As we went through the cupboards, checking labels, the pile of foods that contained sugar just kept increasing.  I was amazed at what we had to get rid of.

There were the obvious things, like most cereals (did you know even Cheerios has sugar?), bread and granola bars, but what amazed me was the food I never considered sweet, like bacon bits, summer sausage, and even ramen.

Sugar doesn’t just go by the name sugar.  Anything ending in “-ose” is a sugar, but that’s not all.  It is really good at hiding itself in obscure names to fool the unsuspecting.  Well, that should be laid at the feet of the food industry, not the substance itself.  When you are avoiding sugar, look also for maltodextrin, corn syrup, evaporated cane juice, sorbitol and others.  See the link below for a full list.

What amazed me more about this experiment was how easily everyone adjusted.  I had a harder time, but my ways were pretty set.  The kids didn’t seem to notice.  My daughter doesn’t act like she misses it at all, and eagerly reaches for the peanuts, raisins and other natural snack foods we put in the cupboard instead.

So if you’re on a mission to rid your home of toxic foods, carefully check the labels of all processed foods.  You might be surprised what you find out.
 

Once again, Pinterest has saved the day and provided me with a great idea I now can’t live without.  I stumbled across a blog post about putting together entire slow cooker meals in Ziploc bags to freeze for later.  It is such a simple, inexpensive way to have (slow) fast food, that I can’t believe I didn’t hear of it sooner!

f your family has a favorite slow cooker meal, chances are good that it can be prepared ahead of time and frozen in a single bag that can be just dumped in the slow cooker and forgotten.  By spending a couple of hours once a month or every couple of months, you can save yourself a ton of time in your daily meal preparation.  I just love the idea of simply grabbing a bag and watching dinner literally cook itself!

Some meals that would work well this way might include beef stew, creamy chicken and veggies to serve over rice, or any number of soups whose main ingredients are simply meat and vegetables.  Throw them together in the appropriate amount in a freezer bag, and then just add the water when it is time to cook.

You can include the seasonings as well, and get the added benefit of having the ingredients steep together until they’re ready to be cooked.

Preparing slow cooker meals and freezing them can save a lot of time and money.  I think I might dedicate an entire shelf in my freezer to these fast and easy meal ideas.
 

I am always looking for unique, homemade gift ideas to give to the family at Christmas.  Each year, we do a big gift basket filled with homemade foods and crafts.  They appreciate it more and it costs much less, too.  So, when I stumbled across this article on making bread in a bottle, I thought it would go perfect in our gift baskets.  You simply put together the dry ingredients in a bottle or Mason jar, include the recipe to tell them how to assemble it with the wet ingredients, and you’ve got a thoughtful, delicious gift that looks neat too!

The recipe in this article is for Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Quick Bread, which sounds delicious but might be a little too sweet for some recipients.  You could use an unsweetened bread recipe instead, or go for something like zucchini bread or banana bread.  Everyone has to figure out what to do with bananas that get ripe too fast, so this would be handy to have around.

You don’t have to limit yourself to just breads, though.  Cookies, soup mixes and other items that begin with a lot of dry ingredients all work well for this gift idea.  On my list for next Christmas is potato soup mix in a jar, one or two cookie varieties, and of course, bread in a bottle.

These keep for about four months at room temperature, according to the article, so you could mix one or two up to have on hand for unexpected gift needs.  Everyone loves food, so you can’t go wrong with a gift like this.
 

We have talked before about having a meal plan for main meals, and how it can be a very effective way to watch what you eat and save money on groceries.  Another way to do this is to have a dessert meal plan.  Not only will a dessert meal plan help eliminate guesswork after dinner, it will also serve to help you moderate the sweets your family eats.

At our house, we love to have dessert every night, but hate spending the time to make it.  As a result, we end up buying packaged desserts pretty often.  These not only cost a lot but also contain some questionable ingredients sometimes.  Packaged desserts don’t usually taste as good as homemade ones, either.

Once we started having a dessert meal plan, we were able to plan ahead for tasty homemade desserts that cost a whole lot less than packaged foods and have the benefit of tasting much better too.  Just this past week, we made a pumpkin pie at home.  Compared to the variety we buy from the store, it was absolutely heavenly.  It cost a fraction of the price too.

Having a clear plan on what you will eat for dessert will help you stay on track with a diet and have more self-control when you go to the store.  I would much rather eat homemade oatmeal cookies made with whole wheat flour and applesauce than the preservative filled alternatives from the store.

Planning ahead for your desserts makes sense financially and for your health.  You will get better tasting, healthier and much less expensive food.  Who wouldn’t want that?