Help me with a closer to nature, less processed diet.

[Selenite]

We don't eat alot of bad food although we could be closer to nature, less processed etc.

We eat wholemeal bread as it is what I prefer, I do know that wholegrains are better but there are so many different types out there, what is best for our whole family?
I have a breadmaker, would love to make some wholesome loafs however it is usually wholemeal or raisin.

We also east alot of pasta, I know there are many types of pasta available, we eat Colavita.

Rice - we eat basmati, is brown better?

I would love to have raw dairy diet however I am finding it quiet impossible to find raw dairy products, what is the best milk, chesse, butter etc?

Spreads, hummus? what other spreads and sandwich fillers are best?

I know these are broad and basic questions but I would really like to know if I am on the right track... any other suggestions welcome :)

[lucylu]

Hi Selenite :)

I think the idea of what is 'best' is pretty subjective.

Sounds like you eat a lot of grains, which you might want to consider reducing by replacing with vegies & pulses.

Basmati rice is lower GI (the sugars are absorbed more steadily) than brown rice, but brown rice is higher in vibre as well and minerals. I choose brown rice as I am normally eating it with something that is low GI so my blood sugar is fine. I like the taste better too.

If you are wanting to eat more whole foods, I highly recommend Jude Blereau http://www.wholefoodcooking.com.au/ maybe your library has some of her cookbooks? I have a couple and they are absolute crackers! Have not made a dud recipe yet! She discusses the benefits of various grains, as well as loads of other foods so the books are really informative as well as containing delicious, wholesome recipes.

My main advice would be to go slowly. Lots of dramatic changes can be really overwhelming.

[jodiemiller]

Depending on the brand, wholemeal bread is not really 'wholemeal' but can often be processed white flour with only a small portion of the husk and germ added back into it, with additional caramel colouring. Read the label carefully to determine just how 'whole' it really is.

Cultured butter is more nutritious and digestible than conventional butter, but it is also more expensive (unless you make it yourself). Unhomogenised pasteurised milk is your next best option to raw milk. High % Guernsey milk is also considered to be better than conventionally processed milk, even when homogenised and pasteurised, ... is it due to a lower volume casein protein or what? I'm not sure, maybe someone will correct me on this one.

Kefir (http://www.freshmilkkefirgrains.com/index.htm) is a great way to add nutrient value to conventional processed milk. I'm gonna give it a go. With kefir it becomes possible to make your own cheesy spreads (think quark, ricotta or cottage cheese) and you can drink the whey which is high in protein, or use it to enrich pastries, smoothies or anything else you would add water/milk/yoghurt to.

Another way to up the fibre and flavour of your usual recipes is keeping a stockpile of pureed vegies in the freezer. When you shop, instead of keeping, say, a whole cauliflower, in the crisper of your fridge, immediately steam it and blend it and bag it (or ice-cube-tray it) so that you can add pureed veg to anything and everything you cook. Mince dishes, mashes, pies and pastries, soups and stews and anything you would cook can be enriched with vegie purees. And the hubby and kids will never suspect!

Nuts are dense in good oils and nutrients - the fresher the better. Avocados are a super food and so are bananas. The three together form a just about perfect balance of nutrients for any body. All three can be blended (together or separately) to make a yummy spread for sandwiches or dip for crackers.

Are you open to sprouting? It's really easy and ultra cheap. Sprouts are also super foods and the beauty is the seeds to make sprouts take up almost no space in your pantry and all you need is a glass jar and a bit of cheesecloth (or whatever) and you will always have something fresh to eat with a meal or in a sandwich.

If you tolerate wheat, I don't think there is anything wrong with eating bread and pasta and white rice in moderation. Brown rice is definitely healthier, but it doesn't always balance with our usual recipe flavours. There are lots of yummy soup and salady recipes with brown rice though and that's the way I usually like to eat it - well cooked and accompanied by something with a strong flavour.

[Selenite]

The reason we eat alot of rice/pasta is because of the kids, my 'big' girl won't really eat meat and veg etc however she loves pasta/rice/couscous dishes, which always have vegies in them. Vegies and fruit are a given we all (except DH) get our recommended fruit & veg a day it is more the other stuff if you know what I mean, making better choices for the pastas/breads and bringing in foods we should eat more of eg: pulses. I personally love to eat beans, chickpeas, lentils etc as do our children but DH seems to think they are terrible (as he is a big meat eat where we aren't) so I don't cook them as much as I would like.

Bananas are eaten daily by me (yes, I have been paying the $18 per kilo, I need my banana!) the kids are just starting to get the taste for them, once again, DH not so much LOL. I used to have Avocados on sandwiches due to DD1 needing fat due to failure to thrive, I haven't been buying it lately although I really should Nuts, once again, I don't usually eat alot of nuts.

Sprouts, I have some on my windowsil :)

It will be a slow transition, as I am pregnant and breastfeeding I cannot have a shock to the system although I do not think our diet is that bad, it just could be better ;)

I will go a take a look at the link thankyou lucylu. And re-read these posts.

[mama_bel]

If you want to try different breads, I'd first try some wholemeal spelt flour in your breadmaker, and add different things slowly. You can add all sorts of things to bread to make it more nutritionally dense - LSA, chia seeds, high-protein flours etc. But it's easier to just change a bit at a time. I love sourdough bread and highly recommend it over using bought yeast.

I love wholemeal spelt pasta and it actually has a flavour and fills you up much more than white pasta. It's more than 3 times the price, generally, for organic, but it's one of the things I don't begrudge paying extra for!

Basmati and brown rice are both good choices for different recipes.

Cultured and Organic butter is hard to find and expensive, so your regular butter from the supermarket is your next best bet - the one wrapped in paper which contains: butter, salt, on the ingredients list. Salted or unsalted is fine, I think the amount of salt is negligible for most of us.

Salt is a tricky one - how many types of salt are there out there! LOL

Spreads - there are a variety of nut butters, if you have a food processor or Thermomix you can make them yourself. Tahini is nutritionally dense as an ingredient or spread itself. Hommus is easy enough to make yourself, or there are some decent brands in the supermarkets, just check the ingredients to make sure they're basic.

Avocados, Bananas, Nuts, Coconut, Sprouts and green leaves are all high on the priority list here when we're concentrating on health. :)

Your best milk is unhomoginised milk, A2 milk etc. Not always easy to get and usually up around twice the price of cheapie milk, but well worth it! For cheese, the best types are your basic ones like quark and other white cheeses. Often the dairies which produce the good milk also put out some good cheeses.

It's all just baby steps really, and it's what you do 90% of the time which counts... Not the times you choose for taste or cheap price etc. :)

I have always loved pulses more than dh. The kids like them. I pre-cook (either the beans, or the meals) and when they have meat or something I don't like, I can have pulses. Making up a big batch of dahl and freezing, or mexe beans, soup, lentil curry etc works well for us.

The best thing is to go shopping without the kids and really concentrate on what's out there, ingredients lists etc. Often the health shop and independent supermarkets will offer a lot more than your big chain supermarkets.

[Bron]

my failure to thrive (though I prefer failure to grow, they were thriving beautifully in all other areas) children were that way due to their wheat allergy. once i removed wheat from their diet and their bodies started to heal, they started to grow. wheat (and gluten but I never challenged them on gluten as the stakes were too high to risk it) can be an evil, evil grain (and chemical).

[Selenite]

Thankyou Bel, lots of great information there. I have recently changed my shopping trips to taking only one child as I can no longer manage the trip with two and being pregnant, it is 20 minutes each way and DD1 just wants to explore when we get there! So I only take DD2 as of last week who happily sits in the trolley so I will be able to take my time reading those labels.

The problem I run into is that I live in a small country town with no health food store or shop other thans the local supermarket, there is a great fruit & veg shop and we buy out meat from the local butcher who is great but the supermarket is limited. I go to the city every month or two for the girls appointments so I might have to stop by the health food store then and stock up on items where I can.

Bron, did you just try wheat elimination or is this common knowledge? I am interested as my 3 year old (in 12 days :() has failure to thrive, it is common with her chromosome abnormality and as mentioned above she eats alot of bread, pasta etc on a daily basis, it is a big part of her diet as it at least gets her to eat (she was on a NGT for 2.5 years so anything to make her eat!)

Off to reseach some more, thankyou for all of this information it has given me alot to concentrate on.

[lucylu]

That must be hard for you with your daughter especially.

Bron that is so interesting about wheat and growing. I knew wheat was not the greatest, but that is insane!

I think it depends who you talk to regarding wheat. If the person (nutritionist, naturopath, wholefood cook, healthfood shop assistant) is into wholefood, they are generally aware that wheat is really difficult to digest. We limit our wheat here - DP & I notice the difference in ourselves and we both notice it in the kids. I don't cook with wheat & use spelt & other flours instead. We have found substitutes for pasta and don't eat much now, but when we do we generally eat rice pasta. Luckily for us spelt is available at a couple of the places I regularly shop and I use that in baking ALL the time - it is delicious.

Don't know your budget, but I couldn't eat the way I do without my thermomix unless I spent a truckload of money on food each week.

[Bron]

Unfortunately, (or fortunately for us but ykwim) it was something we discovered through elimination and purely by accident. we were failsafe, justin's behaviour wasn't baseline, so wheat was the next thing we took out. i noticed after a couple of months he was growing. took wheat out of xanthia's diet and same thing happened.

I didn't try spelt with them (the risk of them not growing for a while was too big a risk for me), but I did try it with Josie whose reaction was very obvious, and she reacted to it as well. So some can be fine on spelt and others can't.

[jodiemiller]

Re: wheat flour, remember also that it is often months old by the time it arrives on our supermarket shelves - which means it is already rancid! Freshly ground flour is still packed full of nutrients and doesn't upset the tummy like the rancid flours can (for those who can't tolerate wheat - this could be why). It's horrible to note that flour really only stays fresh for a couple of days before it starts to deteriorate. I'm sure this applies to all flours - spelt, corn, besan, etc.

[mama_bel]

Another reason I love my TMX, Jodie (never use/d my grain mill much)...

Selenite, I also live in the country so I order a lot of organic and health foods online every couple of months. Might be easier than cramming shopping into your city-trip if you can find a service there? The service I use is in Far North Qld.

[Stardust]

The others have said it all really. We cook everything from scratch here. Try to grow own veg and herbs and keep chooks for eggs. Stay away from gluten and dairy (although my youngest and I do have yoghurt). I am yet to try kefir though I have some in my fridge. We are not 100% failsafe anymore due to treatments but we stay away from high sals and amines. Absolutely no colours, flavours and preservatives here and we eat as much organic as possible. I only buy free range meat and try to limit it, although we do eat a lot due to all the other allergies.
Good luck!

[michelle_j_r]

i have absolutely no idea what brands or kinds of pasta or breads etc are best... but for variety or introducing more food groups-

my kids love nuts so i stick a combo of nuts in most of our pasta or risotto type meals instead of meat. we always have huge bags of pine nuts, walnuts, cashews, almonds, and sometimes hazelnuts and macadamias, in the cupboard. We add them to smoothies too.

and curried egg crackers or corn thins- i boil the eggs and then mash them with a little bit of milk and curry powder and they have them in between those corn thin things.

when i make my own seedy grain bread i also stir through a tablespoon of homemade vegetable stock.

if DH won't eat much in the way of pulses and legumes you can always give those to the kids for their lunch, and then that way if the kids have a smaller meal at dinner time at least you know they got some variety through the day.

or even make a dip with chickpeas and tuna and cheese and break up some seedy crackers and carrot sticks and then it feels like party food for dinner.