"My" Clean eating "Rules"

Yes, that is a LOT of quotes.  I want to emphasize that these are the choices I have made for my family.  True clean eaters go beyond these guidelines.  My family can only do so much!!

Prepared foods I still buy:

Pasta. I do not have a pasta maker, and while I was raised by an Italian, she rarely cooked (I was raised on prepared meals) and when I do try it comes out really thick.  I hope to one day buy a pasta machine and try to make my own. 

Bread.  I do not have a bread maker, and while I was raised by an Italian, she rarely cooked (I was raised on prepared meals) and when I do try it comes out really dense.  I hope to one day buy a bread machine and try to make my own.  Yes, I know I copied that description...LOL

Yogurt: I cannot live without my Chobani. Totally addicted. Yes, it can be a bit expensive, but I feel that the expense is justified based on how little I spend on other foods.  I usually buy it at my local warehouse store, which makes it much less than the grocery.  I have a super Wal-Mart in a neighboring town that sells it cheaper than a grocery as well, for when I want more flavor choices.

Graham crackers.  Because of my gallbladder problems, I have to eat as low fat a diet as possible.  While I bake my own cookies all the time for my kids, they still include butter and/or eggs which are too high in fat for me.  I have seen recipes for clean graham crackers, but they scare me.  One day I will try.

Pretzels. I tried to make my own, but they came out horrible! Still trying...

Breakfast cereals.  I do buy healthy ones, no artificial colors/flavors in my Cheerios, but there are some mornings my kids need that quick breakfast option before school.

Macaroni & Cheese. I am still perfecting the cheese sauce, but there are days when my son comes home from high school starving. There is no time to grate & melt cheese.  I do buy an organic brand though, none of the Kraft stuff.

That's about it.  Everything else is made by me with whole, natural ingredients. My grocery savings was unbelieveable when I cut out the higher priced foods. We'll talk about that in another post.

My "rule" is this: is it in it's natural form?  
Yes? I can eat it.
No? Why not? How has it been modified? (I am not grinding my own wheat into flour...) How many ingredients are on the label and more importantly WHAT ARE THEY? If I don't know what it is, I WILL NOT EAT IT.  With the exceptions above. :) But even in my exceptions, I read labels closely.  Minimal ingredients are key for me. 

That's about it!! Over the next couple weeks I plan on sharing some of my favorite "clean" products and I'll also share with you WHY I chose them as clean.  I think they WHY is as important as the WHAT.  When you are reading labels, be wary of products labeled "natural." I've been reading more and more about how food companies are abusing the term when their products are not truly natural.

In the meantime...happy eating!!  Kathy