My first task was to go through the kitchen ... the pantry, the fridge, everything and get rid of all of the offending articles that don't meet our 'plan' ! We had to come to an agreement on sugar as some things have nominal amounts of sugar. I did some research and discovered that in order for something to be labeled as 'sugar free' it has to have less than .5 grams of sugar per serve. So ... that was our standard as to what things we could keep or not if sugar was the offending ingredient !
Now ... prior to this clean out, I thought we did pretty well. I didn't think we ate a lot of stuff with high preservatives, additives, sugar etc. I WAS WRONG. I mean, I knew our eating habits were going to change and I knew it would be drastic but my goodness there were some shocks !
Gum for instance. Full of preservatives and artificial sweeteners and things that cause yucky things to happen to people. Wheat Bix ... one of the two cereals (plain oats being the second) I let the kids eat ... is high in sugar. Lower than most cereals but still ... high. And no good for us in 2010. My balsamic and wine vinegars ... colorings and preservatives. Grr. I'm not happy about that. Worcestershire Sauce, Wasabi, Vanilla Essence, Sushi Rice Vinegar. All out.
Here's a few shots of what we had to find new homes for ...
Some things didn't shock me ... like, food coloring, candy canes, lollies, rice crackers, sprinkles.
The saddest thing that I had to get rid of was my Italian Dressing Mixes !
Oh so sad. Here I am saying goodbye ...
Now ... prior to this clean out, I thought we did pretty well. I didn't think we ate a lot of stuff with high preservatives, additives, sugar etc. I WAS WRONG. I mean, I knew our eating habits were going to change and I knew it would be drastic but my goodness there were some shocks !
Gum for instance. Full of preservatives and artificial sweeteners and things that cause yucky things to happen to people. Wheat Bix ... one of the two cereals (plain oats being the second) I let the kids eat ... is high in sugar. Lower than most cereals but still ... high. And no good for us in 2010. My balsamic and wine vinegars ... colorings and preservatives. Grr. I'm not happy about that. Worcestershire Sauce, Wasabi, Vanilla Essence, Sushi Rice Vinegar. All out.
Here's a few shots of what we had to find new homes for ...
Some things didn't shock me ... like, food coloring, candy canes, lollies, rice crackers, sprinkles.
The stuff in the fridge ... all those sauces. SO MUCH SUGAR !! Ridiculous ! And a fair few preservatives. Rory and I were both shocked by the lemon and lime that are supposed to be 'natural'. Preservatives ! I mean, these things will be easy to substitute for. Just use real lemon and lime. I usually do anyway, those are just there as fall backs. But that's part of what this year is about ... no fall backs !
The saddest thing that I had to get rid of was my Italian Dressing Mixes !
Oh so sad. Here I am saying goodbye ...
Seriously though ... I'll miss this stuff.
I thought about keeping it ... making it an exception but I can't do this thing half way.
So ... it's gone. It helped that it was out of date ... made it easier !
But only a little bit.
Seriously. Wasabi?
ReplyDeleteSo inspiring! Really though...balsamic vinegar and like Sabba said...wasabi? Weird.
ReplyDeleteWoooo hoooooo!!! Go Bon bon go!!!
ReplyDeleteYou won't miss it! Nope nope... you are going to find your own recipe to make your own italian dressing that is going to taste mucho mucho better!
Hugs.. Happy New Year!
Wow Bonnie!
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see your alternatives to all the sauces, vinegars and dressings! What about white balsamic vinegar? probably still full of sugar...
Praying for you guys! This is exciting!!
Shocking, I know !
ReplyDeleteThe Wasabi has two colors in it ...
And the Vinegars all had the same preservative in them ... even the white balsamic. The normal balsamic also had a color.
Normal white vinegar, cider vinegar and rice vinegar were all fine.
I have to tell you, Bonnie, I admire you for doing this! It inspires me. I don't feel ready to give up so much myself right now. I have so many other major changes coming up, I think I'd be setting myself up for failure to try to do this now too. But that doesn't mean I never will.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to reading how you do it, and the alternatives you come up with, especially for the Italian dressing mix. That's one of my favorite things too! :-)
I wish you the best of luck!! YOU CAN DO IT!!
ReplyDeleteLove
JJ