It seems like everywhere you look nowadays something new is being declared bad for us.  As a working mom I always try to feed my family healthy and nutritious foods, but that can be time consuming.  Two years ago my family made a move to eliminate processed foods from our diet and as a result we are healthier than ever.  I have learned how to make just about everything we need and I have found I enjoy it and it really doesn’t consume that much of my time.  I still buy organic bread, butter and yoghurt but I have began making just about everything else myself and I find that everything I make is tastier and we have saved tons of money.

How can you save money and buy organic you ask?  You pay more for processed foods, so with some creative menu planning you can feed your family organic, and for even less money than you usually spend.  I buy whole chickens and break them down myself which equates to several meals, stir fry, pastas, soups.  I buy organic bread from a bakery and stale bread gets tossed with garlic and olive oil to make croutons for my salad.  Left over meat goes great in soup, stir fry or as a pizza topping.  We don’t eat meat every night either, sometimes a nice vegetarian pizza or vegetable ravioli is enough.

Crock pot cooking is a huge time saver.  I like to put a pork loin in the crock pot for super tender pulled pork, add your own homemade Carolina Bar B Q sauce and you’ve got an instant family favorite.  There are tons of recipes available to you on the internet, use them!  Many things you can make with ingredients you have on hand right now.  

Processed foods are full of chemicals and preservatives that may or may not be harmful to you and your family, why take the chance when it’s cheaper and better for you to make your own?  We even make tea and put into individual bottles for the kids and we sweeten with real sugar or stevia, no aspartame in our house!

Start out small and make a few key changes around your house and soon you will be ready to eliminate all processed foods from your home.  I once suffered from debilitating migraines and took a variety of medicines to keep them at bay.  At this time I haven’t had a migraine in more than a year and I am taking no medication to control them.  I have to credit my new additive free diet with my newfound health.  If you or someone in your family suffers from health problems maybe it’s time to try a healthy, additive free diet.  It can’t really hurt can it?