What simple non processed meals/ingredients do you like?

Almo

I'm not working right now and caught a show on TV (channel 4 I think, lunch time) the other day about what goes into food. The bit I saw was about tinned grapefruit and particularly about how they remove every scrap of peel and pith. They wash the segments with hydrocloric (sp?) acid then use caustic soda to neutralise the acid. That's how they get perfectly smooth fruit segments (I assume it's the same for mandarins etc). Frightening.

Here we go, think this is it: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/food-unwrapped/video/series-1/episode-1/s1-ep1-perfect-grapefruit-pieces

zeebie

Garlic powder really helps with the taste of home made pasta sauces etc.

I love home made soup, red pepper and tomato, butternut squash, minestrone etc. All yum.

Roast chicken and stuffing made from scratch, yum.

lindseykim13

Almo wrote: »

I'm not working right now and caught a show on TV (channel 4 I think, lunch time) the other day about what goes into food. The bit I saw was about tinned grapefruit and particularly about how they remove every scrap of peel and pith. They wash the segments with hydrocloric (sp?) acid then use caustic soda to neutralise the acid. That's how they get perfectly smooth fruit segments (I assume it's the same for mandarins etc). Frightening.

Here we go, think this is it: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/food-unwrapped/video/series-1/episode-1/s1-ep1-perfect-grapefruit-pieces

No I love mandarins Just shows we have no idea what goes on in the factories.

Honeythief

I'm another from-scratch cooker these days. The easiest way to know exactly what's in your food is to buy nothing that comes in a packet labelled with more than one ingredient!

We buy almost nothing these days that doesn't fit that description. There are some exceptions (ready-made vegetable stock pots, booze, muesli bars) but it makes me pretty happy to be exempt from worry about what has gone into cheap burgers or pre-packed ready meals. I've just finished making a big pot of vegetable jalfrezi and I can name every single ingredient that has gone into it, right down to the smallest quantity of spice. It's a good feeling and I know it will be a good taste for tomorrow's lunch too

But to answer the original question: the simple unprocessed ingredients I like best are spices! They have transformed my cooking and bring bland food to a higher level of deliciousness. I never used spices two years ago but then a friend told me to buy Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food book and I never looked back.

cashewy

Cook from scratch a lot too and use dried and fresh herbs and spices all the time, also add just a little salt to some dishes but loads of black pepper as we love the flavour and it's good for you. Love using fresh basil, coriander, sage, rosemary, chives, parsley etc as a garnish or in salads, add em just before serving to get the best of their flavours. Also like adding lemon, lime or orange zest and juice to recipes, and using brown basmati rice, wholewheat pastas, buckwheat and quinoa as basis for dishes. Last night we had a buckwheat risotto made with chopped walnuts, figs, rosemary and toasted sesame oil, served it with soya beans, broccoli and tinned tomatoes with flaxseed, scrummy.

[Deleted User]

I have cooked mainly from scratch for most of my life mainly because I like to see what I'm eating.The pre-processed food has never appealed to me much anyhow.
Yesterday my DGS Danny came for a cookery lesson as he had decided to take more care of what he was eating and thought that by learning what was going in his food it would make him a bit healthier.He works very long hours in west London and often spends time eating take aways and at 22 he has decided that if he didn't start looking after himself a bit better it would make him ill.He plays footie at the weekends and doesn't drink or smoke .We made five portions of Vegatable curry and five portions of chilli all from scratch and they all went into the white plastic take away cartons so he could freeze them and take one a day to work as he can use the microwave there.He was so pleased with his efforts and couldn't believe how nice and simple it was to make.I think I have converted him to cooking from scratch as he wants to come back next week for some more lessons .I never put salt in food when I'm cooking if it needs a little afterwards then you can always add it if needed.

My late Ma-in-law always cleaned her teeth with salt and never had a filling in her life and died at 84 with a full set of gnashers :) But then she was a very frugal lady who didn't believe in spending money unless she had to :) to her toothpaste was almost decadent :)

I much prefer to cook with as many fresh vegatables as I can ,and I like to buy meat from my local butcher, rather than the supermarket, mainly because he has stocked organic and rare breeds meat for several years and his shop has won awards for top quality meat.
I would rather buy less meat of a better quality and serve extra veg than buy fatty or suspect meat.By the way I don't like burgers and never have done,it always looks like a piece of shoe leather in a damp bit of cotton wool to me :)

Eenymeeny

Very interesting thread thanks to op and all posters.
I also try to cook from scratch and am surprised that no one has mentioned making their own yogurt as I know a lot of OSers do this as well as me. If you look at the list of additives in some shop bought yogurts it's quite scary!
Note to op: my OH has noticed a definite reduction in digestive problems since eating more HM yogurt and cutting back on anything containing wheat.

Patchwork_Quilt

My particular favourite is butter - why eat a plastic vat full of chemicals (margarine) when you can have something made from milk and salt.

All the dairy produce we buy is organic and British. All our meat is British because I believe our welfare standards are higher. I'm not sure about buying mince now though, after the horsemeat scare.

We also cook mostly from scratch. In the beginning, it was because it's actually cheaper. Now, after so many food scares, it's healthier.

I would suggest that you grow your own fruit and veg if you have space. That's also very cheap and you know exactly what's happened to it in terms of sprays and pesticides.

Also, try to get away from cereals and bread. They seem highly processed to me.

Our favourite real-food meal would have to be roast chicken, with jacket potatoes and veg. You can put some of the meat in the freezer in gravy for another day, you can eat it cold, you can use the carcase for soup or risotto and you can even put the veg water into this.

marmiterulesok

My favourites for simple meals:

-porridge oats for my daily porridge
-a hearty soup usually made with potatoes,carrots,leeks,dried lentils and often pearl barley
-a vegetable and tomato sauce to have with pasta,using various vegetables and tinned tomatoes and herbs
-eggs.Nourishing and versatile.I tend to have them hard boiled and eat them plain with ground pepper or make an egg mayonaise.
-various vegetable curries with rice.The spices and rice cost very little if you shop in an Asian supermarket/corner shop.

On bread I like to have some Marmite with tahini spread,which is basically crushed sesame seeds.Very nutritious (full of protein) .A little goes a long way and a nice flavour,though it might be an acquired taste as there are no other ingredients ie salt and sugar.Almond spread is nice too and usually has no other added ingredients.Unless you get organic peanut butter,it's usually laden with salt and sugar.

I do like falafels so buy those,though I keep meaning to make them.Houmous is also very nutritious and easy to make.

Falafels,quorn/soya products,baked beans and tomato ketchup are about the only processed food that I buy really.

It's really worth checking the ingredients in all the foodstuffs you buy.I have come across a particular brand of tomato ketchup and marmalade that both use glucose-fructose syrup instead of sugar.I refuse to buy any product with glucose-fructose syrup in it.

Hope this hepls.

marmiterulesok

Eenymeeny wrote: »

Very interesting thread thanks to op and all posters.
I also try to cook from scratch and am surprised that no one has mentioned making their own yogurt as I know a lot of OSers do this as well as me. If you look at the list of additives in some shop bought yogurts it's quite scary!
Note to op: my OH has noticed a definite reduction in digestive problems since eating more HM yogurt and cutting back on anything containing wheat.

A very good point about yogurt!

I have a yogurt maker,but after a year of trying,couldn't produce a yogurt to the same standard as my favourite organic plain yogurt.I still have my yogurt maker and might try it out again one day,but my 'must-have' treat is buying an organic plain yogurt.

Flavoured yogurts and low-fat yogurts are full of sugar btw.Check the label:5g of sugar equals one teaspoon.Often yogurts can have up to or more than 3 teaspoons of sugar in them.:eek: