Baby steps to better foods #1

[barleychown]

Sheri, is one of these close to you?

http://www.nancysyogurt.com/dealers/index.php

[Tina]

I do not care for Ovaltine much. I have issues with malt flavors. Boy, I sound picky. Malted milk balls and most malted things really turn me off though.
I was thinking of taking some chocolate of some sort and melting, then adding a little of the milk to keep it liquid. Then pouring the whole thing back into the milk container. Then maybe you can avoid that heated/rechilled milk flavor that is not so pleasant. You can better control the sugars involved that way. I have different chocolates to mess with. I like the taste of choc milk sold ready made in stores but I do not like the list of ingredients that is plastered on the side of the containers.

[barleychown]

Must be the malt that makes me like it. 

I agree...reading labels is freaky. One thing here and there adds up over the course of a day.

[Jessica]

Go ahead and walk me through it....thank you!!

[barleychown]

Here we go...

Ovaltine:

Sugar, Alkalized cocoa, whey from milk, and 1.5% or less of: salt, carrageenan, mono and diglycerides, artifical vanilla flavor, yellow 6, red 40, blue 1.


Hershey's syrup:

High Fructose Corn Syrup, Corn Syrup, Water, Cocoa, Sugar, Contains 2% or Less of: Potassium Sorbate (a Preservative), Salt, Mono and Diglycerides, Xanthan Gum, Polysorbate 60 , Vanillin, Artificial Flavoring.


Hershey's milk mix:

Ingredients: Sugar, Cocoa, Caramel Color, Cornstarch, Salt, Soya Lecithin, Carrageenan, Vanillin, Dextrin, Artificial Coloring (Includes Red 40, Yellow 5 & Blue 1), & Sulfur Dioxide, A Preservative.


What is carrageenan:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrageenan

What are mono and diglycerides?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diglyceride

Artificial vannil flavor, Vanillin:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanillin

[Jessica]

Thank you, Sarah!

[barleychown]

What is xanthan gum?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xanthan_gum

What is polysorbate?

Polysorbate 60 is short for polyoxyethylene-(20)- sorbitan monostearate. It and its close relatives, POLYSORBATE 65 and 80, work the same way as mono- and diglycerides, but smaller amounts are needed. They keep baked goods from going stale, keep dill oil dissolved in bottled dill pickles, help coffee whiteners dissolve in coffee, and prevent oil from separating out of artificial whipped cream.

What is soy lecithin?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lecithin

[barleychown]

Ovaltine: 18 grams sugar in 4 Tbsp. = 4.2 tsp per serving

Hershey's syrup: 20 grams in 2 Tbsp. = 4.76 tsp per serving

Hershey's milk mix: 21 grams in 3 Tbsp. = 5 tsp. per serving

Grams in a teaspoon = 4.2

**Serving size is 8 ounces, which is one cup...a literal measuring cup. How many only drink that much?

[Jessica]

Tristen probably drinks 3 cups at dinner.  I don't know why they don't make the serving sizes to be actual normal serving sizes.

[barleychown]

Because then the labels would scare the crap out of us. At a quick glance, you say "that's not toooo bad" when the serving size is rediculously small. 

[Tina]

When you look at all of those additives, none of them look safe or appetizing. Then you have to figure out where it came from and how it was processed. And figure out if it is good or bad for you despite the FDA ratings.
Thank you, Sarah. I am agreeing with you more and more that real and simpler is better.

[barleychown]

Pretty freaky, huh? You sent me looking for a better alternative to ovaltine. I don't like the additives in even it, although they are miles ahead of the others. 

I'm leaning towards my cocoa mix and an egg yolk for thickener/body.

[Tina]

I'm thinking that I don't need it thickened it all. But There are other options. If you are just doing a glass or so at a time you could add a tablespoon or two of your yogurt (make it a chocolate smoothie).
Do you have issues with food starch modified (corn)? That is the single ingredient in the instant food thickener that I have. It mixes instantly with hot or cold liquids and purees to add bulk for people that have problems drinking. 2 tablespoons in 4 oz. of water and you can eat it like pudding. Not that I want to.

[barleychown]

For some nutty reason, yogurt + chocolate is super yuck in my world. Don't ask me to explain it. 

Because I have my own hens, know what they eat and how fresh and how the eggs were handled, I  have no qualms eating or drinking raw eggs. However, I would never do it with factory eggs.

I have to go look for that product, Tina. I haven't seen it, but admittedly, I hadn't ever been looking for it. I do generally appose corn, but it's mostly an ethical thing, and I do use more than I'd like to. 

[Tina]

It is called ThickenUp and I found it in the nutrition aisle of Walgreens.
I used to be able to find dried flaked bananas in the baby food aisle when my older kids were little. It was a one ingredient item If I remember correctly  and it was great for adding a little bulk or flavor to baby stuff. Now it is only available through medical supplies, Kanana Banana, and pretty expensive. They use it in tube fed people to add bulk to elimination and for potassium and such. I would like to have that here too. If I find any out in the world I will buy some.

[landofoz]

Sarah, for some weird reason, none of those links worked for me??  I googled it all though, but just thought I'd let you know.

Potato starch makes a great thickener, and you can get it from the water from making smashed tators, I don't know how tasty it would be in milk though.

[barleychown]

These?

http://www.ndlabs.com/product/680?gclid=CJbEn7H90aACFRsVawodHE8xzQ

[Jessica]

The links worked okay for me.

I don't know that we really need a thickener.  Just the chocolate milk flavor.

[barleychown]

Sarah loo, that's odd. 

Jessica, part of my family's objection to "new" foods is the different mouth feel. They whine a LOT. 

[Tina]

These are what I used to find in the store
http://www.med-worldwide.com/kanana-banana-flakes-6-4-gram-packets-200-case-im-cp223200-p37235

[Jessica]

Yikes!  That is expensive.

Sarah, maybe that will be an issue.  I will try the ovaltine and see how that goes.

[barleychown]

Tina, I'll keep an eye out for that, too. It's too bad that is a case of 200...

I managed to poke more veggies into lunch by adding broccoli and shallots to a pasta dish I normallyonly use garlic and mushrooms for. Mike said it was good.   And we had Tina's pancakes for breakfast with fruit instead of syrup.  

[Dianna]

I am enjoying the coconut oil. I have used it twice. Once to fry salmon patties and the other time, squash. I can taste a "cleaner" taste, if that makes sense. I just did not like the aftertaste that canola oil left me with...

I love fruits and vegetables. We buy lots of apples around here and I picked up some bananas the other day. I always have carrots and celery around, too, and whatever else strikes my fancy in the grocery store...

We drink 2% milk around here. Should I be drinking whole milk? I cannot stand the jelly roll I have around my waistline...

We are going to buy groceries tomorrow night. I will look harder for the sea salt...

[barleychown]

I am enjoying the coconut oil. I have used it twice.

We drink 2% milk around here. Should I be drinking whole milk? I cannot stand the jelly roll I have around my waistline...

Here's my 2 cents...take it or leave it.  If I were you, especially with your medical issues, I would be looking for non-homoginized milk. WHen they homoginize it they are literally forcing the fat through itty bitty screens to break the fat particles, the smaller they are the less they are able to separate. Well, by breaking them, some feel they also make it possible for that fat to permiate your intestines and end up in your blood.

This guy also brings up other issues I have: http://www.formerfatguy.com/articles/dont-drink-milk.asp

[barleychown]

I don't agree with all his views, and I beleive non-homogenized is good, and raw is great. I do not advocate soy milk at all. Or really any soy for that matter.