Could you take the six ingredient challenge?

Over on Reduce Footprints, our host has us shopping with a difference for this week’s Change the World Wednesday.

She’s challenging us to eat more whole foods; but she’s making it fun. According to her, if you buy foods with more than six ingredients on the label, the chances are it’s not particularly good for you or the environment.

In other words, the less processed a food is, the better it is for the environment – and you!

Small footprints says “This week, buy only foods with 6 or fewer ingredients” and she shares a great tip: “shop the perimeter of the store rather than the center isles”. We’re also encouraged us to say no to high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils and to choose non-GMO foods.

I have to say this is pretty simple for me – here’s what I ate yesterday:

Breakfast:

Porrage made with 1/3 soy milk and 2/3 water, natural bio yogurt, apple and apricot smoothie

Mid morning:

Home made smoothie made with blueberries, apricots and apple.

Lunch:

Jacket potato with roasted beetroot, steamed carrots and broccoli with a portion of home made dahl

Dinner:

home made soup made from leek, garlic, kale, Brussels sprouts and chickpeas

If you don’t buy processed food then you’re onto a winner. However I DO have some stuff in the freezer for those ‘can’t be bothered to cook’ moments. And Little Miss Green is getting more and more of a taste for such things. I sometimes make dishes such as lasagne, fish pie and stews and casseroles, but I also know my limitations and have processed food on standby.

Having said that I do pay attention to the brands I buy and the ingredients they use. While I don’t pretend the food is good quality or full of nutrition I do stay away from chemical flavourings and colours. For example, the ingredients in the fish pie are:

Potato, Milk, Smoked haddock 15%, Salmon 6.5%, Double cream, Tomato, Plain flour, Butter, English mustard, Lemon juice, Fresh parsley, Sunflower oil, Salt, Pepper, Nutmeg.

No different to the ingredients I would use for a home made dish.

While the casserole contains:

Potatoes, Lamb, Carrot, Water, Peas, Onion, Flour (Rice, Potato, Tapioca, Maize, Buckwheat), Butter, Lamb Stock, Tomato Puree, Sea Salt, Mint, Black Pepper.

Apart from the ‘lamb stock’ which doesn’t stipulate the ingredients I feel that’s ok as an occasional meal too.

If I wanted to step up to the mark then I could plan a batch cooking day and fill up the freezer with our own ‘ready meals’. I know that I always feel good when I’ve put the effort in, I can make organic dishes for the same price as non-organic shop bought AND it’s better for Little Miss Green’s health.

That’s my Saturday planned then – thanks Small Footprints!

What about you? Is there a processed food you could swap for home made?