Looking for Sustainability ideas

I thought I find a way to keep costs down while still trying to stay eco-friendly. Trying to keep striving for sustainability. This a record of that journey.

Sometimes blunt and straight forward then sometimes sarcastic

This frugal crunchy hipster single momma is doing what she can to save Mother Earth while not breaking the bank!

Monday, February 15, 2010

I am craving sweets

I have tried to cut out or down the amount of high-fructose corn syrup we eat. This has NOT been easy to do.... Because so many items have HFCS in them.  Things you never thought they would be in like ketchup, salad dressings, yogurts, breakfast cereals,  pancake syrups,  juices (even the one marked real juice)  cookies, gum, jams, jellies, baked goods and barbecue sauce. We have heard and know that things like soda and  bottled drinks have  HFCS in them.  So we have been reading the labels when shopping.... The girls are  help too.  They also noticed that some items have corn syrup listed.  But I tell them that it's the high-fructose part that worries me for the chemical process to make a fake syrup that our bodies don't know how to digest is the problem.  You know the eat only what your great-grandmother would recognize! My grandmother used corn syrup for candy making.  But we try to find a brand with corn syrup for the most part.  Karo has been around since 1903 so I guess that is in my great-grandmothers time..... 
  I have reading things including a few blog posts on thoughts of  high-fructose corn syrup and learning more then I thought i knew about it.  It cheap to make and is very sweet.  It is sweeter than sugar making it easy to produce because they can use less and have a very sweet taste. I also learned of lab test that use high-fructose corn syrup and cells.  The cell became fat cells after a diet of high-fructose corn syrup.  hummm.  Or the fact doctors noticing that it play a big role in accelerate bone loss,  high cholesterol,  hypertension, and type 2 diabetes.  It is also said that men are more at risk then women but we women also have the issue that HFCS will mess with our hormones.  Between the food we eat and the hormone we take to prevent pregnancy we really should be careful how we affect our hormones. In my opinion.
So just like a junkie needing a fix I have really have had a sweet tooth lately.  Can it be from the withdraw of high-fructose corn syrup? Well I am learning new ways to cure that craving.

We have found that Welch's juices are HFCS free, well not the frozen punch type.
Simply Fruit from Smuckers which at first the girl said it tasted different but now love the taste and think that regular jellies and jams are way to sweet.  But my beautiful cousin and wonderful aunt has made fresh jams and preserves for us too.  yummmy.   And more important to the vegetarian Jif peanut butter but still concerned about rapeseed oil..... might be looking for a different peanut butter...
But hey they got a sugar coated breakfast cereal and told me hey it doesn't have HFCS..... hey sugar was the second ingredient and had 11 grams of sugar, but hey it's  high-fructose corn syrup free! LOL Not sure I am pleased but it has only one bowl per girl gone..... so I guess that they had a taste.  Oatmeal is slowly replacing cereal... no HFCS  there. But more important better for us. They really ask is it ok to add a little brown sugar? How is that healthier?  I tell them that the sugar adds to the taste and is far less sugar then most  sugar coated breakfast cereal.  I know if I remove all the sweet items they would want more and eat the worst... oh the fun!

What items have you changed to remove the  high-fructose corn syrup from your table????

ivy

2 comments:

  1. It is so hard to find convenience type foods without HFCS in them. I need to just get back to making my own stuff (cookies, granola, etc) but trying to find the time is tough. See if you can find a movie called "Kind Corn". It really highlights the corn industry in this country and is a big eye opener!

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  2. I try not to consume high-fructose corn syrup either. And I never use artificial sweeteners like aspartame. That stuff is horrible. I like Welch's juice too. Besides that, I'm trying to bake more. Not always convenient but is going green ever convenient? Lol! It's always hard to find truly healthy stuff.

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