Cutting down on plastics touching my food

[kenny]

Well I'm not plastic-free.
I have just lowered what I use, which I do feel good about.
Now I'll probably get stuck by lightning.

Whole Foods?
No way.
Too poor.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Gosh, this thread is going to cost me a lot!

I did not know it was the chemicals in coffee that caused the problem. I don't want to grind my coffee! I wonder if there is any decent already ground coffee that is organic?

Oh, and do you wash fruit like grapes in the water and vinegar?

 

[TooPatient]

Kenny -- Just saw this article and thought I'd share here. There are so many chemicals in the stuff we use! Looks like there may be problems with even the BPA-free stuff...

Is Plastic safe?

 

[kenny]

Cripes, TP, I think I'll just stop eating.

Seriously, I'm loving my new glass jars, and am going to stock up on some more.

 

[missy]

Gosh, this thread is going to cost me a lot!

I did not know it was the chemicals in coffee that caused the problem. I don't want to grind my coffee! I wonder if there is any decent already ground coffee that is organic?

Oh, and do you wash fruit like grapes in the water and vinegar?

DS, my dh and I just started buying the organic ground coffee from Costco (Joey Kramer). I like it much more than the organic ground Whole foods coffee we had been buying. And it's a lot less expensive. But there are so many brands you can purchase that it's just a matter of trial and error.

 

[missy]

Kenny -- Just saw this article and thought I'd share here. There are so many chemicals in the stuff we use! Looks like there may be problems with even the BPA-free stuff...

Is Plastic safe?

OMG, what is safe? Oh well, I mean I am more than halfway through my life so at this point I will just take my chances. LOL.

 

[missy]

I've been using soap nuts for years for my laundry. It took some getting used to because the smell people associate with 'clean' usually is chemical perfumes added to their liquid detergent. Now the smell gives me a head ache. No candles (except bees wax) in this house either or any sprays/air fresheners. You can add essential oils to you light bulbs that will have a similar affect.

Get some wool dryer balls-those stop static and also reduce drying time by half if you put half a dozen in there or so. You can also add oil to the balls to give them a scent if you really want too.

We use e-clothes (silver particles and millions of threads per inch) to clean with. I swear I"ll never go back-they have mops and tons of other products too. You can get coupons for 20% off the whole order too which makes them more affordable.

We buy an organic farm share for $370.00 for 22 weeks and get a TON of produce. I am getting better at canning and will be doing more this year. We buy our meat from a farmer who doesn't use hormones/anti-biotics and grows all his own feed which makes it super affordable at $3.50 per lb if you buy it just a little at a time (for ground beef-other cuts are more) but it's only $3.00 per lb if you buy a half cow no matter what the cut. He also has greatly reduced the nitrates in his meat and even sells nitrate free bacon.

We get our eggs at a farm down the road for $2.00 a dozen.

I haven't cut out everything I want (I still use refined flour and sugars since honey and maple syrup is so expensive to cook/bake with but we use it when we can) and we buy our bread from a bakery to avoid all the extra things needed to keep the store stuff fresh longer. We plan on getting a good quality bread maker as soon as funds permit.

I should mention that I have almost stopped using the microwave-once in a while I have no choice but it's not good for you.


What is the water/vinegar ratio I should be using? Now I'm scared since I don't want to see what we've been eating even though I wash it. How long do I soak it for?

My SIL never washes her veggies. She did my baby shower and did a beautiful veggie platter and I couldn't eat it (the fruit either) since I saw her not wash any of them. I've even pointed it out to her before and she just rolled her eyes at me. Needless to say I don't eat her fresh stuff and have to stick to the junk at family events. At least I know whats in the junk lol!

I have given up on expecting people to cater to my wants these days so I just end up bringing my own food/drink to family occasions now. (Of course you cannot do that at your own baby shower lol). I have so many new dietary restrictions as of the last month that I don't even want to trouble people anymore. The list of what I can eat is much shorter than what I cannot eat so I have given up. Of course this is not your situation but I just wanted to share my solution- that I plan on bringing my own edibles to family gatherings. I wouldn't do this at friends parties though so there I just eat before and no one notices that I am not really partaking in the food/refreshments. It should be interesting to see how this goes down at Passover at my parents house this year. I just started this due to new health restrictions so we shall see. Wish me luck. I think my mom is going to be pissed. Haha. Though she did just finish making me special soup (that I love and hopefully can eat without consequences) to encourage me to eat more.

 

[Sky56]

Many people are annoyed by or don't understand dietary restrictions. I try to go to events not hungry, and indulge in the few things I can eat there. Sometimes it is frustrating: at events, all the desserts are off-limits because of my egg allergies, and even green salads can be dangerous to me if they've already put Caesar dressing on it.

After many decades of strict vegetarianism, people still ask me over and over (Yes, the same people)..."Do you eat fish?" People don't understand why I can't eat that delicious-looking vegetable soup...when it was made with chicken broth.

What I do is try to minimize people noticing my restrictions and try to deflect when it becomes of center of conversation unless they truly are curious in a good way, such as asking questions about how they could improve their health. Sometimes it feels like I am viewed as a star of a freak show, especially at some event where food is served.

 

[Sky56]

My family has been very good and understanding about it. My husband is a vegetarian also; he was before we met.

But it still can be awkward. A family member is the one who still asks me on a regular basis if I eat fish, and this same person was very annoyed at what happened at a catered event at a university many years ago. I asked the waiter if the green salad was vegetarian and he said yes. It was just about the only thing I could eat. I thought I made it clear to the waiter...and he came back with a beautiful green salad topped with anchovies.

I asked for another salad, and the waiter brought back the same salad with the anchovies scooped off. I didn't eat the salad...I didn't want to eat one that had had fish touching it. My family member was really annoyed and started making comments the whole table could hear. I try to keep my "oddities" low-key, but sometimes even that doesn't work. I wish you good luck at your family gathering.

 

[CJ2008]

furthering the threadjack:

Fancy Feast PATE Chicken and/or Turkey is what the online feline diabetes people have found works to lower BG levels and even get a cat into remission with diabetes. why? no grains, no fruits, no veggies, no gravy....things which cats do not need and actually can harm them over time.

the foods i was feeding had great ingredients and in some cases organic meat as well. however, turns out they also had other ingredients that are really bad for cats over the long run, especially a cat that is older and/or diabetic.

cats require high protein/low carbs. a good place to start your own cat food journey is here: http://catinfo.org/

dry food is definitely bad for a cat no matter how good the company and/or how good the ingredients and, again, especially for a diabetic cat.

we do what is called "tight control" and test Brita's blood glucose level every 12 hours. we then determine her insulin dosage then. her trend right now is 1 unit of insulin every 24 hours.....we may see remission! her diagnosis of diabetes was September 12, 2013 and she has greatly improved with the change of food. her weight continues to come down and her vet visit last month to get more blood work done came back excellent. no kidney issues which is good because the one problem with FF Pate is that it is high in phosphorous which is not good for cat with kidney issues.

no cat food is perfect. there are issues with guar gum as well as the vitamin K source in cat foods. in a perfect world I'd be making the cat food for our cats.

end of thread jack!

Thank you so much Mozo! (and you too, iLander!) I had totally forgotten about this thread.

I am definitely going to try that Fancy Feast food.

Kenny - I'm also trying to lower my contact with plastics. About a year or so ago I had one of those very detailed blood tests done and the physician I saw gave me several recommendations, one of them being to stop drinking water out of plastic bottles, which I did almost every day for decades, sometimes 3 bottles a day, when I would go to the gym. Ever since then I bought myself a Klean Kanteen and DH a glass water bottle and that's all I ever drink out of (except for very rare instances). I'm trying to get DH to do the same, but sometimes when he runs out of the house he will still grab a plastic bottle over taking the time to fill it from the fridge.

I also replaced all of my plastic food containers with the Glass Lock ones.

 

[missy]

Many people are annoyed by or don't understand dietary restrictions. I try to go to events not hungry, and indulge in the few things I can eat there. Sometimes it is frustrating: at events, all the desserts are off-limits because of my egg allergies, and even green salads can be dangerous to me if they've already put Caesar dressing on it.

After many decades of strict vegetarianism, people still ask me over and over (Yes, the same people)..."Do you eat fish?" People don't understand why I can't eat that delicious-looking vegetable soup...when it was made with chicken broth.

What I do is try to minimize people noticing my restrictions and try to deflect when it becomes of center of conversation unless they truly are curious in a good way, such as asking questions about how they could improve their health. Sometimes it feels like I am viewed as a star of a freak show, especially at some event where food is served.

Hi Sky, me too, totally. It gets to be so uncomfortable with some people who make it such a big deal even though I try to stay under the radar. I am glad your family is supportive. My dh is very supportive and loves cooking for me. Unfortunately for the most part it is viewed more as an inconvenience by my family and almost as an affront to them if that makes sense. Like I do it to annoy them. It's funny because none of my friends make it into a big deal but I still get flack from my mom.

I cannot believe that restaurant thought it was OK to just scrape the anchovies off your salad and give it back to you. That's ridiculous. Sorry you had that experience. It reminds me of the movie "Mother" when Albert Brooks was telling his mom (Debbie Reynolds) for the millionth time that he's a vegetarian and she said well you can eat chicken right? Hahaha, I felt his pain in that movie.

 

[Sky56]

So true, missy! Most people have specific foods they should avoid. I discovered what's best for me through experimentation. Also, sensitivities can change with time. Wheat doesn't make me sleepy like it did 30 years ago, and coffee agrees with me since menopause. You would not believe how fast annoying health problems disappeared when I changed my diet. Good luck to you!

 

[baby monster]

Kenny -- Just saw this article and thought I'd share here. There are so many chemicals in the stuff we use! Looks like there may be problems with even the BPA-free stuff...

Is Plastic safe?

Geez, now I have to replace the plastic sippy cups my kid loves. He drinks a lot of water and I thought we were ok with BPA-free ones. Can someone recommend a good water bottle for a child? I imagine it has to now be either glass or stainless with non-plastic lid. No straws because they're always plastic?