Go Fresh!

I'm a person of extremes. Once I know something is unhealthy for me, I don't bother tapering off or reducing the intake, I simply cut it out of my diet. Going vegetarian three years ago was a natural step for me. Going fresh two months ago, I didn't realize how unhealthy I had really been! Below is a list of food that I thought was healthy but upon closer inspection actually wasn't because of a few ingredients in the dish.

Unhealthy Foods & Processes

Frozen Food
--> It's as quick and easy as throwing it in the oven or microwave. It's also loaded with sodium, fat & saturated fats and calories!

Canned Food
---> All canned food (vegetables/fruit/beans/soup etc.) contains extra salt and/or sugar and preservatives (chemicals).

Condiments -->
Mustard, ketchup, salsa, salt, mayo, oil, sauces (soy sauce, pasta sauce, hot sauce, BBQ sauce etc.) and salad dressings are condiments that contain hidden preservatives, sugar & sodium.

Butter & Oil -->
Frying food with butter/oil will turn to fat in my body and will also raise my already high cholesterol.

Sugar -->
Is it just me or are people sugar obsessed? It seems like it's everywhere & in everything. Online recipes I read call for a ridiculous amounts of sugar, especially for pastries. And isn't it true that sugar turns into fat in the body if it's not used up immediately? Hmm.

Go Fresh! It's the Healthier Alternative

I don't want to return to frozen, sugary, salty, pre-packaged, pre-processed crappy food. I absolutely refuse to consume salt & oil and my body does not handle salad dressings---I get sick immediately. If I don't want something to stick on the pan, I use a wee bit Pam Olive Spray. I try to bake or boil my food as much as I can rather than fry. I'm in the process of weaning off of canned food and know eventually I will be completely fresh.

In the meantime, I try to be as fresh as I can, cooking from scratch sauces, entire meals to desserts. I find the flavour is always much better. And last but most importantly, I don't follow recipes to the letter. If the recipe says 1 cup of sugar, I only put in 1 tablespoon. If the recipes says add eggplant/asparagus/onion (all food I hate), well, I won't! I only use ingredients I see fit in a recipe. And that is my two cents.