Post Ala8pBqSZ3YVNfQUam by CurlyParakeet@mastodon.online
(DIR) More posts by CurlyParakeet@mastodon.online
(DIR) Post #Ala8ojIShriuq7IwiG by CurlyParakeet@mastodon.online
2024-08-30T10:19:50Z
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The month of no Ultra Processed Food (UPF) is over(ish).I haven’t posted about this that much really, but the aim of the game was to quit all UPF. This stemmed from reading Ultra Processed People by Chris van Tulleken and finding that it spoke about something in our household eating habits that had troubled me for a while.So we quit. 100% UPF free. What have I learned from this? 1/N 🧵 #food #diet #upf
(DIR) Post #Ala8okCTLcWhdpVg12 by CurlyParakeet@mastodon.online
2024-08-30T10:21:14Z
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To do this, I defined #UPF as anything made from ingredients I wouldn’t use to make the same thing at home from scratch. So no palm oil, no sweeteners, no flavourings etc. etc. As a starting point I honestly thought we were already pretty much there. Most of the #food was home cooked, not much in the way of UPF. Or so I thought.2/N
(DIR) Post #Ala8okwuYxfnxrElOq by CurlyParakeet@mastodon.online
2024-08-30T10:23:33Z
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What transpired was that there was a bit of #UPF creeping into every meal. Frozen pizzas were obvious. But the frozen chips had to stop too. And the fruit squash, the bread, the condiments, the biscuits and the cereal. They all had extra ingredients in them. All had to go.Now obviously I didn’t throw anything away. If it was perishable it got eaten and if it would keep, it stayed in the cupboard.3/N
(DIR) Post #Ala8olA1mCAIcXNEqO by CurlyParakeet@mastodon.online
2024-08-30T10:24:21Z
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#Bread was off the shopping list, so I bought a bread maker. Ok, this wasn’t cheap, but I think over 2 months the savings in my grocery bill from not buying UPF would cover it.Yes, savings.I hadn’t expected this, but buying the ingredients rather than the UPF was coming in cheaper. About 20% cheaper per week.4/N
(DIR) Post #Ala8om0qboPrGM5QAq by CurlyParakeet@mastodon.online
2024-08-30T10:24:48Z
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The flip side of the lower grocery bill is the massive increase in “store cupboard staples” you buy - each week I’m buying:4.5kg bread flour2kg oats1kg ground almond1 kg self raising flour1 kg plain flour1.5kg butter1.5kg sugar12-18 eggs5/N
(DIR) Post #Ala8omdqGpblDIKYxE by CurlyParakeet@mastodon.online
2024-08-30T10:25:13Z
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Yes, 1.5kg of butter.6/N
(DIR) Post #Ala8oqiF8PVNq6Q8My by CurlyParakeet@mastodon.online
2024-08-30T10:27:19Z
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For context, this is for a family of 6, but it’s still a f*ck of a lot of butter. The reason for the butter mountain is that cakes and biscuits need butter*. And these are required to plug the gaps left by the lack of biscuits and oatcakes and mini cheddars and sweets. Snacks basically. *I know not all cakes and biscuits need butter but they mostly need fats7/N
(DIR) Post #Ala8osgBp13DwJTWRk by CurlyParakeet@mastodon.online
2024-08-30T10:27:46Z
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On the whole the family liked it. Fresh bread was an instant win, as were the home baked snacks.Also people are full after a meal. So much so that I need to reduce portion sizes. My assumption is that no UPF means less over eating, but that’s just an assumption.It feels a bit like TradWife cosplay sometimes though. 8/N
(DIR) Post #Ala8owylpsI5H6CPxo by CurlyParakeet@mastodon.online
2024-08-30T10:28:15Z
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The TradWife comment is a joke, but it is very closely linked to the elephant in the room - the reason why my shopping bill was more expensive with the UPF. It was the price for my time.9/N
(DIR) Post #Ala8oyy8RCyFRhuwFc by CurlyParakeet@mastodon.online
2024-08-30T10:28:45Z
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If you’re doing everything from scratch, even with a bread maker, it’s still taking up an awful lot of time. So what does that look like in reality:10/N
(DIR) Post #Ala8p0ufD5NlTWJC7M by CurlyParakeet@mastodon.online
2024-08-30T10:29:32Z
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To get the evening meal ready. Beef stir fry. That does my lunch for the next day too - win. But the next day needs oatcakes for snacks in lunchboxes. Ok, make the oatcakes. 10 mins to make, in the oven, 10 mins to clean up. Next up cupcakes, 10 minutes to make, oatcakes out, cupcakes in, 10 minutes to clean up. Frangipani for the gluten free in the family, 10 minutes to make, cupcakes out, frangipani in, 10 mins clean up.1 hour for snack making.11/N
(DIR) Post #Ala8p5s0mNEQqk6eB6 by CurlyParakeet@mastodon.online
2024-08-30T10:29:59Z
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Then onto the meal making which isn’t any different to normal. But that 1 hour of baking and prepping is there nearly everyday. And in reality it takes longer.And if it’s pizza night, that means the bread maker needs to go in 45 mins before I want to put them in the oven - not much effort, but extra cognitive load. Same with burger night. That starts about 3 hours before I start cooking so I can make rolls. 12/N
(DIR) Post #Ala8p7y6yfIdMEyXxo by CurlyParakeet@mastodon.online
2024-08-30T10:30:25Z
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And yes, this sounds like a whinge, but it’s not. It’s frustration.Frustration that I can’t avoid UPF without needing to find an extra hour (or 3) in the day.I really enjoy all the baking and cooking, but it’s damn hard to balance with a full time job. And I’m not sure how it’s going to work when school goes back after summer and I start to have more commitments at work. 13/N
(DIR) Post #Ala8pBqSZ3YVNfQUam by CurlyParakeet@mastodon.online
2024-08-30T10:31:30Z
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So there it is. I’ve spent a month avoiding UPF and found out my family can eat a lot of butter. But they are happy and eating less shite.I also realised that I only have the skills to cook and bake because my mum was a house wife and I grew up watching her do it.And I found out how time poor I am but now know I need to find time to bake and cook so I can pass on those skills to the rest of the family. And so the no UPF experiment will continue. 14/14
(DIR) Post #Ala9VucCV78gOY80dk by adam@hax0rbana.social
2024-09-02T04:47:37Z
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@CurlyParakeet Thanks for taking the time to write all this up (and after taking all the extra time to make all those things from scratch!).It's great to hear both the good and bad.I feel like people need to hear that this means 7-21 hours of food prep a week, and that's just cooking, it probably doesn't even count tine for shopping, planning out meals to know what to put on that shopping list.If this were nostr, I'd give this thread a nice healthy zap (give you a tip)!
(DIR) Post #AlaLABU4Ijijn9jKcq by CurlyParakeet@mastodon.online
2024-09-02T06:58:08Z
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@adam Thank you for taking the time to read it! 😊