Comments on: Put Down The Guar Gum: Tips For Cooking Without Your Favorite Chemicals

By: daydreamemporium

daydreamemporium — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 03:18:00 +0000

Great points, Devin, we all should cook more. On a related matter, I found a cool app for my Android phone, called Animal Free, which gives a long list of food additives, divided into animal derived and vegan, and a short description of how each one is made and what it is often found in.

By: devells

devells — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 18:39:39 +0000

Deb, you make a good point about cost savings as well. While those processed goods may seem cheap, it is almost always going to be cheaper to make it yourself. There is “value” added in those canned and boxed goods, and you pay for it.

Julie, there are certainly good alternatives out there as well. Not to plug my own store too much, but several of Trader Joe’s sauces actually don’t have any junk added. The biggest problems people have with them is the sodium, but honestly, I have heard and believe it to be true that you can really eat all the sodium you want (within reason) as long as you drink enough water to allow your body to process it.

Kristie, those sound delicious! You raise a good point about the healthfulness of cooked versus raw veggies. I think I will have to post on that, since “raw vegan” is such a fad these days. I am actually 100% against that diet, but it is interesting nonetheless, and they raise good questions. But cooked food is just so delicious, I don’t think the health benefits are worth it for starters. Anyway, keep cooking!

By: Kristie

Kristie — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 01:39:01 +0000

Since I went vegetarian I’ve had to make my own animal-free options in my house, and I’ve found that I actually love cooking! I love making homemade pizza… I don’t bother blending to make my sauce, I try to keep the veggies as less-cooked as possible to get the most benefit from them, so I bake the multigrain crust separate for 10 minutes, and then throw on a tossed bowl of (all organic) diced tomatoes, garlic, basil, kalamata olives and olive oil just long enough to get them warm. Delicious!

By: Julie

Julie — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 22:02:31 +0000

For those of us who don’t have the time or patience to cook (for me it’s primarily the latter), Amy’s prepared foods are probably the next best option. They are supposedly made with all natural ingredients, and most soups come in low sodium versions. Their tomato soup = perfection — that’s always my backup lunch or din option.

By: Deb

Deb — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 17:27:35 +0000

The other benefit is that it’s cheaper to make your own. I have always made my own biscuits and muffins, and wouldn’t think of buying those tubes of biscuits, nor would I pick up a 6-pack of muffins in the bakery dept. They’re easy to make and WAY cheaper! I also always make my own pie crust. Really, it’s not hard at all, takes maybe 5 more minutes than unrolling a frozen one, and again–cheaper by far.