Good for you! In a few weeks you won't be able to imagine eating any other way.

Is fresh-water salmon farm raised? Farm-raised salmon does come with some cautions..

If you have not read "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kinsolver, you might enjoy it. It is an extremely readable account of her family's year of eating local and what they grew or raised
She has an associated website below

Here is a link that might be useful: Animal, Veg, Miracle

I banned frozen box food four months ago.

My freezer contains only meat, fish, and breads(we eat so little bread and rolls, I keep it in the freezer).
And, as the tomatoes and peppers come in, I'm pureeing and freezing the tomatoes for sauce, and frying up the hot peppers and put them in baggies.
Not only has the grocery bill gone down, but they like it, they really like it :)

I am slowly changing our eating habits too now that we are empty nesters and do not have a large man/boy to fill up:)

We have always eaten wheat bread products now I am using only wheat pasta too, yesterday we went to a natural certified organic store to check out what we might also try to change~~it is pricey but with just the two of us it should be ok. Only problem is the store is too far, so may have to rethink some items.

Jammer and I want to do the same. All the preservatives, additives, etc are scary.

I've been making changes in our eating since October. It's been a gradual process for the "boys" and more so of an instant for me.
I allow them things that I don't eat.
I will say though, that I did drop about 10lbs..but now have been holding steady...which means it's time to get my procrastinating beHIND moving more. LOL

Anyway, We haven't had fast food in almost a month.
I'm in a co op now that I get farm fresh milk and dairy, minimally processed and have just started us on Raw milk as well.
I get organic produce, and pretty much we only eat organic produce. Most packaged foods are organic/natural. I cook from scratch on alot of foods. At first the grocery bill goes up. But then when you realize you've not spent $100 this past month on Drive Thru, that money went to better quality produce and meat..and it's worth more than the MOMENT..You also learn how to best spend your grocery budget. It starts to even out again...And homemade baked goods cost awhole lot less than store bought stuff! And you get more for you money!
I buy as much home grown and organic meats and eggs as I can afford. I put my veggie garden back in..haven't reclaimed the whole space that it was yet..but I'm working on it. I'm giving my first try of fall and winter gardening ever!
I bake with Organic Wheat flour. I use a variety of grain/flours.
We use healthy fats to cook and bake with. I use only NON GMO products.
I also make purchases on some things based on what bringing them into my home does to the environment. Packaging and farming practices make a big deal to me.

I've reduce our actual garbage waste for a family of 5 down to 1 1/3 kitchen trash bags a week.(that includes the bathroom trash bag inside it too, and doggie doodles.) I'm tryin to get it down to just 1. We recycle and compost.

Just the foods mean a lot, but the environment means alot too.
I live on a septic system that is anti gravity, poorly placed and AGING! So I became even more careful after an interesting class 2 Springs ago.

Fast food, processed foods, even canned soups are on my "banned" list. Too much sodium, bads for me and my poor kidneys.

I am truly convinced that we have to go back to our pioneer roots, as far as food is concerned. The food industry is killing us with processed foods. With all the information we have about food additives I can't understand why more people are not changing their eating habits. As Terri said with the money you save from eating out it more than pays for the extra it costs for eating well.

So many people will agree with 'needing to eat healthier' but don't want to go to the trouble of changing over to mostly cooking their own meals. I do the Core program on Weight Watchers and read a lot of the boards there. One of the top reasons people don't want to switch seems to be "I don't have time to cook, or I don't know how, or I just don't want to, etc".

Shirley

It is true a lot of people don't know how to cook anymore. I blame that on the school system, they took out home economics in the schools and put in vending machines instead.

I find it kind of silly as a busy mom of 3 to say I can't cook. Of course at the moment I'm a SAHM..but we often aren't home until after 8 pm because of sports. So it's no different than a working mom.
You just simply have to learn to plan ahead.
Right now I have a home grown smoked ham in the crock pot. This frees me up the whole day.
We'll have slaw made with cabbage from the garden, and organic carrots I buy in a big bag from Costco.
I'll probably toss in a batch of Honey Wheat Rolls into the bread machine to make the dough for me, for the guys. (I don't eat very much wheat these days.)
From that ham bone I'll make stock and a pot of beans with some of the stock and the bone.

A few hours ago while I was cleaning the kitchen up from breakfast, I made a batch of my Banana Muffins for the guys.

If I were to go back to work full time, I would definately do the cook once a week thing...it all requires planning. Most of our meals would be pre prepped or partcially prepped one day during the week.
I'm including a link to a Google Search. Check out a few of the links. You can also find some of the recipes on blogs of those that follow this path.

Here is a link that might be useful: Nourishing traditions

I really love this blog..

Here is a link that might be useful: The Nourishing Gourmet

Stepping out of lurkdom...

I have been doing this, more or less, for a few years now. While my intentions at the start were for different reasons, (we stopped eating at MacDonalds until they banned smoking in the restaurant a couple of years ago), it was sometimes easier to "make do" than to bundle up three small children to go to the grocery store in the dead or winter. My husband suffers from bouts of GERD and sometimes the "processing" chemicals of some food products would upset his stomach. In recent years, I have learned to make my own pizza dough, tortilla shells, baked from scratch goodies, and loads of other things. We sometimes eat some great meals here!

What I find funny/kind of sad, is that I often get teased/groused for doing this. My nickname is Martha (as in Stewart). Many people don't understand why someone would "go to all that trouble" to make a plate of brownies. Last night, the kids wanted cheese quesidella (sp), so I whipped up a batch or tortilla shells and had them ready in the time it would have taken me to drive 5 minutes to the grocery store. They were tasty and I know exactly what ingredients when into them!

Best of luck in your endeavours at eating healthy and saving $$. But also take pride in the fact that YOU can create wonderful things to eat and share.

Annie
PS...while my friends like to "tease" me about all my homemade treats...I never, ever have leftover brownies after they come to visit :O)

The only thing I see wrong about what anyone here has said is the raw milk...there is a reason why they came up with pasteurization...raw milk opens you up to all kinds of bacteria. We don't farm organically, but some do and some don't.

Yes, I must admit I would have a problem with "raw" milk.

I won't drink or buy raw milk- my dentist bought raw milk from local dairy (with a superb reputation for cleanliness) and contracted Brucellosis. (aka Undulant Fever or Bovine TB.) He was unable to work for over a month & suffered residual effects for a long, long time.

Suzi

I've been trying to eat healthy for years. I go back and forth. Mostly due to laziness or being worn out from work. I do try and make a large quantity of something (spaghetti, curry, etc...) for the kids to eat while I'm working but sometimes I'm running around so much or working around the house or yard that I don't feel like it.

The hardest part for me is giving up cheese. I love the stuff. I finally realized that it's helping to kill me, along with not exercising. I'm trying soy cheese now.

I also eat a lot of those little frozen dinners at work, like Lean Cuisine and I worry about the plastic.

I'm trying to convert myself to eating oatmeal most mornings instead of leftovers or a sandwich. Today I had oatmeal with ground flax, skim milk, a little sugar and blueberries. Not very tasty but I need to start taking better care of myself.

If it quits raining I'm going to go out and plant some peas, beans and small onions in the garden. Next year I'm going to expand my garden and plant sweet potatoes, asperagus and winter squashes.

I didn't tell anyone that they too had to drink raw milk.
I said that I chose to give it to my family. It's my choice. It's not one I went into lightly.
I avoid soy and compromised grains. As in 'been genetically modified' and twisted about for the sake of easier farming practices..
It's my choice.

Will it make a difference to my boys and their ability to fight against environmental contaminents or even predispositions to cancers..Hopefully...

The pasteurized milk has no move of the above mentioned things than the raw milk does...raw milk can, however, be dangerous....there is the old saying, "too much of a good thing". In many places it is even illegal to sell raw milk...I'm just aghast that anyone "would" give it to their family. If they want to drink it themselves,fine, but giving it to the family???? WOW