During January, I tracked all our grocery shopping, and even took photos. I was following an unofficial 'challenge' to see how long we could go without buying anything other than fresh or minimally processed foods.
I updated this at the end of February, listing the processed (possibly ultra-processed) products that we had bought during the month. They were still minimal. And by that stage I was taking more notice of the ingredients of even standard products which we had previously bought: packaged tortillas, for instance, or pitta bread.
I did try making pitta bread early in March, but it wasn't very successful:
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So I looked at the ingedients on the packs of pitta breads which we can buy fairly inexpensively at the fruitaria, and they weren't at all bad. They're locally made too; so pittas went back on our shopping list.
Tortillas, on the other hand, are over-priced here, and full of ultra-processed ingredients. So I tried making those at home, and was surprised at how straightforward it was. I had to do a lot of rolling, even if using a tortilla press initially, but the results were tasty.
They're not as big as the ones we get in packets, nor as soft - but then the softness is in part due to the additives. And so long as I stack them in a tea-towel as I cook them in the pan (no oil, no extra flour, just a couple of minutes each), they roll well enough to make enchiladas:
The shape isn't perfect but it's not bad. Well worth the extra effort, I think - it's not that time-consuming, after all; the cost is minimal, and they have to be healthier than the shop-bought tortillas that we can find here.
I'm still making all our bread and (at times) bread rolls, so the only bread product we're buying again is the local pittas.
I've made several nut-based 'cheese' substitutes, which have mostly been successful. There's a basic cream cheese which I've used for making cheese frosting on a cake, a kind of mozzarella which works well on pizza, and a harder cheese which can be sliced. None of them take very long, and the taste is good, though I'm still working on flavourings. I don't add nutritional yeast flakes, as they are a migraine trigger, unfortunately.
However, I haven't found a way to make cheese that's grateable, for instance to put on enchiladas, after the tomato sauce is poured over them. So we're buying a 'Violife' brand of grated vegan cheese which tastes reasonable, melts reasonably, and isn't too bad ingredient-wise.
On the other hand, I've never had much joy with making home-made 'butter' equivalents. Happily there's a new Flora plant-based spread called 'buttery' which isn't too bad ingredient-wise, and which tastes extremely good. It isn't always available here, but the last time I saw some in Metro I bought three packs, and we froze two of them as the expiry date wasn't all that long.
The other thing we're buying is mayonnaise, Helleman's brand. We don't eat a lot of it, and it does have one or two ultra-processed ingredients in it. I've tried making home-made mayonnaise with aquafaba, but it doesn't taste as good, and it's a major hassle. It also doesn't keep very long.
But I think that's all I'm buying that is more than minimally processed. Well, other than Greek yogurt for me, and a vegan yogurt (Planton brand) for Richard. And, I guess, canned coconut milk which I use to make most of our ice creams. Also breaded fish, mentioned in the previous post.
Oh, and Lidl brand dark chocolate.
Of course, there are other dietary concerns which we need to be aware of: too much sugar isn't good for us, nor is too much saturated fat, even though both sugar and coconut oil count as minimally processed. But we only really eat desserts when we have guests, and we don't use that much coconut oil. We do have quite a few nuts, but they have plenty of health benefits.
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