So what's in a number?

Ok I know I've been a bit slack with my posting Ive been sooooo busy over the last couple of weeks.
So..... Over the last few weeks I've been through hell.  Their little bodies had become so reliant on the crap that was being fed to them and they were having withdrawls.  It was like living with 3 people trying to give up smoking with the mood swings and their behavior.  I am still getting attitude out of the daughter but that I think is more she wants to be 15 at the age of 6.  Some of you are wondering what was so bad that was in all that food I threw out?

Now when I do my groceries I shop by numbers.  Do you know that there are additives still in our food in Australia that have been banned in other countries?  Or if they are found present they have to have a warning label stuck to the product.  Pretty bad hey!

The most well known additive that is slowly being taken out of food is the number 282 also known as Calcium Propionate.  It is a preservative that is mainly found in bakery products and pasta.  This preservative causes kids to end up super hypo and can also be the cause of learning difficulties and aggressive behavior.  This number started causing me a problem..... It is in so many foods that my kids absolutely love :( The worst being garlic bread.  I tried so hard to find garlic bread at the local supermarket that didn't have 282 but to no avail.  So we started making it. Hubby has a herb garden so we have parsley.  You just need a fresh bread stick, butter, garlic and parsley it's that easy and the kids love helping to make it.  So I decided to do a bit of research into what else this horrid chemical is in.  Most bread now that you buy doesn't contain it however,  things like hotdog rolls and hamburger buns (you know the brand name ones that are so yummy and last in the pantry for about a week) they have it check out the label.  I also got onto a website of a well known fast food venue and checked out their ingredients list.  Well, as I suspected the kids can't eat anything resembling a burger or wrap from there because of 282.  I was surprised though there is some food that the kids can have from the golden arches.  Their nuggets are fine and so is a small Coke and biscuits.  Not the fries though :-S (weird I know).

Colourings are a big no no when it comes to kids.  They are in everything even down to good old vegemite :(  102 which is called Tartrazine (yellow) is found in things like cordial, confectionery, jelly and icecream.  Thought you might also like to know that it is also used to colour cosmetics, crayons, soap and can be used for silk dying.  Going on with the colour numbers you also have 110 or Yellow 6, 127 or Erythrosine (cherry pink or red), 122 Azorubine (red), 123 Anaranth (red) which is BANNED in the USA. The list goes on and on. It is absolutely rediculous.   All of these colours cause hyperactivity and can cause learning difficulties.

But in all seriousness if you have an iPhone download the Chemical Maze application.  It will be the best $8 you've spent. The next test will be when hubby leaves to go back out to sea on Tuesday and I have 3 munchkins to deal with for 5 weeks.

Now for the sorting....

Ok so I brought my iPhone application for the chemical maze and put myself to work (best $8 I've spent so far).  I started sorting through my cupboards.  I've up some pictures below of what got evicted from the cupboard!

I was totally overwhelmed with what was in some of this stuff.  Additives that have no need to be in there!!!  I used to by the prepacket cake mixes because it was so much easier than making cakes and muffins from scratch.  I don't know if anyone has caught on yet but I'm not exactly the best cook in the world.  Apparently that's why I married a chef lol.  But when dad is away working the kids have to have mums cooking.  I've learnt now not to cook things that he would normally cook because I heard that my potato mash isn't as good as dads.  My husband eats a lot of gluten free foods because they aren't as heavy as normal foods and I was quite surprised to see his gluten free cake mix in the throw out pile.  When he makes things like that the kids eat them as well so it had to go.

Cordial was one on the list of things that left the house (no surprise really) they have no artificial preservatives or flavours but the colouring is the one that does it.  A huge thank you to my mum for making the kids some home made cordial.  It tastes just like orange cordial so it got their tick of approval the bonus is it is so cheap to make.  Here is the recipe below if anyone wants to make it you can use any fruit instead of oranges if you like and after you bottle it you then just make it up like normal cordial (1 part cordial to 5 parts water)

Must be kept in the fridge and used within 6 weeks.


1kg sugar
1 litre water
juice of 10 oranges.


Dissolve the sugar in the water over gentle heat.  When sugar has dissolved add in the juice and stir.  Cool then pour into clean bottles.

Thanks for that Mum :)

I was however surprised as what they can still have it has all just come down to my you beaut iPhone app and reading labels properly.  Just remember just because the number isn't on the packet does not mean the colouring or additive is not present.  It may just be written on there instead.  For anyone who doesn't have a smart phone that can get The Chemical Maze app to help with their shopping, there is a book called "Fed Up" and another called "The Failsafe Cookbook".  Both written by Sue Dengate and they are awesome books that give you a real insight into understanding how food affects kids. 

The kids so far haven't noticed too much of a difference.  Even though I threw a lot out I just swapped things.  They no longer have muesli bars in their lunch.  They have been swapped for vegie chips (for anyone who hasn't tried them you so so so so need to they actually taste awesome!)  I am limited to what yoghurt and poppas I can buy for them but by reading the labels on packets while I am shopping there are some they can still have.  We are so far on day 4 of the no chemical diet and my house this afternoon after school is somewhat quieter which is good.  Normally by now they are fighting about something minute and I have a headache.  I won't see a major major difference for a couple of weeks but so far so good :)

A little about me.....

Hi everyone I'm Sarah and welcome to my blog.  This first blog I am going to tell you a bit about me and my family.  We consist of me, my husband Patrick, Callum who is 6, Rhiannon who is 6 (yep you guessed it I was blessed with twins), Noah who is 4 and Goose...... our dog..... thats what happens when you let your at the time 4 year old daughter name a pet.  The eldest of the twins Callum last year was diagnosed with Autism.  It wasn't as much of a shock for me as what everyone thought it would be.  He is very high functioning but needs help with his social skills, language and sometimes behaviour.  Rhiannon is a 15 year old trapped in a 6 year olds body, attitude and all (its great fun NOT).  Then there's the youngest Noah.  When he is good hes an angel but when he is in his "mood", the whole house hears it. 

My husband Patrick works away as a chef either offshore or in mining so I do spend quite a bit of time on my own with the kids.  He is gone from a week up to 8 weeks at a time.  Sometimes it's good.  Actually sometimes it's great.  None of this if mum says no ask dad or vice versa (I'm amazed at how quick catch onto that trick).  But sometimes I think I'm in the babysitting job from hell and wonder who the little demons are that are stomping around my house.

We have just finished the September school holidays and school just went back Monday gone.  I tell you what it was the best feeling I have had in a while.  I had a week where Pat was away for work so at least he was home for the second half of them.  I don't think I realised how much Patty did while he was home until I had to do everything myself (well attempt to anyway) while the kids were home.  I learnt a huge lesson over the school holidays.  Don't bother trying to do a full clean of your house while you have 3 kids under 7 there.  Apparently its their job to follow you around as you are already cleaning up their mess and play "search and destroy".  Halfway through, dad came home and I thought everything was going to be sweet but the kids felt the need to keep going with their behaviour for a lot of the last week. 

I sat there and thought "why the heck are my beautiful kids acting like such little devils?"  I then saw a story on A Current Affair titled Modern diet a Chemical Maze and I was gobsmacked at what was going into the food that we are eating.  Usually I'm the sort of mum that didnt get too much into food labels etc.  I could do a whole grocery shop at Woolies in less than 45 mins.  But after watching this article my first grocery shop took over 2 hours because I decided to take a look at all the ingredients in things.  It really cut down the amount of stuff in my shopping thats for sure.  I have sorted through all my cupboards and I tell you what there was a lot that left the humble space that is the food cupboard.

Tomorrow I will go a bit more into depth with what has ended up evicted from the kitchen and from my kids mouthes!!!