Pitfalls of Home Cooking

Our family is up in arms. There are so many hazards to eating- we don't know what to eat anymore! On top of MSG, try avoiding BPA and fluoride, and you've got a nightmare!

Fifty-five of the 62 recipes I regularly use had some problem or another with MSG. Perhaps they're common to your cooking, too. The most frequently used by us are:

• Chicken broth save and freeze in small containers broth from chicken from chicken that has "no natural flavoring added" (read package)
• Cream of Chicken or Cream of Mushroom Soup substitute cream sauce, sour cream whole whipping cream, half cream/half milk, half sour cream/half milk, homemade yogurt, whole milk, or bean recipe
• Chicken Bouillon or Beef Bouillon I use the real ingredients listed on the back: salt, garlic powder, onion powder; May add broth, too
• Cheddar Cheese try to find cheese without enzymes, just rennet or cultures (impossible), and replace aged cheeses with mild varieties such as mozzarella or Colby. Many hard cheeses contain MSG. The powerful "enzymes" used in modern times breaks the protein into it's amino acids, one of which is glutamate. (Anglesey, 86)
• Can of Tomatoes or Tomato Sauce Look for brands that use white lining in cans such as Muir Glen products. Avoid products with citric acid. Substitute fresh tomatoes, home canned, or frozen tomatoes.
• Chili make homemade- recipe here
• Canned Mushrooms often contain citric acid; substitute fresh
  
• Soy sauce use ginger and Oriental five spice powder
• Salsa often contains added citric acid; make homemade
• Mayonnaise substitute plain sour cream (read labels; Knudsen's whole sour cream), homemade mayonnaise (store in the coldest part of your refrigerator (the bottom and back) for up to two weeks), plain homemade yogurt, mashed avocado, olive oil or butter spread on bread, or mix
  1 C sour cream
  1 tsp oil
  1 to 2 tsp sugar
  salt and pepper to taste
  2 tsp lemon juice or vinegar
  1/2 tsp mustard if desired (Anglesey, 85)

Less common but still prevalent in our recipes:

• non-fat milk solids
• feta cheese
• Worchestershire sauce
• Falafel mix
• enchilada sauce
• ketchup- go to www.msgmyth.com, click on recipes
  
• Frozen Breaded Chicken
• Taco seasoning
• Au Jus packets
• Horseradish sauce
• Marinade packets
• Box chicken dressing/stuffing
• tomato soup
• bottled spaghetti sauce
• Italian style bread crumbs
• chicken gravy mix
• Hoagie buns
• Hamburger buns
• Tortillas
• meats (read labels for no natural flavorings)
• ramen noodles
• Rice mixes
• Boxed add-meat dinners
• cottage cheese

Things not containing MSG, but which often contain nitrates:
Pepperoni
Deli meat
bacon
packaged corned beef roast

Things we'd commonly eat for lunch which may have MSG:

• cream cheese
• store-bought bread with dough conditioners, etc.
• mayonnaise
• cheddar cheese
• hummus mix
• jelly
• canned soup
• tuna fish (read label for no "broth")
• feta
• instant lunches
• hot-pocket type pizzas