Ingredients

I know what I eat. I cook most things from scratch using mostly whole ingredients. We buy a lot of vegetables, eat  moderate amounts of protein (usually,) and the only starches that we use on occasion are potatoes, pasta, or brown rice. Rarely do our meals come from a box, unless we’re finding ourselves on a budget. Being in Hawaii, our grocery costs can get kind of high, and a few boxes of Hamburger Helper can definitely help bring it down a little.

There are still boxed items that we use, however. I’m not about to start making my own cereal or granola bars. Laura and I are still pretty picky about these items, though. We look at the ingredients. I look for things that I know are terrible for you, such as hydrogenated fats or high fructose corn syrup, and avoid those items like the plague. So it always surprises me when I find out that people don’t do this.

You mean there isn't cheese in this box that sits at room temperature?

But it shouldn’t. I’m very aware that most people have a huge disconnect with their food. If I asked a random person what cheese it or how, in general terms, it is made, I would get blank stares. So it’s no surprise, that if a person doesn’t actually know what cheese it, then they wouldn’t know that their Kraft Shells and Cheese contains no cheese at all!