Heaven Kneads

Saving Money and Replacing UPFs with These 4 Quick and Easy Staples

We are often told that convenience comes at a price, but when it comes to Ultra-Processed Foods (UPFs), we are paying twice: once at the checkout and again with our health. Taking back control of your kitchen doesn’t have to mean spending all day over a stove. By swapping just four common staples for “from-scratch” versions, you can eliminate inflammatory oils and mystery additives while keeping your grocery budget in check.

As it says in 1 Corinthians 10:31, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” Even the simple act of preparing a granola bar can be an act of stewardship for the body you’ve been given. I pray these 4 swaps will encourage you and motivate you!

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• The UPF Offender: Store-bought “Whole Wheat,” White Bread, or “Sourdough” Bread.
• The Reality Check: Most commercial breads contain dough conditioners like DATEM, preservatives like calcium propionate, and added sugars to speed up the rising process. Check the label, please! CTL!
  • INGREDIENTS: ENRICHED BLEACHED FLOUR, WATER, VEGETABLE SHORTENING (INTERESTERIFIED AND HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OILS), SALT, SUGAR, BAKING SODA, SODIUM ACID PYROPHOSPHATE, DISTILLED MONOGLYCERIDES, ENZYMES, FUMARIC ACID, CALCIUM PROPIONATE.
• The Heaven Kneads Swap: My signature loaf. It’s three ingredients: organic flour, water, and salt. It costs pennies (or, I guess I should say around a nickel now) to make, while the “good” store-bought stuff is pushing $4.00–$6.00 yet still full of additives. If you need a sourdough starter, we have it in our shop already dehydrated. By using a long fermentation process, the wild yeast breaks down the gluten and phytic acid, making it easier to digest.
  • Looking for a sourdough alternative? If you’re ready to ditch the mystery ingredients today, I just posted my Ultimate Sandwich Bread Guide. It’s virtually foolproof and works perfectly with both all-purpose and fresh-milled flour!
• The Move: Once you taste real bread, you can never go back to the sponge. Pick one day a week to bake two loaves or more, and freeze any you don’t plan to use within the week.

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• The UPF Offender: Boxed muffin mixes or plastic-wrapped “megamuffins.”
• The Reality Check: These are packed with modified food starch, mono- and diglycerides, and artificial flavorings. They aren’t breakfast; they’re a sugar crash waiting to happen.
  • INGREDIENTS: ENRICHED FLOUR, CANOLA OIL, PALM OIL, SUGAR, SALT, LEAVENING, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, SOY LECITHIN, NATURAL FLAVOR.
• The Heaven Kneads Swap: A batch of my homemade muffins. I like to use my banana bread recipe for these. You control the sugar, use real butter, and toss in actual bananas.
• The Move: Bake a double batch and freeze them. It’s “instant” breakfast without the chemical crash, and great as a crumble for yogurt!

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• The UPF Offender: Store-bought flour tortillas and bagged tortilla chips.
• The Reality Check: Most contain fumaric acid, guar gum, and hydrogenated oils. Bagged chips are almost always fried in inflammatory seed oils like corn or vegetable oil that have been heated for excessive amounts of time.
  • INGREDIENTS: ENRICHED BLEACHED FLOUR, WATER, VEGETABLE SHORTENING (INTERESTERIFIED AND HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OILS), SALT, SUGAR, BAKING SODA, SODIUM ACID PYROPHOSPHATE, DISTILLED MONOGLYCERIDES, ENZYMES, FUMARIC ACID, CALCIUM PROPIONATE, SORBIC ACID.
• The Heaven Kneads Swap: My Sourdough Tortillas. They use up that sourdough discard you’ve got in the fridge. Pro Hack: Cut these into triangles and fry them in tallow or avocado oil for a crunch that puts the grocery store to shame.
• The Move: They store beautifully for a few days, so you’re always one minute away from a taco night or a snack attack. The dough can be made in advance, and one batch makes many!

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• The UPF Offender: Store-bought granola or protein bars.
• The Reality Check: Most “healthy” bars are essentially candy bars in disguise. They rely on soy protein isolate, maltodextrin, and inflammatory vegetable oils to stay shelf-stable and “chewy.”
  • INGREDIENTS: ROASTED PEANUTS, CORN SYRUP, SUGAR, WHOLE GRAIN OATS, DARK CHOCOLATE CHUNKS, RICE FLOUR, PALM KERNEL OIL, ALMONDS, FRUCTOSE, COCOA, VEGETABLE GLYCERIN, CANOLA AND/OR SUNFLOWER OIL, SALT, SOY LECITHIN, CORN STARCH, BARLEY MALT EXTRACT, MILK, BAKING SODA, NATURAL FLAVOR, VITAMIN E.
• The Heaven Kneads Swap: My Homemade Raw Granola Bars. These use a base of organic rolled oats and peanut butter, sweetened naturally with agave date syrup or local honey. No refined sugars, no mystery fillers. Mix organic rolled oats, peanut butter, local honey (or agave date syrup), sea salt and other inclusions of your choosing (I like to add almonds and Lily’s chocolate chips). Press into a pan, chill, and drizzle with sugar-free chocolate if preferred.
• The Move: Ready to ditch the wrappers for good? I just uploaded my Ultimate Batch-Prep Protein Granola Bars recipe. It uses the “Dry Base : Protein : Binder” ratio I use in my “kitchenlab”—perfect for avoiding those mystery grocery store fillers and fueling with intention.

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Your Next Step

You don’t have to change your whole life overnight. Just pick one of these this week. If I were you? Start with the bread. > Get the Basic Sandwich Bread Recipe Here

Ready to start your baking journey? Browse all my Heaven Kneads recipes and let’s get back to basics!