Tried and True Mariah's Review and a Real Food Update

Oh my goodness, it's been forever since I posted about our Real Food Diet.  We are still on the wagon.  I have finally emptied my pantry and Lazy Susan of non real food items.  I don't know if you remember me saying we couldn't just throw all of our food away.  (More on that in a minute)  The only food items that come into our house, besides the Halloween Candy, are Real Food.  I want to share some tips with you today, as well as a review of the 100 Days of Real Food Cookbook.  So, let's start with the cookbook review.

I preordered the cookbook and have it in hardcover, but the image that came up was this one.  

I'm going to rate this cookbook at 5 stars. First of all, it is so beautifully done.  The photos and recipes are very clear.  The layout of the book is really well done with a very nice flow.  The first section of the book discusses the benefits of eating Real Foods.  I've followed Lisa's blog for a while now, and I even learned something in that section.  I should also note that I have even read all of Dr. Weil's books so that amazed me.  

The book is divided into the following sections:  The Plan, and The Recipes.  The recipes are very comprehensive.  She has breakfast, school lunches, snacks and appetizers, Salads and Sides, Simple Dinners, Special Treats, and Homemade Staples.  I really love the school lunch section because she provides the recipes and a Lunch Box Packing Chart that breaks it down very simply.

There are a few recipes that she has posted online, but most of them are new recipes.  In a way that disappoints me because I wish she would have put every single recipe into the book.  We've never been disappointed with one of her recipes yet.  That is not really a flaw of the book to be fair.  I realize it would be impossible.  Lisa also offers Gluten Free recipes or suggestions on how to make the recipes Gluten Free, if you are on a Gluten Free diet.

This is really and truly the one cookbook I use on a weekly basis when planning my meals.  It is hands down the best cookbook I've owned.  So many cookbooks are filled with recipes that you will never use because they are far too complicated or not to your taste.  That is just not the case with this cookbook.  One more note I will make is that I usually double or increase the ingredients in her recipes.  I have a family of five.  My husband and three boys just eat a lot of food.  

So, I do encourage each and everyone of you to make this purchase.  You will not be sorry.

Now onto the next topic.  Our Real Food Journey.  

The other day on the radio, I heard that a Whole Foods was going to open in the area.  The radio host said that eating organics and health food stuff is just a way for people to be Uppity and join the healthy eating bandwagon.  He also stated that many organic foods are produced under subsidiaries of the same major corporations selling unhealthy food items.  That is true.  I almost called into the show to discuss this with him.  This is how I feel about the whole issue.  

Eating a Real Food Diet and shopping at health food stores is not an uppity choice for me.  That's just ridiculous.  In fact, this way of living is far more expensive than eating processed foods.  He said people with disposable income eat this way.  Gee, I wish I had disposable income.  The fact is I don't.  I do choose to spend more on our food, with the support of my husband because it is better for us.  I have not purchased or brought anything into our home that is not considered Real Food.  That being said, I do allow the boys to eat candy.  For example, on Halloween, they got to eat it.  We do eat out at restaurants that don't serve Real Food.  I don't want to go all crazy on them and ban every bad food out there.  I feel they are old enough to make some choices when it comes to food.  I feel my husband and I can educate them about our food, and provide them with healthy food at home.

Sometimes its hard to stick to the diet.  I mean who doesn't love Oreos?  I haven't eaten them in about 18 months, at least.  Boy do I miss Cream of Chicken Soup, and Crescent Rolls.  I have to read every single food label.  There are so many times that I put even organic food products back because I don't like the ingredients in them.  It is costly.  To help with the cost of food, I have done several things.  First, we started making our own bread.  It was just too expensive to buy a loaf of bread for $5.  We can go through a loaf of bread in a sitting.  We did join Costco.  My husband and I went together and made the decision to join.  We looked at all of the food choices they offered, and decided to join.  That means, I have to travel an hour away once a month to purchase food there.  We buy their meat, while not locally raised, is organic and antibiotic free.  We don't always eat organic fruits and vegetables.  Do not fall out of your chair.  Sometimes, they are just too expensive and don't fit in our budget.

Why I feel it's important to eat Real Food.

I'm not a scientist or a doctor, but I look around and see many alarming facts.  First, the amount of cancers and diseases in our country.  Children being born with food allergies and a very high increase in Autism, ADHD, and other things.  So many of our foods and meats are banned in foreign countries because they are deemed unhealthy.  CoffeeMate Creamer is made with explosive materials, and dyes they use for coloring plates and dishes.  That just can't be good for you.  I do think about our food a lot.  It would be so much easier and cheaper to give in but then I think:  Do I want my kids to eat this?  The answer is no.  I don't want my kids to eat things that were never designed for human consumption.  So, that is why we continue this journey. I feel that we are healthier and have noticed a change in our life for the better.  I will try to post very soon about some of the products we use in our home.

Happy Sunday!

Composting, Gardening, and all that Jazz

As a disclaimer, I am no gardening expert.  I'm just a regular girl who gardens.  We've had a garden for about 8 years now.

I am part of a cooking group on FB where we share recipes and cooking tips.  Recently the subject of composting was brought up.  I know I've written about here before, but alas I can't find the post.  So, I thought I would go ahead and write a new one.  As most of you know, we plant a garden every year.  This winter, we did not do a winter garden because we decided we were going to expand the garden this spring.  Erik did work on that.  So we have a much larger area to work with.

So this picture was before we started planting.  This year, we had enough compost to cover the entire area.  We also added about 10-15 bags of steer maneur.  I mixed the first ten, and Erik decided we needed more.  I'm not sure how much more he added.  We also added an organic potting mix to only the areas that were getting planted.

I hope to have almost everything planted this next week.  It's just hard to get out to buy plants and seeds with Maddie being sick.  April 1 is usually when we plant.  Erik did start green beens and carrots a few weeks ago.

Onions are in the front, carrots along the sides of the path, and green beans along the wall where the wire fence is.  In the front is a herb garden.  That's Rosemary in the middle.

Moving on to Composting.  It's really very simple to do.  We bought a compost bin about two years ago.  It's the one on the right.  My friend, Pam, gave us the one on the left when she moved.  So, now we have two.  That one has trays in it.  We put everything in our composter:  egg shells, fruit peels, vegetable waste, paper towels (not those I used cleanser on), newspaper, coffee grounds, grass clippings, etc.  Do not put meat, bones, etc. in there. They will rot and it will not be pleasant.  Also, don't put anything with salt in the compost.  It will halt the breakdown of the compost.  The one on the right can be turned around to mix the compost.  That will need to be done every so often.  Maybe every two weeks, depending on weather.  The one of the left, will need to be turned with a shovel, I think...

I would strongly suggest getting a compost starter.  This is what we used.  We use it off and on through the year as well if we notice things aren't breaking down.  You will also need to monitor you compost for moisture.  It should be a little moist.  You can add water if you need to.

To get started, first purchase a bin.  You can build your own, if you wish.  I think you can get a big bin for around $80 at SAMs or Lowes.  I like the one we have on the right.  This is the first season we will be using the one on the left so I will see how I like it.  Next, just start adding stuff to it.  If you have grass, you might want to start with the clippings and add vegetable waste too.  Once you have some stuff in there, add the Compost Starter.  If it looks dry, add a little water.  I keep a little bin in the house to put vegetable waste, coffee grounds, etc in.

You can buy a bucket online, such as this, if you wish.  One day, I'll get around to getting one.  They are affordable.  About $30 or so.

So, there you have it.  That's a quick breakdown.  I hope you found it helpful, and it made sense. Ha.  I will continue to post about our garden throughout the year.  If anyone has any questions, let me know.

Real Food Update...A few Tried and True Recipes

***Pretend you see a picture***

It's been a while since I've updated about our family's adventure with our RF Diet.  I can't express how glad I am that we were on a Real Food Diet before Maddie got sick.  When his Nephrologist told us he had to be on a low sodium diet, he told us that we would have to cut out all processed foods.  I told the Doctor we didn't eat processed foods or have many of them in our home.  He expressed that we should not feed him hamburgers or hotdogs or food from McDonalds.  I told him we don't eat processed foods or go to Mc Donalds hardly at all.  We do, but it's a rarity.

Anyhow, after having to read food labels, because let's face it I didn't before, I have learned so much about Sodium.  I never read the labels unless I wanted to find out what the ingredients were.  I suppose that after Maddie is off of his restricted diet, I won't be reading them that often.  Let me just tell you, there is a lot of Sodium in our food.  A lot.  Maddie's restricted diet allows for 150mg of Sodium per snack and 500mg per meal.  Just out of curiosity, I checked the Kraft Mac and Cheese food label.  I gave the kids Mac and Cheese almost once a weekend before our real food diet.  There are 580mg per one cup serving.  I would say he would eat between one and a half to two cups.  That's a lot of Sodium.

Eating out, has been nearly impossible.  It's not like we do it very often, but we ran out of food last week.  How dare I only purchase 1.5 pounds of ground beef for a family meal.  Apparently, we are up to 2 pounds a meal if we want left overs. So, we decided to try and order some food.  We thought that the Corner Bakery or McCallister's would be good choice.  Many of the food items on the menu were over 1000mg of Sodium on the kids menu.  We thought let's order pizza.  Once slice of the Veggie Lovers Pizza, Thin Crust from Papa Johns contains over 500mg of Sodium.  We ended up getting food from a Mexican Restaurant that delivers, and making Maddie his own meal at home.  He was okay with that.  I can't tell you how proud I am of him.  So I guess what I've learned is no wonder so many people in this country have Heart Disease or High Blood Pressure.  Many of our foods are loaded with Sodium.  The other thing is that I can't be more thankful for is making most of all of our foods.  There is a huge peace of mind in knowing what is exactly in your food because you made it yourself.

Okay, so I'm stepping off of my soapbox now.  I also wanted to tell you that we had salad the other night and most dressings have a ton of sodium.  I bought the lowest sodium dressing I could find.  2 tablespoons had over 250mg.  So, I put four in for our entire family's salad.  That thing needed dressing.  I'm not kidding you.  But the kids ate it like nothing.  There were no complaints, none.  They were basically eating spinach, eggs, tomatoes, carrots, etc. dry with no dressing.  I was hoping they would complain so I could add some more dressing to MY salad.  That's when I thought, geez this Real Food thing is working.

I wanted to share with you a few recipes that I LOVE.  That my boys LOVE from the 100 Days of Real Food Website.

My most favorite thing in the world:  Taco Salad.  I love her recipe!

Super Easy and delicious Chicken Recipes.  The kids have loved them too!

Slow Cooker Chicken

Lemon Roasted Chicken and Cauliflower  This was the first time the kids ate cauliflower.  They loved it.

And a must use recipe for Chicken Stock.  I cook whole chickens at least every other week so I can make the stock.  We use the stock for soups, rice, etc.

Don't forget the Whole Wheat Pizza Crust.  I can't wait to start making homemade pizza again after Maddie is off his diet.

Also, these Sloppy Joes were really good.  Not my grandmother's recipe of course, but hers calls for a whole bottle of ketchup...not exactly low sodium.  The boys didn't notice a difference and they didn't say a word about the carrots.  I used a whole onion, a whole bell pepper (recipe does not call for it), and eyed the celery.  I also used sugar instead of honey.  No Salt of course but I did add it when I ate my lunch at school the next day.  Do not tell anyone.

Anyhow, that's all I have for now.  Have a great evening!

Project Life Delay....Week 4

So, obviously, if you are reader you realize I didn't post Project Life on Wednesday.  I actually have the pictures but due to my inability to stand on Tuesday, and other obligations such as Writing Night, Catechism, and family stuff I couldn't get it done.  I am home today.  I had to come home early because JoJo was throwing up all over the place.  He told me his stomach hurt this morning.  You know me, Mother of the Year, told him to hurry up and get dressed so I wouldn't be late for work.  Then I yelled at him when he wouldn't get out of the car.  About thirty minutes after arriving at school he threw up all over the computer keyboard.  I took him to the nurse's office where he vomited upon arrival.  I took that as a cue to go home.  So, I'm working on my homemade yogurt...cross your fingers.  I'm hoping to get my Project Life up this weekend.  Here is a picture of the soup I made JoJo with homemade chicken stock.  Click here for the recipe from 100 Days

Real Food Recommendations

So all is going well here.  I thought I would post a quick update and share some foods I love.  I stayed home from work today due to knee injury.  Mazzie crashed into me at full speed last night while chasing the stupid cat.  She hyperextended my knee and knocked me to the ground.  It was lovely crying like a baby while laying on the floor.  Thank God, she has not reached her full size of 140 pounds or I might be in the hospital.  Anyhow, since I was home today.  I decided to catch up on some cooking...bad idea.  My knee swelled up while I was making homemade whole wheat tortillas.  I did also crank out a batch of granola later in the day after resting my knee and taking some Ibuprofen.

Here is a little list of my favorite finds.  I use these products all of the time and they kids love them.  I am also thinking of making my own yogurt at home in the next few weeks, as well as trying some salad in a jar...I never heard of it until my friend Pam brought it up today.  She is a whiz in the kitchen.
1.  

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5.  

6.  Boars Head Products  Sorry no picture, but we eat their meat and cheeses all the time.  We especially love the Oven Gold Turkey Breast, Monterey Jack w/ Jalapeno cheese, Colby Jack, Honey Ham, Pepperoni.  

7.  

Real Food Update

 Last night's dinner:  Homemade Pizza-Crust is from the 100 Days of Real Food Recipe Index

I haven't updated about our Real Food diet lately.  That doesn't mean we aren't still on it.  Of course it was  a little harder during the holidays, but we dealt with it.  You may remember this photo I took of Christmas Eve...

As you can see there is nothing real about that food except the Veggie Tray.  I ate a ton of the vegetables, and maybe a piece or two of the pumpkin roll (I made it with organic pumpkin.ha).  I ate several of the Crescent rolls I made with cream cheese, cheese, and shredded chicken, all processed goodness.

As we celebrate holidays or birthdays, or go about our lives in general, I refuse to limit my children's food choices outside of the home.  I don't want them to feel they are missing out on the cupcakes or sodas on special occasions.  I don't mean they should gorge themselves with sweets and sodas, because they don't.  I just don't want them to think eating healthy all of the time is a chore and boring and horrible overall.  I want them to have some choice in what they are eating while I continue to educate them at home about healthy foods.  I can already see a difference in their eating behaviors and food choices.  Maddie is pretty good about eating RF.  When we go out to eat, he orders tea instead of soda.  Wolfie has turned out to be quite the vegetable eater.  He likes broccoli, green beans, loves spinach, and tries other foods without gagging, or being rude.  That's a huge step.  All of the boys eat a ton of salad when I serve it with dinner.  They eat the homemade granola.  I had to change the recipe a bit and remove some of the nuts from it.  JoJo loves his smoothies and has to have one every morning.  Even Wolfie drinks smoothies for breakfast.

Since starting, I've only brought RF into our home with the exception of the holidays.  On Christmas Day, we did eat only RF.  People were a little upset about the green bean casserole, but I made some yummy greens beans instead.  I will post the recipe later this week for you.  Every New Years Eve, I make hot fudge sundaes using my grandmother's recipe.  I did buy some Blue Bell Vanilla ice cream because I was afraid the homemade ice cream would melt too quickly.  I also bought Cool Whip to top it.  Other than that, that's all that's come into our home.

So, there you have it.  I will post later this week with my recipe for green beans.  I'm such a chef.  Haha.  Just kidding.  Have a great Sunday.  I'm off to work tomorrow.  Sigh....

This and That

Hello there!  Hope this finds you all well.  I'm proud to say that I did not stay up all night reading because I have a small ounce of self control.  However, I thought, I would share a few random things.

I have been so busy around here with pictures.  I only have one more shoot this month, so I'm hoping to be able to get caught up on some stuff around here.  This blog is very bare of craftiness.  So sad.  First off, I am not enjoying this weather.  I hate cold weather.  I want my summer back so I can relax at the lake in the boat or on the shore.  I just want to sweat people.  I was contemplating Florida as a great place to live as it's warm year round.  Then I remembered the hurricanes.

Our Real Food diet is going well.  The only problem was this morning, when I was going to make a smoothie.  I had left the blender settings on high from last night when I made ice cream.  Anyhow, I was going to change the settings and I accidentally turned the blender on.  Liquids went flying and I was screaming.  Because I have no common sense, I was deliberating in my head about what I should do.  One thought was to just turn the speed down. Turn the speed down!!!  Am I kidding myself? And during this deliberation, Erik thought I chopped my hands off in the blender, and I felt pressure to answer him.  Why would I stick my hands in a blender?  I am not that stupid.  Those warning labels were not created for me!!  Then, I finally thought, "Just turn the blender off."  So it was a bit messy to say the least.

I bring up the real food diet for two reasons.  One, I found this information about Whole Milk today.  It is from L.A. Times.  A new study found that organic whole milk is very good for you.  Let me just say, I have never jumped on the skim or lowfat milk bandwagon.  I want my milk completely full of fat.  Otherwise, it tastes like water.  I hate that.  We did make the change to organic whole milk.  It's probably reducing my horrible heart health from the nonorganic milk as we speak.  Just kidding.  Here is the article, if you're interested.  I also will tell you that we drink Horizon Milk, we used to drink it for years until the kids and I went through three gallons a week.  We use two gallons a week on average now.  Since, going "RF" we switched back.  It is so rich and creamy.  The color is even different from the regular store bought milk.  I also use the Organic Horizon Butter.

The second reason is that I searched the "Dirty Dozen" of most pesticide exposed fruits and vegetables.  I've had a hard time finding only organic fruits and vegetables.  So, here is a list I found.  It is from Mother Nurture (mothernurture.me).  I just took a screen shot.

Finally, I thought I would leave you with this stupid Ron Burgundy/Robin Thicke version of "Ride Like the Wind"  If you are a Ron Burgundy fan, like me...and a fan of Christopher Cross (like me as well), you will enjoy this.

Ron Burgundy and Robin Thicke cover Christopher Cross

Good evening, Peeps!!

Real Food Update

Our diet is going well.  We are back on after Thanksgiving.  We weren't technically off of it, but I can't control what other people cook.  I'm not going to demand "all natural" or "organic."  I'm just thankful enough for the food.  I will say that when we got home from Thanksgiving, I only wanted a smoothie.  It just sounded so good.  As we go along here, I want to share with you our difficulties and such.  First, I have found it difficult to keep up with school lunches.  This is for a couple of reasons.  First, the kids are pigs and they EAT EVERYTHING.  That leaves very little for lunches.  The other reason is that I'm packing lunches and they don't eat them.  JoJo is really good about staying inside from recess so he can eat.  The other kids are not.  At our school, Maddie probably has about 10 minutes to eat if he wants to play outside.  I will say it is very unfair that this happens.  I think kids should have ample time to eat.  Since I'm a teacher at his school, I have little voice in the matter, unfortunately.  I have talked to him about staying in and eating, but to no avail.

The next issue is the whole, I'm in Limbo about meal planning.  It's been hard for some reason.  It really shouldn't be, but instead of just planning dinner, now I have to plan all the meals and snacks.  I've had a hard time with this.  I'm now thinking of doing a monthly menu, and not flying by the seat of my pants.

I've made quite a few recipes from 100 Days.  I have to say, none of the recipes are enough for us.  She leaves room in her menu for left overs and I have no idea how this can happen.  I have had to double most of the recipes, and they are still not enough.  Again, I say my kids are pigs.  I do understand this.  However, I guess, I live in a home with three growing boys and a husband that eats a lot.  I will say that a lot of the recipes are very, very good.

We have very little food in the house.  We are really sticking to a tight budget, as circumstances don't allow us to spend a great deal on groceries.  We are spending less, and I'm being much stricter on the budget.  I know we are buying better foods, but it still sucks not to have anything to eat.  The kids eat a lot.  I think it's because they are boys.  I really and truly believe this.  I am allowing snack food items into the home such as, chips:  potato and corn (all natural and organic; the corn chips have three ingredients), popcorn (natural and organic).  We are finishing up our old salsa, but after it's gone, I plan on making it.  Of course, I provide fruits and vegetables, which they eat.  They just seem to be bottomless pits.

Not all is bad on this diet.  I think that we just have to adjust to all of the changes.  I am very happy to continue it.  I know that Dr. Weil would be proud.  We have not allowed artificial ingredients or preservatives, etc. into our home since we started.  We have had to make sacrifices because some items are expensive.  That is fine.  I don't ever want to go back.  I love this diet way of life.   I love the way that I feel.  I know that Erik feels the same way.  I'm trying to figure this out and pass it on to you incase you wish to join in.  In the next posts, I hope to share some recipes with you.

Have a great evening!

Real Food Update

So this last week was a bad one for us.  We sort of fell off the wagon for a few days.  There were several reasons for this.  First, JoJo snuck into the kitchen and ate most of the ingredients for school lunches.  We also went out to eat on Wednesday.  I didn't feel like cooking.  It was the first time that we have gone out to eat as a family since I don't know when.  We never go out.  Thursday, we also ate out.  It was Erik's birthday so we went to Texas Roadhouse.  Friday, I didn't have the list ready for Erik so  didn't go to the store.  I didn't want to go that evening, so we stayed in an ordered pizza.

One of Erik's birthday gifts

Erik and I have been talking about our failure this week.  He says he can feel a huge difference when he doesn't eat according to our real food diet.  I should also mention he had training this week and ate out.  He even went to Taco Bell and Burger King!  I admit, I was slightly jealous about the Taco Bell visit.

Saturday, I ran to the store to get a few things for dinner and such.  We made  Broccoli cheese soup in the Vitamix.  It was interesting to say the least, but the kids gagged ate it all.  It wasn't that good, I'm not going to lie.  I was proud of Wolfie for eating it and not being disrespectful like has been in the past.  After that wonderful meal, I made homemade ice cream for everyone as their reward.  I keep saying how impressed with the kids being on board with the change, but I'm just shocked.  When we ordered pizza on Friday, Maddie said, "This isn't real food. Aren't we supposed to be eating real food?"

So over the last few weeks, these are the things I'm figuring out.  We won't be cutting sugar completely out of our diet.  I will start buying raw, non GMO, sugar.  Just using honey in some things is not cutting it.  I figure if we have sugar in small amounts, it won't kill us.

I'm going to try and shop at our local Toucan Market only.  I will still get milk at Target.  Their Horizon milk is $2 a gallon cheaper there.  Although, if you count gas and time, it's probably not.  Toucan has a huge selection of organic or all natural foods and meats.  I also decided that I will probably shop every couple of days instead of weekly.  I think it will help us to save money and be less wasteful of food we don't get to use during the week.  I don't mind running to Toucan every couple of days.  It's five minutes from my house.  It's a small store with short lines, and the staff is friendly.  I know all of the cashiers and deli people, so it's sort of a small town feel.  I am going to try and make as many homemade foods as possible, but if I'm in a time crunch, I will buy factory made foods.  As long as I can read all of the ingredients on the package and they are all natural. Case in point would be spaghetti sauce, chips, etc.  I'm not giving up chips.  These are my favorite chips.

I also love Nut Thins.  These are my favorite.  The kids love them too.

So, there you have it for the last week.  We are still on board with this thing.  Have a great day!

Because I deserve it!

My office is a fiasco.  I'm serious.  I am in the midst of photo editing, science fair projecting, sewing, children crafting mess, sick kids, and laundry washing.  So I deserve a break to make a little blog post.  Don't you think?  I do.

So, first off, let's start with the Real Food.  We've been doing very well, I would say.  Did we eat out last Saturday?  Yes.  Did the kids and I go to Chickfil A on Monday with my dad?  Yes.  Did I eat Nachos Grande on Friday at school?  Yes.  However, those are the only days Erik and I have eaten anything other than Real Food.  I am now dubbing it RF because I'm tired of typing the words out.  Ha.  Making a list for Week 2 was, for some reason, extremely difficult.  Even with the 100 Days of RF meal plans.  It was just unbearable.  I made a tiny list and Erik went shopping.  It got us through the week.  Last night, I went to Toucan, our local market, and picked up some stuff.  It was sort of spur of the moment stuff.  I'm finding that eating only RF is a fine line of extreme organization and chaos.  I have no problem with planning my meals weekly and shopping accordingly but for some reason, I'm finding it difficult with RF.  A lot of the recipes on 100 Days of RF require a lot of prep time.  I don't have hours upon hours to make meals.  I'm NOT saying there is anything wrong with her recipes at all. It just takes a lot of planning.  The other challenge...the organized part is the school lunches.  It takes a lot of time to prepare them and plan them out.  For example, Thursday night, it took me an hour to make egg salad and pack everything.

For dinners, I think the easiest thing is to go back to what we did before, make the foods we made before for dinner but modify them so we can make sure they are more healthy for us.  We did this, this past week.  I used my Grandmother's pizza recipe.  It's been a favorite of mine forever.  We used all real ingredients.  Erik made us pizza sauce during his day off so we could use that instead of store bought pizza sauce.  That was a two hour process.  See what I mean about the time?

 Maddie preparing the pizza.  That's the pizza sauce in the bag.

The first week of the RF diet, I think I had a carbohydrate crash.  I felt terrible for the first few days.  I also realized that I need Carbs.  I have to have them.  My metabolism is very fast, and I have to fuel my body with them.  So, I've tried to modify that accordingly and I've felt much better.  Erik feels much better as well.  He's also lost three inches in his waist since we started.

We've had great difficulty finding only organic fruits and vegetables.  I've been to three stores and haven't been able to purchase only organic fruits and vegetables.  I guess that's the challenge of a smaller city.  We have, however, only allowed foods into our home with a small number of ingredients, or with ingredients we can read.  Maddie went with me to Toucan last night and he wanted pickles.  I didn't let him get them because they had artificial coloring in them.  I also couldn't find any with All Natural Ingredients.  He seemed to accept it.  That brings about the fact that I can't believe how on board the kids are.  There has been very little complaining on their part and they've eaten all of the meals.  They seem to be excited about it.  The other night on the way home from catechism, JoJo was eating Cheetos he got from his class.  I think they were Cheetos.  I never saw the bag.  Wolfie said, "I don't even know why he's eating them anyways because they were made in a factory."

I do have to say that if the Zombie Apocalypse occurs, we will be screwed.  We have no foods with preservatives in our house.  At least not enough to sustain us.  That's the only thing sustaining the people on The Walking Dead.  Of course, this is a joke.  Please don't expect to see me on Doomsday Preppers. Ha.  I do think that it would have been easier to start this journey in the summer when we had a garden.  Now, I know how to plan our garden more appropriately to fit our needs.  That's a plus.  Anyways, I've got to get back to editing photos.  This post has taken longer than five minutes.  Happy Sunday!

Real Food Transition

So, Erik and I have officially started our way to a "real" food diet.  We sat down and made a list together.  I used a meal plan from Lisa Leake (100 Days of Real Food).  Meal Plan 1 to be exact.  We went to the store together and read labels.  It was sort of funny to be doing it.  The people around us were looking at us like we were crazy.  It also took us five minutes to decide on jelly.   It was a fun adventure.  I just wanted to share a few things with you as we move toward our goal.

1.  We are not rich.  If we were, I would throw out all of our food and start fresh, as Dr. Weil suggests.  However, since we're not rich, and I paid good money for that food we will use it as we can.  Also we will save some of the items for the Zombie Apocalypse.  It lasts forever, right?  The Bisquick, noodles, and canned food items will come in handy when it happens.  Okay, that's a joke.  But, for real, we are only buying all natural foods from now on.  Anything that comes into our home will be all "real" food.

2.  I really don't think this transition will be difficult for us.  We eat a lot of "real" foods as it is.  Our biggest issues would be sugary cereals, snacks, and lunches.  We've used Extra Virgin Olive Oil for over a decade.  We use butter only here.  We have a garden where we grow our own vegetables.  Also, we use only whole grain and organic flour.  We eat only organic, cage free eggs.  We also try to eat only all natural meats and cheeses.  We eat only whole grain or all natural bread.  We rarely go out to eat because my children are animals, and it's expensive.  Sodas, KoolAid, and other sugary drinks are not allowed in our house, unless it's a holiday.  Then we buy it for our event.  If we decide to have a "special night" with special drinks, I purchase all natural sodas from our local store.  So, overall, I think we're halfway there already.

3.  I can't be as strict as Lisa Leake.  I just can't.  There are several factors for that.  We live in a small city.  The population is around 100,000.  However, there is only one major all natural food store in our city...That I know of.  It's a great store.  I love it, and go there often.  Lisa Leake made it her goal to only eat local foods within 100 miles.  I think that's a wonderful goal.  Again, I'm limited with store choices.  Our family does upon occasion slaughter, hunt, or fish for meat.  We process it and eat it.  I don't think there is anything more fresh than that.  The next exception is we live in New Mexico.  We eat Mexican food.  I will NEVER, EVER give that up.  It won't happen.  I order my food on Fridays.  The people that cook it, don't shop organically.  But that is my luxury in life.  I get a 30 minute lunch everyday.  Fridays are my splurge day.  So, I will continue to order out on Fridays.  I will, see how I feel after my Friday meals.  If I feel overtired or not, I will let you know.

4.  I'm going to allow my children to make their choices, for the most part.  I made our lunches this evening.  Maddie told me that he didn't want to eat the lunch I made because he wanted to eat the spaghetti tomorrow, as well as the nachos on Friday.  I'm going to let him make that choice during our transition time.  We will continue to discuss whole foods with our children and their benefits.  I want them to make the choice because they understand the benefits of it, not because I'm making them do it.  The good news about the school lunches are that the pastas and breads are whole grain.

5.  All in all, the children seem very excited about making the change to all real foods.  They want to help me cook.  They're interested in the foods I've chosen.  They are surprisingly open to trying new things.  They are also enjoying the foods we're making at home.  Even Wolfie seems to be embracing this real food idea.

6.  I find that eating a real food diet makes it easier to be organized.  We made pancakes today and froze the left overs in baggies that the kids can eat for breakfast, lunch, or snack.  It seems to be a time saver for us.  On the flip side of that, you HAVE to be organized. If you can't prepare lunches for school the night before, you're going to be getting up a lot earlier, or not making them at all.

 Homemade tortillas

Homemade granola

Oh, and I started a Real Food Board on Pinterest.  You can go here if you want to follow it.

A Real Food Diet

So...I've been thinking of embarking on a "Real Food" diet.  It's not something new, I've been reading Dr. Weil's books since college.  I consider him the first real "real food" guru.  He didn't put it that way, per se but he promoted and continues to promote Optimum Health.

There have been several reasons to spur this thought in my head.  One is I don't like the lunches we eat during the weekends.  They often consist of processed foods such as Macaroni, pizzas, etc.  I do consider our dinners to be pretty healthy.  I also don't like how picky Wolfie is.  He is the worst eater in our house.  Maddie and JoJo have no problem devouring what we serve.  Wolfie literally gags it down. I'm just tired of that.  Though, I'm sure making him eat fruits and vegetables might pose a few problems.

Another reason, is that we are spending so much money on groceries.  I'm not kidding you.  We are spending roughly $800 a month.  The kids are garbage disposals.  I can't help but think that we can force them guide them to make healthier choices with fresh fruits and vegetables.  Fresh fruits and vegetables are much cheaper in the long run than processed snacks.

As a result of this, I spent a good part of the weekend researching real food diets.  The most helpful site I found was the 100 Days of Real Food website.  Lisa Leake provides a wealth of information from meal plans to recipes, and kid's school lunches.  She makes the kid's lunches very appealing and fun for children.  I actually showed the website to my children and they seem very interested in the school lunches.

After researching, I've decided and learned several things.  One, the change is going to be somewhat hard, and I may never actually give up my Oreos.  I'm going to have to really decide if I want to give up sugar in my coffee.  I'm going to try honey...I'm going to try.  Making this change, will be somewhat expensive in the long run.  I plan on doing a lot of Smoothies for breakfast.  I found this great page 30 Day Green Smoothie Challenge.  I say expensive, because I may have to purchase a new blender...My 12 year old $20 blender might not cut it.  I might be drinking Chunkies...instead of smoothies.  So, we're looking into blender options.  My friend, Pam, recommended the Vitamix Blender.  She swears by it.  It's a super hefty investment, but I like the potential it has, such as making nut butters, soups, flours, doughs, juices, ice cream and sorbets, and tons of other stuff.  Before I invest, I want to make sure it's going to be worth it and that I'm going to stick to this new way of living.   Also, Erik and I decided we want to replace our plastic tupperware with glass tupperware.  We will also be purchasing the Ziploc Divided Lunch Containers for the kid's lunches.  The other items we will purchase are glass jars and containers for food storage.

The other thing I am concerned about is time.  This is going to take a lot of time and organization.  Erik and I discussed this.  Since he does most of the shopping now, he's worried about shopping on his own.    It's going to take me a good chunk of time to plan our menu.  It's also going to be trial and error to find out the cheapest way to buy foods.  I'm going to have to make a lot of food and snacks during the weekend. I actually think it won't be that big of a problem because the kids enjoy helping me in the kitchen.

My last big concern is food allergies.  I have a lot of allergies to fruits and vegetables in raw form.  I mean I might actually die if I were to have an avocado.  They cause my throat to swell shut.  I saw a Smoothie recipe on the Smoothie Challenge website where you had to use one.  Don't worry, I'll be avoiding it.  Almost all fruits and vegetables make my ears itch...Cantaloupe, honey dew, watermelon, carrots, spinach, cucumbers, brocollie, cauliflower and the list goes on and on.  So, I'm anxious to see if eating solely or mostly organic foods helps with this.  

Sorry for the lengthy post...with no pictures...again.  I'll keep you updated on our progress.