Last week I was tootling around Pinterest and saw this intriguing pin
source
So, I went on over to Lisa's BLOG and checked it out and it is great!
Lisa is tackling an issue that is close to my own heart which is to feed my family as healthy as possible. I've always been aware of eating/cooking healthy, I nearly always made homemade baby food for my kids and continue to make sure they eat lots of fruits and veggies, but it was easy to let other "convenience foods" sneak into our diet like granola bars, fruit cups, yogurt tubes etc.
Since reading Sharon Astyk's books a few years ago and now discovering Lisa's blog and well as a few others, I am committed more than ever to ridding our pantry and fridge/freezer of convenience foods. I started two years ago by making the transitions slowly first by (almost) eliminating store bought bread and making my own. I either make it by hand or, until it broke, with our breadmaker. Then in the last year I've slowly been working on a difficult one for our family which is eliminating store bought cold cereal. I was never one for buying Fruit Loops or other sugary cereals like that, but even things like Cheerios and Cornflakes add up cost wise with a family of five. So, what have we been eating for breakfast you may ask? Well, my youngest two love oatmeal (not instant, or even quick cooking, the old whole oats kind) and it is really easy to make. I just pop 1/2 cup oatmeal in a microwavable bowl with one cup water, stir it a bit, put it in the micro for 1 min, stir it again then 1 min more. When we take it out we add some (unsweetened) applesauce, cinnamon, raisins or dried apricots, almonds or walnuts and a dab of whole milk and voila! Yummy fast breakfast! Nyla doesn't like oatmeal so she usually has homemade bread with peanut butter and honey or jam. Sometimes we make scrambled egg burritos with cheese or if I'm really on the ball, whole wheat pancakes with a bit of maple syrup and some type of fruit.
So even with those changes it was good to read Lisa's Blog and be reminded of the hidden sugars and bad stuff added to seemingly "healthy" foods like peanut butter, salad dressings, even pre-shredded cheese! I think she is doing a fantastic job of living by example and sharing it all with the rest of the world. I am now committed to checking label and making sure that they have 5 ingredients or less and that the ingredients are "real food". I'm also committed to growing our own vegetables and fruits as much as possible and if not grown then bought locally and/or organically in season.
We are very lucky where we live as there are a lot of small farms growing organic produce. There are also a bunch of farmers markets in the area as well as a local grain CSA which I hope to become a part of hopefully this year. We live right by a large lake with abundant salmon and trout as well as being surrounded by mountains full of deer and elk and grouse etc. As most of you know, we sold our house and now we are on the lookout for a good sized piece of property in order to have our own small farm where we hope to raise/grow about 90-95% of our own food.
So how about you? Are you aware of all the hidden "gems" in processed food? Are you working on eliminating them from your diet? Or are you just fine with store bought food the way it is?
Please keep checking back as I share with you all the ups and downs of this adventure :)
Have a great Wednesday!
source
So, I went on over to Lisa's BLOG and checked it out and it is great!
Lisa is tackling an issue that is close to my own heart which is to feed my family as healthy as possible. I've always been aware of eating/cooking healthy, I nearly always made homemade baby food for my kids and continue to make sure they eat lots of fruits and veggies, but it was easy to let other "convenience foods" sneak into our diet like granola bars, fruit cups, yogurt tubes etc.
Since reading Sharon Astyk's books a few years ago and now discovering Lisa's blog and well as a few others, I am committed more than ever to ridding our pantry and fridge/freezer of convenience foods. I started two years ago by making the transitions slowly first by (almost) eliminating store bought bread and making my own. I either make it by hand or, until it broke, with our breadmaker. Then in the last year I've slowly been working on a difficult one for our family which is eliminating store bought cold cereal. I was never one for buying Fruit Loops or other sugary cereals like that, but even things like Cheerios and Cornflakes add up cost wise with a family of five. So, what have we been eating for breakfast you may ask? Well, my youngest two love oatmeal (not instant, or even quick cooking, the old whole oats kind) and it is really easy to make. I just pop 1/2 cup oatmeal in a microwavable bowl with one cup water, stir it a bit, put it in the micro for 1 min, stir it again then 1 min more. When we take it out we add some (unsweetened) applesauce, cinnamon, raisins or dried apricots, almonds or walnuts and a dab of whole milk and voila! Yummy fast breakfast! Nyla doesn't like oatmeal so she usually has homemade bread with peanut butter and honey or jam. Sometimes we make scrambled egg burritos with cheese or if I'm really on the ball, whole wheat pancakes with a bit of maple syrup and some type of fruit.
So even with those changes it was good to read Lisa's Blog and be reminded of the hidden sugars and bad stuff added to seemingly "healthy" foods like peanut butter, salad dressings, even pre-shredded cheese! I think she is doing a fantastic job of living by example and sharing it all with the rest of the world. I am now committed to checking label and making sure that they have 5 ingredients or less and that the ingredients are "real food". I'm also committed to growing our own vegetables and fruits as much as possible and if not grown then bought locally and/or organically in season.
(these are some of our homegrown plants hardening off)
So how about you? Are you aware of all the hidden "gems" in processed food? Are you working on eliminating them from your diet? Or are you just fine with store bought food the way it is?
Please keep checking back as I share with you all the ups and downs of this adventure :)
Have a great Wednesday!
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