Weekend Challange

This weekend as you are grilling out or going to picnics and headed over to friends and families I want you to do one thing. Be grateful! I know this is not what I normally write about and typically I am trying to get you to either eat or not eat something but this week and hopefully longer I want you to be really grateful for the food you have. We live in a country where even the poorest of poor have access to food at least some of the time and they normally are not shamed because they need help(although they may feel it). This week as I was cutting up apples and pears to take with us to the park as a snack I dropped a piece and asked my son to throw it away for me. We have a dog in the house and so it's quite normal for me to throw away food that has fallen on the floor although the kids don't feel the same way=) It really hit me that to throw away a piece of food is a luxury!!! How many people in this world would never ever dream of throwing away a piece of food not because it's wasteful or because it's still ok but because of necessity! They can not afford to throw away food that is possibly their only nourishment! So this weekend when you are eating your food that I would probably not approve of=) I want you to be thankful to live in a country of plenty. Sure I know some of you think we consume too much and America is greedy etc. that is not the point the point is we have access to good food and even the poorest of people can find help. No matter what you are eating be grateful it's the best seasoning there is.

Happy Fourth all

When hard times come

So what do you do when you lose your job, your weekly budget is really tight, or your air conditioner broke and you don't have enough to fix it? Well most people need to cut back on food spending in this case. Now if there are other areas to cut back on such as eating out, cable, games etc then do that first please. However if you have already done all that and you still need to cut back that's ok.
Now if you simply can not afford any organic fruit or veggies I still want you to buy fruit and veggies conventionally raised is much better than none at all! Bread(good bread) can be expensive so instead of opting for the super cheap white bread think about getting brown rice and cooking it yourself it's super cheap and super filling serve with a simple salad or some leftover fruit and veggies for lunch and you just saved a lot. Now when you really have to cut back and the ten cents you save buying white pasta instead of wheat really matters do not feel bad. Everyone has or will be there sometime! You do what you can when you can. The important thing is to get creative use your leftovers or freeze them if you are not going to eat them use the same amount of meat but twice the amount of spaghetti sauce and use it twice. Check the store out for mark downs this can be really helpful. If you find marked down bread with a sell by date of today buy it and freeze it! When you are ready for it just lay it out to thaw that morning. If you have to really cut back and fresh fruit and veggies are not at all in the budget please do think you can't have them at all. The frozen vegetables are often really inexpensive and are just as good if not better sometimes for you than fresh because they are picked and frozen immediately instead of being transported and sitting on a shelf.
Now if you find yourself in a situation where you are using WIC or are recieving donations from a food pantry I want you to know there is no shame in that! Everyone needs help in some way at some time. You are doing your best to feed your family and if that means can green beans and instant mashed potatoes that's what you have to do. One tip I do have is to rinse off your can vegetables and fruits so you take some of the sodium and sugar off of it!
When you get back on your feet(like I know you will) then you can start worrying about going back to where you were. It will be ok this slump will not ruin you nor will it ruin your children's eating habits.
I would like to challange you to not start eating out at fast food restaurants thinking you are saving money. You can cook food at home just as cheap or cheaper and you will remain fuller because your body has the nutrients it needs. If you fill up on junk your body still needs nutrients and will signal that you are hungry even if you had a ton of calories. Then you will eat more and buy more. Try to still eat real food lots of produce(fresh, frozen, or can) whole grains(rice, etc) and protien(think beans for super cheap).
For any questions on this please email me!

Remember you can do this!! You and your family are worth it!!

The comparing game

So this week is all about comparing yourself to those around you. You know what I'm talking about you look at your sister, your best friend, your neighbor and you size yourself up based upon what you see in them. Today I want to specifically talk about how negatively this can affect your nutrition.
If you are doing great and reading labels and eating tons of fresh raw produce you may start to get a little proud and look around at all the crap everyone else is eating and say wow look at me and what a great job I'm doing feeding my family. While I know you need a pat on the back and some good old fashioned encouragement sometimes this can lead to laziness. Yes you heard me right laziness. You start to think I'm doing so great it's OK if I slide this once. It's OK if we eat one or two candy bars and while this is true and it's OK to splurge it can lead to more and more splurges and they eventually become normal. Not to mention how will you ever help anyone else that is not as far on this journey as you if you are mean and prideful about it.

Now the other extreme in comparing is saying how you could never do that good. You can't afford organic and the produce in your area is expensive, you can't cook well and you just don't know what to do. So you don't do anything. This is not at all the right way to go about things. Everyone has to start somewhere and your time could be now. Make some small goals and stick to them. Do not look at what everyone else is doing look at your improvement.

If you are just really competitive and need a good challenge then I want you to set goals no matter how well you are doing and track your progress. Compare how well you are doing compared to how you were doing last week or month instead of how much better or worse you are doing than those around you.

Remember you can do this! You and your family are worth it!!!

Beware the unhealthy "health" food

So this may sound strange but not all "health" food is healthy. Now for the most part the people I know that shop at health food store and people that follow a vegetarian/vegan diet are thin, fit people. However have you ever met that one person that seems they should be healthy but they are not? I know I have and I have often wondered why that is. Part of this could be chalked up to genetics but I don't think much of it is as I feel health is more about nutrition and less about family history. It could be food allergies or intolerance that goes unfound. There is also one more possibility. Unhealthy health food. Now before you go freaking out about if you have been eating unhealthy health food if you have been following my guidelines you probably are not. The freezer section and the prepared section are the two biggest places that really get overlooked. If it's a veggie burger it must be good for you right? Wrong that veggie burger could have way more sodium than you need in a burger and if not organic could have GMO soy(but we will leave that for another day.) Look at those labels just because it's "health" food or vegetarian doesn't mean you need to eat it and you are not exempt from reading the label on it. The prepared section is great for every once in a while but this is not stuff that needs to be eaten every day. Now fortunately at Whole Foods where I do a lot of shopping they have a hot deli bar section and have all the ingredients listed so I know exactly what I'm getting so sometimes we will go and shop and then have a quick lunch before heading home.

Also I know I have mentioned it before but just because something is organic does not give you free range to eat as much as you want. A cookie is a cookie whether organic or not!

I really want to stress fresh foods as much as possible you should be spending the bulk of your time and money in the produce department!!! Much of this should be eaten raw ie salads etc.

Be aware of everything you put in your body it's well worth it in the end.
Yes I know this is not about the price of eating healthy perhaps next week=)

Rememeber you can do this! You and your family are worth it!

Confused on what to eat?

There is so much information out there about what is good for you and what is not. So many people have so much to gain or loose based on what you put in your body. Who do you trust? Who can you listen to for good solid information? Well I will tell you who not to listen to and that is the food industry. I think it's pretty obvious they want to make as much money off you as possible and that means producing cheap food and keeping you eating as much of it as possible.
Now my philosophy on food for the past few years has been to eat your food as close to the way God intended it as possible!
Recently I have been really thinking about what that means to me and to the food we all eat on a regular basis.
Now some things are obvious to stay away from but others that I previously thought were ok I'm starting to rethink. I know to stay away from ingredients I can't pronounce(even though even I do get the occasional convenience food.) I know that processed meats(bacon, lunch meat etc) are not good for you.
However what if you start to look more closely at the food industry. If eating as close to the way God intended includes how it is grown prepared and made, then most of the food we eat should not be eaten. Do you think God intended chemical fertilizers and pesticides to be sprayed on our foods? If so why would He have had natural solutions to these problems from the beginning? Do you think He meant for livestock to be crowded, mistreated and fed an unnatural diet?
When you go against the laws of nature and against what God intended there are serious consequences the biggest one being either loss of nutrients or down right harmful results.
So what does this mean? What can we eat? Well ideally you would grow your own food but most of us have many factors in the way of that although I feel everyone can at least plant a couple of veggies and some herbs. If you can not grow your own the next step is to buy the bulk of your foods from local farmers that do not use chemicals in the growing of their food. Meat should be free from antibiotics, hormones and should be fed a natural diet(cows were not meant to eat corn they were meant to eat grass) chickens should also have access to grass and just because it says free range does not mean that they do. Free range only means they have limited access to outside which could be as little as a dirt yard! Once again if you are buying local you can ask them or even go and see for yourself. If not buy pastured eggs and chicken yes they are more expensive and yes it is worth it.
Unfortunately not all areas have good availability. In that case you must be very careful in choosing your grocery store and just because it is a health food store does not mean everything they have is good for you. If you have the money to buy organic buy it as often as possible! If you have a limited organic budget stick to buying the dirty dozen organic. If you simply can not afford organic or the availability in your area is bad wash very well and peel the items on the dirty dozen list when possible. As far as meat good quality meat that is healthy is expensive. Buy quality meat if you eat meat and just eat less of it. This is your health and the health of your family the fact that you like burgers should not play into this. Yes you can still have burgers but beware of the meat you are buying. Again ideally you would buy local but if you can not make sure it is hormone, and antibiotic free and all red meat should be grass fed! I eat very little to no meat during most weeks now and am thinking about cutting down even more.
Now I do not think it is wrong to eat meat 1 Timothy 4:4 tells me that everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving,
so meat in and of itself is not wrong to consume however I just don't trust the people producing the meat so I'm choosing not to eat it unless I know where it is coming from and what is in it.
All this can get very confusing some times and it's hard if everyone in the family is not on board. Keep trying it is a process and a journey for you and your family.
I have been so proud of my husband. He used to have to have meat with almost every meal and dinner was not dinner without it! He over the past month has eaten meat maybe three times and feels great!! He is mostly eating vegetables and has some whole grains to go with it.
Next week I will talk about the cost of eating healthy vs the cost of not eating healthy if you have any input or stories you would like added to it please let me know. ie if you have diabetes let me know how much you spend per month on meds doctors etc

Weekend Challenge

OK this weeks challenge will likely be difficult for some of you but I really want you to get into it!
Here is the challenge go to your produce department and pick something you have never eaten before. I'm sure there is something there you have always seen but never thought about getting because you have never had it. If you need to pick something out and then buy it the next time you go so you can find out how to prepare it first. Or if you already have something in mind that you have been wanting to try, find a recipe for it and get it when you grocery shop.
I think I'm going to get rhubarb at the farmer's market this week. I've never had it and the kids want to try it so if anyone has suggestions on what to do with it let me know!
Let me know what you get!
Happy shopping=)

Weekend Challange

So this weekend challenge is all about farmer's markets. If you have not made it to your local farmer's market this is the week to do it. If you have just go again anyway=) When you go take the time to talk to the people you meet. Ask them about how they grow things and what their practices are. Many local farmers use organic methods but just haven't gone through the process of being labeled organic(it can be pricey.)

Farmer's markets are a great source of real food. It is beneficial in many ways to shop at a farmer's market. It will cost a little more sometimes but it is well worth it when you realize the benefits and other times it's cheaper depending on what you get.

1. Nutrition- The fresher the food the more nutrients and vitamins that are still intact. So if the food is from down the street as apposed to say Mexico you are getting much more out of the food you are eating. Who doesn't want that?
2. Social economics- You are helping local farmer's to continue their business. This is good for everyone involved. I don't know about you but I rather be helping keep farmer Joe who practices good sustainable farming than giant corporation A who does nothing but ruin the food and the environment!
3.Environment- It takes a lot to prepare, pack, and transport that food hundreds of miles. If it's coming from the farmer down the street this is greatly reduced.
4. Taste- It taste a whole lot better when it's this fresh and grown well!
5. Sense of connection- The whole family can get a sense of conection with where their food is coming from when you can look the farmer in the eye and shake his hand. This is a great way to teach your children about where food comes from and the importance of filling our bodies with good nutritional food. You may learn something as well!
If you do not know where a farmer's market is in your area check out local harvest it is a great resource for finding local farms and farmer's markets. They also have listings for CSA's (community supported agriculture) which is where you buy a share and you get a box of various produce and other things every week.
There are many benifits to shopping at the farmer's market so what are you waiting for?

My kids won't eat ______!!!

So if you have ever said My kids won't eat...followed by vegetables, fruit, wheat bread or food that's good for them this article is for you.
No this is not an article full of wonderful tips on how to magically get your kids to start wanting broccoli over a cheeseburger. This is a call to look at yourself and your food decisions.
Where are your food priorities? Do you value pleasure over health? Do you value price over quality? Do you stop off in the drive through regularly because you are too busy to cook? Do you eat the things that you want your kids to eat? Do you eat them with the same pleasure and gusto as you would say a nice juicy burger?
Why would you expect your children to eat any different than you?
Now hear this it is never too late to change your children's eating habits!!! Now if they are teenagers or even if they are seven or eight and they have lived off nothing but junk it will be difficult!! Do not give up!!!
First you must decide what your food priorities are. You do not have to give up anything as long as it is real food. Treats should still be real food and should be treats. Also look at portions how much on your plate is meat? How much is veggies and whole grains? Once you have your food priorities set you then make a plan and sit down with your children. Explain to them the importance of taking care of our bodies and apologize for not teaching them this before if necessary. This is a journey you can take on together!
Now if you have very young children you need to take some things into account. It is normally to have likes dislikes. This can be based on texture taste look etc. Pay attention to what your child does not like but continue to offer small amounts of it and encourage them to try a small amount of it. They may come around do not give up! Offer things they "don't like" in a different way. My youngest would not eat a strawberry would not even try it until I cut it up into tiny tiny pieces now it's one of her favorite and she eats it in much larger sizes.
If your child is refusing to eat any vegetables or any fruit or even will eat nothing unless it's chicken or it's covered in ketchup. This is not healthy it is not normal (although it is main stream.) Offer them food that you are eating do not fix them something different and If they are hungry they will eat it!!! It is not child abuse they will not have an eating disorder. Feed them food you know is good for them and that you eat yourself. Now if you refuse to eat something you can't very well make them eat it!! If they gag or throw up while eating something don't shove it down their throat. If you are fixing a nice balanced meal with some choices on their plate there will be something they can eat. If you know they like sweet potatoes and they have yet to eat corn. Give them more sweet potatoes than corn but still put the corn on the plate and encourage them to try at least one bite.
Now some of you might think this harsh and cruel. It is not. What is harsh and cruel is allowing your children to eat poorly and condemning them to a lifetime of diet related disease and an inability to make healthy decisions.
Now if you are just now trying to get healthy do not beat yourself up over past decisions. We all make mistakes. We all have to start this journey somewhere. You can control where you go from here though!! You do not have to continue in the old path of eating! You know what to do. You know what is best for your children.
Remember you can do this!!! You and your family are worth it!!!
Good luck and healthy eating!

Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream

My super sweet husband finds this place online and takes me and doesn't even tell me where we are going. All he says is it's the kind of place you like. Well that was a serious understatement this place was awesome. Yes it is a little more expensive than some ice cream places but it is well worth it. The ice cream is made locally right here in Ohio. All the ingredients are fresh and local. The ice cream is made from local Ohio cows that are grass fed with no hormones or antibiotics. This place is seriously a dream come true. They have some really awesome flavors you will not find anywhere else. I had the Salty Caramel and I'm normally a one scoop girl but you bet I got two scoops of this(of course I was sharing) My daughter got the Wildberry Lavendar, My son just got the Belgian milk chocolate and my husband got the Buckeye state. He loves chocolate and peanut butter and said this is the best he has ever had(I'm pretty sure he has been a buckeye at heart forever) This is what I'm talking about when I say you don't have to give up the food you like just watch how it's made. I personally am now a loyal Jeni's costumer and look forward to supporting this great local business with my future purchases. If you are in Columbus you should really check it out. If not great news you can order online

Voting for real food

Did you know you have the power to make a change in the availability of healthy foods? You do every single time you go to the store or farmer's market and purchase food you make a vote. Are you voting for real, fresh, local, sustainable food or are you voting for processed chemicals pretending to be food. When you purchase this pretend food you are essentially saying this is ok this is what I want! When you leave this crap on the shelf and instead buy fresh local produce and meat that is raised without the use of antibiotics or hormones you are voting for real food! It's that simple!!!

Above image is grilled asparagus, baked sweet potatoes, and grilled quesadillas made on homemade tortillas.

So what are you voting for?

Snack time!

Pineapple with unsweetened organic coconut and almonds yum!

Replacing that bad "food" day 5~dessert

Sorry this is a couple of days late!

So dessert it's what calls to us in the middle of the night! Especially when you decide not to have it at all! There is no point in depriving yourself from having dessert as long as you are not having it every day! Once at most twice a week should be sufficient.
Here's the thing about dessert those candy bars, candy, and baked goods at the store are packed with some crazy stuff. You really need to learn to make your own desserts and it's really not that hard. You can find easy recipes for everything from pudding to cake to pies and cookies. It does not take much to make your favorite desserts and you control what goes into them. You can cut the sugar down and you know there are no chemicals or junk in them.
Now if you are trying to cut back on dessert because you've been enjoying it too much I suggest keeping a stash of fruit(which you should have anyway) to help with some of these cravings. One good thing I like to do is either make crepes or even use tortillas spread with cream cheese top with strawberries and enjoy. Super delish and it feels like dessert without too much sugar!
Now sometimes you just have to have chocolate and I have a great recipe just for that it's chocolate snack cakes and they taste just like those little cupcakes with the cream inside and the squiggles on top you know what I'm talking about. The difference is these are not filled with cream(although I have topped them with homemade whipped cream before) and you know exactly what's in it!
I got this recipe out of my Betty Crocker cook book and it's one of the few that I have not changed much about it except I make it in cupcakes instead of a cake and the original recipe calls for vegetable oil which I don't use! Beware there is a lot of sugar in this you could cut it down but I don't with this one however this is not an invitation to have this every day this is a once a month at most recipe!

Chocolate Snack cake
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup baking cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup cold water

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350
line muffin pan with liners or grease well and dust with cocoa
mix vinegar oil vanilla well
mix all dry ingredients together
add vinegar mixture and water to dry ingredients mix
pour into prepared muffin tin
bake 15-20 minutes or until toothpick(or cake tester) comes out clean
Enjoy these do not need to be topped with anything but they are great with cream cheese icing and strawberries yum!

Also see day 2~snacks for more ideas on how to deal with dessert

Remember you can do this! You and your family are worth it!!!

Replacing that bad "food" day 4~dinner

Now dinner is really hard for some if you work out of the home it can be really overwhelming to have dinner ready at a decent time and in comes fast food. It doesn't have to be this way.
One of the biggest helps on days you will not have much time is a crock pot if you do not have one I suggest you go purchase one as soon as you are finished reading this=) Seriously there are a lot of good recipes out there just for crock pots and once you get used to it you will learn what goes good together and be able to just throw some stuff in there, make a nice green salad and you can eat. Even less time than a drive through especially during rush hour!
Also if you are already cooking you might as well make a big batch of whatever it is and freeze half of it. That way next time you need an easy meal you can just lay it out to thaw and heat it up! Just as easy as any frozen dinner but with less sodium no chemicals and you control what is in it! I like to do this with my homemade manicotti it's a little labor intensive because I make crepes to use as shells and make the tomato sauce so it's not hard but takes a bit of time and effort.
If you do not have a good selection of spices this would be a very good thing to invest in. How many times have you seen a good recipe and wanted to try it but didn't know what Turmeric was much less have any? If you go to your local health food store most of them have a section of bulk spices so you can buy a very small amount to try it out!!! Whole foods here in Dublin has a fantastic selection of bulk spices! If you have been using seasoning packets I suggest you stop they are often full of sodium and chemicals. You can easily make your own spice mixes and store in a jar or container. My favorite is my Mexican spice mix which I also use for chili it's awesome and I almost always have some in the fridge except right now because we had taco salad last week and I haven't replenished it. Most things you would use a mix for really don't require that much I make my spaghetti sauce with very few spices and I can use it for pasta, pizza, and sandwiches.
Now if you are like me you probably have some stand bys you know are healthy are easy to fix and inexpensive. The problem is you get tired of having it everyday. Now is when it's time to shake things up. The seasonings we talked about before can change something completely. Try adding cinnamon to rice or quinoa and you'll see what I mean! There also is something to be said for just putting things together that sound good and seeing what the result is. Last night for dinner I made quinoa(pronounced keen-wah and if you haven't had it try it it's delish) added some chopped apples cranberries cinnamon(I love cinnamon) and chopped fresh Italian parsley(I do not like the curly kind the Italian has a better flavor in my opinion.) I didn't know how it would turn out I had never even made quinoa before but it was absolutely wonderful! I served it with a nice green salad with chopped tomatoes, calamata olives and homemade croutons! Then for dessert we had peach smoothies. It really was a very satisfying cooking experience that took less than twenty minutes. All because I was willing to take a chance and try something. I love to look up new recipes although I rarely use them as is when I think of something that sounds good I will look up all the recipes I can find for it to get the technique and then just go for it. Then I end up with a recipe I can use later that I made from a combination of all the others. This also works well if you think something would go good together but you are not quite sure if you can find a recipe for it where someone else has done it it will probably work try it. Depending on who you are how you were raised and your cooking experience cooking will be either a science or an art. If it's an art to you just go for it and try new things pick up new things at the store and take them home and see what you can do with it. It's very exciting and fulfilling to do this. Now if you haven't had much cooking experience or you are not one for flying by the seat of your pants you will need recipes to come up with ideas. I love going to the library to get cookbooks you just scan or copy the recipes you like and you stick it in a folder in your kitchen! I've been doing a lot of recipe searching online on vegetarian websites lately. Now if you need some meat to go with it most of the time you can just add some grilled chicken or just alter it to your taste. The thing is it seems vegetarians are very creative with there food choices and we could all use more fruits and veggies!

Speaking of fruits and veggies I would like to talk about what kind of fruits and veggies you are getting. Are you still getting canned veggies and fruits that are swimming in salt and other junk? If so you need to stop. When possible buy in season fresh produce. Of course a very good portion of my veggies come from the freezer as long as you are getting fruits and veggies with nothing added(check those labels for added salt and sugar) they are just as nutritious if not more so than fresh. Not to mention a great deal cheaper sometimes. If you have it on hand you will eat it. Try mixing veggies into your tomato sauce, your eggs, your soup, your pasta. You will be pleasantly surprised at the depth it brings to your dishes.
Also one complaint that I have heard is when you buy fresh it doesn't last as long. This is true because food does go bad(doesn't that make you think about the stuff on the shelf?) Get to know your produce and eat the stuff that's going to go bad more quickly(spinach, berries) at the beginning of the week saving the sturdier produce for later(carrots, apples.) If you follow a plan according to this you shouldn't have waste. If you have leftover vegetables from dinner save them and they can go into a soup or veggie omelet the next day. Or even freeze them for this use another time.

One big thing about dinner is most of the time you are not going to have the option to be flexible you need a plan. Sit down with your calendar once a week or less often if you wish and plan out at least dinner. Some of you will do well to plan out every single meal at least for a while until you kick the fast food habit! When I was keeping other children I had breakfast lunch dinner and snacks on the calendar so I knew exactly what to get at the store. However when you get to the store and strawberries are on sale but they are not on the plan change the plan!
If you are concerned about going organic here is the Dirty dozen list which shows the top twelve produce items to buy organic(strawberries is number six on that list) also the clean fifteen which is the fifteen produce items with the least amount of pesticides.

One more thing and then I'm done for the day! If you are picky about your vegetables or fruits I really want to challenge you to start trying some things. Even if you didn't like it before peoples taste changes and sometimes you just didn't have it fixed right! Try cooking things a different way I love roasted asparagus but I used to couldn't touch the stuff because all I'd ever had was canned. Try adding it to things you know you like or adding different spices. It's well worth it. For those of you with children you know they say to give them a bite of something several times before you give up. Why not do that with yourself especially if it's something that's really good for you. Don't give me that I'm an adult and I know what I like!!! How's that got you so far not very good probably so get over it and try it already!
Anyway I'm really proud of all of you that are really going at this and it's great that people are talking. I know I might not be reaching a huge audience but I feel privileged to have each one of you as readers. This really means a lot to me!!! I love you all!

Tomorrow is dessert watch out it might be brutal=)

Remember you can do this!!! You and your family are worth it.

Replacing that bad "food" day 3~Lunch

First of all there is something I would like to make clear. I am not a doctor/nutritionist/dietitian or anything of the like! I do not nor have I ever counted calories, fat, or anything else for that matter. I live and eat based on eating good nutritious whole foods with as much fruit and veggies as I can. My basic philosophy is to eat food as close to the way God originally made it as possible. I am not vegetarian I do eat meat although I do my best to eat good quality meat that I trust! With that said if any of the meals I post do not fall under a pattern of a protein two veggies and a starch or any other pattern it's because I don't follow one. I feel that if you are eating a variety of good healthful food you will probably be fine. If you have been advised by your doctor/ nutritionist to follow a pattern or count calories please do. This is a site dedicated to thinking about what goes in your body and not meant to be the final say.
Thanks just wanted to get that said=)
Now onto lunch!!!

Lunch might look different for you than it does for me. I stay home with the kids so I have a great deal of flexibility with lunch. If you work outside the home or go to school you will not have that flexibility as an option. Ideally if you do work outside the home your best option is going to be to bring a lunch with you. If you must go out I would suggest getting a salad or sides of veggies ask them to keep any dressing on the side so you can use very little of it. A lot of people think that they are doing good by eating a salad when really they could be eating more calories than if they got a burger! Use as little dressing as you can lemon juice is good as a dressing and using a vinaigrette is going to be better than ranch! The darker the lettuce the better. Iceberg is nothing it's nutritionally void Romaine is a much better option most restaurants have this and can use it for any salad. Spinach salads are a great way to get some great nutrients in for lunch!!! Just remember when going out to be conscience of portion and to only eat real food.
I am going to go out on a limb here and say if you send your kids to school you need to be sending them with lunch and a snack and making sure they have a good breakfast before they head out. You also need to be talking with them about the importance of how they treat their bodies. If they are older children and this is a new change apologize for the way you have been eating and talk to them about this new way of doing things and how it's better for everyone. You can not trust the schools to feed your children real food or to even teach them about it. This is your responsibility!!!

Now if you can take your lunch or you are eating at home the absolute best thing is leftovers! We love leftovers for lunch add a steamed veggie or a salad if you don't have enough and it's great.

If you do sandwiches make sure you are only using good ingredients check that bread label it should not have chemicals or HFCS in it and the first ingredient should be whole wheat just because it is dark in color does not mean anything. Some add coloring or molasses to get that dark color you want to see the word whole as the first word. Also you can look for the label that looks like a bail of hay standing up that says the wholegraincouncil Any peanut butter should just have peanuts and go for good quality jam and check the label for added sugar or chemicals(jelly is just sugar it doesn't use the whole fruit just the juice) Grilled veggies make nice sandwiches or lunch all by themselves. I like to use my panini press to grill the veggies right on it asparagus is delicious this way! If you like meat on your sandwich I suggest getting the meat and cooking it yourself vs buying deli meat. It is going to control the quality of your meat as well as being less expensive. Take the time to do this once a week or less and you can freeze it in individual bags to take out as you need it you could even make the sandwich ahead of time and freeze it but depending on the bread and filling it may get a bit soggy. This is a great technique for taking your lunch though because by lunch time it's thawed out but it kept well during the morning.

Sometimes one of the best lunches is just several kinds of raw fruits and veggies it's just so clean and can really be fun!

Beans make a great lunch make a huge pot at the beginning of the week and you can freeze this in batches as well just make sure they are fully thawed before warming or they can get kinda mushy=) serve them with a little cornbread muffin and you are good to go.

Eggs...they are not just for breakfast serve up some green eggs(scrambled eggs with frozen chopped spinach) or a veggie omelet yum!!!

Lunch can be fun but there are some things to stay away from such as those prepackaged lunches in the deli isle seriously walk away! Apple sauce that's filled with HFCS and other additives! Just remember lunch should be food to! Just because you need convenience does not mean you have to sacrifice quality!

Tomorrow is going to be dinner and I want to talk about taking foods you love to eat and turning them into real food so if you have a recipe that you love that's full of cream of chicken soup and butter crackers send it to me and I'll see what I can do!

Remember you can do this! You and your family are worth it!!!

Replacing the bad "food" day 2~ snacks

This should be the easiest but is where most of us drop the ball. First off if you have candy, chips, and snack cakes in the house you will eat them. If you do not have healthy options in your house to take with you you will buy candy, chips and snack cakes while out and about or you will stop off at your favorite local fast food place.
So this starts with preparation and eventually becomes habit. Snacks should be real food and should just be snacks. These are to keep you from starving so you don't overeat at meals and to give you a pick me up.
Also I would like to say that even if it is all natural and organic if it's junk food it's still junk food. Chocolate cookies with cream filling have no part in your regular diet. If you must have these as a occasional treat that is fine and by all means get the organic ones instead of the high fructose corn syrup in cookies clothes! These products have a place and I use them myself there are some good crackers and granola bars out there but these should not be for everyday use. Another common snack is fruit snacks. For the most part these have lots of stuff you don't want your kids eating even if it does say made with real fruit right on the front of the package. If you want your kids to have real fruit give them real fruit!!! There are some products out there though that are suitable occasionally. You can find fruit leather and fruit strips that are made with fruit and fruit juice and that's it. These still need to be occasional though as it's a lot of sugar and the real fruit will always be better!

Everyday snacks should be easy, tasty, and healthy.

Good examples of snacks are

almonds(or other nuts of choice)

Fresh fruit(frozen is great for hot days)

Small smoothie

Plain yogurt with a little fruit

Ants on a log (banana or celery with natural peanut butter and raisins on top)

Yogurt popsicles(easy to make just blend plain yogurt with fruit pop into popsicle tray and freeze)

Homemade popcorn(many methods paper bag in microwave, hot air popper or like we do old fashioned coconut oil in pan on the oven) we like to add dried cranberries and chopped almonds for something different

Veggies(think baby carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumbers etc my kids actually love frozen peas still frozen)

Homemade granola or granola bars

Brown rice cake with natural peanut butter(check those labels rice cake should only have whole grain brown rice and maybe salt if you need salted ones and peanut butter should say peanuts and that's it!)

There are so many options and a lot of them are portable if you have a small cooler and ice pack your options for taking things with you are almost limitless string cheese is always good and portable if you tolerate dairy, hummus and crackers, bananas were made to be portable, granola is easy to separate into individual bags, homemade pita chips, grapes. There really is no excuse for snacking on non food.

If there are things you just really love you do not have to give them up but some things you are better off saying goodbye to. Chocolate does not have to be a complete no but a snickers bar should be! Better option hand full of plain peanuts and a piece of good dark chocolate. Cake does not have to be a no but a whole box of little debbies should be! Instead bake your own cupcakes(not from a mix) and freeze them so you can portion it out and you'll find you don't even really have to have icing all the time but hey if it's your birthday have at it. Ice cream does not have to be a no but strawberry flavored ice cream product should be. Check those labels there should be very few ingredients on that list and this should be a special treat! I like Breyers myself!

I do not think you should deprive yourself that will not help you. I just want you to really think about how what you are eating is made and if it's not made in a manner that is honoring to your body ditch it and find a suitable alternative!

Also make sure you are drinking water and lots of it. I do not allow any other beverage in between meals except for water. Sometimes you feel hungry but you are really just thirsty! So drink up and happy snacking!

Remember you can do this! You and your family are worth it!!!

Replacing that bad "food" Day 1~breakfast

So last week we talked about label reading and hopefully you have also been doing some research of your own and you now know what not to eat. Now that we have that out of the way let's talk about what to replace all that chemical laden junk with. We want to be putting things in our bodies that will actually help them to function properly not just make you feel full a few minutes or taste good when you eat it. Eating the right kinds of foods can taste good will make you feel full longer than junk food and fuel your body.
Now if you are a non-morning person like me who can't seem to get up even with the kids jumping on me then you know how hard it can be to feed the family something nutritious. Even though I know better I still fall back on cereals and breakfast bars more than I should. If you need to fall back on these things please at least carefully read those labels and go for a good quality brand such as cascadian farms. My kids love toaster pastries so I will get them occasionally but I get the Nature's Path when I do. The trick is to not buy these things often and then you won't eat them often. It sounds relatively simple but if I buy them to put up for a day when I don't feel well or something they always get eaten soon so I only buy them very occasionally. Now breakfast should be easy. There are so many options and I would like to cover some of my favorites. Oatmeal talk about options you can do so much with oatmeal. I buy old fashioned rolled oats so I can do many things with it. The instant packages often have added stuff you don't really need anyway. It takes very little time to make and you can add vanilla, Cinnamon and some fruit(fresh, frozen, or dried) and it is so good. Try not to add sugar to it as the fruit should sweeten it enough. If you have to add sugar make sure to use a natural sugar or honey and gradually lessen the amount you use! I also like to make granola bars and my favorite thing to do with oats is making granola. Now this stuff at the store can be pricey but takes very little time to make and is super easy(just watch it does burn.) We also really like smoothies around here and keep plenty of frozen fruit in the freezer just for this. Whenever we have bananas start to get too ripe I just peel it and throw it in a freezer bag and tada bananas for smoothies. Plain yogurt is also a staple here and goes right into the smoothies. Of course if your mornings are super hectic one of the best things is muffins(not the mix from the bag.) You can make them anytime and eat on them or even freeze them and take them out the night before to eat in the morning! This also works great with pancakes and waffles. Just pop them in the toaster in the morning and you just fed your family something easy, tasty,inexpensive and nutritious! My kids favorites are pumpkin apple, and blueberry banana!
There are so many options for breakfast but it's hard to get out of the cereal rut. Just try a few things and you will see it doesn't take as much effort as you think!
Some other great breakfast options... veggie omelets and yogurt parfaits with your homemade granola plain yogurt and fresh or frozen fruit.Add some protein mix to that smoothie but remember to watch those labels.

Don't forget as many whole one ingredient foods as possible for every meal and snack.

There is no reason to give up the things you love to eat just change the way you eat them and the way they are made!!!

If you have a good quick bread recipe you can make that into muffins so you have individual sizes which is good for portion control and normally takes less bake time!

I promised some recipes this week so here is what I use for granola it's a combination of recipes I've used to come up with what I think works best for us. Feel free to play with this one and try lots of things with it=)

Homemade granola mix

4 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1 cup of flour of your choice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup melted butter
1/2 cup honey
3 tablespoons sugar
2-2 1/2 cups mix ins of choice
heat oven to 325
spray cookie sheet with a lip
melt butter and honey together over medium low heat
mix all dry ingredients together and then add in butter honey mixture and vanilla
stir together well until all coated
bake approximately 15 minutes until your house smells really good and the granola looks nice and toasty let cool on oven
If it gets a little to dark for you take it out before it gets to the color you want as it does crisp up some on the pan after cooking=)
You can put so many things in this dried fruit, nuts, coconut, peanut butter any kind of granola you like to buy you can recreate at home. I would stay away from the candy unless it's just an occasional treat.

For those of you really trying out there I am so proud of you.

You can do this! You and your family are worth it!!!

Weekend challenge

I have decided to forgo an official weekend challenge due to the label reading. The challenge this week is just to keep looking at those labels. If you have not gone through your kitchen yet then the challenge is to get that done this weekend.
Have a great weekend everyone I'll "see" you Monday!

Label reading wrap up

So I know I have given you a lot of information to process in the past few days and I hope by breaking it up you have been able to digest it(pun intended lol.)

I would like to end this with a word of encouragement. I know when you first realize how bad all the stuff you have been eating has been for you and your family you can have a wide range of emotions. You many feel guilty with yourself, angry at the food manufacturers or your family. You may even feel like it is hopeless. It is not hopeless and there is no point in trying to blame someone even yourself. It is counter productive and will not help you to become healthy. Next week I am going to talk about how to find alternatives to what you have been eating and tips for making things yourself. There might even be some recipes=)

For now keep reading ALL of your labels. I am going to take a couple of days off from blogging as I have my MIL coming in for my youngest first birthday. I made cupcakes today for her and I cut the sugar in the recipe in half. I always cut the sugar down in recipes because I feel we have let our taste get used to way more sugar than is necessary but I've never done it with cake. I was really worried but they turned out great I let me DH try one and he likes them too so success! I can't wait to see her try them. I also found some non soy organic shortening this week so I was able to make tortillas for her because she has never been able to have them before she loved them! I made quesadillas out of them and then used the leftovers for sandwiches. It's been a big food week for her.
If anyone has any questions about alternatives to what you have been eating that you would like me to address please email me!
Remember you can do this! You and your children are worth it!

Label reading Day 3~ allergies

I almost hesitate to even address this issue because it is really sensitive. If you feel you might have allergies or know you do please talk to your doctor/allergist/nutritionist before implementing any dietary changes!!!

There are two things I would like to address though first of all people think of allergic reactions as not being able to breath or getting severe rashes and being rushed off to the hospital. This is not always the case. Sometimes the reactions might not even be thought of as an allergic reaction. Some people just feel sluggish after ingesting something they are allergic to. Two of my children have gotten diaper rash from things they were allergic two. With my youngest I had a glass of soy milk the next day she screamed all day got a terrible diaper rash and then got really bad diarrhea. Many people with seasonal allergies and asthma find that if they cut out dairy particularly cows milk their symptoms are greatly reduced and sometimes even go away. I had a recent experience where I was having terrible dizzy spells where sometimes I would have to lie down in the floor and wait for it to pass. I was also extremely tired and could barely do anything and was getting headaches that were almost unbearable. I went to the doctor to rule out any problems and nothing came up so I started to really watch when it was happening tried to figure out what was different. I have always been sensitive to caffeine and decided to try and see if that might be causing these problems. Sure enough within a week of cutting out caffeine completely the symptoms all went away and haven't returned!
Now to understand partially about allergies there are differences in food allergies and food intolerances. If you want to know more google it or talk to your allergist as I'm not a nutritionist or an allergist so I don't want to butcher the info=)
On to the part about label reading. This can be very difficult for people who have allergies particularly wheat and corn. If you have a corn allergy you also can not have anything with corn, high fructose corn syrup, confectioners sugar(powdered sugar), baking powder, sometimes caramel, dextrin, maltodextrin,dextrose, fructose,malt, malt syrup, malt extractmono- and di-glycerides, MSG, anything that just says vegetable without you knowing what vegetable among many many other things if you need to be corn free please take some time to either research or get the information from your doctor to find out everything you should be avoiding this is particularly difficult with eating out no fast food and if you go to a restaurant only go to one you really trust to tell you everything they use!
Now wheat can be very difficult as well there are so many things that have wheat that you would never even know. Do not rely on there being a label saying contains wheat ingredients etc. It is not always there and with many other allergens it's not there at all. I have seen labels with contains wheat, dairy but it didn't say contains soy(when it did). Never trust those warnings always read the ingredient list for yourself. This is a good place for information on reading labels for wheat allergies As a matter of fact it has a lot of other good information on kids with food allergies in general.
Some people with allergies to things like garlic or other seasonings also have a unique issue with the fact that seasonings do not have to be individually listed. If you have one of these such allergies stay away from anything labeled seasoning, flavoring, spices, or anything of the nature. This also means meat has to be checked I know I have gotten ground turkey before that had seasoning on the label.
If you are allergic to MSG or just trying to stay away from it because it's bad stuff you should also know that they it is supposed to be labeled as monosodium glutamate on the label however The USDA website states
" Yes. MSG is the sodium salt of glutamic acid. Glutamic acid is an amino acid, one of the building blocks of protein. It is found in virtually all food and, in abundance, in food that is high in protein, including meat, poultry, cheeses, and fish.Hydrolyzed proteins, used by the food industry to enhance flavor, are simply proteins that have been chemically broken apart into amino acids. The chemical breakdown of proteins may result in the formation of free glutamate that joins with free sodium to form MSG. In this case, the presence of MSG does not need to be disclosed on labeling. Labeling is required when MSG is added as a direct ingredient"
So only if it is a direct ingredient does it have to be labeled at all!
Does anyone else see why eating whole foods that you know where they came from is so important. This stuff was never meant to be put together in such a fashion and look at what it is doing to us! This is especially important to do if you have food allergies and if they are life threatening it is going to be much easier to make your food all the time buy the fruit, veggies, grains, and meat and make your food yourself you can do it. Even if you don't think you have time just think about how long it takes to get ready go to the drive through and then get home. I like to make extra meals, snacks and breads and keep my freezer stocked. Last week I had homemade manicotti straight from my freezer and it wasn't anymore difficult than a frozen meal!!!
I know some of you probably think all this is way too expensive and when you go to a health food store the prices are higher. I will not argue with you on that it is! However if you are buying single ingredient foods and making your own meals instead of buying the prepackaged, pre-made meals from these places you will not be spending much if any more. Remember real food will fill you up much better than processed food so you eat less of it. This is good for your wallet and your waistline!
You can do this!!! You and your children are worth it!!!
I would love to hear about what you have found in your kitchen this week!!

Label reading day two~ counting calories

Ok so you are trying to loose weight or you need to watch your sodium intake or you need to make sure your kids aren't living off sugar. You think you can do that easily with processed foods because they have all of that clearly labeled right? Wrong! These figures can be wrong and the calorie counts at the restaurants can be way off. This stuff is different every time it's fixed. Now at the restaurant it's going to be worse because from cook to cook day to day the way it's fixed ie how much butter/oil it's fixed in can vary. Relying on an online source or iphone app can also steer you wrong. This information changes companies change their formulas and brands can vary considerably! Take into account a medium apple has around 80 calories and 15 grams of sugar. Now how big exactly is a medium apple and it varies with the skin on or off and what kind. They can't possibly get it exactly right every time. A recent study showed that restaurants were off by as much as 18% and frozen foods off by 8%. To see an article on it go here. If you need to watch your calories keep a food journal(everything you put in your mouth counts) and watch those portions on the box!!! Measure it out a couple of times if you need to. The best way to keep it in check is still to eat as many whole foods, fruits and veggies as possible.

If you are watching your kids sugar intake the easiest way to do this is not necessarily checking the sugar amount on the box but by checking the ingredient list if it has corn syrup, sugar, honey and dextrose all listed it has too much sugar you don't even have to waste your time looking at how many grams. Fruit has sugar yes but it is digested differently by your body. You are looking for food that doesn't have added sugar in it ie plain yogurt not strawberry not even vanilla. You get plain yogurt and add real fruit to it so you are also getting the full benefits of the fruit. Sugar goes by many names and you have to watch for them check out this article I found of Fifty names of sugar Once again if you are watching this stay away from the processed foods it makes it so much easier. Real fruit is a much better way to get nutrients and you don't have to worry about what is in it! Also real whole fruit with the peel will always be better than fruit juice if you or your children must have juice limit it greatly and check those labels. Grape juice should have grapes and maybe water. Even if it says 100% juice on the front still check because if it is a low enough percentage it can still have preservatives in it and say 100% juice.

One thing you really need to understand is the food manufacturers are not out to help you be healthy! They are out to make money. Cheap food makes more money. If they feel healthy food is a trend they will do their best to market it as healthy even if it's not. Just because they have added fiber or vitamins doesn't mean the sodium and sugar it's swimming in is good. DO NOT TRUST THE CLAIMS ON THE COMMERCIALS OR THE FRONT OF THE BOX!!!!! Even some of those diet bars are terrible for you. CHECK EVERYTHING AND TRUST NO FOOD COMPANY until they prove they are providing a good solid product.
Now the amount of calories and fat and sodium a person needs greatly varies. It depends on your age, your size, what you are trying to do, family history etc. Please talk to a doctor or nutritionist that you can really talk to about this and find out where you need to be. Then when you are armed with this information and a little know how about label reading you can move forward on this journey to health.

You can do this!!! You are worth it and your children are worth it!!!

Label Reading Day 1~Familiarize yourself

So you are in the store the kids want twenty things you don't want to get them one kid is half asleep and you forgot to eat lunch. You know the kitchen at home has nothing in it and you have company coming this weekend. This is not the time to start trying to read labels! You will get confused, frustrated and look like a crazy person.
One of the easiest ways to acquaint yourself with what information is on the label, serving sizes, and ingredients is at home. Go to your kitchen with a pen and two pieces of paper. On one write DO NOT BUY AGAIN on the other side of that paper write ACCEPTABLE TO PURCHASE. On the other paper write WHAT IS THIS ANYWAY? This second piece of paper is very important if you have allergies or dietary restrictions. If you are on a specific diet ie trying to loose weight or have health problems I want you to have a third piece of paper that says TALK TO DOCTOR/NUTRITIONIST. This will mostly be about calorie intake, sodium intake etc.
Now I want you to look at every single thing in your kitchen/ pantry. I mean everything, if it is going in you or your family's mouth you need to look at it. Is the food as good as you thought it was? Is it full of things that you can't pronounce or artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives. If it has these things in it write this down on the DO NOT BUY AGAIN list. If you hit the jack pot and find that your tomato paste only has tomatoes in it write that down on your ACCEPTABLE TO PURCHASE list. This is very important to be specific with brands as things can vary. This will be your list you take with you to the store to help you get started on label reading and making decisions on what to purchase for your family.
Now is also a good time to write down all those things that you don't know what they are especially if you have food allergies many things have wheat, corn etc in it but they go by a different name. You could be eating the very things you are allergic to and not even know it! When you are done making your list take it to the computer and look up all that stuff you don't know what is it will give you a new outlook and help you understand how you are feeding your body.
Now I said check everything and I want to make sure you really get me. Check your freezer some of those frozen veggies you thought you were doing good to buy have added salt and sugar. Your beans, peas, and corn do not need extra salt and sugar check it. If it has it you know what list it goes on. Check your baking supplies check everything!!! Also those of you that love peanut butter check it there should be one ingredient on that list peanuts if there is anything else you know what to do.
This is also a good time to check those serving sizes have you been eating way more than you thought? If you are trying to loose weight this is a good thing to talk to your doctor about.
When you are finished with all of your list put the ones you are taking to the store with your bags, in your purse wherever that you will take it with you.
If you are like me you will purchase things you didn't really mean to without realizing it. This takes time and retraining yourself to shop. When you come home from the store and are putting things away check your purchases. If you happened to purchase something with chemicals and junk in it pull that list back out and add it on there. If it is something you can take back put it aside with the reciept and then you can look for a reasonable alternative.
I am not suggesting you throw out everything in your kitchen I do think that would be wastfull and cost you a lot of money. Simply don't buy it again if you see that it is not a healthful choice. Now if you have a stock pile of little debbies I would say toss them some things are not worth eating at all for anyone!
If I can do this I know you can it really is a lot of work but it is all worth it!!!
Please email me if you have any questions about today's article or have a question you would like me to address on label reading.
You can also find Columbus Food Revolution on facebook!!

Weekend Challange

So sorry this is a day later than I meant for it to be but I had a serious headache last night and typing was the last thing on my mind.
Did anyone do the soda challange last week? If you did I would love to hear about it. Sodas are a major source of empty calories in the US and even those diet sodas are doing nothing but harming you. Did you know that both HFCS and artificial sweeteners can keep you from feeling full. This is why you drink more of it and eat more when you are eating junk food. If you could just cut one thing out this would be the thing to cut out!!!!
This weekends challange is about bread. If you are like me when the weather starts to get nice it means picnics and grilling out. Now I'm not going to sit here and tell you no carbs and all that. If that is what your doctor has said please do it though and of course if you are gluten free this doesn't apply. For the rest of us check those labels. Lots and lots of bread products out there have HFCS in it along with partially hydrogenated oils and a list of other chemicals pretending to be food. Yes the stuff that doesn't have that in it is more expensive so eat less of it if you will. Since we have some allergy issues in our family I actually had to pay $3 something for hamburger buns. It hurt me to do so but I trusted the product and would have it no other way. Also I make a great deal of my own bread and most of it is super easy, cheap, and taste better than anything you will find on the shelf. If you have questions about bread making I would be glad to answer them.
I want you to remember your health and your children's health is worth it!!! It is worth spending a little more time, money, and preperation. I really think you can do it without spending any more than you normally do by making your own food and the things you don't make stocking up when they are on sale.The bottom line is you can pay for it now or you can pay the doctors and pharmacy companies later, your choice!

McDonald's experiment

So I have made the decision to continue the McDonald's experiment in a couple of weeks and this time be more careful about the dog=) Fortunately he never got sick.

Day Six McDonald's challange

Where to begin with tonight? Well first off if you noticed that the McDonald's burger is not in the pictures that's because I got them out looked them over made my observations and when I went to take a picture could not get the camera to work. I took the camera upstairs to show to my DH and when I came down the dog was standing at the table and the burger was gone!!! He is now in the basement as I'm just waiting for him to get sick =( Fortunately I at least made my observations and I still have the control which is my burger so I can get another and compare to the previously acquired information with this control without having to do another.

The McDonald's burger before it was eaten looked just like it has the whole time with the exception of the cheese was starting to harden a bit. The bun was still exactly the same and the meat has only slightly changed in color the entire time.

The big news is the fries now have mold now I'm sure that if I had kept them out they would not have acquired said mold so quickly but I'm not trying to keep them from molding or rotting I'm simply trying to compare them with what I know for a fact to be real food. McDonald's fries can in fact mold. However the rate at which this mold took to grow does say something about what they must be doing.

The food I made is disgusting and the fries are all but mush and mold at this point. The bread is not showing serious signs of mold yet. The cheese has mold but the meat has not been significantly changed with the exception of the smell which could be those potatoes. Perhaps if I do this again I will keep them seperate.

I'm not sure where I will be going from here but I will continue to observe what I still have until I make a decision.

Day five McDonald's challenge

So I decided to open the McDonald's meal first just to make sure I was smelling accurately. Still no foul smell no mold it looks pretty much the same as the day we bought it. Now the fries do seem to be starting to loose a little crispness but this could also be attributed to being in a plastic bag.
The bag with the food I made did not even get opened tonight because when I picked it up I could already smell it!!! You can see through the bag mold is growing at a rapid rate and the potatoes are rotting. The bread doesn't have as much but it does appear to be starting in a couple of spots.
At this point I don't think you could pay me to eat at McDonald's! I really would like to know what they are doing to this stuff in order for this to happen it's quite disturbing.
What I'm really wondering now is who do we trust? If you don't trust McDonald's do you trust Wendy's, Arby's, Chick-fil-a? At this point I just don't know. I think I'll be skipping the drive through anywhere for quite some time though.

Day number four of McDonald's vs homemade

This is the first day there has been a real difference and boy is there one. Immediately upon opening the homemade bag I was greeted with the stench of rotting food!!! It was really gross(I'm glad I'm not pregnant or the experiment would have ended there!) My homemade potatoes now have mold and lots of it and they are also so soggy they are falling apart when I touch them. The meat is starting to change color some and the bun is now soggy also the cheese looks quite disgusting.

The McDonald's fries still smell like fries, are still crispy and no mold anywhere to be found at all. No mold or change in the burger. The patty(as I now hesitate to call it meat) looks as if if may be a dat darker but the cheese product looks exactly the same.

These pictures are still the same meals purchased and made on Saturday and I really would like to throw mine away but the McDonald's meal still looks the same.
I did not think I would see this big of a difference this quickly and really almost didn't believe all the stories I've heard but this is a huge difference very quickly and I'm not about to stop.

Eventually I may have to throw mine away if it gets too far gone just because I don't want that much mold etc. in the house but rest assured I will keep you all updated on this!!!

After all this is what we are putting in not only our bodies but our children's!

McDonald's vs homemade day three

Ok so this is day number three of the experiment. The greasy smell is going away on both of them and starting to just not really smell at all. As you can tell by the pictures though the homemade burger is obviously old the fries are very soggy and the cheese looks nasty. The meat and bun don't look that bad not that I would eat it or anything but nothing major going on.

The McDonald's burger looks exactly the same even the cheese and the fries are still just as crispy as they were yesterday! The bun and meat have shown no difference at all.

McDonald's not so happy meal experiment

So this is what I have been doing this weekend. I've seen lots of stories, pictures, videos etc about these really old McDonald's happy meals that do not smell, do not have mold and the fries basically look new. So what I have decided to do is test this out. I cooked a cheeseburger and fries at home nothing fancy just meat and cheese on a bun with some cut up potatoes fried in oil. Then I sent my DH out to get a happy meal. I took pictures of them both and when they were cooled off put them both in a plastic bag on top of the refrigerator. On day two(yesterday) I took them smelled them took another picture tested for crispness of fries and put them back. The smell is about the same for both on the first day. However I can already tell a difference in the crispness of the fries. My homemade fries were already getting soggy while the McDonald's fries were only slightly less crisp which was probably more from being in a plastic bag. Tonight I will check them again and then I think I will leave the bags open and see what happens.
My plan is to continue to check them everyday and report back the difference if any. So will you be eating anymore not so happy meals if it turns out they don't go bad?
I will post pictures soon but this thing is giving me trouble=)

Update...obviously got the pictures to load the top one in the bags is day two yesterday and the other three are day one Saturday!

weekend challenge

So I'm sure I don't have to tell you how bad those sodas are for you, you already know. So the challenge this weekend is to ditch them for at least a week and see how much better you feel!!

The big switch out

So here's the thing we all like certain foods and there is no reason to completely take them away. It's all about how it's made and what it's made with and of course moderation. I love love love chick-fil-a I could eat there every day seriously but I realize that would not be so great for me so I have vowed to eat there much less(and out at all much less.) Well the big test came today when I knew they were having family night which means they would be having this awesome balloon artist face painting and a drawing to win some veggie tales movies. What's a girl to do in this situation. I made homemade baked coconut chicken nuggets with a orange reduction sauce for dipping and baked sweet potato fries. This is what we ate for dinner and the kids loved it and ate every single last bite of those potatoes. Then since everyone ate so well we went out to Chick-fil-a for balloons and a little ice cream. We ordered kids size cups and I shared with the baby. I think this was a very good compromise and although we did have ice cream it wasn't much and I didn't let them get any chocolate syrup or anything like that on it and I know they got some good nutritious food in them. Also ice cream is not something they get every night! All in all we had a successful nurition day I would say =)
Anyone else with some good compromise or switches they have made?

What is real food anyway?

The easiest way to explain real food is to tell you what is NOT real food

artificial colors

artificial flavors

artificial sweeteners(diet coke is not good for you so if you are drinking that with your super delux burger in hopes of some offset put them both down and run away as fast as you can)

preservatives

things you can not pronounce or do not know what it is

High fructose corn syrup may be "natural" but don't let that fool you it is overprocessed and anything that may have been good to begin with is long gone...fructose is digested by your body differently(bad different) than glucose(regular table sugar) if you need a sweetener stick with a natural unprocessed sugar and use a lot less of it. I like florida crystals...yes it cost more than processed granulated sugar but as you slowly reduce your amount of sugar in your recipes you will use much less of it
I'm sure there is more but if you will just use single ingredient foods and make things yourself(it's really not hard I promise) then you will be safe
YOU CAN DO THIS!!!!

where it all began

First of all I would like to give some back ground as to why I am so passionate about eating real food. Hopefully by the end of this I will have some of you join me in this journey to getting out the word about what we are doing to ourselves. If you are easily offended only keep reading if you are ready for a change. If you are not wait and come back when you are.

I have always loved salads and fruit along with some veggies but never gave much thought to what else I might be eating. Even with the ridiculous amount of heart disease, diabetes, high cholesterol, high pretty much everything in my own family and the onslaught of obesity around me it never occurred to me to think about what I was putting in my own body. Then one day it hit me like a ton of bricks when I got the call that my thirty nine year old father had died of a heart attack. I had no warning and then a week later I found out I was pregnant with my first child. I didn't know what was healthy for me much less how to teach my new baby what was healthy. So started my personal mission to find out what foods really are healthy and why. I am not a doctor or a certified nutritionist nor can I tell you what to eat to prevent what and how much etc. I am a mother who cares deeply about my children(now three of them) and wants to take care of what God has given me(my body.)

I have had it on my heart for two years now to teach other families about how to eat real food and read labels. Unfortunately circumstances have not proved useful in doing so. Lately I've been feeling the tug again and felt it very strongly this morning.

I was having a conversation with a new friends about how I feed my children and the difficulty with my youngest allergy to soy and how now I can hardly give any snack crackers at all because I will not allow anything artificial in my kids food and now no soy. When she asked me where I shopped then to be able to feed them this way I realized that so many people just don't know how easy it really is to feed their family real food.

Fast forward to this afternoon when a friend had a post on face book about Jamie Oliver's new show Food Revolution. This for me was completely conformation that this is what I need to be doing.

I hope to help friends and family to learn how to read labels, stick with as many one ingredient foods as possible and cook in a way that is fun, easy, and the kids will eat.