Monday, November 18, 2013

5 Huge Baby Steps to eating WHOLE and REAL~Take the 3 DAY CHALLENGE!!!

Organic.  Farm raised.  Additive free.  Home grown.

Okay, I'll count down for you.....3, 2, 1...

now let's eye roll together!

Yep, that was me until recently.

 
I've always believed in giving my children good choices of food to eat, balanced with a realistic bit of freedom for goodies.  That's part of being a kid, right? 
 
We love to garden, fill our freezers with wild game, and eat home cooked meals.  We don't eat out often-it's a 15 minute drive to the nearest fast food option.  I don't fill our pantry with Ramen Noodles and cookies as the kids' only food options.  So we were doing good, right?
 
Nope-guess again! 
 
I' m going to make a very long story short today.  We have a story-and I'm not completely ready to share it, nor do I have it all figured out to share anyway.  So, just know that we've had things happen within our family, to those we cherish the most dearly, that made me stop in my tracks and take a good, long look at what I've been feeding those I love the most.  And I can say with confidence that I have noticed a HUGE difference, one that's big enough to keep me on this road and to keep paying attention.
 
Even Shorter Story....
I've tried to eliminate as much processed and artificial food from our pantry, refrigerator, kitchen table, diets, and thus our bodies as I can.  I don't even know what I call it, maybe REAL eating?  A WHOLE foods diet?  Either way-it's huge, and it's working in great ways for my family.
 
DISCLAIMER:  I live in the real world.  I haven't tripled my grocery budget by going 'organic' when most of said foods aren't truly organic anyway.  I don't always provide my family with the best food-we still occasionally hit the drive through or pick up a pizza.  My husband is forever attached to processed foods so we tend to slack more when he's around....and that's OK-it's called life. 
 
Ok, with all of that behind us-let me tell you that this journey can be SO very confusing.  Once you do make a decision to shop and eat better foods, the information out there can be mind boggling!  Don't worry about learning it all-just make a CHOICE to start education yourself and take it one step at a time! 
 
When reading and learning online-beware of those who are trying to sell you a product or supplement.  I'm not saying each individual is bad, but if I'm trying to 'detox' my family's diet, the last thing I want to add is another 'product'.  And I'm just not sure how much I trust the information coming from a company trying to market something at the same time. 
 
One site and story I've found that I REALLY seem to identify with and whose ideas see very real to me is the following.....
 
 
 
I trust her information and have looked to it often! 
 
I started this one step at a time.  And before I knew it, I had us almost completely on a non-processed menu!  The next grocery trip-I realized that I had accidentally saved us tons of money in doing so.  It's a win-win right?  It gets better....the differences in certain individuals in our family has been unmistakable and all of the proof that I need.  On top of that, I love being in the kitchen and the time spent preparing foods has become one of enjoyment in many ways.
 
I CHALLENGE YOU to read the ingredients list of every food you eat and feed your family for just 3 days.  Take note of the number of ingredients on these lists, along with the number of ingredients that you don't even recognize!
 

So, here's 5 basic steps that will make a HUGE impact in your food choices!

 
 
1.  Skip anything PREpared.  We've ditched the meals that come in a can, box, or frozen.  Same thing with the snacks.  I don't buy fruit snacks and snack crackers anymore.  This is an example of the type of snack or an easy lunch that I might serve the kids.  Meals are just made from scratch.  Just think, it gives you even more reason to pamper yourself to those food prep tools you know you want!
 
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Easy Snack Ideas:
Fruit
Cheese
Nuts
Smoothies
Homemade Cookies
Homemade snack crackers
 
2.  Say goodbye to the PREshredded and processed cheeses!  Below shows the ingredients from a PREshredded bag of cheese compared to a block of cheese.  I'll let you go discover the ingredients list on the processed cheese singles you know we all keep in our fridge!  Just buy whole blocks, shred and slice as needed!
 
3.  Bake your own bread.  Okay-I know it sounds really hard and probably unrealistic, but I for one was pleasantly surprised!  It took a few tries, but now I can do it with my eyes closed and it only takes a small amount of time about every 3 days to make enough bread to feed our family of 5.  The only motivation I needed was the ingredients list on a store bought loaf of bread.  My bread recipe will be posted soon!

 
4.  DUMP the margarine and butter substitutes!!  WOW is all I can say after I compared ingredients lists here!  We shop at our Warehouse store and a package of butter is very affordable when bought this way!  It tastes so much better and I've started using it in EVERYTHING!  That eliminated hydrogenated oils as an ingredient in home baked goods, and let me ditch my cooking spray as well!

 
5.  Honey!  I still use sugar at times, but I've began substituting honey (local) in everything I can!  I use it as the only sweetener in many things, including my bread!  The health benefits in local honey are unbeatable as well! 

 
That's 5 easy steps that will make a HUGE difference in the things you're putting into your body as well as those you love the most! 
 
Let me know how that 3 day challenge works for you and look forward to my bread recipe and other non-processed recipes to come!
 
Good Luck and God Bless you and your families as you dive into this! :)
 
Jennifer

1 comment:

  1. Love this- so interesting!! Thanks for sharing your journey! And your bread- sooooo yummy:) :)

    ReplyDelete

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