10 Days of Real Food Challenge

Here is a rundown of the food my family ate during our 10 day "real food" pledge. All items in a box/can/jar are organic versions with no sugar added. I will be updating and adding new recipes to my Fabulous Foods blog so be sure to check back. Next post will have some tips on making the switch to more real foods!

Day 1

Breakfast: Oatmeal with raisins, honey, cinnamon and pecans

Lunch: Peanut butter jelly sandwiches on whole wheat bread with carrots and cherry tomatoes

Dinner: Garden salad with oven roasted chicken, cherry tomatoes, fresh green beans, golden raisins, raw sunflower seeds, feta cheese and organic litehouse ranch dressing

Snacks: dried apricots, cherry tomatoes and carrots

Day 2

Breakfast: Organic breakfast cereal with milk

Lunch: Apple sandwiches with peanut butter, raisins and unsweetened coconut and veggies 

Dinner: Barley Jambalaya

Snacks: fresh fruits and veggies

Day 3

Breakfast: Whole grain waffles with strawberries & blueberries
Lunch: Garden salad for me, whole wheat banana, honey and raisin sandwiches for the kids with fresh green beans and strawberries
Dinner: Stir fry with pineapple and peppers on brown rice
Snacks: bananas, cutie oranges, grapes and cherry tomatoes

Day 4

Breakfast: "Jesus" breakfast (the boys wanted to eat foods Jesus might have eaten) dates, apricots, raisins, grapes and nuts and popovers (not what Jesus ate, but just to add something filling- used whole wheat flour and green onions and orange peppers in place of bacon)

Lunch: Peanut butter honey sandwiches on whole wheat bread with veggies

Dinner: Leftovers

Snacks: assorted veggies and fruit

Day 5
Breakfast: Plain yogurt with fruit and honey
Lunch: Peanut butter honey and dried apricot sandwiches on whole wheat bread

Dinner: Chicken Tortilla Soup

Snack: Puffed brown rice, fruit, larabars and veggies

Day 6

Breakfast: Puffed brown rice with blueberries and bananas

Lunch: Southwestern chicken salad with lime juice for dressing
Dinner: breakfast: scrambled eggs, potatoes and onions
Snack: brown rice krispy treats, lara bars

Day 7

Breakfast: plain yogurt with honey and blueberries, scrambled eggs and bacon (yes, we love our eggs)

Lunch: peanut butter honey sandwiches on whole wheat bread, and salad

Dinner: whole wheat cheese pizza with bacon and green onions

Snack: lara bars, apples

Day 8

Breakfast: oatmeal with honey, blueberries, cinnamon and walnuts

Lunch: peanut butter and jelly on whole wheat bread

Dinner: Roasted chicken, sweet potatoes and green beans

Snacks: Brown rice crispy treats, apples

Day 9

Breakfast: Quinoa, blueberries, strawberries and kiwi

Lunch: Quinoa black bean salad

Dinner: Whole wheat bowtie pasta with garden vegetable sauce (made by adding a ton of veggies- zucchini, pepper, onion, carrots and tomatoes into a food processor) and veggie chips (chard leaves baked with olive oil & sea salt)

Snacks: larabars, fresh vegetables and apples

Day 10

Breakfast: Whole wheat blueberry muffins and fresh fruit

Lunch: Quinoa black bean salad leftovers

Dinner: Spinach salad with oranges, walnuts and raisins with squeezed orange juice for dressing and whole wheat bread
Snacks: fresh fruits & veggies

What I learned:

Shopping was more difficult that I expected. It was kind of overwhelming trying to make sense of what was really natural and what wasn't. I always read the labels when I shop but I'm typically looking for things like sugar and fiber, not the actual ingredients. I kind of assumed that a health food store would offer the healthiest choices, but that wasn't necessarily the case. I wish I had read more closely on some of the other websites about what to look for. Like pepperoni- totally processed right? But is there a healthy alternative for my Friday night pizza? I found some boars head turkey bacon pepperoni but just the smell is enough to gag a person, I don't even dare taste it.

Eating real foods was easier than I expected it to be. My kids were fully on board with munching on fruits and veggies all day- in fact they'd rather eat that than an actual meal- and they loved the larabars and rice krispy treat snacks.

The challenges came when we came home at 4:15 pm and they were starving and I had 45 minutes to whip something up from scratch. The other challenge is our love for Ikea and the temptation to swing by for their free Tuesday kids meals. Granted, the vegetables are healthy, but I have no idea what's in the mac & cheese.

I was truly surprised that my sugar cravings went completely away and have not resurfaced (even though I have two Ikea dark chocolate bars in my cupboard- they're no longer screaming my name).

What I have in my cupboard: 

Below is a list of my intial real foods purchases to stock my cupboards, I spent $250 which is a lot less than I expected- most of these things will last me for a month or more (aside from the fresh produce). If you're lucky enough to have a program like Bountiful Baskets near you, take advantage of it! It's the cheapest way to get healthy produce (only $15 for what usually lasts a week) and it's fun to learn how to cook with new vegetables.

I am lucky enough to have live where there is a farm delivery program- Winder Dairy. I signed up for a weekly milk, egg and cheese order $15.00, and can order meat and other dairy products upon request (around $30-40 per month depending on how much meat I want), a weekly bountiful basket $15.00 and then I can shop for anything that I still need (I'm planning on an additional $50 or so per week). So, if my calculations are correct, I should actually be saving money eating this way (assuming I limit meat- that's where the real expense comes in).

Things I already had on hand:
White wheat
Oats
Barley
Brown Rice
Black beans, dried
Pinto beans, dried
White beans, dried
Lentils
Split peas
Pecans

Olive oil
Baking goods (baking powder, soda) and spices
 
Things I purchased for a total of $250 at Sunflower Market

Cashews, raw
Sunflower seeds, raw
Walnut halves
Yellow popcorn
Sesame seeds

Coconut, unsweetened shredded
Apricots, turkish dried
Whole dates
Golden raisins

Quinoa
Wild rice
Puffed brown rice
Puffed millet
Breakfast cereal, organic

Spaghetti sauce, organic
Whole wheat pasta

Coarse ground pepper
Sea salt
Raw sugar
Real vanilla
Honey

Avocados
Cilantro
Green onions
Green beans
Red & Yellow bell peppers
Tomatoes
Bananas
Cherry tomatoes
Strawberries
Cucumbers
Carrots
Red potatoes
Blueberries
Grapes
Kiwi
Ginger root
Garlic

Ranch dressing, organic
Ketchup, organic
Maple syrup
Coconut oil

Milk
Yogurt, plain
Feta
Monterey Jack cheese
Butter
Sour cream
Parmesean, shredded
Mozzarella cheese

Whole chicken
Beef round steak

Real Food

Now that I'm done with my road trip updates, I can move on to what my mind has really been on lately...FOOD.

Have you seen the 100 Days of Real Food site yet? I am always looking for healthy recipes to feed my family and stumbled across it a few months ago. After perusing the site a few months ago I knew making the change to 100% "real foods" was something I wanted to do.

I wasn't raised on many processed foods- I grew up on goats milk, fresh eggs, home baked bread, and we even ate a few of our own chickens. I am not in a position in life to live that organic, but I cook dinner almost every night, usually pretty healthy things. I have been guilty though of substituting seemingly "healthier" labels in place of natural (i.e. margarine for butter, lowfat for full fat), keep a frozen meal or two on hand for emergencies, and generally figured that we ate "healthy enough" so I didn't really need to worry about the few processed foods we did indulge in (not to mention the "S" word {SUGAR}. 

However, after doing some homework, I've had a change of mind. It kind of started with the Jamie Oliver Food Revolution last year, I was shocked and amazed that some people live completely on frozen/boxed foods and very little produce. I was also astounded at how many people in this country are getting type II diabetes. 1 in 3 American's have type II diabetes or have pre-diabetes (glucose tolerance). And then there's the obesity epidemic- more than one third U.S. adults are obese and are passing that on to their children. The truly sad thing is that most cases of obesity and type II diabetes are COMPLETELY preventable by eating a healthy diet and exercising. In fact, there appears to be a whole host of "western" diseases that are not prevalant in other countries, why? Because we eat junk. Next, I watched Food Inc on netflix. If you haven't seen it, it's definitely worth your time. Then I read In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan (same guy as Food Inc) who really lays it out that all those things you can't pronounce on the label of your can or box means it's NOT food, it's engineered "stuff" that's not making us healthier.

I have to say, it is some pretty disturbing stuff. To think that most of the foods on the shelf at the grocery store are created, not "real" food, with no tests as to long term health effects (although the effects are starting to appearing in the form of diseases).

When I was in Alabama visiting my good friend, her family has some recent health issues that has caused them to eliminate all processed foods. Including sugar. ALL sugar. Except a tiny bit of raw sugar. If you've ever read my food blog, you know quite well my love for sweets. It kind of got out of hand for a while there...all those delectable cupcakes... Anyway, it made me stop and think about the long term effects. I don't want my family to become another health statistic. SO I made a commitment to take healthy eating to the next level. Clean, real food, organic, whatever you want to call it, we're saying NO to processed foods.

Apparently there is some, ok, a LOT of controversy about what is healthy and what is not.

I've read some things that claim that grains are slowly killing us. Others claim that grains are "new" and can't be trusted... This one really startled me. So, when I grind my wheat and make bread for my family I'm slowly killing them?  Hmmm...last time I checked, grains were condoned in the scriptures, bread is mentioned countless times in the Bible, and Doctrine & Covenants 89:14 states "All grain is ordained for the use of man..." Breathing polluted air outside, people's second hand smoke, not exercising and drinking too much alcohol might kill you, but bread? I just don't think it's something to stress about. Then again, these are my favorite bread statistics ;)

Then there is oil. Some say canola oil is bad for you while science and medicine say it's ok. The organic crunchies (yikes, I'm becoming one!) say coconut oil is the way to go for baking while others say, maybe not... Personally, I'm a fan of science. If it weren't for science millions of us would die from contagious disease, diabetes, injury, heart disease and more. However I do believe there is a difference between saying something is not going to kill you and saying that it's good for you. And, when it comes to putting things in my body, I trust nature a whole lot more than a lab. So...although I usually tend to lean towards science, in this case, I'm going to try baking with coconut oil or butter (especially for my 10 day pledge) and use EVOO for cooking (check out this website for an overview about heating olive oil, but I am not going to completely write off canola oil in the future (good luck buying anything off the shelf that is cooked in anything other than canola oil- even at a health food store).

I won't even get into the controversy over corn, sweeteners, and dairy.

Anyway...here is a summary of the changes we are making in our family:

• I signed up for the 10 Days of Real Food pledge
• I got rid of the few processed foods on my shelf: There were less than 20 things I had to get rid of (I'm still hanging on to my sweets supplies because I will still bake sweets from time to time- it's a hobby I'm not quite ready to give up).
• I hired a babysitter and took a trip to Sunflower Market (similar to Whole Foods): Note that even though you're in a "health" food store, you still have to read the labels- there were lots of added sugar items, plenty with canola oil and I really had to hunt for organic brands. I bought primarily fruits and vegetables and replaced all my condiments with organic versions. My initial purchase totalled $250. Lower than I expected considering I was buying staple foods. I'll give you a run down of my shopping list in another post.
• For the 10-day pledge I tried not to consume anything from the store that had more than 5 items on the label: However in the future, I don't agree 100% with this rule. If I wanted to buy granola, for example, there will be more than 5 ingredients (at least there is in my home made kind). Instead I will read the label to make sure that what is in there is real food. I think I'm smart enough to figure it out (general rule- if you can't pronounce it, you probably shouldn't eat it).
• I have eliminated ALL processed sugars from my diet except on weekends: I now only use raw sugar and honey (mostly honey) in moderation (the more expensive it is the more conservative your use will be). The recommended limit is 2 teaspoons per meal (6 per day- only 4 for preschoolers) which is equivalent to about 8 grams per meal. Check the side of your cereal box and see how many grams of sugar it has. You'll be surprised.
• I will be updating my recipes to eliminate or replace offending food items and making them healthier (if possible). Obviously I'm not going to bother trying to make whole wheat sugar-free cupcakes. Who wants to eat that? Instead I'm going limit my sweets baking to the weekend only. You can go to my food blog and click "Real Food" to get my healthy real food recipes. Just remember you need to check your labels to make sure there is no added sugar, upgrade your pasta to whole grain pasta and your condiments to organic...
• I will share my 10 day meal plan including photos and recipes and tips for changing your diet (diet meaning way of life, not temporary band-aid) to include more real foods.
• I will be flexible: We will eat as healthy as we possibly can, however I'm not going to refuse food at social gatherings or offend others if the food offered doesn't meet up to the "real/organic" standard. We're still going to have birthday cake and yes we'll even get take out pizza once in a while. I love bread and I will probably indulge in home made white bread from time to time. The key (for me) is to have those things "from time to time" rather than on a regular basis. I like the 80/20 rule, eat healthy 80% of the time and you won't have to worry about the other 20%. If I serve my family "real food" at home then I won't have to worry as much about what they eat when they're away from home.

Here are the effects so far:

1. My sugar cravings are gone. That's right, GONE. I'll do another post about sugar soon, because this is the most amazing effect so far. I honestly didn't think that could EVER happen. Even though I am giving myself license to eat processed sugars on the weekend- I haven't really had the desire to take advantage of it...

2. My whole family is sleeping so much better. Granted, we are living in our own space now and that has made a difference as far as stability goes, nonetheless we are going to bed early and getting up early (and Grant is FINALLY sleeping in his own bed again!)

3. I have not had a single complaint from my kids. True, we ate pretty healthy to begin with, but when we first started the 10 day pledge I was surprised to hear my kids were saying things like "this is the best food I've ever tasted!" They are also happier because I let them eat as many fruits and vegetables as they like, before I would find myself saying things like "you can't have any more vegetables until you eat your sandwich!" Crazy, I know.

4. I feel full even though my portion sizes are smaller. Because I have ready-prepared snacks of fruit and vegetables that we munch on 2-3 times a day, I no longer feel like I have to stuff myself at mealtimes and I am actually eating less and feeling more full.

5. I don't own a scale but I feel like my pants are getting looser...that's always a good feeling whether it's true or not ;)

So, are you ready to take the challenge to eat more real foods?

Four years old

Anthony and Joshua celebrated birthdays last week (a day apart). Joshua turned four! Here are some things you should know about Joshua:

What are your favorite foods?

Pizza, oranges, apples, potatoes, and cheese

What are you afraid of?

Monsters and night

What makes you happy?

Mommy and daddy and grandma and grandpa. 

What are your favorite things to do?

Play with legos, and play farm uno and build with the blocks.

What's your favorite color?
Green.

What are you going to be when you grow up?

An Engineer.

What's your favorite story?

Freight Train.

What are your favorite animals?

Giraffe and bears.

Oh, and he hops on one foot rather than walking. Really.

This boy loves to build and has been asking for a firetruck. So we found him this firetruck lego set. Ethan drew him a cute birthday picture. I bought a cake for the first (and hopefully last) time in my life. I just didn't have it in me to try and be creative, he didn't seem to mind. But I forgot my camera (he's a middle child, he expects bad photos right?) so only have these sad iphone pics.

Their uncle got each of the boys a nerf disc gun. The first words out of Grant's mouth were "shoot mommy". I'm going to have to get myself one to defend against these hooligans. And, Joshua is now taking Tae Kwon Do with Ethan. He finished his two private lessons and is ready to join the big boy class this week. It's so cute to watch him, he gets so excited about it.

Road Trip: Alabama and back

We spent a full week in Alabama visiting with two separate friends. The first was my friend Kelli, who I've know since I was a kid. We grew up in Mesa together, just a few blocks away and were in the same ward and school together. It has been years since I saw her last. She also has three boys. It was pretty crazy at times, but it was so nice to be able to see her again and meet her family! She is a fabulous cook, and it was wonderful to eat REAL food again!

Next stop, was to see our good friends the Toronto's. Our husbands went to law school together and we got together several times when they lived in Ohio. They're now in Alabama and Ethan just loves playing with her boys (she's got 4 of them). Her husband was even brave enough to watch all 7 boys (by himself!) for a couple hours.

The boys had lots of fun just being crazy boys. We also took a trip to the Montgomery zoo. I couldn't believe it when we saw this animal (left)- I thought I took a picture of the name, but can't seem to find it now...It said it was a cross between a rabbit and an antelope. All it needs is antlers and it's a jackalope! And I always thought it was a mythical animal... They had a great playground, a train- perfect for our boys- and the giraffe habitat was pretty awesome.

On our trip back home the boys got Mardi Gras beads at the Louisiana welcome center, we stopped in Dallas to see my friend Katy from when I used to work at Novell, and got to see our good friends the Bachan's who we knew from New Hampshire. It was so nice to break up the trip visiting with friends. We also stopped by the Hot Air Balloon museum in Albuquerque before heading back. It was a great road trip, but it is always nice to come home!

Memphis, Tennessee LDS Temple Artwork

It was quite the rainy day in Memphis and I tried waiting for it to clear up, but no such luck. Sorry this is the best I could get! You can download free photos or order prints of the Memphis, Tennesse LDS Temple http://www.freeldstemplepictures.com

Road Trip: Texas to Kentucky

It's time to wrap up this road trip! (btw, happy birthday to my sweet husband, son Joshua and of course Dr Seuss). We left Houston and drove up past Hot Springs, Arkansas (on my list of vacation spots). It's so beautiful there and wish we could have stayed a few days rather than just drive through.

The reason we drove 2 hours out of our way to come here was to hit the high point of Arkansas. My husband is working on going to the high point of each state. I think this was number 36... It was hurricane like conditions by the time we reached  Magazine Mountain, torrential rain, gusty winds, and lightning that lit up the sky. Umbrella or not, my husband was soaked after just a few minutes- hard to stay dry when the rain comes horizontally. But that didn't deter him. I waited in the car with the boys while he hiked over to signal hill to take a picture of the sign. It seems that almost every high point adventure we've gone on ends up in torrential rain...

We stopped in Memphis, TN to take pictures of the temple (will post next) and then next in Jackson, TN, home of famous train engineer Casey Jones. Since my boys are such train fanatics, they were excited to see his home and the train.

 

We were so happy when we finally made it to Kentucky. The boys were so excited to be "home" again, although they were disappointed they couldn't play in our old backyard. It was so nice to see all our friends again and feel like things were back to normal again, at least for a day or two. My husband had to fly back two days later, but it was better this time knowing it would only be 4 months before we see him again.

We went to Music Makers, the weekly activity we used to attend when we lived here. Ethan was so excited to see his best little friend. She was excited to see him too and they hugged nonstop the whole time. It was so cute.

We stopped by the Louisville Zoo on our way to take him to the airport... 

Grant was asleep by the time we got to the airport, but Ethan and Joshua gave him great big hugs. Grant still asks "where dad'n go?" We feel really blessed that we will be able to see him twice during one deployment, breaking it up into 4 month segments sure is easier than taking 6 months at a time.

We miss you already!

Houston, Texas LDS Temple Artwork

I was so glad to I could photograph the lovely Houston, Texas temple. It is such a beautiful temple, and this is in the middle of winter! Actually both times I've been here were in the middle of winter. I can only imagine how beautiful it would be in the spring. You can download these images of the Houston temple on my free lds temple pictures website.