It's funny because if you didn't know me, but just read about me on paper, you'd think I was a hippie! I eat mostly organic foods. I get all of my meat, chicken, pork straight from a farm. And I (am going to) homeschool my kids. All that's missing is the tie-dye! (And, as pointed out by Emily in my comments, I forgot to mention that I used cloth diapers!)
No, really, we've been struggling to figure out just what this new way of eating and grocery shopping (we have huge grocery bills lately!) is going to look like. Right now I get about 20% of my groceries from Amazon's subscribe and save site. Another 10% from Yonder Way Farms (leave a comment or email me if you want info on them). All my produce comes from Whole Foods. And mostly everything else comes from Kroger.
I'm trying to lean more on herbs and spices to flavor my food, rather than the aforementioned dairy products. Eating "lean" is definitely a good thing, but the priority in our house isn't thinness. We want health and want to avoid toxins. We want the vitamins and antioxidants found in fruits and veggies. (I know that most people will tell you that they eat enough of these, but I was shocked just how few servings I was getting when my nutritionist had me write down what I ate for a week.)
While I am not even close to eating no processed foods (that dependency is too deep-rooted!), we do limit these foods now. I still have ketchup, mustard, salad dressing, cheese and lunch meat in the fridge. And I eat a lot of Annie Chuns, which are all-natural, and minimally processed- but still processed!
Refined white sugar is one of the biggest no-nos in our house. The other day, Justin asked me what I had against sugar! After being raised around and the Imperial Sugar factory (my dad and grandpa were employees there) I'd feel guilty if I said I had a problem with sugar! Afterall, all my childhood memories were paid for with sugar!
But, my history of PCOS, a disease nicknamed Pre-diabetes, along with my knowledge of the many studies that suggest that cancer feeds on sugar, leaves me avoiding the white stuff at Kroger and reaching for, er, different white stuff at Whole Foods.
Stevia and Xylitol are both approved for me by my nutritionist. Xylitol is slightly better for me and significantly more expensive. But it's an expense I've learned to accept and for now, we're an 80% sugar free home. (The kids still get snacks that have organic cane juice, and Terry still drinks sodas (althogh he's cut back a lot!)
A few weeks ago I spent $250 and 5 hours baking wheat-free, sugar-free pancakes, blueberry muffins, strawberry-vanilla muffins, cornbread and brownies! I made huge batches and froze them. After going so long without any baked goods it was nice to fill that "need" with something healthier. I used things like almond flour and brown rice flour. The brownies were the best! We've also been making our own popsicles and icecream! Delicious!
After five hours in a hot kitchen, my legs were tired and I was all hot and sweaty. But seeing Caleb lick the bowl made it all better!
You forgot about the cloth diapers, you hippie!
ReplyDeleteP.S. I think you should post your favorite recipes, like quinoa and healthy brownies. I know of at least one reader who would like to try them out. :)
there are really good gluten free mixes that are easier than having to mix and buy loads of different flours. anything produced by gluten free pantry is good. there are also several premade gluten free flour blends that you can substitute cup for cup in your recipes. can you send me the info on where you buy your meat?
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