Eats & Treats: Mission (ONE)

I don’t claim to be a fancy-schmancy kitchen pro, but I do love to eat. More than eating, I love feeding everyone I know. If you’ve been over, I have fed you.

Being a lover of food, I have struggled with my weight my entire life – until I changed ONE, yes, just ONE THING!! I went organic, yep, that is my secret. I cook at home, using primarily organic ingredients. I eat when I’m hungry, stop when I’m satisfied, and I still drink wine.

After years of counting calories, living on egg whites, greens and cardboard tasting “diet food,” I got desperate. Like, juice fast desperate. Hang with me here, friends, I’m not suggesting we all get together and forget how to use our teeth J

While juicing, I began shopping at our local Farmers Market. SBM and I packed up our re-usable bags and took a Saturday to explore. We began learning about where our food comes from, met the people who grow it, and asked them a million questions.

We heard a lot about sustainable farming, eating local, and learned about the difference between organic and conventional farming practices. I was in “information heaven,” and all of this new info really got me thinking about how we had been eating.

“Food is fuel.”

I have been hearing that statement my whole life. But this time, something clicked for me. I decided that (post juice fast) we were going to start being nicer to our bodies, and fueling them with what I call: REAL FOOD. We were going organic. We were going to severely limit our intake of anything processed. We were on a mission to put the JOY back in eating!

SBM wasn’t so sure about this. He was knee-deep in a lifelong love affair with diet soda and frozen pizza. I convinced him by promising I would:

{C}· Prepare the majority of our meals at home (no more takeout)

{C}· Make sure we have simple and easy lunch options (think salad in a jar)

{C}· Take over all “food-related-chores,” including braving the grocery store without blowing our budget

With SMB on board, I took drastic action (as I’m prone to do). I got rid of 90% of the food in our pantry and freezer.

Next, I started asking questions and researching:

· What do our bodies need to function well?

· What types of food is available to us (living in the US)?

· How do I handle protein? Does it really matter if my meat had a happy life?

{C}o (YES, I learned it does matter! Stress affects how meat tastes)

· What do all of these confusing labels even mean?

Ultimately, I set some general “food (and recipe) guidelines” for myself. First and foremost, I’m going to beat myself up if I break one of these “guidelines.” My goal is to be nice to my body, not add stress to my life.

Thoughts on food:

· Prepare your own food

· Start with good ingredients (use REAL FOOD as much as possible)

· Sit down while you enjoy your food, preferably with others

· Eating “healthy” doesn’t mean depriving yourself (have your cake, just use cane sugar & organic flour to make it)

My Recipe Mission:

· Eat what I enjoy

· Start with “REAL FOOD” / healthy ingredients

· Recipes should have very few ingredients (I shoot for under 7)

· I should be able to pronounce all of the ingredients in my recipe, and find them easily at the grocery store

My general grocery store guidelines:

· Produce: Organic