Okay, so the topic of today's post is food...Yep, something us southerners love to talk about and obsess over. The title of the post comes from the fact that I am totally not a health food junkie, never have been probably never will be, but I'm just going to try to fake my way through it just for a little bit. We're going to see what kind of changes I can make and hopefully convince my taste buds and the taste buds of my family that its not so bad to eat healthy.
Growing up my mom did a really great job of cooking meals every.single.night. Yes, she was supermom in my book, because now that I am a mom of two myself I can see just how large of a feat this was! We grew up way out in the boonies and the closest grocery store was at a ways a way and there wasn't any hopping in the car and running to the nearest KFC on those not-so-creative supper nights. She managed to cook homecooked meals just about every night of my life...(seriously, how many people do that these days?)
Now, before you start thinking that I got this wonderful quality from my mother, let me tell you that I would not survive being a mom of two little ones if it were not for the weekly $5.00 pizza from Little Ceasars. There are those days when I look up and it is 5:30, I have nary a thing in the cupboards to dream something up to cook and I frantically find my cell phone with a baby on my hip and one preschooler begging for "sumpin to eat momma", calling Derrick to say "please honey pick up a pizza on the way home." And occasionally I make the aforementioned pizza last for two days eating it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Oh yes, call me Mother of the Year.
I do love to cook and I love to try out new things in the kitchen. But lately I have been in a fog and haven't had much time to prepare and really got involved in my Once a Month Cooking. But lately my friends have been trying to impart lots of great knowledge of nutrition and how to eat better into this already frazzled brain of mine and I do but I don't want to try this out. There are so many website/food blogs out there that have lots of information on eating healthier and trying to become more conscious of what we are feeding our families...here are a couple that I like to peruse...
Passionatehomemaking.com
Heavenlyhomemakers.com
These ladies are totally in tune to what is best for our families to eat and what things we should avoid. To summarize a couple of things I have learned...
1.) White bread is bad....Whole Wheat is good (preferably grind your own wheat and bake your own bread.)
2.) All refined sugar and flour is bad...eating no sugar is best (for those of you that know me, this is IMPOSSIBLE.)
3.) Flax Seed is directly from God, eat it any form you can get it. (Ground, Oil, Seeds)
4.) Eat lots of protein in as many forms as possible (dairy, meat, yogurt)
5.) Fiber is wonderful for lots of different reasons
6.) No soda, only water
I am so very limited in what I know about food, but I am open to learning. What my family eats is very important to me and I would love to know what you all have learned and would love to pass on to me. I recently took a trip to Whole Foods Market in Memphis with my two girlfriends and our kids, and in one word I would say...OVERWHELMED. There were so many things to decide on and I have no idea what is important to buy organic or all natural. I would love to see a Nutrition for Dummies book, seriously it would be a top 5 must read for me!
I must include pictures soon of our garden because it is really looking great! We just picked our green beans a week or so ago and this week we picked 4 zucchini and roasted them on the grill! So, at least I am getting my own organic vegetables, right? I mean it can't get any more homegrown than that!