I realize that I haven’t written much about real food living in a long time. I am no less convinced about the benefits of real food than I was when I was writing about it regularly, but I guess I sort of feel like I said all there is to say. And to tell the truth, I am addicted to convenience and I’ve fallen off the wagon a bit.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not living at McD’s or anything, but I’ve started taking advantage of a lot more convenience products to save time. I do try to choose wisely. I almost always buy the organic versions and try to avoid BPA and GMO and any other 3-letter acronyms that they can conjure up, but I know these processed foods aren’t nourishing our bodies like homemade stuff does.
You see, when I first went gluten free, I intended to do it in a “real foodie” way — by eating whole foods that are naturally gluten free, more of a Paleo style diet. (Except I am NOT giving up dairy… no sirree!) Then as time went by, I discovered some delicious gluten-free products (hello, Udi’s!) At first the gluten-free food products were occasional treats, but now they’ve become staples in my pantry.
Add to that, the sandwich bread and granola and after-school snacks for the kids that I was making regularly have slowly been replaced by pricey organic store-bought loaves, granola bars and *gasp* boxed cereals. I know, I wrote all about why I banned breakfast cereals from our home. My husband is actually the one who started buying them again. (When in doubt, blame the husband!!) At first it was a box here and there to supplement the nourishing hot breakfasts I was getting tired of making every day. Then when school started this year, and my kids were on different bus schedules, the family breakfasts fell by the wayside and the boxed cereals moved in. They’re just so easy, and the kids love them.
Same goes for snackfoods. My kids are 7, 10 and 13. They are ravenous ALL. THE. TIME. So I buy up the granola bars and crackers. I should seriously buy stock in Back to Nature. I buy their crackers and cookies in bulk whenever I go to Wegmans or Whole Foods. Between that and Cascadian Farm (they love their cereals and granola bars) my kitchen looks like the natural foods aisle at the grocery store.
I’m no fool. I know that organic junk is still junk, but at least we are avoiding GMOs and artificial ingredients… or so I keep telling myself. And we still eat WAY better that we ever did before my “Whole Foods Conversion.” I have to remind myself sometimes how far we’ve come.
Ideally I believe that all food should be nourishing. It is fuel for our bodies and minds, after all. But right now I’m okay with a certain percentage of foods that are “neutral” — meaning, I don’t think they are harming us but I doubt they’re doing us much good either. I’m not making excuses. We all make time for what is most important to us. I get that. But the fact is, I do not enjoy spending time in the kitchen. It’s not that I hate it, but there are SO many things I’d rather be doing, ya know?
Dinner is where I manage to do pretty well. The meal planning is paying off, and I make a good, wholesome dinner probably 5 nights out of 7. I’m looking forward to the summer when we start getting our CSA veggies again, and I really need to look into buying another side of beef and a big order of chicken. I’ve been spending way too much on organic meats from the grocery store. I know they are probably not raised on pasture, and they cost way more than buying in bulk from a local farmer. Fortunately I can get wonderful milk and eggs at a small local whole foods chain.
I’m sure our commitment to real food will wax and wane over the years, and I know I will continue to take advantage of some convenience foods, but I want to do better. Not so much for me — for the kids. So as I was working on this post early this morning, I decided to walk away and whip up a batch of whole wheat pancakes (which is why this post is going up so late in the day!)
See, aren’t they beautiful?
Unfortunately they didn’t go over as well as I’d hoped so I’m going to try again and tweak the recipe. I’ll post it when I get it perfected. Of course, anything is palatable if you drown it in real maple syrup. Ha!
As for me, I really need to reduce the carb load. I tried once before… Now it’s time to try again. I expect this will be a constant battle for me till the day I die. You see, I’ve never met a carb I don’t like. Unfortunately the feeling isn’t mutual.
I’m going to be using my friend Lydia’s new eBook, Divine Dinners: Gluten-Free, Nourishing, Family-Friendly Meals in an attempt to get some new meals into our rotation. It is only $14.95 and it includes over 80 recipes and 104 pages of healthy gluten-free dinners with suggested sides.
Now don’t get all waylaid by “gluten free” in the title. Yes, she eats gluten free, but her recipes are NATURALLY gluten free. In fact, she uses very few grains at all. She also has four kids so she knows how to make recipes that are yummy. I have posted a few of her recipes before. Her Sausage Kale Soup is one of our family’s favorites, and don’t even get me started on her Sauteed Chicken, Spinach and Mushrooms in a Butter Sage Sauce. Yum….
Lydia is a single mom of 4 boys and recently became a certified Nutritional Therapist Practitioner. I love supporting my friends so I agreed to host a giveaway for her new eBook.
But first I want to share something Lydia said to me in an email. We were discussing this very topic, and this was her response:
If you are too stressed about food or have guilt it can be a problem. It’s a choice, not a ‘law’ with benefits! You have to find freedom in whatever you choose!
I think her point about stress and guilt is an important one. I don’t feel guilty about where I am right now. I’ve found a middle ground, I guess. I think we always need to be striving to be better, or we will never make any progress, but I also think we need to give ourselves a break sometimes. With the popularity of Facebook and Pinterest, it can be really overwhelming to see what everyone is eating and doing and making. No one can do it all. And no ones does, even though it may seem like it when you peruse that creative vortex that is Pinterest.
We all make choices, and my choices will be different from your choices, and my choices today will be different from my choices a year from now, and THAT IS OKAY. So do your research, decide what is important to you, and then let the chips fall where they may. If you’re interested in expanding your dinner repertoire with some new wholesome recipes, this is a great place to start!
WIN IT!
Enter to win Lydia’s eBook, Divine Dinners, by leaving a comment on this post. That’s it. Your comment can be in response to my post or just tell me why you’d like to win. There are no restrictions for this one, so anyone anywhere in the world may enter. There will be one winner. If you can’t wait, feel free to buy a copy today. I’m sure she’d love that, and it’s a great way to support another mom!
fine print: I will use the And The Winner Is plugin for WordPress to randomly select a winner on or after March 5, 2013. When the comments are closed on this post, you will know the giveaway is over. I will announce the winner on Facebook and Twitter, and I will send a personal email, giving the winner three days to accept. If there is no reply, I will select another winner. See my Giveaway Policies for more details.
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As a busy mom and wife it seems unrealistic to always being consuming “real food”. Don’t be too hard on yourself. My husband and I recently made the transition, but are slowly trying to get our kids to follow suit. A great repertoire of easy recipes would make it smoother.
Wow, I could have written this post!! The same thing has happened at our house. This book would be a great start to getting back on track
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I actually have a real food-type post planned for today, too. I recently discovered there are 40 different names for MSG. FORTY! Can you believe that? I also learned that even organic food, if the soil hasn’t been cared for properly, can be bad for you. Basically, I’m going to have to swear off grocery stores and get our meat and produce from farms that are careful with their land and practices. More work, yes. More money, definitely. Worth it? Absolutely!
I’ve been journeying to real foods and a grain-free diet for about five years now. It’s a process, and there are times in the process that things go better than others. I’ve got two kids in two different schools 20 miles apart, my husband is pastoring two churches and I feel like 90% of my day is running around after people. The busiest times are when I need to eat the way I should eat the most, and they’re also the hardest.
I’m convinced that grace is as much a necessary part of our relationships with food as it is with God. Sometimes, good enough is ok. And a lot of times, good enough is better than what it used to be.
Thank you for the tidbit about stress and guilt, I needed to hear that today! It can be overwhelming to read and try to “fix” what you think isn’t working about your own journey with food. It’s a process and I have a choice and a freedom about how my process plays out. Thank you!
Yeah, a Real Food post! Love it!!
I really, really appreciate this post. I do my best to put healthy meals on the table, but it’s impossible to do it all the time, and I don’t believe it’s truly necessary; moderation is also a critical life skill that can’t be learned unless we have something to be moderate about. And if our kids are shielded from all temptation, we can rest assured it will come to them in university or whenever they strike out on their own, and they won’t know what to do with it. Not that we should be eating fast food every day or even every week, but I’m not going to judge the person with the McDonald’s happy meal bag, because I’m only seeing one meal, one day; I don’t have all the information, and I appreciate that same respect from others. Thanks for being so honest; it’s truly appreciated!
For me it’s always been a babysteps and a “choose your battles” deal , and for me that has been avoiding HFCS and artificial sweeteners and switching to some organic produce. Someday it might include figuring out how to do weekday breakfasts without cereal or frozen waffles and cutting back on pasta at dinner
Thanks for the chance to win!
I have been trying to lessen our grains for a few months now. I do not think I am allergic but I feel much better when I am not eating grains. DH is resistant, my kids are young enough that they eat what Mama makes
. It is a journey, we all do our best.
I’m right there with you — as a full-time working mom with high aspirations of preparing “real food” . . . I’ve learned to cut myself some slack! Gluten free can be tricky and time-consuming, and I’ve found certain products that I lean heavily on, just to save time and energy!
I think it’s important to release the shame of doing what works for us, individually, despite the fact we’re educated enough to know what we *should* be doing! Progress, not perfection!!
Years ago I started with the organic trend, then moved into real foods (right along with you!) but it was the carbs that were holding me back. Well, I gave up grains & sugar almost 1 year ago. My goal was not to be gluten free it was to lose weight and fix myself. It worked.
I won’t sugar coat it – going cold turkey is not easy BUT if you have the right alternate foods always on hand it really helps.
Not only have I lost 40 pounds (in a YEAR I thought it would take me a lifetime) I have reached my goal, feel better, have NO anxiety anymore and I am physically active again.
Lunch today: a mound of steamed broc, grassfed taco meat & some grass fed shredded cheese. YUM!
My youngest daughter has been gluten free for 5 years and I just recently made the whole house GF. It was waaaayyyy too stressful to try to keep,things separate and I knew she was getting some cross contamination. With that said, I am in a GF rut and would love to have some new recipes
We live on a dairy farm, have a large garden and raise our own beef and eggs. But even though we eat *somewhat* healthy, I am in a recipe rut. New ideas would be appreciated!
I am a mom to 4 boys- two of which are gluten free along with myself. I totally understand choosing convenience over “real food” at times. Our mornings are just so crazy with different bus schedules, etc. I am okay with them getting their cereal, for the most part, because I also pack their lunches
Believe me, I am not patting my own back. But I can add some “real food” there no problem, along with dinner. Two out of three isn’t bad is it? I think it’s alright just to do our best sometimes and make adjustments as we go (or if we can-lol). I would love to have that cookbook. You had me at naturally gluten free. I am always looking for great ways to be creative without grains.
I love love love that you are always updating us on your journey and SO HONEST. And I think that in today’s society, that is so fast-paced, YES we need to work to be healthier and to be more “unrefined” – but there is a balance because we can’t all live quite the way we want (commune on a farm growing and cooking everything we eat – I think I would love that). So I think you’ve got a great balance of convenience – but not Dorito’s (sorry, Frito-Lay!). You are still being a smart shopper, reading labels, asking questions of what you are eating. Keep up the good work!
So glad you’re finding a middle ground . . . without guilt! That’s a good place to be. And I love Lydia’s comment–so full of grace. You know, we do the best we can for our families, and leave the rest to God to take care of them. He will.
And also? I think I’ll struggle with carbs until the day I die too. I can’t help my love for them.
I’m in the process of going gluten-free and with work, a business, a teenager, I have found that I have to be realistic. I’ve found recipes, made my own, and am trying out a variety of GF mixes that help to keep good food on the table. Thanks for this post!
We wax and wane here, as well. I have learned to give up the guilt. And my kids are well aware of the neutral foods–not healthy, not bad, and usually the crunchy stuff that they love.
I think this is the best attitude to have, for long-term progress and success. All or nothing rarely works for anyone. I could choose better convenience food, but I’m not stressing about it. Thanks for sharing.
i’d love to read this book! thanks for sharing it.
I would love more healthy recipes our whole family would eat!
**Hopefully this comment will be excluded from the giveaway**
Thanks for sharing about my eBook. Jo-Lynne and I go back to her beginning days of gluten free and I am so glad she’s been willing to try many of my recipes and even blog about them. So, again thanks for the plug JL – you rock!
(oh and now I want some of my chicken in a butter sage sauce really bad!!
)
Hi, this is a great giveaway, thanks! This book looks awesome!
I hear you! I’ve been trying to ban cereal from our house for 2 years now, but I just can’t do it. It’s so easy and the kids are so self-sufficient with it! They are like a well-oiled machine in the morning with the older ones helping the younger guys and everyone quietly crunching away….Personally, I think it’s easier to stay on top of eating well, with less convenience foods during the summer. No rush to get out the door for school and lots of fresh produce for snacks. I have big plans for my kids this summer…as in taking on making their own snacks and even having the older 3 make dinner a few nights a week. They already know a lot about good ingredients and some even watch cooking shows with me as we fold laundry. (My 12 y.o. does an amazing impression of Paula Deen
) I know they can do it. Two week’s worth of training and teaching techniques will equal a lot of nights where I don’t have to make dinner! Right?? 
We’ll see…
I have recently made my first trip to Whole Foods and found it interesting and motivating to feed my family better. It was over-whelming but I took a store tour with a group of other like-minded people and learned a lot. This week I have found your blog and have enjoyed getting to know you. I think all of this new information is guiding me in the right direction to change some unhealthy habits into healthy habits in slow steps. I look forward to learning a lot more!
This post resonated with me so much, this exact thing is happening at our house (minus the gluten because none of us have that sensitivity). My daughter and I became vegetarians 5 years ago and slowly we started eating meat again recently, which I know isn’t all bad. Except the times when I see her eating pepperoni on her pizza; it drives me crazy thinking what she’s putting in her body. It’s incredibly hard to make sure you aren’t getting BPA’s, GMO’s, MSG, corn syrup, nitrates, nitrites, antibiotics, steroids; the list goes on. This post helped me realize that it can’t all be done perfectly, but i should be trying harder to make sure we aren’t just buying organic junk food to nourish our bodies.
I too have never met a carb I did not like. Like you, they do not love me back. I need to cut back on processed food too. Unfortunately, my littles are so fickle that I never know what they will eat from day to day. They outgrow that, right?
Uhhh…. I plead the 5th. It is one reason I gave in on the cereal issue. Everyone likes something different. I won’t play that game at dinner, but at breakfast, I would rather they eat SOMETHING decent than nothing and then snack on crap at school.
Please Please I would love a new foodie item
Great blog. I can totally relate…especially with the blaming the husband part! I make every attempt at providing whole, good foods for my family and limit preservatives, candy, sugars, etc…..and then my husband puts in a candy dispenser in the living room. Who do you think is cooler….mom with the apple and broccoli or dad with the Little Caesar’s Pizza and quarter for the candy dispenser?!!
I have enjoyed many of the recipes you have posted and they make up a good part of my homemade cookbook.
Thanks much.
Great post & great giveaway! I’m trying to do more “real food” meals as well, plus low carb (to control diabetes). I’d love to win this book!
I was one who wanted more gf recipes when you had your reader survey. Feels like Im in a recipe rut.
I would love a chance to win! I struggle with the breakfast thing as well. I don’t keep cereal in the house but some days that option would be nice. I think it’s all about picking our battles.
Sounds like a great book! Thanks for letting us know about it.
Something is better than nothing. Here is something to ask yourself – how sick have the kids been this winter – more than in years when you are more strict? I have noticed after following the Weston Price diet for about 2 or more years this year I have not had one cold yet.
I love carbs too!! We try to stick to a whole foods diet but things have definitely been sliding around here. My biggest issue is sugar! It’s everywhere and I have a sweet tooth so that is really a struggle in my house. I’m with you on not wanting to spend all my time in the kitchen. Sometimes it is just exhausting to think about getting dinner on the table and then getting it cleaned up.
Carbs are my world! My husband loves his carbs, too, but his Type 2 diabetes won’t tolerate them. There’s a smidge of evidence out there suggesting a gluten-free diet may help people with type 2 so I’ve been dabbling with it trying to see if we can get his glucose back into the normal range. The recipes you post give me hope for success!
Constant struggle here too…I am trying to serve mostly paleo dinners, but the snacks kill me too. I did just get a Vitamix, so we’ve been doing a LOT of smoothies lately. Can’t wait until other produce is in season so I can do some soups and stuff.
I had asked you awhile ago but I don’t know if you answered…do you know anyone who has used Philly Cowshare?
No, but they are doing a fundraiser with our school and I am going to try them out!
I’ve been eating ‘clean’ off & on for mos. When I eat this way I definitely feel better, need less sleep and the lbs come off without gluten, dairy, sugar or processed. I’m living in Germany right now..so it’s hard to always even know what the ingredients are in certain products..even from the “Bio” (since I don’t spk Deutsch!) Loved your post…loved the honesty and would love some new “English” recipes to try out on my boys! Thanks much.
I love the honesty of this post. Honestly, I am not a vegetarian/vegan because it is just too hard in my life right now with a 6, 4, and 1 year old. However, I do enjoy learning about food, the negatives and the benefits, and I don’t always make right choices. I try to make good choices when I can, my kids know what quinoa is, and they eat it! But, they also like pop tarts. So, you know. I think the important thing is to teach my kids what good food is and what bad food is. Of course, I try to limit their intake on all the “crap” but you’re absolutely right. It’s HARD. Kudos to those moms that stick to it. But, I know that my kids are leaps and bounds ahead at 6 and 4 years old than I was at let’s say 18 years old when I moved out of the house and actually was responsible for feeding myself. Seriously. I hardly knew the difference between a carb and a protein. Growing up in the south, it was all just fried, buttery, fatty stuff. I’ve come a long way since then!
I find dinner to be the easiest to meal plan for and then we often have some version of leftovers for lunch. Breakfast is the one meal that I let the kids pick what they want- It is often muffins (homemade) or a boxed cereal. Snacks are hard! Abd I too, love carbs.
I think those pancakes look yummy! I still think you’re doing a grand job with your family’s food. I’ve dropped off a good bit too, I’m sorry to say. Still have some things I refuse to buy (like microwave popcorn), but I’ve become a tad lazy ….
have you tried late july’s tortilla chips? They are completely addicting, be warned. I just housed a half of bag of the chili Mojo ones. YIKES. With Els having to go GF/DF (praying DF is coming to an end), I have been playing around with lots of recipes and new ingredients. some successes and some fails… Will definitely check out the book.
I think we all struggle with this, finding our balance. I TOTALLY wanted to cheat and go get a quick dinner with the boys because we were TOTALLY slammed for time today. But I made dinner, left the mess, and cleaned it up when we got home. It was the right thing to do, but man, it’s hard sometimes!
I am so glad you wrote this post. I credit you for getting me started in the real foods realm. It is so nice to see a “real” picture of how it is working for your family. I make a pumpkin protein pancake with oats and greek yogurt. My girls will pretty much eat anything with a little syrup on top and called pancake so I am sure they would love your wheat version.
Baby steps! That’s how I have decided it works best. We’ve gone head-first into several things, and found that it was too drastic a move for us. I’ve always tried to be a from-scratch, whole-food, back-to-the-basics type of cook, so we’re definitely doing better than the SAD diet that is so normal nowadays. However, little changes of more smoothies, less sweets, bigger portions of veggies seem to stick better for us than going whole-hog into new and different.
Thank you for this post. I struggle with this, too. Don’t be so hard on yourself; you are doing a good job. Just keep trying. A book of healthy ideas sounds like an extremely useful tool.
We too wax and wane. My daughter has been GF for 3 years, and the rest of the house since last fall. It was too difficult to keep thing separate. I realize that is only the first step though…carbs in general and especially the sugar factor are the next targets for me…Oh Lord help me!
I am a mom of 4 boys and I would love to have this cookbook! Our family went gluten free this last fall. It has been one of the best decisions we could make, but I feel like I had to start over with new recipes. It’s been fun working with new ingredients, but I do spend too much time in the kitchen! I am mostly Paleo, and I try very hard to make naturally gluten free meals. This is great for me, but it is harder with the boys. They want snacks and LOTS of them! They want to munch on more than fruit, vegies, and nuts! I do need new dinner/breakfast ideas, my kids are getting bored! Thanks for your honesty, I think most of us can relate! I am thankful for companies that are trying to make healthier convenience items that are non gmo, organic, and gluten free for busy times in our lives.
Thanks for sharing, eating real food can be tough and stressful. It is very time consuming, so I to have found a middle ground. We will soon be moving and I will be going back to work, so I’m slowly trying to transition back to things that will be easier when I’m back at work so I’m prepared! The E-book sounds great.
We are a family of five and have the same problems! My boys are hungry all the time and I just don’t like to stand in the kitchen all day long whipping up real food. This cookbook sounds like a winner, maybe with it I would do better cooking healthier dinners!
I can totally relate to slipping a bit and buying some GF convenience foods, like bread, waffles, cereal and pretzels. My older son gets up earlier than me to do his chores and will make oatmeal,cereal, or yogurt with granola before I start making eggs for all.
Normally I really try to be grain free, not just GF. Something about winter makes me want different, comforting things. It would be nice to get a book with some new recipes to try.
Would like to try some of these recipes on my grandchildren. And if there is something that tastes like REAL San Francisco sourdough bread I’m all in with GF!