Simple Steps Forward

I know I've been M.I.A. from this blog recently, but my search as well as struggles have continued in full force. Below are some of the changes my family and I have made as part of our journey to a healthier lifestyle including financial, emotional and environmental health. 

1. Using organic kernels and coconut oil to make popcorn in a simple hand-cranked stove top popcorn popper. Stopped buying microwave popcorn (to avoid the chemicals that line the inside of the popcorn bags). The difference is amazing. We have no plans to ever go back to microwave popcorn.

2. Making our own bread to avoid the preservatives and unidentifiable ingredients in store-bought bread. We also wanted to stop spending $5 or more on bakery bread. I've found a honey whole wheat bread recipe along with recipes for pita pockets and buns that all work well for my family.

3. Moving away from cooking with canned beans (unless the cans are BPA-free). I've started cooking with dried beans and we're impressed by the freshness they bring to recipes. Planning ahead to give the beans enough time to soak isn't always easy, but well worth it.

4. Joined a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) for 2012 to ensure our family has a variety of fresh, organic produce this spring and summer.

5. Replacing individually packaged oatmeal and boxed cereal with homemade versions. This is a very new change. Our pantry still has some of these packages in it but my hope is that we will not buy new ones after these are used up.

What to eat or not to eat?

Local Food from Area MN Farmers' Markets

Did you know that there is wood pulp in many of the food products in the grocery store? I didn't, until today. It is disguised in the ingredients as "cellulose." It is often used as a filler and as added fiber. If you search "cellulose in food" on google, there is not a shortage of articles revealing this "hidden" ingredient. Yet once again, I feel like I'm in the dark. All summer (and now fall) I've been educating myself on food which is not a comforting subject to study. After watching documentaries such as "Food Inc." and "Super Size Me" and reading books such as "Food Rules" and "In the Defense of Food" it becomes difficult not to want to make a change, but what can I eat that is safe and good for my body? That's more difficult. I've found myself making change upon change in my search for what food is healthy and what is not and I'm still searching.

During the last 10 years, I went from eating white bread to whole wheat bread then multigrain bread then artisan bakery bread (not processed and without preservatives) to now making my own bread (to save on cost). Similarly, I went from eating pasta made from bleached white flour to partially whole wheat pasta to 100% organic whole wheat pasta. The pasta I buy now contains only one ingredient. The macaroni has organic whole wheat semolina and the penne and spaghetti both have organic whole wheat durum flour. 

Now beef and chicken are a whole other story. Until this summer, I was blissfully ignorant as to what was actually happening to the meat before I bought it and fed it to my family. I was so disgusted as to what I learned that I quickly changed my buying and eating habits from lean beef, chicken breasts and standard eggs to 100% grass fed beef, organic free-range chicken and organic cage-free eggs. 

For fruits and vegetables, I've switched to organic (pesticide/chemical free).  I've started buying whatever I can at local farmers' markets. There is something comforting about knowing where your food is coming from, even if it is just the face of the farmer or of someone who works on the farm. This year my husband and I also started taking advantage of our backyard. We built a raised garden and planted blueberry bushes and apple trees. The kids love going into the backyard and eating strawberries and tomatoes directly from the garden.

 Raised Garden

Apple Trees and Blueberry Bushes

Ingredients such as cellulose creep me out. Is the food industry really trying to fill us up by feeding us wood? I was starting to think that going "organic" was a safe way to go, but cellulose can even be found in organic food because after all wood is found in nature. All I want is for my family to eat clean, healthy food with no pesticides, chemicals, hormones, fake sugars or "fillers." It would also be nice if the food wasn't over-processed and made from artificial ingredients as well. Is that so much to ask? Some days it seems like it.