Real foods and Entertaining

Last night I had a dinner party. My cousins were in town from AZ and Monday is my Mom's birthday so I decided to have everyone to my house for some delicious food. 

It was delicious and it was a great visit. So good to be with family and friends! I felt blessed. 

Onto the food though!  We started with some cheese- Brie, cheddar, dill havarti, and smoked Gouda, candied walnuts, fig jam, kalamata olives, crudités with dip, pumpernickel bread with dill yogurt dip, crostinis with ricotta mixed with fried sage leaves and honey. So so good. 

Dinner was fresh pasta with vodka sauce, chicken scarpariello with fried potato chips, salad, fresh rolls with butter. 

And then dessert! My mom made cupcakes with homemade vanilla and mocha buttercream. I made a vanilla bourbon bread pudding. 

It was amazing. They all said so. And then they texted after they left. And then my family woke up this morning and told me again. It's safe to say that it all tasted good. I wish I had taken pictures! 

But this meal was a struggle for me. From the grocery shopping to making it. Here I am trying to change the way we eat and buy organic and be healthy and when company was coming I found myself falling into old habits because I know what tastes good and in this new way of eating, I am trying new things and letting myself and my family be the guinea pigs. 

My struggle began in my grocery cart. I order groceries so here I am online filling my virtual grocery cart for the week and for last nights dinner. I grab my organic dairy, I grab my organic produce, I get to the meat "aisle". I shop for the week. Grass fed beef for tacos- check. Organic chicken breasts- check. Nitrate free uncured bacon- check. Meat for last nights dinner: issues. Organic chicken thighs- $8.99 for 4.  Family pack of non-organic chicken - $8.00 for 10 thighs. Non-organic goes into the cart. And I feel super guilty.  Same thing with walnuts. A four dollar difference for non-organic. And this begins to happen as I shop. 

We normally spend $200.00 a week on groceries. With company, this weeks groceries cost $270.00. If I had bought organic chicken and walnuts etc... It would have been well over $300.00 and I cannot spend that. 

I also bought things I have taken off the list lately. Good Seasons salad dressing mix. It has sugar in it. Dill dip. Also made with things that are off the list. White pasta. The struggle continued. 

I used white sugar. In my vodka sauce. In the bread pudding. Gasp! 

I felt guilt and I have thought about that a lot today. How can I take this and make it a learning experience and a positive thing. Out of those thoughts have come a new goal. I need to figure out how to make the things we love and love to make when we entertain in the healthiest way possible. I want it to be just as good but as healthy as possible. I think I can do it. And in turn, bread pudding is phenomenal with sugar and that's a recipe that shouldn't be compromised. Last night was a treat. And treats are allowed.  They aren't the norm and we were back to eating whole/real food today. We prepped for the week and here is what we made: 

Kalamata olive hummus, granola bars, black bean soup, parmesan herb bread, almond joy bites, sweet potato chips, waffles, herb marinade for chicken, we prepped veggies for snacks and for taco night and apple cinnamon over night oats. We are set for the week! 

And it's going to be delicious and healthy.  

Cheers to compromise and doing the best you can! 

Food prep, food prep, food prep

The switch to whole/real foods has been slow and steady. It requires a bunch of extra work on my part and as most of you know, I have very little free time. I don't have a clear definition of how the new system will work yet- am I committing to 100% real/whole foods with nothing processed? Does that mean the kids can't have the Valentine's cookies the sitter bought them? Does that mean the treats they gave at school are out? Or I am practicing a moderation kind of thing where treats are fine and holidays are exceptions and everything I do is whole and real? I am trying to figure it all out. 

Here is what I have figured out at this point: 

1) We are eating loads of fruits and veggies. And they are all organic.  I am figuring ways to incorporate them into breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. Consequently, we are throwing out very little fruits and veggies. I will shamefully admit, I've always thrown out veggies that we didn't get to in a week that spoiled. This has been a source of marital discord as Nick hates that. I hate it too, but it happened and I couldn't dwell on it. I am happy to say that we aren't throwing out rotten fruits and veggies for the last few weeks and with our compost started for the spring, I am feeling quite resourceful! 

2) We are eating only whole grains. Making bread with 5 ingredients is easy in the bread machine and an easy way to keep it whole or real. I am not finding much luck in the grocery stores. But I will be honest- it's heavier and sandwiches aren't as enjoyable. Grilled cheeses are amazing. I made a rosemary loaf this week with homemade tomato soup and it was amazing.  I am in search of the perfect light and airy bread maker whole grain bread recipe. Does it exist? We shall see! 

3) We are eating organic/grass fed/vegetarian fed chicken and beef and we are eating wild caught seafood. We are eating cage-free, vegetarian fed, local if possible eggs. This translates to: I am paying out the ass for meat and seafood, but it's better for us (and by us, I mean them because I don't eat meat or seafood). I read about chickens the other day and how they are treated. First, I want to punch the "farmers" who are "raising" these chickens. Did you know, by law, chickens only have to a space the size of a piece of paper to live? Never spreading their wings or waddling around? Never getting exercise or using those muscles we call dinner. Horrible. So I prefer to support the farms that let their chickens roam. Even if it's costing me the price of two chickens. 

4) We are not eating high fructose corn syrup. Or white sugar. Or brown or powdered. I will admit though, I am confused about sugar.  I bought demarcara sugar thinking that it was a good option for the one teaspoon I need in my coffee. Yes, I said need. And arguing with me will be fruitless. 1) I am an attorney so arguing is something I enjoy and 2) I've removed that teaspoon from my coffee before and been miserable. No one can change how I feel about this. I understand, natural sugars are best and I have stopped putting sugar in everything. I have used a touch of honey or a touch of pure maple syrup where I've needed it. But I can't put those in my coffee. I am researching though and will update anything I find as I go along. 

5) We have stopped buying anything that is GMO. I can't throw out my pantry so the items in there will be eaten. But anything I've bought in the last three weeks has been non-GMO and in line with this way of eating. 

6) We are only eating coconut oil, olive oil, sesame oil and grapeseed oil. No more canola or vegetable oil. 

7) We are eating organic, full fat cheese, milk and yogurt. The yogurt is plain. There is no sugar in the yogurt. I have not been looking for pasture raised but I will. I just realized this morning that that was another thing I am watching out for. 

This takes work. These changes mean I spend more time reading labels and reading about brands. I pick up what I always considered staples at the grocery store in the past and I read and I have to put them back on the shelf. I find when the kids want to know what's to eat, I panic a little because their go-to snacks are no longer available. 

One of the positive things this has done is start a conversation in my house about food and chemicals and animals and health. I am shocked at how on board the kids are and how little they've complained. 

Another big change for us is that Saturday is food prep day and food prep is essential.

Food prep for us so far has meant 3-4 hours or more on a Saturday of planning, chopping, mincing, marinating, cooking and storing.  Yesterday's food prep took 4-5 hours. We marinated indian chicken in yogurt and spices.

 We made lentils for a side dish or lunch. We made butternut squash soup. We made white bean, feta and sundried tomato dip. 

We sliced veggies for snacking. We made cauliflower Mac and cheese. We made roasted beet salad with honey candied walnuts and feta. 

We chopped onions and peppers for use in side dishes.  And this was all before we made Valentine's Day dinner! Today I will make bread and more egg muffins for the week. But, food prep ensures that we  can do this all week long. It cuts my after work dinner preparation in half. It means we know what the week looks like, we know what needs to be eaten and we don't waste. 

It's a commitment. I don't know that I feel all that different. I have lost a few pounds in the last couple weeks. I feel better about what my kids are eating. But maybe the most telling is that when I have eaten unhealthy food in the last three weeks, my body feels awful. I feel sluggish and full. I feel fat and cranky. I feel like I didn't treat myself well. That seems to be the most telling sign of change so far. 

Unrelated to food, but wholly related to this lifestyle change; both Nick and I have been in the gym 3-4 times a week. I have been taking yoga 1-2 times a week. I mentioned above we have been composting and we are already planning our organic garden for the spring and summer. 

I haven't bought Birkenstocks yet but I am feeling quite granola. Lol. 

A week of transitioning

It's been a week of transition. The goldfish crackers are gone. The gogurts are almost gone. We are on our last loaf of commercially made bread. There are two more Eggo waffles in the box. There are no more jars of spaghetti sauce left. There is no more hazelnut creamer. 

I have to admit, the fridge looks sparse. At least the two shelves where I normally keep a bunch of convenience foods looks empty. It scares me a little. 

The counter is a bit more full. The bowl of fruit is full, as is the basket of squash, onions, shallots and potatoes. 

There is a loaf of banana bread baked this morning and the homemade loaf of whole wheat is in the bread maker rising as we speak.

I made "go-gurts" myself. I used organic vanilla yogurt (Stonyfield), tart cherry juice (loaded with antioxidants) and dark sweet cherries (frozen from the grocery store but with no additives) and made smoothies that I froze in silicone freezer pops. 

The end result was delicious. It is sweet enough, it is healthy and I feel good about it. I wish I had more of the ice pop holders to do a second batch with a different flavor. I will order more. 

The kids were questioning why I am making so much stuff and what this means for some of their favorite snacks. I explained about chemicals and some of the things used to make the food we eat. I explained that if we keep eating foods with these chemicals or unhealthy additives it may have an impact on how we get old.  I also explained that maybe we will all get sick less. They seemed to get the concepts and are excited about some of the foods. They are less excited about the addition of more vegetables to our diet. I tried hard to get them ramped up about acorn squash. Needless to say, they aren't buying it yet. 

I anticipate issues around syrup and bbq sauce. I love real maple syrup. I don't understand why everyone doesn't. But I figure we will have to have a funeral and the equivalent of mourning for Aunt Jemima and Mrs. Butterworth because they have died in our house. So has sweet baby Ray. And he is my fav.  I just need to perfect a replacement recipe. 

This weeks menu includes slow cooker pork chops with apples, honey glazed carrots, acorn squash and marinated chicken, black bean pasta with a roasted red pepper pesto. Stewed tofu for me. And of course, bread!