I started by getting serious about reading labels. I was going to go with the "just a few ingredients" rule and the ingredients had to be something I could pronounce. Well...the problem with this is you quickly find out there is nothing you can really eat.
I am glad I had done so much research and reading about high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils and the biggest GMO offenders. I wasn't sure what I could eat, but I knew for sure what I didn't want to eat.
One day I completely went through all my cupboards and threw away all the processed food. I also threw away all my ancient and never used spices, bleached flour, beet sugar remnants, corn oils and shortening...It felt amazing :)
I had a daunting realization that I needed to find a way to source clean, healthy and tasty food. After much trial and error I found the easiest thing for me to do was shop at a store that doesn't have any products with HFCS. That was at the top of my list of "I don't want to eat that"! I also wanted to buy meat that did not have hormones, antibiotics and nitrates. Luckily such grocery stores now exist!
I also realized that all the research and reading in the world would not solve my addiction to sugar and that would be my biggest hurdle. This is still something I haven't quite come to terms with.
My compromise on the sugar thing is this...If I want cake, I make the cake. If I want cookies, I make the cookies. If I want ice cream, I make the ice cream...quality ingredients, unbleached flours, real butter or coconut oil, cane sugar...see...no biggy! I now have my cupboards stocked with these items and fresh organic spices and I actually USE them...
I think one of the hardest things about eating the right way is learning how to manage your time. I can now whip up delicious, healthy, clean meals in about the amount of time it would take to get to the fast food drive-thru. To accomplish this, you have to have ingredients in your house!
I have also learned...keep it simple! Complicated recipes with lots of ingredients will work great on occasion, but for real life you need to keep it simple.
These are things I always try to have on hand:
Onions
Garlic
Organic veggie broth
Pecans
Dried cranberries
Peanut butter
Quality loaf of locally made bread
Wild caught albacore canned tuna
A variety of canned beans or dried beans
Bottled tomatoes
A variety of quality local cheeses
Organic oatmeal
Butter
Olive oil
The above mentioned pantry items
Eggs...:) Thanks girls...
Summer is by far the easiest for me to source the food we love and want to eat. Between the grass-fed local beef in our freezer, our CSA and local fruit stands and farmers markets I can put together some pretty rockin' meals!
Last week in our CSA bag we were treated with an amazing variety of goodies.
Corn on the cob
Green onions
Green beans
Carrots
Summer squash
Cantaloupe (maybe one of the best I've ever eaten!)
A huge green cabbage
Our cute neighbor Adam has a pretty spectacular garden growing this year as well. He is handing us all kinds of goodies over the fence! We are well stocked up on his onions and garlic and he is growing these crispy, crunchy cucumbers we can't get enough of! Thanks Adam!
So, for example I whipped up what I call one of my "summer soups". Yeah, I know it's been outrageously hot, but these veggie laden and light broth soups are really great and don't over heat us!
I did have to make a quick stop at the local grocery for some in-store made polish sausage.
I pulled out my trusty Le Creuset soup pot. ( We need to chat about Le Creuset sometime!) I added some olive oil and a tiny bit of butter. Then I grilled up the sausage nicely until it was brown and crisp on the outside. I removed it from the pot and added a tad more butter. Then threw in some chopped onion and minced garlic (thanks Adam) and sauteed for about 6 minutes. Then I added:
4 cups of organic veggie broth
4 cups of our lovely shredded cabbage
2 shredded carrots
2 cups of tri-colored fingerling potatoes (lets chat about fingerling potatoes sometime, too!)
The cut up Polish sausage
Salt and Pepper to taste
Red pepper flakes to taste
I simmered it on the stove for a few hours...
Super simple!!! Right? And, super delish!
We just ladled it up in bowls and served it with a couple chunky pieces of "honey sunflower oat" bread and my refreshing hibiscus tea!
We have enough leftovers for tomorrow, too!
Adam's onions!
The simmering pot of soup. (I admit, the color in this photo isn't the greatest and cooked cabbage doesn't come across all that dazzling in pictures...but, I assure you it was fabulous!)
I also happened to whip up 2 pint bottles of dilly beans with some of the green beans. I had leftover pickling solution in my fridge from the spicy carrots.
I added to the sterilized pint jars:
1 garlic clove
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp. of dill weed
1/2 tsp. of dill seed
cut and trimmed green beans
I poured the hot pickling solution over the beans and processed them. It was only 2 small jars but we had plenty of green beans and it only took a few minutes. We will love them next winter and as always I feel a huge sense of satisfaction when I can add to my pantry shelves!
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