One evening I flipped through our 4 local PBS stations, the only stations we get. I am completely fine with that except for this coming Sunday when I NEED ABC to watch the 5 hours dedicated to the LOST series finale. I am a wreck about not having ABC and trying to figure something out....but that is a completely different topic.
I landed on a station that was talking about food and where it comes from. After a few minutes I began to wonder if this was the documentary I had been hearing so much about. I searched the TV schedule online and sure enough, it was. To be perfectly honest, I could only watch an hour of the movie. It was uncomfortable for me as a mother to watch it. It made me sick to my stomach to think about what is put in my kids' bodies everyday.
I would LOVE to switch my family to only organic and whole foods but honestly that is not in our budget. My grocery trip each week almost kills me as it is and these things are more expensive. Like the movie said, they can make the "yucky" stuff cheap.
I recalled seeing a clip of the Oprah show when the man behind the movie was interviewed. They talked about "leaning into this concept" and that is what I am trying to do. I want to provide the best for my family and give healthy options. I have a 3 year old with a serious sweet tooth for candy which I really try to limit. If it were up to me, we would just throw that stuff out but I want to teach her how to make healthy choices and when we do have sweets that we do so in moderation.
I have really been paying attention to High Fructose Corn Syrup and Partially Hydrogenated Oils in our food. They are in almost everything....salad dressing, cereal, graham crackers, bread, juice...on and on. I'm trying to watch and keep things on hand that do not have these horrible things in them. I am also trying to make snacks to keep on hand for the girls and for us. If I make it, I know what goes into it.
I have been making hummus for us (which has been a hard sell for the girls but I won't give up). I currently have a batch of granola in the oven for us to snack on. You can find that recipe HERE on one of my friend's blogs. I am also trying to buy some of our produce from the Farmer's market and can find some things cheaper than at the grocery store and I know it was locally grown and trust that it is free from pesticides. I am also depending on my dad to put out a garden and get some produce from him later this summer. I also watch the sale fliers for things that are better for us that are on sale. We also have a stovetop popcorn popper so we make our popcorn on the stove top and stay far, far away from microwave popcorn.
So we are leaning...we're trying to provide healthier food choices for our girls. I hope one day that my grocery budget can expand a little and I can lean much more.
I've also been diving into the Weelicious site for great, healthy idea for my family. This week I will be making the following from her site.
I have lots more tagged to try also. I'm also going to attempt at some point in the near future making homemade graham crackers from HERE or HERE since my girls love them and the store bought ones have the nasties in them.
So...this is what I'm doing, small changes. Every little bit helps! What are you doing to encourage healthier food choices for your family?
6 comments:
I am so with you Mindy. I have never seen the documentary, but I think that I live with the human version of that movie. Jason is so totally against almost all processed foods, and he HATES hydrogenated oils! He just recently read about the EVILS of high fructose corn syrup and now is on the lookout for them too. And yes, he has slowly converted me -- especially now that we have Sydney. We are not so rigid on organic, but we are slightly wierd about processed. I think it is harder to cook that way, but it is so much healthier (and I think it tastes better too). I am grateful that I get to be a homemaker, because now I have so much more time to homemake food. I love it, and I find it to be a fun challenge to make things I always thought to just buy. We are definitely not perfect (Jason and I both have our processed weaknesses, and Sydney has that same sweet tooth as your little one). But our desires and our leanings are towards healthy. Sorry to be so wordy... I just like this subject. I hope it all works out for you and your family.
Oh, and again... how is it that we were not friends sooner? :)
this is so where i'm at right now!! i just got the book healthy artisan bread in 5 minutes a day and can't wait to make my own soaked breads. we make our popcorn on the stove, i try to make our snacks, and i rarely cook processed foods, but i have a few things i can't figure out how to switch!!
Have you tried Bloomingfoods West? It's actually on the west side of downtown (not the far west side) but it has local grass-fed beef for just a little more then commercial prices! Take a night some time to browse the prices and selection - we're getting a lot from there now (spices, honey, bulk, meat, etc). I'm also making homemade yogurt now (so cheap!) and sweetening it with local honey and maple syrup.
umm...needing a new blog with the recipe for homemade graham crackers......ASAP!!!!
Like Midwestern Housewife, we are making yogurt too. It's the only way to get it here, but it does taste so much better and is very easy to do. I would say it's inexpensive, it would be in the States, but no food is inexpensive here except for market produce, which I'm hoping is mostly organic, but I don't know for sure.
I've almost stopped giving David anything with processed sugar in it. He never gets soda or fruit juice that's had sweetener added. HFCS, white sugar, it all makes him crazy. Days when he doesn't have that junk he's like a whole other kid, calm and well-behaved. He eats popcorn a lot for a snack. We have one of those air poppers.
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