If you eat clean, mostly healthy and real food, what does a day look like for you?

[Dianne-TX]

What foods do you have in your pantry? What foods do you always buy? What realistic recipes do you use for meals? Recipe books, websites, etc. What snacks do you and your children eat and do you keep on hand? And whatever else you can share. I need to overhaul our eating and want to see what that looks like realistically. I tend to get overwhelmed and shut down when something seems big to me and this is overwhelming for me. But, we HAVE to do better. I don't feel like I'm doing the best job for my family as I should, kwim? I want to be the one who says, "Well, we always eat clean and healthy, but occasionally we splurge." Right now, I would have to honestly say the opposite of that. :001_huh:

[Parrothead]

Breakfast is things like eggs, waffles, sausage, bacon, toast. Pretty much "normal" breakfast stuff. The sausage and bacon are from homegrown pigs.

 

Lunch is pretty much free forage. There are often leftovers, cut fruit, sandwich supplies, pb&j, tuna or chicken salad. Soup is a big staple for us. A couple times a week I'll make a pot of soup and we will have it for lunch and dinner. Or dinner and lunch.

 

Snacks come in the form of homemade cakes, cookies, fruit, crackers, cheese and lately due to dh's rebelling Doritos. :glare:

 

Dinner is half the time vegetarian. Of the not vegetarian nights half of those are some kind of fish meal. It kind of goes: beef, vegetarian, fish, vegetarian, pork, vegetarian, fish. There is chicken thrown in there for variety. We are Catholic and do continue with the no meat on Friday.

 

The meals themselves vary. On the meat nights we do have a meat, a starch, a veggie and a salad. On the vegetarian nights we have meals from the Moosewood Restaurant cookbooks, often with salad. The fish nights are always fish, starch and veggie with salad. For me fish can't touch anything else. The other nights are not so set. The meat, starch and veg may be found in the form of soup or casserole.

 

I've got very little in the pantry that is a vegetable. I've got canned artichoke hearts, tuna, beets, and tomato paste. I do have a variety of pasta and rice, a nice selection of dried herbs, spices and sauces.

 

My grocery cart is half produce, a quarter dairy and the rest is those things like pasta, cleaners, juice and tea.

[MeaganS]

We have 3 weeks of menus that we all like that we have determined are healthy and well-balanced. It took quite a bit of work to find that many, but we did and I mostly just rotate them. They include things like spaghetti with whole wheat pasta, classico spaghetti sauce (no sugar or added junk, it's great!), and lean ground beef meat. Or oven-baked fish with panko bread crumbs I season myself (way less fattening than the seasoned ones at the store), asparagus and brown rice, with yogurt tartar sauce. We use a lot of beans at dinner and try to minimize the meat, although we usually have at least a little meat at every dinner because we weren't getting enough protein. For breakfast we have green smoothies, oatmeal with raisins, or on occasion whole wheat waffles with fruit (using pumpkin instead of oil). Lunch tends to be leftovers or sandwiches on whole wheat bread (again, healthy inside). Snacks are things like fruit leather, whole wheat goldfish crackers, string cheese, pickles, or laughing cow cheese with crackers. Simple changes are using olive oil mayo instead of regular, and looking up substitutions for bad ingredients in almost every recipe.

 

Oh, one of the things that helped in the transition was sugar-free jello with fruit and sugar-free pudding with cool whip. They were very low calorie, but helped satiate our need for sweets at night.

 

Also we allow ourselves a budget of 4 splurges per month. We have 2 desserts, one pizza, and one whatever the heck we want day. My husband and I figured out that we were great at budgeting money, but doing awful with food, so we decided if we applied budgeting principles to our meals, we would be more successful. And we were right.

[Mom-ninja.]

Saving Dinner. I keep recommending that book over and over. There is also a website.

[Dianne-TX]

Breakfast is things like eggs, waffles, sausage, bacon, toast. Pretty much "normal" breakfast stuff. The sausage and bacon are from homegrown pigs.

 

Lunch is pretty much free forage. There are often leftovers, cut fruit, sandwich supplies, pb&j, tuna or chicken salad. Soup is a big staple for us. A couple times a week I'll make a pot of soup and we will have it for lunch and dinner. Or dinner and lunch.

 

Snacks come in the form of homemade cakes, cookies, fruit, crackers, cheese and lately due to dh's rebelling Doritos. :glare:

 

Dinner is half the time vegetarian. Of the not vegetarian nights half of those are some kind of fish meal. It kind of goes: beef, vegetarian, fish, vegetarian, pork, vegetarian, fish. There is chicken thrown in there for variety. We are Catholic and do continue with the no meat on Friday.

 

The meals themselves vary. On the meat nights we do have a meat, a starch, a veggie and a salad. On the vegetarian nights we have meals from the Moosewood Restaurant cookbooks, often with salad. The fish nights are always fish, starch and veggie with salad. For me fish can't touch anything else. The other nights are not so set. The meat, starch and veg may be found in the form of soup or casserole.

 

I've got very little in the pantry that is a vegetable. I've got canned artichoke hearts, tuna, beets, and tomato paste. I do have a variety of pasta and rice, a nice selection of dried herbs, spices and sauces.

 

My grocery cart is half produce, a quarter dairy and the rest is those things like pasta, cleaners, juice and tea.

 

Thanks. What are the different ways you cook and season your meats? When we are doing good, I rotate chicken and fish, but get bored of the ways to fix them healthy. We can do it, but it would be nice to have some new ideas.

[Cindy in C-ville]

Don't have time to share too much, but here's a little:

 

Breakfast - eggs, whole wheat toast, honey, plain yogurt with a bit of honey and fruit, oatmeal with fruit, honey, etc.

Lunch - leftovers, sandwiches, salads

Dinner - protein, brown rice/potatoes/sweet potatoes, salad, veggies ... I also make a lot of soups. Once a week, or so we'll have a "rice bowl" in which I pull out shredded meat I've made earlier in the week, cook some brown rice, and top with black beans, veggies, cheese, and sour cream.

 

Snacks - hummus/veggies, peanut butter/fruit, yogurt/fruit, nuts/fruit/yogurt

 

I drink a green smoothie each day.

 

I like to buy organic, but it's beyond our budget right now. So, I buy as many fruits, vegetables, as I can and hope we're able to get back to organic, at least with our meat/dairy at some point. For the most part, I don't buy lowfat or processed stuff, although I do keep a few things around for absolutely crazy nights.

 

Clean Eating by Tosca Reno is a good place to start and much easier than Sally Fallon. Tosca, at least, gets you eating real food. I love Sally's vision, but I just can't live it out.

[Parrothead]

How we came to be where we are today:

 

Last year just after Christmas I quit smoking and decided to get healthier. I did what you did and asked about it here. The thing most recommended was fresh produce especially leafy greens. That was when my grocery cart contents changed. I get lots of produce especially leafy greens every trip to the market.

 

Around the same time there were lots of threads about vegetarianism and I started looking into it as a means to detox, loose weight, and eat better. Dh will not give up meat totally so I had to find a way to get good quality meat. I made arrangements to purchase half a cow from a friend's neighbor and half a pig from the same friend. I'm still looking for chickens. In this area that is the only way to get meat that does not come off a feedlot.

 

This past summer I made arrangements with another friend to help out in her garden and get half the fresh, all but organic produce for labor. I froze quite a bit of produce for the winter.

 

We also started (several times) to exercise and get moving. As a family we take Tai Chi classes once a week and each of us has his/her own work out routine. I had started running a few weeks ago. Then the bottom fell out of the temperatures and that is on hold for a few months.

 

It has been a long process and taken a year to get here. It will take another year until I feel we are not in danger of going back to the lifestyle were 3/4 of my grocery cart was chips, canned fruit, frozen pizza and soda. Dh has started this Doritos thing over the past 2 weeks. I've indulged it, but now need to sit him down and talk to him about it.

[kalanamak]

What foods do you have in your pantry? What foods do you always buy? What realistic recipes do you use for meals? Recipe books, websites, etc. What snacks do you and your children eat and do you keep on hand? And whatever else you can share. I need to overhaul our eating and want to see what that looks like realistically. I tend to get overwhelmed and shut down when something seems big to me and this is overwhelming for me. But, we HAVE to do better. I don't feel like I'm doing the best job for my family as I should, kwim? I want to be the one who says, "Well, we always eat clean and healthy, but occasionally we splurge." Right now, I would have to honestly say the opposite of that. :001_huh:

 

I have whole grains, canned tomatoes, Whole grain cereals, WW pasta, dried beans, etc in my pantry. I always buy broc, cabbage, carrot, celery, onions, sometimes potatoes with good skins, organic frozen gr. beans, corn, blueberries. Good eggs, cheddar, neufchatel cheese, 1% organic milk and soy or almond milk.

 

A typical day is a scrambled or soft boiled egg with 1-2 pieces of WW toast, a smear of cream cheese rather than butter. I drink coffee, kiddo likes water. Some times I make him hash browns, or I toast homemade, frozen waffles (these aren't WW...haven't mastered that yet). Kiddo also likes French toast with honey. Some times we have an organic version of Wheetena or scotch oats.

 

Lunch is veggies over WW pasta or br rice, with some kidney beans in it. Dinner could be anything from hummus to start, mac and cheese or a steamed cauliflower with cheese sauce on it. I like apple crisp for dessert. Kiddo usually gets some choc ice cream.

 

**Here is a hint** Don't make a single food revolution. Start cutting out the "worst offender" and start adding in one simple thing. Good WW pasta is really very tasty. Try that. Or, if you are a meat eater, try cutting out the fried chicken and doing stewed breasts instead. IME, working with many people who "have" to change the way they eat, step by step lasts while palace revolution doesn't. YMMV.

[Parrothead]

Thanks. What are the different ways you cook and season your meats? When we are doing good, I rotate chicken and fish, but get bored of the ways to fix them healthy. We can do it, but it would be nice to have some new ideas.

If I'm making baked chicken I'll salt and pepper it. If I'm not making baked chicken then more than likely the chicken is in something like a soup or casserole or salad. Beef gets either very little or overseasoned. If we are doing steaks I don't put anything on them while cooking. The seasoning comes after - salt and pepper maybe a bit of A-1 or BBQ sauce depending on the person.

 

Beef roasts get overseasoned - salt, pepper, bullion, a light sprinkling of Cajun land, chopped onion, minced garlic to start. Ground beef takes up the seasoning of whatever dish it happens to be in, meat balls and meatloaf being the exception.

 

Fish gets salt, pepper and fresh lemon juice for the most part. Salmon gets different things but we only have that every once in a while. Shrimp gets Old Bay

[Dianne-TX]

We have 3 weeks of menus that we all like that we have determined are healthy and well-balanced. It took quite a bit of work to find that many, but we did and I mostly just rotate them. They include things like spaghetti with whole wheat pasta, classico spaghetti sauce (no sugar or added junk, it's great!), and lean ground beef meat. Or oven-baked fish with panko bread crumbs I season myself (way less fattening than the seasoned ones at the store), asparagus and brown rice, with yogurt tartar sauce. We use a lot of beans at dinner and try to minimize the meat, although we usually have at least a little meat at every dinner because we weren't getting enough protein. For breakfast we have green smoothies, oatmeal with raisins, or on occasion whole wheat waffles with fruit (using pumpkin instead of oil). Lunch tends to be leftovers or sandwiches on whole wheat bread (again, healthy inside). Snacks are things like fruit leather, whole wheat goldfish crackers, string cheese, pickles, or laughing cow cheese with crackers. Simple changes are using olive oil mayo instead of regular, and looking up substitutions for bad ingredients in almost every recipe.

 

Oh, one of the things that helped in the transition was sugar-free jello with fruit and sugar-free pudding with cool whip. They were very low calorie, but helped satiate our need for sweets at night.

 

Also we allow ourselves a budget of 4 splurges per month. We have 2 desserts, one pizza, and one whatever the heck we want day. My husband and I figured out that we were great at budgeting money, but doing awful with food, so we decided if we applied budgeting principles to our meals, we would be more successful. And we were right.

 

I agree with so much you have said and like your approach. If you don't mind, would you share your 3 week meal ideas? I think planning like that would help calm me down if I felt like I had a list to work off of and not feel like I'm shooting from the hip all the time.

[Dianne-TX]

Don't have time to share too much, but here's a little:

 

Breakfast - eggs, whole wheat toast, honey, plain yogurt with a bit of honey and fruit, oatmeal with fruit, honey, etc.

Lunch - leftovers, sandwiches, salads

Dinner - protein, brown rice/potatoes/sweet potatoes, salad, veggies ... I also make a lot of soups. Once a week, or so we'll have a "rice bowl" in which I pull out shredded meat I've made earlier in the week, cook some brown rice, and top with black beans, veggies, cheese, and sour cream.

 

Snacks - hummus/veggies, peanut butter/fruit, yogurt/fruit, nuts/fruit/yogurt

 

I drink a green smoothie each day.

 

I like to buy organic, but it's beyond our budget right now. So, I buy as many fruits, vegetables, as I can and hope we're able to get back to organic, at least with our meat/dairy at some point. For the most part, I don't buy lowfat or processed stuff, although I do keep a few things around for absolutely crazy nights.

 

Clean Eating by Tosca Reno is a good place to start and much easier than Sally Fallon. Tosca, at least, gets you eating real food. I love Sally's vision, but I just can't live it out.

 

Yay, this sounds like a lot of what I do already, just not consistently. Thanks for the cookbook idea. We, too, don't have the funds to buy all organic, but would like to someday. I think I let my mind get cluttered instead of sticking to a certain set of foods, snacks, etc.

[WistfulRidge]

Breakfast is scrambled eggs, from scratch pancakes, waffles, muffins etc and fresh fruit. Cereal is saved for "OMG we overslept and have to get somewhere in a hurry!" situations and even then it is only my DH that will really eat it.

 

Lunch is usually left overs, or I'll make some sort of cheap pasta or rice dish for DS and I. We're not big sandwich people (except for lately because it is one of the only things that sounds yummy to my pregnant self). Bar that we usually just munch on fruit, veggies, and cheese.

 

Snacks are yogurt, fruit, veggies, cheese, homemade granola bars, cookies etc.

 

Dinner is what I guess a lot of people would consider normal - spaghetti, enchiladas, tacos, casseroles of various types etc except that everything is made from scratch. I don't use canned soups and avoid canned produce whenever I can (unless it is homegrown/home-canned). All bread is either whole-wheat or homemade. I covet a grain mill so that someday I can do both from home, lol.

 

I've seen a big difference in how I feel physically, mentally, and emotionally since we started eating this way about 2.5 years ago. DH has reported similar changes. We are more alert and energetic and the depression I struggled with since I hit puberty has, for the most part, disappeared. Because our food is more nutrient dense we eat less and feel fuller.

 

My dad was out here recently for a visit and he insisted on buying some groceries for us. He was absolutely baffled by the fact that my cart was filled with ingredients (flour, spices, eggs) and produce (fruits, vegetables, and fresh herbs). He kept asking me what other food I needed in a tone of voice that implied that there was no actual "food" in my cart. He could not make the connection in his brain that I could turn out meal after meal without a box or a can.

Edited January 21, 2011 by theAmbitiousHousewife

[amy g.]

I'm not sure if anyone would consider the way we eat clean, but it is whole food.

 

When I wake up, I have coffee with heavy cream.

 

A couple of hours later, when I finish morning chores, I have eggs and a side of sauteed vegetables from the garden. We like spinach, kohlrabi, broccoli and green onions with sea salt and butter.

 

For lunch, I have a salad with leftover meat or cheese on top. I drink water and un sweet tea throughout the day.

 

My 12 year old makes supper every night, but it always includes a big salad. I have salad with a small amount of whatever meat she cooked and a glass or two of red wine.

 

I don't have snacks unless I'm running errands and skip a meal. Then I'll have some almonds or cheese.

 

I think you live in my area. it is very easy, here to grow salad ingredients in pots.

 

Here are a few on my patio.

 

[1GirlTwinBoys]

Breakfast:

 

Egg with whole grain toast, butter & ground flaxseeds

Whole grain waffles or pancakes & fruit

Maybe once or twice a month, I'll make sausage or bacon that I purchase from Whole Foods.

Omelette with diced veggies

 

Lunch:

Flatbread with tomato sauce, diced spinach, olives & sun dried tomatoes, and feta cheese. Heated in the oven for 10 mins.

Hummus

Rice & beans, veggies.

Green smoothies

 

Dinner:

I try to make everything from scratch as much as I can. We only eat red meat about twice/month. The rest of the time we make seafood, chicken & turkey etc...

The kid's like New Potatoes diced with olive oil, sea salt & pepper baked in the oven. It's healthier than french fries and taste better too.

[myfunnybunch]

We signed up for a CSA box. That forced us to eat a lot more and a greater variety of fresh vegetables because otherwise the veg we'd paid for would go to waste. It really made a huge difference. We eat many vegetables I thought we hated: Beets, squash, cauliflower, leafy greens like kale and chard and spinach have all become a regular part of our diet in addition to the vegetables we already ate.

 

We made a committment to have at least one green food on the table at every meal, and to serve at least two vegetarian meals each week.

 

We garden. Even a small container salad garden is doable for most spaces. (Oh, and I see someone has posted some gorgeous pictures!)

 

We stopped buying processed foods. My kids eat cheese, nuts, dried fruit, carrots, fresh fruit or fruit smoothies for snacks. Sure, sometimes they don't want those, but if they're not hungry enough to eat those things, they're not hungry enough for a snack.

 

We only eat whole wheat bread. If I have time, I make it; otherwise, we buy it. We eat a lot more rice, sometimes white, sometimes brown.

 

And I agree with kalanamak, don't try to do it all at once. Make one or two changes at a time, let it become a habit, then change a little more.

 

Cat

[MeaganS]

I agree with so much you have said and like your approach. If you don't mind, would you share your 3 week meal ideas? I think planning like that would help calm me down if I felt like I had a list to work off of and not feel like I'm shooting from the hip all the time.

 

Sure! I don't have time at the moment, but I will later today.

[MyLittleWonders]

(Sidenote: We are gluten free, dairy free, and free of all artificial additives; we buy mostly all organic and with the exception of a once-in-a-blue-moon meal at Whole Foods or Chipotle, we cook 21 meals a week at home.)

 

Breakfasts for us are: oatmeal, cream of buckwheat, eggs (soft boiled, fried on toast), pancakes, pb&j sandwiches (usually Saturday mornings when one of the boys has an early baseball game)

 

Lunches are: pasta with meat sauce (browned ground beef with organic marinara), sandwiches (egg salad, pb&j, sometimes deli meat), leftover soup or chili, chicken tenders (homemade; occasionally I'll buy the Ian's GF/DF chicken tenders) with tater tots (I call it our "school lunch" :) )

 

Dinners are: red meat night (dh loves to BBQ steaks or such), crock pot night (roast, chicken & rice, etc.), soup or chili night (black bean soup, homemade chili, butternut squash soup), chicken night (stir-fry, BBQ, GF chicken "orzo"), taco night (shredded beef in weeks that we have a roast, chicken, fish - my favorite), pasta/pizza night (we sometimes buy Daiya "cheese" for homemade pizza), left-over/up-for-grabs night

 

We keep fresh fruit, little carrots, cherry tomatoes around for snacking. Plus, I usually buy two bags of something to snack on - tortilla chips, potato chips, GF pretzels. Sometimes we'll buy cookies or we'll bake some ourselves. We make a weekly menu (all three meals) and a shopping list based on that so we always have what we need to make said meals. Our goal is to add one or two new recipes to our pre-existing framework each month.

[justamouse]

breakfast is (one or the other)

 

a green smoothie

yogurt and granola (both homemade)

an English Muffin (homemade-I just made 3 doz this morning)

oatmeal with walnuts and crasins

waffles (there is nothing like homemade waffles-nothing)

eggs and toast (homemade bread and good eggs)

coffee

OJ

nitrate free bacon

omelets

'egg mcmuffins'

 

I make it homemade by making BIG batches and freezing them (or in case of granola, just putting it in huge containers. I make a gallon of yogurt at a time.

 

Most mornings I just have coffee, a green smoothie and a piece of toast.

 

lunch is whatever we had for dinner the previous night or PB&J, organic PB and organic jelly (very inexpensive at Costco) on homemade bread

 

dinner:

 

last night was a winter salad (romaine, sliced almonds, crasins, croutons (homemade from stale bread) and homemade vinaigrette

 

Sweet Italian Chicken sausages, (organic-they were on sale and very tasty-but that would be a splurge for me)

 

homemade mac and cheese (but a TINY portion because we had each eaten two salads-even the kids)

 

The mac an cheese was a splurge, too (haven't made it in forever), because we had eaten beans four nights in a row. :D

 

The bean dishes were pasta and lentils (whole wheat pasta is great with that)

 

a cassoulet type (which is easy in a pressure cooker) but without the huge amounts of meat. (I used 'free range' duck bacon for a little flavor, heavy on the herbs EVOO and veggies)

 

tonight is roasted root veggie soup and whole wheat bread.

 

It's not HARDER, it just takes planning and having a stockpile of good pantry items, that way you hit the green grocer and you're done. (OR you could prep the veggies and freeze them so all you have to do is assemble)

 

my pantry

 

a gazillion types of beans and grains

anchovies

sardines

herbs of every type

EVOO, Canola, Grapeseed, Coconut oils

pastas

canned tomatoes, tomato paste

pickles

olives

canned fruits (from this summer)

crackers-all different kinds

cheeses

flours:

whole wheat

whole wheat white

bread flour

whole white pastry

graham

rye

cornmeal

vital wheat gluten

different kids of salts

baking needs :

cocoa

different kinds of sugars

molasses

raisins

craisins

figs

dates

nuts of all kinds

homemade chutney (that my aunt gave me for X mas-YUM!)

 

 

Obviously you don't go up and buy it all at once. :D

 

And, don't get me wrong, I DO have dinners that are baked brie, wine and salad. ;) (which is my FAVE) but for the most part, that's how we eat. And I cook differently in the summer-mostly salads, grilled meats.

 

If you want to start a few organics, start with the veggies/fruits that have the most pesticides-celery, apples, grapes, peaches, peppers, nectarines (most of which aren't even in season, anyway)-but celery is a big one.

Edited January 21, 2011 by justamouse

[6packofun]

I would love your menu, too. This sounds doable, sensible and affordable without an insane amount of change for us. Very balanced--thanks for sharing!!

[elise1mds]

I get told often that my kids eat better than other folks', so I guess I'm doing all right. Breakfasts are often the worst when it comes to clean eating because I am a night owl, NOT a morning person, and I can't get myself out of bed in time to make breakfast, so we have a lot of frozen waffles, toast, bagels, etc. However, I make my own bread or buy the organic options, so it's better than nothing, and on weekends when I really make the effort to fix breakfast/brunch, our eggs come from our own chickens and the sausage/bacon are local. Lunches are a free-for-all most of the time. We almost always have leftovers and/or sandwiches fixin's, and I'll usually pick up some Annie's organic mac 'n' cheese or Amy's organic frozen lunches for days when we don't feel like either of the usual options.

 

I love to cook dinners, but I don't believe in spending four hours a day in the kitchen, either. I buy organic when I can and watch what other foods I get. This week's menu looks like this:

 

--Broccoli shrimp stir-fry

--Homemade pizzas (one is never enough for my family, and I make my own tomato sauce with organic tomato sauce/tomato paste and homegrown herbs and use homemade pesto or Alfredo for the other pizza)

--Whole-wheat spaghetti and meatballs with salad

--My mom's American-style goulash and corn on the cob

--Hot dogs (splurge night!), homemade cole slaw, and German chocolate cake with coconut-pecan icing

--Ham-stuffed twice-baked potatoes (ham came from a friend whose sister-in-law had a pig butchered) with frozen peas

-- Corned beef & cabbage in the crockpot and bread in the bread machine

 

Alternate: Mushroom risotto and salad

 

So nothing is very fancy, but it's all healthful and simple and good. My kids never put up a fight about dinner or eating veggies. Usually we don't have this much ground beef/red meat on the menu, but I'm trying to clean out my freezer and pantry, so I'm using up what I have. My grocery bill has been less than $100 for two weeks in a row, so I'm happy.

[Dianne-TX]

breakfast is (one or the other)

 

a green smoothie

yogurt and granola (both homemade)

an English Muffin (homemade-I just made 3 doz this morning)

oatmeal with walnuts and crasins

waffles (there is nothing like homemade waffles-nothing)

eggs and toast (homemade bread and good eggs)

coffee

OJ

nitrate free bacon

omelets

'egg mcmuffins'

 

I make it homemade by making BIG batches and freezing them (or in case of granola, just putting it in huge containers. I make a gallon of yogurt at a time.

 

Most mornings I just have coffee, a green smoothie and a piece of toast.

 

lunch is whatever we had for dinner the previous night or PB&J, organic PB and organic jelly (very inexpensive at Costco) on homemade bread

 

dinner:

 

last night was a winter salad (romaine, sliced almonds, crasins, croutons (homemade from stale bread) and homemade vinaigrette

 

Sweet Italian Chicken sausages, (organic-they were on sale and very tasty-but that would be a splurge for me)

 

homemade mac and cheese (but a TINY portion because we had each eaten two salads-even the kids)

 

The mac an cheese was a splurge, too (haven't made it in forever), because we had eaten beans four nights in a row. :D

 

The bean dishes were pasta and lentils (whole wheat pasta is great with that)

 

a cassoulet type (which is easy in a pressure cooker) but without the huge amounts of meat. (I used 'free range' duck bacon for a little flavor, heavy on the herbs EVOO and veggies)

 

tonight is roasted root veggie soup and whole wheat bread.

 

It's not HARDER, it just takes planning and having a stockpile of good pantry items, that way you hit the green grocer and you're done. (OR you could prep the veggies and freeze them so all you have to do is assemble)

 

my pantry

 

a gazillion types of beans and grains

anchovies

sardines

herbs of every type

EVOO, Canola, Grapeseed, Coconut oils

pastas

canned tomatoes, tomato paste

pickles

olives

canned fruits (from this summer)

crackers-all different kinds

cheeses

flours:

whole wheat

whole wheat white

bread flour

whole white pastry

graham

rye

cornmeal

vital wheat gluten

different kids of salts

baking needs :

cocoa

different kinds of sugars

molasses

raisins

craisins

figs

dates

nuts of all kinds

homemade chutney (that my aunt gave me for X mas-YUM!)

 

 

Obviously you don't go up and buy it all at once. :D

 

And, don't get me wrong, I DO have dinners that are baked brie, wine and salad. ;) (which is my FAVE) but for the most part, that's how we eat. And I cook differently in the summer-mostly salads, grilled meats.

 

If you want to start a few organics, start with the veggies/fruits that have the most pesticides-celery, apples, grapes, peaches, peppers, nectarines (most of which aren't even in season, anyway)-but celery is a big one.

 

I would love your homemade yogurt, granola, waffle, english muffin and everything else recipe. This sounds great! Thanks so much!

[justamouse]

I would love your homemade yogurt, granola, waffle, english muffin and everything else recipe. This sounds great! Thanks so much!

 

Will do!

 

Taking the kids out sleigh riding, I'll do it when we get back!

[Dianne-TX]

Will do!

 

Taking the kids out sleigh riding, I'll do it when we get back!

 

Wow, you are incredible! Homemade everything and sleigh riding! :lol:

[FaithManor]

For breakfast my family eats sausage patties or links or bacon and fruit. Occasionally I will make blueberry pancakes (locally picked wild blueberries from state land and unbleached, soft wheat flour - I use honey and buttermilk in the batter) or fried cornmeal mush to go with the protein. Since my ducks are currently not in egg production mode due to low sunlight and we do not supplement with lighting, I usually only have a few eggs per week from my friend who does keep a heat lamp in her hen house so I don't usually do scrambled eggs this time of year. Once the ducks start producing and I have my own layers, then the kids will get eggs more often. The pork products are from our own, mostly organically raised, pigs.

 

Lunch - Salads, soups, fresh fruits and veggies, almonds or cashews, cheese and crackers, etc. We often use chopped chicken or turkey in tortillas, fill with desired veggies, and top with salsa or salad dressing and eat as a sandwich. When eggs are plentiful, I do scramble them, top with cheese, and fill tortillas too. I keep either homemade yogurt blended with frozen raspberries or blueberries (on the puree cycle of the blender because the kids will not eat yogurt with lumps) or I buy Stoneyfield smooth and creamy from Meijer.

 

Mid-morning snack is usually a fruit either fresh or dried or my homemade oats, honey, and chocolate chip granola crumbled with fresh milk. Since we have a milk cow boarded at another farm, we sometimes use as much as five gallons per week and I make the boys drink milk during their morning and afternoon snack times in order to help fill their hollow legs. The middle boy likes to make chocolate covered macademea nuts and since he really needs to keep his calorie, fat, and protein count up due to a metabolic disorder...I let him liberally snack on these though they are a bit expensive.

 

Supper - We have the pork so it could be chops, steaks, roasts, or the occasional ham. But, that is only three times per week. Otherwise, we eat a lot of chicken and some salmon, cod or tilapia (if it weren't so expensive, I'd serve it more than once per week). Very occasionally I buy organic ground beef (the leanest stuff you've ever seen!!!!) from a local farmer and make tacos/enchiladas with it. Usually, our tacos are filled with chicken and beans.

 

Today we had meatless spaghetti - well the menfolk did. DD is on an ambulance run and I am stringently dieting. UGH! So, it was comprised of organic whole wheat pasta (purchased from Meijer), a layer of mozzarella and liberal sprinking of parmesan, and covered with homemade sauce. I can my sauce during harvest season...it's about three days of ridiculous work. But, then I don't have to cook up a sauce during the winter and it costs me about 50 cents a quart. They had broccoli and applesauce (home canned) with what I can only describe as "HUGE" piles of spaghetti in the grim hopes that they won't ask for more food any time soon!

 

We also usually buy venison from a local hunter. He likes to hunt but doesn't want to kill more than what his family can eat. So, he is willing to bag, butcher, and put into freezer bags for $50.00. I can all of it, chunked like stew beef, with onion and a little organic stew beef which takes all of the gamey flavor out of it. I use it for stews and thickened as a gravy over mashed potatoes.

 

We eat very little bread and so I don't bake often. I do make homemade oatmeal cookies and on special occasions, a divine homemade cheesecake made from yogurt cheese, eggs, and honey and poured into a homemade pastry shell or an almond crust.

 

Dh has a hankering, quite often for candy. I have given up on this and so he shares, certainly not daily, an small serving with the boys.

 

Because we garden, our pantry contains a lot of my canning: tomatoes, green beans, applesauce, pinto beans, black beans, and kidney beans. The freezer has frozen corn, green beans (for when I want fresh), sweet peas, and broccoli plus the blueberries and raspberries. Hopefully our asparagus and strawberry patches will be producing this summer and just maybe have some for the freezer. I do portabella mushrooms, carrots, apples, red pepper, green pepper, onion, leeks, celery, and grape tomatoes in the dehydrator. So, except for some salad greens and organic fresh carrots for the kids to snack on, I do not buy vegetables throughout the winter. MIL makes canned asparagus and california mix (moderately spicey, pickled cauliflower/carrots/celery/red pepper/pearl onions) which she shares with us. This past year, a ground hog decided to commit major indescretions in my garden and my broccoli harvest was so poor that we ran out of broccoli by November and I have had to purchase organic frozen broccoli at Meijer and IT'S NOT CHEAP!!! The ground hog met his demise at the end of dh's shot gun, however, I was not brave enough to stew him!

 

So, a regular grocery list might be salads greens, bananas, clemetine oranges when in season, lemons, potatoes (my potatoe garden did not produce last summer), baby carrots, macademea nuts, cashews or almonds, parmesan or mozzarella, Stoneyfield yogurt, that dratted expensive broccoli, butter (our cow is part Holstein and part Guernsey so I'm not currently getting enough cream to make it worth buying a cream separator and attempting to make it myself), salmon, bay scallops, chicken, the occasional half-gallon ice cream, chocolate chips, oats, an occasional bag of organic basamti rice, olives if we are out, walnut/sunflower/olive oil for sauteing and baking as needed, coconut oil, a couple of boxes Annie's Shells and Cheese (one concession to having a convenience food), the organic pasta, Bragg's Amino Acids/Soy sauce, Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar, white vinegar for cleaning, and sour cream. Oh and I do have a few canned things that I've not been able to can myself - water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, and baby corns for chinese stir fry which we have once per month.

 

My life feels as though it revolves around food. DD and I live with three skinny boys plus skinny dh and these menfolk are ravenously hungry at all times and REALLY LIKE THEIR FOOD. I do far more food planning than I'd like because I truly hate cooking. Seasons of life! I told dh that when the last one leaves the nest, I'm not cooking for 20 years - get used to soup, salad, and cottage cheese.

 

Faith

[lilbean05]

We have only been doing this for a couple months and have also made every effort to only eat homemade from scratch foods. While I have tried several cracker/snack type recipes, I haven't found any that are great. So, most of our snacks are fruit or veggies. We get our eggs, dairy, produce, and meats from a variety of local organic/grass fed farmers. A year ago, while we cooked, it was nothing like how we are today!

 

Breakfast: Farm eggs, nitrate free breakfast meats, pancakes, waffles, oatmeal, cream of wheat, corn meal porridge

 

Lunch: A variety of fruits and veggies, cheese, homemade bread/toast, yogurt, cottage cheese

 

Dinner: Any combination of veggies, meat, and starch/"side". Sometimes served as three individual items and sometimes served casserole style. A lot of dinner depends on what sort of veggies we get from our CSA for the week.

 

We also make a lot of homemade random things, like sausage bread, fruit salads, desserts, cookies, etc.

 

I thought it would be hard to switch over to what we are doing now, but it really hasn't been so bad. I had a McDonalds burger the other day, for the first time in maybe 6 months, and it tasted like a bland piece of sausage on a salty corn mushy bread. Blech.

 

As an aside, if anyone has a recipe for ice cream, I would LOVE to know how to make our own! It has been so long since we have had any....

[redsquirrel]

I just make sure anything with grain is whole grain. So our rice is brown, our pasta is whole wheat, our oatmeal is not instant, Our bread is whole grain. Mostly, I make the bread so that isn't an issue.

 

Our veggies are fresh and not canned. We have a vegetable and a fruit with lunch and dinner. Our fruit is whole and not juice. I buy actual oranges and not orange juice. We eat apples and not apple sauce.

 

We are vegetarian so our protein is mostly beans, egg and dairy. We have tofu once a week or so.

 

I don't buy many things with added sugar so yogurt is plain. I try to not buy a lot of salty stuff so I don't buy canned soups and am trying to buy less store salad dressing.

 

Snacks are things like: lowfat cheese sticks, dried fruit and fresh fruit, tofurkey slices (if you are not a veg, then use plain turkey slices?) brown rice cakes with PB, air popped popcorn (is a whole grain!), Homemade bread with cream cheese and jam, plain yogurt with a drizzle of maple syrup, hard cooked eggs are a BIG hit with my kids, baked corn chips with salsa (no sugar added!), whole wheat pretzels with salsa or peanut butter or hummus, mini-shredded wheat cereal or cheerios dry in a bowl with some raisens and peanuts,

 

I am not totally hard core. I have a few days when I have to leave the house with snack food and I don't always have the time to make something. I have a couple boxes of fruit leathers...REAL FRUIT, no sugar added type. I have a box of z-bars for my son to take to ballet class. The kids know that isn't food for eating in the house.

 

Mostly I find if I try to avoid HFCS/CS, hydrogentated anything, and MSG it clears the not so good food out of the basket.

 

For most meals I just think: protein, whole grain, veg, fruit. I don't achieve that with every single meal but I am pretty darn close.

[AnnaM]

We have been working towards a 100% Real Food diet for a while now. I did was a PP suggested and we started with cutting out just one thing at a time. High fructose corn syrup was the first thing to go (though I am still in the process of kicking a rather nasty Dr. Pepper Habit). Now we are working on all GMO food. That has been the biggest change because nearly everything is made with some form of GMO corn or soy bean.

 

Some things I have learned that kind of surprised me were that sometimes organic is not always the best. Organics such as milk are still highly processed and lose alot of their nutritional value. We switched to organic raw milk from grass fed dairy cows. It costs about the same and hasn't had the nutrients ultra-pasturized out of it. The second was fruit. Ripe is better than organic sometimes. Fruit is almost always picked before it is ripe and will be missing alot of nutrients that dont develope until the fruit has ripened. This is why it's better to buy local. Products that dont have to shipped arent picked as early and are allowed to ripen more naturally on the plant. Meats ideally should be local grass feed beef, whey-feed pork, pastured chickens and so on.

 

I am still learning alot by my advice would be to buy locally as much as possible. Buy as little processed food (even if it is labeled organic!) as possible and don't buy any GMO foods.

 

Check out www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com she has some great resoures on eating a Real Food diet.

[redsquirrel]

But how does one know if something has GMOs? It is my understanding that GMOs do not have to be labeled. Lots of organic stuff says it is "no gmo' but there is no verification process and it isn't a legally enforcable statement. It is possible that rule has changed and it is now an enforcable statement, like 'low fat' or 'low sodium' and I just haven't heard? That would be great if it has changed.

 

 

I figure if something doesn't specifically state that it is GMO free then it has them and if it says it doesn't have GMOs then it is 50-50 that it does.

[MeaganS]

PMed you

[phathui5]

Today for breakfast we had organic eggs, baby carrots (me) and clementines (kids). The kids also had whole wheat bread with peanut butter on it.

 

For lunch they had string cheese, pretzels (not great), apple slices and clementines. I had a salad with mixed greens, sprouts, avocado and organic ground beef.

 

Since we have copious amounts of whole wheat bread (it was buy 1, get 2), dinner tonight will likely be eggs in a hole with fruit.

[AnnaM]

This is a good guideline. I mostly go for local food so that I can ask if it is GM.

 

http://www.wikihow.com/Avoid-Genetically-Modified-Foods

[BlsdMama]

What foods do you have in your pantry? What foods do you always buy? What realistic recipes do you use for meals? Recipe books, websites, etc. What snacks do you and your children eat and do you keep on hand? I want to be the one who says, "Well, we always eat clean and healthy, but occasionally we splurge." Right now, I would have to honestly say the opposite of that. :001_huh:

 

 

We can't ever say we always! We generally cheat on the weekends.

 

My sister visited this January and hated our eating ways. She lasted two days and then sent my mom to the grocery store with a list.

 

Then I admit it, yes, I ate. And she said, "YOU LIKE THIS STUFF?!" Yes, yes, I do. It's why I CAN'T have it in my house. Because if it's here, I eat it. Oh yes. Lots. In quantity. :iagree:

 

So what do I NEVER have in the house at the ready? Soda. Juice. Anything resembling chocolate chips, ho hos, snacky foods, potato chips, any of that. Sometimes we do have ice cream on hand. :glare: I have to own up to that because the DD is getting me some. I try never to buy anything diet or lite or has an "alternative" sweetener - kwim? I try to buy as little canned or boxed food as absolute possible. Whole grain pasta is an exception and so is canned tomatoes because we didn't garden worth a hoo hah this year. :( But canned foods often contain BPA. So we try to minimize it as much as absolutely possible. We don't buy bottled water. We don't buy paper towels.

 

We drink water at meals. No juice, not even 100% juice unless it's a treat. It cuts sugar w/o fiber.

 

What is always on our list?

Brown Rice

Oats - Rolled & Steel Cut

Flaxseed

Butter

Healthy oils - Smart Balance and/or sustainable palm

Frozen fruit by the bucketload - Blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, etc.

Dried Apricots

Almonds

Pecans

Dried Cranberries

Raisins

Broth for soup -organic as it's about the same price as not

Fish

Meat

Beans - Dried

Legumes

Quinoa

Onions

Red Peppers

Huge amounts of garlic

Salad greens

Carrots

Broccoli

Kale

Asparagus (sometimes if it looks good and not floppy.)

Wheat Berries

Avocados

Potatoes

Tomatoes - Full size and snack ones

 

I'd say 70-80 percent of our food budget, at least, is spent in either meat or in produce. A rather large amount goes to butter, eggs, and yogurt.

 

Splurge: Coffee, whole milk, cream, and whipped cream. This is all for our morning cuppa. Oh well.

 

Average morning will include (after my unhealthy cup) usually a grain - muffins or oatmeal, etc. fruit and/or eggs.

 

Lunch - Usually leftovers, sometimes a bean dish or soup

 

Supper - Fish 1-2 times per week. Beef about 2-3 times a week and chicken 2-3 times a week. All suppers are served with two veggies, no fruit. Sometimes the addition of tortillas or rice.

 

Snacks - fruit - dried or fresh or veggies or yogurt with fruit.

We buy plain yogurt (NOT Vanilla) so we can sweeten it ourselves.

 

We try NOT to buy pancake syrup so we have to buy the expensive maple because 1. it's better with trace minerals, etc and 2 - it's so stinking expensive you use it very sparingly.

 

We are trying very hard to work in more quinoa. (I'm not used to it yet! Recipes evade me!) We are trying very hard to have a dark green salad at least three times per week. This is new to us and we want to do it every night but AGH!

 

Finding out DD is intolerant of eggs, nuts, and wheat is HARD. We're totally rethinking breakfast. Thinking very seriously of getting rid of our vegetable juicer in favor of a VitaMix for green smoothies for breakfast. We use the juicer for DH for celery juice to reduce blood pressure.

 

The only other thing we do is mix our own herbs for teas. This is how we get our "multi-vitamins" - much easier for the body to process than expensive vitamins and better assimilated.

 

We also don't buy petroleum based skin care products that are absorbed into the skin.

 

And I'd be utterly LYING if I told you we didn't do Papa Murphy's - white crust and all once every two weeks or so. Yes, yes, I do. It's my BIG cheat. I forgive me. :D

[Laura Corin]

Normal day:

 

Breakfast: whole grain wraps with prawn, cucumber, tomato and a tiny bit of mayonnaise, salt and pepper. Orange juice and vitamins. Other days it might be a Spanish omelet (left over veggies and potatoes bound together with a little egg), or a protein/fruit shake. At weekends, it's usually cereal (see below)

 

Lunch: If it's just me, leftovers, or a big bowl of steamed beans dressed with olive oil, plus fruit. If the whole family is home, we might have home-made veggie soup, or a sandwich (ham, cheese... not reconstituted meat) with lots of raw veggies and fruit on the side.

 

Snack: fruit, usually apples for me, oranges for the boys. The boys might also have whole grain cereal with semi-skimmed milk. Their favourites are no-sugar muesli and low-sugar bran flakes. They also like nuts and rice crackers

 

Supper: fish of some kind, pan-fried in olive oil, with whole grain pasta and a vegetable or two. Fruit usually follows, then the boys might have a bought biscuit (cookie) or two.

 

My aim is to make each day's food roughly half fruit/veg, one quarter protein and one quarter high quality starch.

 

Laura

[mcconnellboys]

We don't really eat breakfast that often, but when we do it is things such as locally produced, free range, organic eggs; a locally produced bacon (often uncured); steel cut oats (cinnamon and brown sugar, or almonds and raisins, or fruit); a bulk apple granola that is lower in carbs than most from our food coop (my husband eats this as a snack); cinnamon toast made with whole wheat bread; a Greek yogurt with honey (or fruit); fresh fruit of some type; organic juices of some type; frozen fruits in winter at times....

 

A lot of the above things we use as snacks or we sometimes have breakfast for dinner, too.... Or we might even eat them for lunch....

 

We don't often eat lunch at home, either, except maybe on weekends or holidays but when we do it's things like nuts, fruits, cheeses and crackers or bread, vegi's with dip, etc.

 

Dinners include some of these pantry items:

 

Canned (or now, jarred) tomatoes of all sorts: crushed, sauce, already seasoned pasta sauces, etc.

Canned beans of all sorts: black, various sizes and shades of red beans, white beans, baked beans, green, etc.

 

I also keep canned carrots, corn, squash, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin, but I've found some frozen versions of carrots, corn, squash, sweet potato, and green beans that I like better, so now I use those more. I also keep various types of frozen potatoes on hand in addition to fresh potatoes (which I tend to use most in the crock pot).

 

I always keep some canned or jarred fruits on hand in winter.

 

I keep lots of broths on hand: beef, chicken, and vegi.

 

I keep a lot of different teas on hand.

 

I keep a lot of different types of crackers on hand.

 

I keep various types of both packaged and bulk pastas and rices on hand.

 

Without standing in front of my pantry, that's all I can think of right now!

 

In my vegi/fruit bins, I generally have at least two types of apples. In season, I always have berries of all types. In season, we'll have plums, nectarines, etc. We have watermelon in summer. We have cantaloupe year round. We often have honeydew or other melons as they are available.

 

I always have Romaine lettuce, celery, carrots, and several types of potatoes. Right now I have cauliflower. I sometimes have leeks or radishes or cucumbers. Those are the basics, I guess. In summer, we'll have fresh vegi's as they are available.

 

For drinking, there's generally decaf tea, organic milk, sometimes also chocolate milk, various juices, sometimes buttermilk for me, reverse osmosis water, mineral water (Pellegrino)....

 

For meats, I generally use locally produced, grass fed or free ranged ground round, beef stew meat, very occasionally a roast, chicken thighs, chicken breasts, very occasionally turkey, wild caught fish when they have a variety I like, the bacon I already mentioned and I use an andouille my coop carries in my gumbo.

 

We don't eat exclusively organic or locally produced foods, but we try where we can and I think it does make a difference!

 

I started out by filling my pantry with items I thought I'd use often. Once filled, I used those items and tried to only shop sale items on a weekly basis to replace and continue my stockpile.

[HarbourLights]

I first came to "clean eating" about two years ago... I had never heard that particular term and it was introduced to me as an option to help control my chronic migraines. I read a book by Tosca Reno (avid weight lifter and health nut/author/mother) and I really liked her straight forward description. My grocery list looks very similiar to Kelly's above. (We eat mostly fresh or frozen fruit as the dried fruits have more sugar and instantly kick off a lovely migraine for me, but for the boys I do have apricots, and raisins around) For the most part I stay out of the center aisles and shop the perimeter of the store, HOWEVER my DH still loves his chips-n-salsa so I do ramble down that particular aisle for his sake (and our marriages sake). For myself, if man has had a hand creating (read "processing") it then I try not to eat it. Most of my friends wonder what that leaves, but the truth is if you are feeding your body clean, whole foods that it was designed and built to digest... well, you just don't need as much! I have several of Tosca's recipe books for the family, and I really like them (mixed reviews by people, but that is bound to happen). Most libraries have her books, so I would start there for ideas. I hope that helps!

[tricia]

We do lots of raw milk, farm fresh eggs, homemade bread, beans, rice, organic meat (very seldom) real butter, organic cottage cheese, organic, raw peanut butter, kombucha, lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. Kefir, buttermilk, and yogurt, all homemade from raw milk. Lots of popcorn popped in coconut oil and sprinkled with sea salt for snacks. This pretty much sums it up. We are very easy and simple folk with easy, cheap, and healthy diets.

[JadeOrchidSong]

I agree with so much you have said and like your approach. If you don't mind, would you share your 3 week meal ideas? I think planning like that would help calm me down if I felt like I had a list to work off of and not feel like I'm shooting from the hip all the time.

I would like to see the menu too if OP doesn't mind sharing:001_smile:

[Brilliant]

...

A couple of hours later, when I finish morning chores, I have eggs and a side of sauteed vegetables from the garden. We like spinach, kohlrabi, broccoli and green onions with sea salt and butter.

...

 

I am in awe of you. 2 hours of morning chores...and then you actually eat leafy greens with your breakfast. :thumbup1:

[Liz CA]

Eggs, fish, some low GI carbs like buckwheat groats and certain types of rice, in season veggies, everything I can get my hands on (veggies), fruit.

 

For dh, it's almost the same except he eats a lot more meat than I do and he cannot go without his chips.

[justamouse]

Wow, you are incredible! Homemade everything and sleigh riding! :lol:

 

Lol, I know, it sounds like much more than it actually is. Alas, I have no cape. All the work is really done by my bread machine (though the triple batch of English muffins almost killed it!), freezer and pressure cooker. :001_smile:

 

Also, the more you do it, the faster it gets. I can make the batter for a double batch of waffles before my coffee pot is finished brewing.

 

I'm making up a blog post now and I'll post it in a few.

[whitestavern]

Here's what's typical for us:

 

Breakfast: oatmeal w/fruit; organic cereals w/very low sugar/high fiber and fruit; whole grain breads or english muffins with fruit and/or some yogurt (plain w/maybe some honey); once in a while whole grain waffles; eggs on Sunday.

 

Lunches: soups, salads, sandwiches (all natural no sugar pnut butter; no sugar jam--not the stuff with fake sugar, but sweetened w/fruit), once in a while deli turkey or chicken or cheese--I try to limit this stuff but it's easy to pack if we'll be out and about); leftovers, pita and hummus; roasted veggies; pasta w/veggies and vinaigrette.

 

Dinner: I plan my meals in advance; usually one beef or pork a week, one chicken, one pasta, sometimes fish and the rest veggie based. One is usually a soup. Whole grain pasta and brown rice and fresh and frozen veggies for sides. I loooove cooking so I'm always on the lookout for new recipes, plus I have a ton of cookbooks, so there's a lot of variety. Keeps me from getting bored making the same old thing and the kids/dh bored from eating the same old thing.

 

We tend not to snack a lot, but I usually have pretzels, nuts, and sometimes organic/natural crackers or granola bars. I make a lot of applesauce in the fall and freeze it so that's always available, as are a wide variety of fresh, in season fruits, cut up celery, carrots, peppers, cukes, organic raisins.

[MissKNG]

I use the Betty Crocker cookbook for a lot of my homemade cooking and baking.

[Peela]

IN our family the problem is we have fussy eaters and I am probably a bit extreme in my eating (healthy wise) so often the meals are all over the place- I will make something but only 2 of us will eat it. The other 2 will often grab something less than ideal- I keep frozen pizza and such things in the freezer because ds15 is SO fussy about food, yet is growing so fast. In order to stock him up on healthy stuff I let him fill up on cereal, KFC (its down the road- he spends his pocket money on it!),pasta and protein smoothies- then I will give him a plate of raw vegies to eat while sitting in front of the TV, or a fresh vegetable juice.

 

Foods we have in the pantry:

pasta- several types (dh is gluten free)

coconut milk/cream

canned tomatoes

a huge variety of grains - oats, quinoa, various rice, etc

nuts and seeds- walnuts, cashews, almonds, chia seeds, sunflower etc

Dried fruits such as goji berries and organic sultanas, dried apricots, dates.

Cereal - healthy (such as home made sprouted buckwheat granola), and not so healthy (corn flakes)!

Various seasonings such as soy sauce and Braggs liquid aminos, appli cider vinegar, savoury yeast flakes (taste like cheese, full of B vitamins).

 

In the fridge is raw tahini, milk , soy milk, butter, a few bottles of sauces and such, some cheese perhaps (but we have basically stopped eating cheese). Often I buy the best fresh juice I can for ds15 but I tend to juice myself in the summer. And eggs- we eat a lot of eggs- we have our own chooks. In the freezers are loads of frozen berries, some meats- organic and not- some fish, bread for guests (we have stopped eating bread too), and things like frozen grated coconut.

 

Mostly I buy a LOT of fruit and vegetables- some organic, but plenty not because of the cost. I might buy a bag of juicing carrots and a couple of celery bunches for juicing, as well as lemons and beets and some apples. At the farmer's markets will buy bags of baby spinach, mixed lettuces, basil, coriander, rocket, and Asian mix. I am big on greens.

Then maybe an organic broccoli and cauliflower, and potatoes and sweet potatoes. Always ginger and garlic.

 

FOr meals- well, it depends- I will describe for dh and I , in general, but dd eats well- often better than dh.

 

Breakfast- for me, a green smoothie, or chia pudding, or fruit, or eggs. FOr dh and dd16, eggs.

 

Lunches- summer here- salad and some sort of protein most lunchtimes. WHen I say salad, I mean...greens, tomatoes, sprouts, carrots, cucumber, olives, dried tomatoes, nuts, avocado and a home made dressing. Protein might be a soy type meat substitute for dh, meat or fish for the kids and I sometimes, lentil patties, nuts, boiled eggs, sometimes cottage cheese, often marinated tofu.

We dont do sandwiches- nobody likes bread much here and since dh went gluten free, we seem to have all stopped eating it. I will sometimes buy a brick of no yeast sprouted bread.

 

Dinners- pasta and home made pesto is a common meal although I am not big on pasta- I buy the best I can get. So is baked mixed root vegetables, vegetarian gravy, and salad. Sometimes a protein source (as for lunch ) plus mashed potatoes and steamed vegies/salad. I often experiment and make raw soups, dehydrated crackers,

 

Twice a week I make a vegetarian meal for about 15 people so that is always a soup once and something like a large curry the other time. That will usually give us leftovers for a day or 2.

 

For snacks...the kids love corn chips so we usually have them around (one of my weaknesses, too) but we go through a LOT of fruit. Its not uncommon for ds15 to eat a dozen pieces of fruit in a day. SO whatever is in season adn on special, I will buy a lot of it.

 

I love to try new recipes and play with diet. I suggest taking it really slowly, start empyting your cupboard of processed foods and just try a new recipe every week or so when you have the energy. Over the long term...thats 52 in a year...you will get there.

[justamouse]

Wow, you are incredible! Homemade everything and sleigh riding! :lol:

 

Ok here you go!

 

http://justamousehouse.blogspot.com/2011/01/i-think-i-have-about-inch-of-dust-on.html

 

I have a selfish motive for doing it as a blog post. I think I've typed out the yogurt recipe three times this week on the boards and now I can just link a dink cause I don't want to type it out anymore. :D

[Soror]

We do mostly homemade here, the exception is that I allow the kids GF/DF/SF cereal once a week- Sat- as I like to have Sat mostly off from cooking- we usually eat leftovers for other meals that day. As I said we are gluten/dairy and soy free. I try to keep grain free/lower carb but the kids and dh do have some grains and more fruit. I buy corn tortilla and plain potato chips from time to time as well.

.

I buy store bought ketchup-organic w/ no hfcs, and mustard but I make homemade mayo and dressings. Baked goods and such are homemade, usually nut/seed flours or coconut flour. Drinks are water- for a treat 100% juice(like sometimes if we are out for a meal I buy some). Dh has sweet tea at times and me and the kids will have decaf herbal teas, occasionally homemade hot cocoa.

 

Snacks are fresh fruit and veggies, dried fruits, nuts/nut butter, coconut, olives, pickles(no -dyes or perservatives-preferrably lacto-fermented- I have homemade currently eating Bubbies). Sometimes the chips- I try to keep that to just a few times a month. I made homemade popcorn about once a week.

 

meals:

breakfast- eggs/ homemade sausage/ nitrate/anti-hormone free bacon- turkey or pork- gf oats w/ molasses and honey- rice w/ coco milk , cinnamon, and honey- nut/seed/fruit pancakes, coco or nut/seed muffins or scones, homemade hasbrowns, green smoothies/juice

 

lunch- leftovers- quick veg soups- snack plates- hard boiled eggs/deviled eggs- veggies

 

supper-

Sunday- Chicken w/ veggies

Monday- Ground beef

Tuesday- Soup/crockpot

Wednesday- Beans

Thursday - Roast

Friday- Fish/Veggie

Saturday- leftovers

 

Chicken is from my friends farm- anti/hormone free and grassfed- eggs raised by her as well or my mom. Beef is the same. Trying to find a good source for the pork still, without buying a ton, right now I can buy some ground pork from my friend and get the bacon from Azure.

 

Most veggies are what is in season. I try to have salads 3 days a week or so. I like to have an orange and green veggie for every supper. They always have fruit w/ breakfast.

 

 

I used to make yogurt by the gallon as well when we did dairy. I am going to try it again for us and see how it goes, I keep hope that we will tolerate it again someday.

[Dianne-TX]

Ok here you go!

 

http://justamousehouse.blogspot.com/2011/01/i-think-i-have-about-inch-of-dust-on.html

 

I have a selfish motive for doing it as a blog post. I think I've typed out the yogurt recipe three times this week on the boards and now I can just link a dink cause I don't want to type it out anymore. :D

 

Thank you so much! I can understand. These boards turn over so fast sometimes that you can have the same question asked in 30 different ways. :) You are sweet to respond when you could just ignore. I appreciate it and I'm glad you made it easy on yourself now. :001_smile:

[prairiewindmomma]

Drive by posting (without reading other responses):

breakfast: green smoothie (spinach, blueberries, flaxseed) + hardboiled egg

lunch: salad with chicken & veggies

supper: grilled fish + veggies cooked in a bit of butter

 

snacks: whole fruit, veggies + hummus, handful of raw almonds, etc.

 

There are a number of "clean" eating books and magazines out there. I just read around quite a bit until I found a menu plan that worked for us. Dh is eating no grain-based carbs right now as he's trying to get his blood sugars back under control.

 

We have found that doing a lot of salads & soups makes life easy for me and helps to keep our budget down. I do not buy all of my fruit & veg organically, but I do buy hormone free meat & dairy for the kids and I. We do very little cheese, but we do milk & yogurt. I also rely on frozen berries & veggies more in the winter to keep our budget down, and grind my own wheat & flaxseed. :)

[Penelope]

I'll first say I'm not always sure what eating clean means, because it seems to mean different things to different people.

 

 

I keep things around that are easy to grab and chop up quickly or just throw into things. My main focus is to eat whole foods, but especially to have most of what we eat be fruits and vegetables. My staples are lettuce (usually at least 2 kinds in the fridge, +/- spinach), carrots, broccoli, a couple of types of dried, cooked beans in containers ready to put into a meal or salads, lots of fruit, and various other vegetables in season. We eat green smoothies several times per week, and salads for several meals per week.

 

Typical day:

 

Breakfast-- eggs hb or scrambled, or pb toast with cinnamon, or oatmeal with ground flax/sesame/sunflower seeds/dried fruit/nuts, plus a couple of fruits, soymilk

 

Snack- fruit or carrot and celery sticks or homemade granola or green smoothie

 

Lunch- leftovers (soups, stews) or homemade bean burrito or vegetable sandwich, plus a steamed vegetable or a salad

 

Snack- usually fruit, sometimes nuts also

 

Dinner- fish once or twice per week, tofu various ways once or twice per week, the rest of the time we have variations of beans and grains with lots of cooked and raw vegetables. Sometimes baked sweet potato or potato or other roasted root vegetables or polenta instead of rice/barley/quinoa.

[m0mmaBuck]

We aren't militant but eat fairly well, using a lot of whole foods and avoiding as much processed stuff as possible. I have mild allergies to eggs, soy, dairy and wheat so I try to avoid openly eating them as much as possible. I figure I get enough of those in hidden places.

 

Breakfast is generally an egg (scrambled, boiled, poached) or a piece of WW toast with peanut butter, some fruit, or a whole grain rice cereal.

Lunch is typically homemade soup (veg, rice and chicken, beef and barley are favorites) with cheese and crackers.

Dinners range from burritos to grilled fish to stir fry to the occasional steak and veg meals. In a typical week, we might have veg and chicken stir fry, homemade chicken, rice, and bean tacos, grilled fish with vegs, pork loin with apple chutney, a roasted chicken with veg, and homemade pizza with WW crust.

 

We rarely eat pasta or red meat, primarily because DH doesn't like either. Our pantry generally has brown rice, lots of spices, dried beans, peanut butter, raisins, a few whole grain cereals, canned corn (because it's either that or fresh on the cob for DH) and other veg, and pickles. I love pickles. I also try to keep a few boxes of organic beef and chicken stock or broth on hand. Our freezer has a variety of frozen veg (I love the blends for stir fries and soups), frozen meat (I buy meat when it's on sale and divide it into meal size portions to freeze), frozen blueberries/strawberries, and homemade pizza dough. Our fridge has milk, yogurt, some cheese, eggs... Our regular produce rotation is onions, garlic, peppers, mushrooms, cucumbers, brocolli/cauliflour, carrots, celery, apples, grapes, oranges, and other seasonal produce.