Monday, June 28, 2010
I'm a little overwhelmed lately with how many people could not give 2 craps about what goes into their bodies. I just don't get it. To me its like telling people about the love and grace of Jesus Christ and how it will change your life and they just wave their hand away. (but that is a totally different convo)
Its too expensive, I have no time, I have children, excuse excuse excuse. excuses= laziness.
Today I fed our little family of 3 some lunch. We had Macaroni with tuna, steamed broccoli and carrots on the side and home made strawberry lemonade. It was delicious, about 75% organic, healthy and completely affordable.
When I talk about eating healthy Im not sure what people think that I am talking about. The meal I mentioned above was a very delicious healthy meal. It was well balanced with a carbohydrate, a protein, a veggie, a fruit, a dairy, AND some fat and sugar. You dont need to go crazy when you eat healthy and eat a salad with no dressing at every meal. That is, in fact, not healthy especially with kids. You dont need to go organic with every item, you just need to find a balance that your budget and tastes allow.
When I go the grocery store I go hunting. I walk around in all of the areas that I want to get food from and I find the steals and deals and I stock up on the things that will last in my pantry. I plan my meals around what I can find and afford. The Macaroni that I ate today was Annie's organic macaroni that is usually 2.99$ a box. Crazy pricey for macaroni, but I found it on sale for 10 for $10, so I bought about 7 boxes of it knowing that it would last. I ended up paying about .30 more per box then regular macaroni, but i can deal with the .30. (they also had delicious crazins on sale from $2.99 ea. to 10 for $10!) I cooked one box of macaroni for me, my fiance and my son. instead of adding whole fat milk and butter I added 1/2 cup of low fat PLAIN all natural yogurt which made it nice and creamy and much healthier then adding the butter and whole fat milk. This was the first time I had ever done this and it tasted much better. I added 2 cans of light tuna in water to the macaroni. Nothing special about the tuna, just make sure it is light and "in water". Tuna is high in protein and low in calories and is great to add to any pasta dish. I also added 1 1/2 slices of all natural munster cheese that was on sale from Kroger. We love our cheese!
Kroger has a great brand called private selections that has an organic line. Lots of times these items are cheaper then name brand organic foods and just as healthy. I found two bags of broccoli and carrots that were on manager special for $1.29 each. I steamed 1 bag of veggies in the microwave and added NO BUTTER OR SALT to the veggies.
**Steamed vegetables have an amazing taste to them but seem bland if you are used to adding butter and salt to them. To get used to the taste of plain steamed veggies decrease your salt/butter by half each time you cook them till you eventually using none. Your pallet will adjust to these flavors and you will learn to love food the way it is intended to taste.
**My son is a picky eater but loves certain vegetables. Instead of trying to force him to eat things i know he will not eat I just emphasize the ones I know he likes and be thankful for what he will eat. I always try to get him to taste some of my veggies to see if he has any new interests. Kids pallets are changing all of the time.
Lemonade is a delicious summer drink and I always make my own. Products like Simply Lemonade are pricey and I wont give my family anything that contains High Fructose Corn Syrup so instead of complaining I opt to make my own. Making my own cost less then $2 for a huge picture and tastes great. I squeeze 3 lemons (.50 each) into a picture, I cut up about 5 strawberries and squeeze them gently and leave them in the picture (on sale 4 for $5 when I bought 2 containers) I add 3/4 cup of organic cane sugar. You can make any flavor lemonade, if strawberries are not on sale that week find one that is and try something new! I also find that adding fruit to your lemonade will make it naturally sweeter and you can decrease your sugar from a cup to 3/4 or 1/2 a cup depending on the fruit you add.
**I found the organic cane sugar on sale during one of my hunting days on closeout at Kroger for the same price as regular sugar. I bought about 5 bags and since I dont use sugar very often it has lasted me a long time. Taking a few extra minutes grocery shopping will yield you such great results and it really is worth your families health.
I filled the rest of the picture with water and a tray of ice, stir stir stir till the sugar dissolves and you have great tasting, CHEAP all natural lemonade. If you can not afford this process or cant find time to make it i suggest prioritizing your life a little, and avoid processed lemonade until you can.
Every body was full and happy after lunch!
Today I fed our little family of 3 some lunch. We had Macaroni with tuna, steamed broccoli and carrots on the side and home made strawberry lemonade. It was delicious, about 75% organic, healthy and completely affordable.
When I talk about eating healthy Im not sure what people think that I am talking about. The meal I mentioned above was a very delicious healthy meal. It was well balanced with a carbohydrate, a protein, a veggie, a fruit, a dairy, AND some fat and sugar. You dont need to go crazy when you eat healthy and eat a salad with no dressing at every meal. That is, in fact, not healthy especially with kids. You dont need to go organic with every item, you just need to find a balance that your budget and tastes allow.
When I go the grocery store I go hunting. I walk around in all of the areas that I want to get food from and I find the steals and deals and I stock up on the things that will last in my pantry. I plan my meals around what I can find and afford. The Macaroni that I ate today was Annie's organic macaroni that is usually 2.99$ a box. Crazy pricey for macaroni, but I found it on sale for 10 for $10, so I bought about 7 boxes of it knowing that it would last. I ended up paying about .30 more per box then regular macaroni, but i can deal with the .30. (they also had delicious crazins on sale from $2.99 ea. to 10 for $10!) I cooked one box of macaroni for me, my fiance and my son. instead of adding whole fat milk and butter I added 1/2 cup of low fat PLAIN all natural yogurt which made it nice and creamy and much healthier then adding the butter and whole fat milk. This was the first time I had ever done this and it tasted much better. I added 2 cans of light tuna in water to the macaroni. Nothing special about the tuna, just make sure it is light and "in water". Tuna is high in protein and low in calories and is great to add to any pasta dish. I also added 1 1/2 slices of all natural munster cheese that was on sale from Kroger. We love our cheese!
Kroger has a great brand called private selections that has an organic line. Lots of times these items are cheaper then name brand organic foods and just as healthy. I found two bags of broccoli and carrots that were on manager special for $1.29 each. I steamed 1 bag of veggies in the microwave and added NO BUTTER OR SALT to the veggies.
**Steamed vegetables have an amazing taste to them but seem bland if you are used to adding butter and salt to them. To get used to the taste of plain steamed veggies decrease your salt/butter by half each time you cook them till you eventually using none. Your pallet will adjust to these flavors and you will learn to love food the way it is intended to taste.
**My son is a picky eater but loves certain vegetables. Instead of trying to force him to eat things i know he will not eat I just emphasize the ones I know he likes and be thankful for what he will eat. I always try to get him to taste some of my veggies to see if he has any new interests. Kids pallets are changing all of the time.
Lemonade is a delicious summer drink and I always make my own. Products like Simply Lemonade are pricey and I wont give my family anything that contains High Fructose Corn Syrup so instead of complaining I opt to make my own. Making my own cost less then $2 for a huge picture and tastes great. I squeeze 3 lemons (.50 each) into a picture, I cut up about 5 strawberries and squeeze them gently and leave them in the picture (on sale 4 for $5 when I bought 2 containers) I add 3/4 cup of organic cane sugar. You can make any flavor lemonade, if strawberries are not on sale that week find one that is and try something new! I also find that adding fruit to your lemonade will make it naturally sweeter and you can decrease your sugar from a cup to 3/4 or 1/2 a cup depending on the fruit you add.
**I found the organic cane sugar on sale during one of my hunting days on closeout at Kroger for the same price as regular sugar. I bought about 5 bags and since I dont use sugar very often it has lasted me a long time. Taking a few extra minutes grocery shopping will yield you such great results and it really is worth your families health.
I filled the rest of the picture with water and a tray of ice, stir stir stir till the sugar dissolves and you have great tasting, CHEAP all natural lemonade. If you can not afford this process or cant find time to make it i suggest prioritizing your life a little, and avoid processed lemonade until you can.
Every body was full and happy after lunch!
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