I really wasn’t sure. It was always my guess that children come into the world programmed to enjoy real food. That they don’t need sugary puffs and processed, animal shaped cookies.
Seems like it’s true.
Now, I know this won’t last forever. There will come a day when Danny says, “Hey mom, I want Cocoa Puffs!” because he saw them at a friend’s house. There will come a day when he smears cake all over his face at a birthday party. Or a day when he and I share cookies and milk and tell stories and laugh.
It’s all good.
But for now, his tastebuds don’t know what white flour and sugar taste like (except for a few bits of muffin he picked off the floor of a coffee shop last week) and that’s fine by me. It’s fine by his body too – after all, sugar and white flour do nothing except make us weak and tired.
So for now, my sweet boy gets only the good stuff. For as long as I can hold out without being too idealistic.
In the video he’s enjoying this:
A simple smoothie
2 handfuls green swiss chard
1/2 apple
enough water to create desired consistency (about 3/4 cup)
About 3 years ago I tried an all raw food diet, earning me weird looks from co-workers and a completely tuned-up, revamped digestive system. I had lots of energy and thought it was super cool to sprout, chop and dehydrate living foods into delicious meals. (Feel free to go back and browse some of the raw food posts that came out of that time, like this recipe.)
But ever since that raw food experiment, my husband has refused to eat zucchini or yellow squash. Chalk it up to a much too garlicky raw “fettucine alfredo” that used vegetable peeler strips of squash as noodles. He hated it. I didn’t love that particular dish either. But the man refuses to eat zucchini or yellow squash to this day.
I been eatin’ a lot of Joe Joes. Know what those are? They’re the Trader Joe’s version of Oreos. Oh man.
My husband started buying them…I started eating them…it’s totally a way I’ve been self medicating between the baby crying and not sleeping, etc. Nice health coach, right? Yeah, way to set an example, Michelle.
I can see exactly what I’m doing though:
I am so stressed/I feel so crazed/I feel so confused…here this nice cookie makes me feel sweet!
Note: I am not recommending this approach. In fact by publicly admitting it I am hoping I will get a grip myself.
Welcome to 21 Days of Detoxing! Whether you are one of our amazingly motivated participants or just interested in eating clean, whole, real food – boy do I have some recipes for you! From now ’til May 21st I’ll be featuring a delicious detox-friendly recipe each day. (And if you want to get in on the detox magic I have a Do It Yourself version available – right here.)
Let’s talk about why I don’t like Trader Joe’s.
For some reason, everyone thinks they sell healthy food. Newsflash – they don’t. Not really. Try finding one of their boxed or canned products without added sugars or refined grains. Half the dried fruit has sulfites or sugar or something gross added. Very little is organic. They don’t sell a peanut butter that isn’t homogenized. They sell a lot of soy-based packaged food.The grass fed beef leaves something to be desired.
Welcome to 21 Days of Detoxing! Whether you are one of our amazingly motivated participants or just interested in eating clean, whole, real food – boy do I have some recipes for you! From now ’til May 21st I’ll be featuring a delicious detox-friendly recipe each day. (And if you want to get in on the detox magic I have a Do It Yourself version available – right here.)
Every time I run this detox I hear the same thing – THANK GOD FOR BANANA ICE CREAM! Yeah, man. It’s that good. When you’re not eating processed sugar you really start to appreciate the incredible sweet/creamy properties of the everyday banana.
But hold on there! We’ve got something even better today. One of our detox participants has her own spin on banana ice cream and I think it’s brilliant. Just because you’re eating clean doesn’t mean you don’t get dessert…it just means your dessert is real food too and you’re going to feel good tomorrow.
I’m on a bender. Every day I’ve got my drinky drink blended up and swallowed down before you can say “diaper change.” See, after my c-section I was feeling really icky. Unable to move for a few days, full of IV fluid and drugs…boy oh boy did I want something to make me feel better when I got home from the hospital!
That’s where it began.
I’m talking green smoothies, people.
While the rest of the world chugs beer and paints glittery shamrocks on their cheeks, I’m celebrating St. Patty’s Day my own way.
Yesterday I cooked for three hours straight, which by my standards is a helluva long time to be standing in the kitchen. I don’t know about you. It was worth it – but I’ll save that recipe for a future post.
The point is, sometimes cooking takes awhile. But sometimes you can make a homemade something to eat in just a few minutes. Those are my favorite! I think I posted about this particular recipe years ago, but that means you’ve all had time to forget about it anyway, right?
My blogging has been flagging lately, and I’d like to blame summer fun – but really it’s because my site got hacked and I’m dealing with switching servers, etc…
But other than these administrative details (bor-ing!) this summer is off to a pretty magnificent start. The other day was hot, to the point that I didn’t feel like eating much of anything. That’s when a bell went off in my head:
JUICING!
Wow, all winter goes by and I pretty much forget about my kick ass Breville juicer. Do you have a juicer? If so, time to break it out. If not, think about making an investment. Juicing is something you really can’t replicate – not even the highest quality bottled stuff comes close to fresh, homemade juice.
But let me be clear: juice is in no way a replacement for eating real food! Just like vitamins, it’s a good way to get nutrients. But juice is not a whole food – it’s got the vitamins, antioxidants and sugars from the fruit and veggies you juice, but not the fiber.
This week I had my first live television appearance! Surprisingly I wasn’t nervous at all. Part of me worried that the green smoothie would end up in a blender mishap, kale pulp all over the host. And part of me wondered if my grays would be visible on screen. But mostly, I thought about a lesson I’ve learned this year:
Most things aren’t as hard as you think they’re going to be.
My first waitressing job was at Friendly’s Restaurant when I was 16 years old. For those of you who don’t have Friendly’s in your area, it’s the kind of chain restaurant that serves Super Sizzlin’ Breakfasts, SuperMelt Sandwiches and Fribble Shakes (along with a host of other cutesy, trademarked menu items).
Actually, my first run-in with kale was at Friendly’s. On each Big Beef Burger Platter there was a big piece of kale garnish, which I never considered much. Until one day a customer flagged me over to his table to direct my attention to the thing (caterpillar?) cocooned in his piece of kale.
I help busy people find balance in their over-worked, over-stressed lives. Trust me, it's not an all-or-nothing situation! A few shifts in diet and lifestyle can rock your world like they did mine. Read on
