Day 10: Bring on the Krispy Kreme! (KIDDING!)

So, we survived the ten days. Yay! And to be completely honest, we really only did 9 days. We had a “real” breakfast and a “real” dinner today, but decided to go out to lunch as a family this afternoon before Brett leaves town. We knew the food wouldn’t qualify, but we just said, oh well!
Anyway, we learned a good bit from doing this. Like I said last time, the main thing we learned was that we already eat mostly real foods. Mostly. And I am comfortable with that qualifier. I just can’t commit to the 100% whole foods lifestyle. I like to be able to relax the rules once in a while (like today, for example). But, we did learn a few new tricks and recipes during our ten days, so that was great!

I think the main point of eating real food is to marry calories with nutrients. Eating a diet full of refined carbohydrates and highly processed foods provides calories (probably more than you need), but those calories are not loaded with the nutrients your body needs. Maybe that is why when I eat refined foods I generally don’t feel really full. My body wants more. Why else would we want to/be able to eat six Krispy Kremes, yet only be able to eat one apple or one bowl of granola? Our bodies just aren’t satisfied.

Last week at Mass our priest talked about living a more mindful existence. His talk was in a moral context, of course, but the same idea should be applied to our relationship with food. If we are more mindful of what we purchase, what we feed ourselves, and the effects those choices have on our health and the health of the environment, the benefits will be abundant. This is the most important choice we have made in our evolving diet as a family: to be more mindful of what we consume and of the multiple consequences of our food choices.

Hopefully whoever is reading this will feel compelled to do the same. :)

So, for our meals the last two days:

Day 9:
Breakfast: various real cereals with organic milk and OJ
Lunch: pasta with low sodium and sugar free tomato sauce (seasoned with some spicy dried Italian spices we keep on hand), fruit. The kids had pesto on their pasta, which they strongly prefer; however, in all honesty it is not a “real” food because the one we had on hand had more than 5 ingredients. Theoretically, pesto should be a real food, so I didn’t bother to check the label until the last minute. We grow our own basil, so maybe this summer we’ll make our own and freeze it!
Dinner: Breakfast for dinner. Whole wheat pancakes with blueberries and real maple syrup (recipe below!). Scrambled farmers market eggs. Although the idea of whole wheat pancakes may not sound that great, these are really yummy and very filling.

Day 10:
We sort of blew it today, but did have a real dinner. Frankly after our white flour lunch (pizza and pasta on Franklin Street!), I was really glad to eat “real” food for dinner.
Dinner: whole wheat tortilla burritos with leftover black beans, rice, cheese, tomatoes, onions, jalepenos, cilantro, sour cream.

Here are some of the changes we will be implementing from things we learned this week:

• We (the adults) will continue to eat the homemade granola for breakfast (it is really delicious and nutrient packed – see Day 4 post for the recipe).
  
• For the kids’ snacks, I’ll make more of an effort to serve the highly processed snacks less frequently than more natural options (like fruit, nuts, popcorn, whole wheat crackers, cheese).
• We’ll make our own popcorn. It tastes great and is cheaper and better for you.
  
• We’ll eat “dessert” (things with refined sugar) less frequently, and substitute fruit or smoothies more often.
  
• We’ll be more selective with our condiments. For example, pasta sauce with less sodium, fewer ingredients and no sugar; homemade salad dressing more often than store bought; homemade pesto rather than store bought when possible.
  
• We’ll be more likely to read labels of new products before buying them.
  
• We’ll be more comfortable substituting whole wheat flour into baking recipes we use, knowing that it tastes great and won’t ruin a recipe.
  
• We’ll buy whole wheat tortilla shells now (they are really delicious), but are not quite committed to whole wheat pasta.
  
• We’ll switch to jams/jellies with no sugar added. They were just as good as the ones with sugar.
  

Things we won’t change:

• We’ll still treat ourselves to a meal out every so often and to a weekly pastry treat at La Farm even though they are not whole foods. I think “junk” in moderation is just fine!
  
• We’ll let our kids use Trader Joes (no HFCS) ketchup with fries, etc.
  
• We’ll let our kids eat some very low-sugar, whole grain, but nonetheless imperfect cereals for breakfast (plain Cheerios, multigrain Cheerios, etc.).

If you are considering reducing the sugar, high fructose corn syrup and refined white flour that sneaks into you and your childrens’ diets, here are a few suggestions (from changes we have already made before starting this challenge that are EASY to make):

• Switch from Jiff/Peter Pan to natural peanut butter with one ingredient: ground (organic) peanuts. Your kids will not complain and it is so much better for you!
  
• Switch from Aunt Jemima/Hungry Jack to real maple syrup that comes from a tree in Vermont. The flavor is SO much richer. Plus, once you read the label on your Aunt Jemima, you’ll see it’s just colored high fructose corn syrup. Nothing maple about it!
  
• Buy breads that are “whole wheat” not just “wheat”. All flour comes from “wheat,” so unless it is “whole,” you are being fooled. I actually started making my own bread in a bread maker. So tasty! And inexpensive. Just a few “real” ingredients. Read the label of your “whole wheat” bread from the grocery store – it probably has 30 or more ingredients!
  
• Migrate your kids snacks from highly process to minimally processed products of nature.
  
• Consider local produce, meat and eggs as a much better alternative to store-bought.
  

Ok, friends. Happy EATING!

PS – I don’t think we lost any weight this week. Sorry to disappoint! (Switching from a more highly processed diet to this one would probably result in weight loss!)

Whole Wheat Pancakes (see link):

* I add a little extra milk to her recipe because I think the batter is too thick otherwise. Also, I think frozen (organic) blueberries are even better than the banana, but use whatever fruit you like.

http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2010/04/21/recipe-whole-wheat-banana-pancakes-freeze-the-leftovers/