Real Food Follow-Up

So, we've been off the "Real Food" pledge for a few weeks now. I admit that I was a little cranky and feeling a little deprived while on the pledge. However, I think that is the nature of "deprivation" - we always want what we can't have, right? In fact, we want it so much more when we can't have it than when we can have it. So, now that we can eat whatever we want, I find us ironically eating pretty much all real foods and not feeling the least bit deprived! That's just the way things work, I guess. I have not bought a "snack cracker" since the challenge and the kids have survived. Instead they have "hint of salt" triscuits (which are just whole wheat and a little salt) or fruit or nuts or cheese or popcorn. I just stumbled upon a recipe for homemade cheese crackers that I might try this week.

We don't really eat much red meat in our house (maybe once a month or once every two months), mainly because I can't eat grocery store meat now that I know where it comes from and what it eats. (See the movie Food, Inc. if you're clueless about the meat we are being sold at the store!). Also, I don't really know how to cook red meat. And I think Americans eat WAY too much of it, so I just figure I don't need it. Anyway, in spite of all that... we bought 1/8 of a cow last week! And we even bought a freezer for our garage to store it in! We got a cow from my awesome aunt and uncle who raise their own cattle, out in nature, eating grass, the way God intended. We got 100 lbs of meat for only $226! That is a DEAL and it is SO much more nutritious than grocery store meat. If you are interested in getting grass-fed beef, just google it with your city name and you'll likely find a couple of options. So, we are set on red meat for the next year!

Another interesting change I've noticed since our pledge - my insane nightly sweet cravings are GONE. It only took ten painful days to break the habit of needing (and yes, I mean needing) something sweet after dinner. I used to eat one small piece of 70% dark chocolate (which I still think is pretty good for you). Now I don't need anything. That is amazing.

So, try doing the 10 days of real food yourself! You'll hate it, I promise, then when you get off you'll realize you have totally changed the way you eat for the better and feel pretty good about it.

As for sweets, Michael Pollan says that as long as you make it yourself, eat as much as you want! The trouble it takes to make a dessert from scratch will keep you from eating dessert every night. I made meringue cookies last night and they were delicious, and the kids were excited to have a special treat. On the contrary, I went to a parent appreciation day at Sydney's school this week and they had all sorts of highly processed, cheap, preservative-laden, artificial color and flavor-laden cakes, cookies and muffins (think Harris Teeter bakery assortment). I looked at them and thought, no thanks. Not appealing to me. Not because I was counting calories or anything, but frankly I wasn't hungry, and once you eat real high-quality food the cheap stuff just isn't tempting. Not even a little.