Pick your poison-a strategy to succeed as a whole food household

If you're making the transition to whole foods, I'm sure there is some food you have been unable to find a satisfactory replacement for. I'm here today to tell you that that's okay. Go buy one thing you really miss. Seriously! It isn't going to hurt you or your family too badly to have an occasional junky, processed food.

It's tough to convince kids (and sometimes husbands) that the whole food lifestyle is really worth it. Sometimes stress may drive you to madness in the absence of your favorite chocolates. I get it. I really, really do (I'll be honest and tell you that my favorite Russell Stover's S'more Big Bite is sitting in my lap as I write this). I propose that by giving just a little, you can make eating whole foods less stressful for you and help your family feel like they aren't giving up so much.

I accomplish this by allowing each member of my family to 'pick their poison' on our bi-weekly trip to the grocery store. They are given no guidelines as to what to pick. It doesn't have to be an organic whole food. It doesn't even have to have any nutritional value at all. They get to choose one thing they've really, really missed and we buy it (but only a small amount). My poisons have been everything from less-than-whole-food chocolate to that zippy mayonnaise-like substance. My husband typically picks white bread (though the white bread I buy him nearly meets our normal guidelines), some of my kids' favorite cheats are store-bought macaroni and cheese, toaster pastries, and juice boxes that contain little to no real juice.

These foods were not part of my original plan. They certainly don't fit in with the healthier diet that I want to be feeding my family. That's okay, though. We, as in..well..everyone, aren't perfect. That's okay. Embrace it. Be practical. Take a deep breath and let it go.

Eating whole foods can be a lot of work. It can be a very big adjustment. It doesn't have to be miserable, exhausting, or boring, though. If you're working to come up with clever ideas to feed your family food that they love that is actually good for them, you deserve a whole heap of credit. Credit yourself by letting your family eat cake. Cake with white sugar in it. White sugar and white flour if you're really a wild one.

Tell me, what's your poison??

A little late..but think of Earth Day every day!

I realize it comes a few days late, but I've had this post brewing for a while. April 22 was Earth Day. People all over pick up trash, are more conscious of recycling habits, and many go out and plant a tree. That's wonderful! Don't you think we should all be more conscious of the way the things we do and the products we use affect our planet every day, though?
One of the biggest things we do for our planet's sake in our house is avoiding disposable stuff, and also finding uses for stuff that would normally be disposed of. Using something once and then throwing it away is very common in our society today. It makes a lot of trash and burns through a lot of resources. Here are some tips you can implement in your household to stop some of the waste.

1. Use REAL plates. I know that dishes stink. I, for one, hate doing dishes (we've never had a dish washer). However, our family of 5 would throw away a minimum of 15 paper plates every day if we used them all the time. That's a lot of wasted paper. I am alright with the occasional paperware for barbecues or birthday parties, but I can't stomach the waste of using paper (or styrofoam, which is even worse) for every meal. Buy dishes that you love and you'll find yourself using them more often.

2. Buy some cloth napkins. They aren't all that expensive, and they are honestly much nicer to use than paper napkins. Plus, they come in fabulous colors and patterns, and they make your family feel fancy.

3. Keep a stash of refillable water bottles on hand. If you don't like your tap water (I don't), purchase a filtering system or buy refillable jugs at the grocery store.

4. You can make reusable sandwich-type baggies by sewing laminated cotton fabric into a bunch of handy sizes, or there are products out there that serve the same, use it again and again, purpose. You can even throw them in the dishwasher.

5. There are lots of folks out there that would LOVE to have your old tattered denim for sewing projects. Place an ad on Craigslist or on a local buy and sell site on Facebook. Chances are someone would love to come pick them up. The same goes for most fabrics. If they are too tattered to donate or resell, you can probably still find someone who can use them for something.

6. Buy in bulk. Buying in bulk reduces the amount of packaging used and you make less trips to the store. Plus, you're always prepared! No ice storm or hurricane is going to find you out of food or toliet paper if you buy in bulk. The bulk area at our local food co-op is also MUCH cheaper than buying the same food boxed in the aisles.

7. Use glass food storage containers or heavy duty plastic containers rather than the 'use it again..or don't' variety. I found the temptation to throw those ones out when they got gross almost irresistable.

8. Opt out of using facial tissues. Buy a couple hankies for each family member instead. My nose doesn't get so red and sore during allergy season and there is not a very tempting box of tissues for my small children to empty all over the floor.

9. Use real rags to clean. They work better, and you won't burn through a whole roll of paper towels every time you clean the house. I'm certain there are some old, holey t-shirts around that can be cut into handy, light-weight rags that you can use over and over again.

10. Start asking yourself every time you buy something, "How much of this will be thrown away?" A lot of packaging is nothing but waste. Nothing lasts forever. The product itself will someday have to find a home in the big trash-heap in the sky. Before you puchase something, think about what you would have to do to responsibly dispose of it, which will inevitably happen. Can you repurpose the item if and when it quits having the ability to perform it's original purpose?

11. Make your own cleaners whenever possible. It will keep you from throwing out the empty spray bottles full of residual chemicals. Find some easy, all natural ways in my post about natural cleaning here: http://therealfoodhouseholdresolution.blogspot.com/

Mostly, I'm asking everyone to be more conscious of their actions and how they impact the planet. Our kids, grandkids, and great grandkids have to live here long after we're gone. Take a small step to help preserve our world. Walk your kids the two blocks to school when it's nice out. Recycle and reuse what you can. Turn off the lights when you leave. Turn off the water if you aren't using it right then. If everyone would take part in small scale conservation, it could help to ensure future generations a healthy place to live. Another bonus? In the long run, these tips will actually save you money.

Do you have any great tips to keep the waste to a minimum at your house? Please share!

P.S., the picture is a fabulous Earth picture that my wonderful son made for me at preschool.

Meal planning makes the whole food household world go round

I am, at heart, a flaky mom. Before we started this real food adventure, I rarely knew what we were having for dinner until I started making it. I knew that would have to change since it's 30 miles to our local natural food grocer. It pained me to do so, but I had to start a meal plan.

I know, I know. Having some super detailed, ultra-restrictive meal plan sounds like a drag. Maybe that's just me? However, it can actually free up a lot of time and money. Plus, I've actually got all the things I need before I start cooking. Plus plus, it doesn't have to be extremely restrictive. For example, I had planned on roasting a chicken for dinner last night (the leftover meat and bones would star in the next two night's dinners). My husband wanted breakfast burritos instead and I ended up at work too late to get the chicken cooking, so I just moved Friday's tomato zucchini fritata up, moved everything else back a day, and rolled that fritata up in locally made whole wheat tortillas that we always have on hand.

Here are some of my best tips so far for making meal planning easier on me and our bank account:

1. Cook a large cut of meat one evening. Only serve a portion of it that night. Put the rest away to use for the next two nights. Make dishes that require only a little meat, like whole wheat pasta dishes or soups. Add lentils or beans to add a little extra super cheap protein.

2. Buy whole cuts of meat or a whole chicken. You can use the bones to make stock for soup or gravy.

3. Plan to use those leftovers! Make a little extra oatmeal for breakfast to
use in muffins the next morning. If you're having trouble figuring out how to use leftovers, you might run a search for a recipe using a few ingredients you will have leftover. Not only do you avoid wasting good food this way, it also cuts down on your work load.

4. If you're trying to work with vegetables that are in season, remember that soups and stirfrys are your best friend. You can throw anything in them. Use some homemade stock (just a little for a stirfry, a lot for a soup), toss in whatever veggies you can find in season, fresh or dried complimentary herbs and spices, maybe a little leftover meat or beans for protein and let it simmer.

5. Put a couple meals in the plan that someone other than the usual head chef can pull off. This keeps us on track even if I wind up having to work during the evening or I don't feel well.

6. Make sure you have some quick lunch and breakfast foods on hand. It's very tempting to grab some junk food when you're in a rush. For example, I bought a turkey breast to roast for sandwiches, plus we over did the hard boiled eggs for Easter intentionally so we'd have some for quick, peel and eat breakfasts and egg salad for lunch (chop eggs, add a little organic cream cheese, chopped pickles, and paprika).

7. Keep your pantry well stocked with the basics. Keeping plenty of whole wheat flour, quinoa, steel cut oats, whole grain pasta, brown rice, dried beans and lentils, yeast, organic sugar, real chocolate chips (yes, these are a basic in our house), local honey and other dry ingredients you love to use makes shopping much easier. Then I only have to pick up the meat, produce, dairy, eggs, and the few premade organic ingredients we purchase. Plus, it's cheaper to buy in bulk.

8. Don't be intimidated to try something new, even if you have a picky family. I'm sure you've heard that it can take a bajillion (okay, maybe that is a bit of an exaggeration) times of trying a new food to actually gain a taste for it. Your family won't starve if they don't like the meal you've prepared. Just keep at it. They'll get hungry enough to give it a go eventually.

9. Your favorite search engine can be your best friend while meal planning. Use it to find new recipes, how to properly cook ingredients you've never used before, and find healthier alternatives to the foods your family already loves. You can also get connected with like-minded locals and get the skinny on local real food sources (a lot of real food must be local since it isn't held in stasis by preservatives).

Do you have any meal planning tips you'd care to share? Leave a comment! By pooling knowledge and resources, we can work together to make eating real food more practical for every family.

Gardening with kids: the impact I never imagined I'd make by starting an organic garden

It's become a ritual in our house to look at the tray of just-started seeds every time we come home. The kids go check on them every time they wake up, when they get home from school, when they are finished getting ready for school in the morning, before bed time.

When we were choosing our seeds, the kids helped pick out their favorite veggies and new ones they wanted to try. They helped work up the existing beds around the house and actually enjoyed doing a chore for the first time ever. They have been adamantly watching the weather forecasts just waiting for the day they can help move all the plants outside.

The kids have gotten very involved in making our organic gardening dreams come true. They are learning what it means to grow organically and why it is important to our health and the environment. More than that, they've been eating more healthfully with no complaints. The produce section at the supermarket is a place of wonder all of the sudden. They search the racks for the veggies they picked out as seeds and are happy to eat them knowing that, in a few short months, the seeds they are diligently watching for signs of growth will create that very same produce.

Those tiny plants have made the transition to eating whole, organic foods so much more exciting, and therefore less painful, for our family. The kids (and my husband) have been happily eating raw spinach, even!

It's astounding to me what a few seeds and dirt under our finger nails has done for our family's well being. A little common ground (pun intended) has worked wonders for our relationships. We cooperate better, truly listen to one another, and talk more all due to a few seedlings and a plan.

P.S., The pictures are our seedlings today (3/27), my son (age 4) checking on his snow peas, my daughter L (age 7) showing off her summer squash, and daughter K (age 3) displaying the carrots she picked out.

Simple natural cleaning solutions

I know that highly scented cleaning fluids smell good to some people, but to me, they wreak of chemicals. I have a hard time breathing around them, plus I can taste them for hours after using them.

Since I have small children and pets in the house, it makes me extremely nervous to clean any surface with chemicals. All those store-bought cleaning solutions have warning labels stating that you should call poison control if ingested. Yikes!

Instead, I use the cleaning tricks our grandparents used. I can clean my whole house with items from the pantry and fridge. Here are some of my extremely simple solutions to our toughest cleaning challenges.

1. White vinegar makes a much better all purpose cleaner than bleach, simply because my skin will come to no harm in it's use and I don't have to run out of the house like I just set off a bug bomb after mopping. Mix a half cup of vinegar into a bucket of warm water and get to scrubbing! If you're working on a surface that doesn't streak easily, you can add a couple tablespoons of baking soda for extra cleaning power (think elementary science fair volcano). However, make sure you don't cover that mixture. You can add a few drops of dish washing liquid for especially greasy messes.

2. Half a grapefruit sprinkled with table salt sounds like breakfast to some, but it equals cleaning the shower and bath tub at my house. You simply cut a grapefruit in half (avoid pink because it can stain some surfaces), sprinkle the fruit side with salt, and scrub away and rinse. My bathroom smells delicious afterwards! You can also use a large lemon or lime, but oranges have too much sugar in them. The exposed peel makes an fabulously gentle scrubber, a little like a Magic Eraser but with out the potentially skin-damaging chemicals. Plus, I just toss it in the compost pile when I'm done. Lemon is also great for polishing up water fixtures and stainless steel sinks, and cleaning the garbage disposal (simply stick half a lemon in, turn it on, and eliminate unpleasant smells and build-up).

3. Microfiber towels are amazing. You can dust with them, chemical free. You can wash windows with two of them (one wet, one dry). Just scrub the window down with the wet one, then dry with the other. I attach washcloth-sized microfiber towels to my name brand dust mop instead of their disposable cloths. They are a little more expensive than cheap-o dish rags, but not by much. Microfiber is also great for cleaning stainless steel and electronics. Make sure you don't use fabric softener when washing microfiber towels, though. They loose their absorbency if you do.

4. To polish wood and clean cabinets, use a cup of lemon juice, a tablespoon of both olive oil and warm water mixed together. Wipe it on, wait a few minutes, then buff the surface. How easy is that? Your coffee table doesn't even care if the lemon juice isn't organic or if the olive oil isn't top notch.

5. If you're concerned about mold and bacteria, you might consider investing in some tea tree oil. Tea tree oil is a natural disinfectant and a cure-all in our family (great for acne, owwies, canker sores, and thrush in infants). Add a few drops to some warm water and wipe down surfaces to assure they are germ free. It is fairly accessible (we buy ours at Wal-Mart), and you use so little at a time that it is still very affordable. I'll warn you that it smells VERY strong. I find the scent energizing and invigorating, though, which is great for cleaning. Eucalyptus is another great essential oil for household disinfecting, though it's a little harder to find.

Aside from keeping dangerous chemicals out of your house, these tactics eliminate a TON of packaging waste. They also don't require much more effort than traditional cleaning products, which is great for busy families.

Do you use any other all-natural cleaning solutions in your house? Please share!

Organic gardening- how we got started

I decided it was time to get this post written because, this morning, I woke up to sprouts! The organic broccoli and organic cucumbers I started indoors last Friday are germinated and starting to peek out of the starting medium.

This is very exciting because, though I gardened a lot as a kid, this is my first experience as an adult without the assistance of the years of experience my parents have accumulated. I haven't even had to call them for advice yet, thanks to bajillions of fabulous articles on the web. I'm sure the day is coming soon, though.

How did we get started?

First, I assessed the possible planting spaces in our yard. We decided to forego the planting of non-edibles this year, so no flowers for us! We have four beds already installed, one of which is very small ( 2ftx4ft). I watched how much sun each bed got throughout the day. I needed to plan how much space I'd have to plant where my fruits and veggies would get the right amount of sun (or shade as the case may be).

Next I started thinking about the things I'd like to plant, and ways to optimize planting so that we could get fresh produce for as long as possible. In the end, I decided I wanted to plant corn, jalapeno peppers, yellow summer squash, zucchini cucumbers, bell peppers, tomatoes (big and small), eggplants, strawberries, some winter squash, garlic, onions, white potatoes, looseleaf and head lettuce, spinach, broccoli, snap peas, green beans,  and assorted herbs.

Seems like a lot, right? It will be! Finding new ways to plant is going to be the key to fitting all of these vegetables in our small yard. Putting in permanent beds isn't really a practical option because we rent. There are TONS of ideas out there to make the most of your space, though. We're gathering fallen tree branches from a recent winter storm to build a teepee for the beans to grow up. We're asking around for abandoned vegetable cages so we can plop our tomatoes and peppers in nice sunny spots throughout the yard. I've gone in search of a couple kiddie pools that no longer hold water to act as strawberry beds. Be creative! You can find containers all over the place, so even if you don't have a yard, you can grow your own produce.

Since the weather is quite variable here in Kansas, we started our seeds indoors. I took a shortcut and bought a Jiffy professional greenhouse, which has space for 72 plants with little sphagnum peat moss pods that you soak to expand them for planting. You just poke a little hole, drop in your seeds, and lightly cover them. It was ridiculously simple this way, but it's not so difficult to start your plants in small containers or recycled cell packs from the purchased plants of years past. Organic starting medium is easy to find and very affordable as well. Maybe next year I'll get brave enough to make my own starting mix.

I set the greenhouse in a south facing window and I've been rotating it to make sure the whole tray is getting a fair amount of sunlight. I also planted some looseleaf lettuce and spinach in pots (cute red ones that I purchased for under $2 each). They are outside on the front porch, though they will have to come inside later in the week because we are expecting SNOW!

So far, we've spent about 12 man hours working up the soil by hand in the 4 existing beds and getting seeds started. Gardening takes time. It may also require physical effort. Having a yard full of fresh, delicious produce that I am positive hasn't been soaked in chemicals will be well worth the time and effort expended.

Growing our own organic produce and preserving what we can't eat will make eating whole foods more cost effective. Eating what we have in the gardens as opposed to running out to buy what we need for a recipe will not only be cheaper, but ensure we are eating fruits and vegetables that are at their nutritious peak. Plus I can buy seeds that are GMO free. Seeds of Change is a great, affordable company for organic, GMO free seeds. I found them at my local Wal-Mart, but you can also order online.

Here are some great resources to help you research how to get your garden growing!

Offers great breakdown of how to plant various fruits and vegetables:

http://www.organicgardening.com/

Last frost date by zip code:

http://davesgarden.com/guides/freeze-frost-dates/#b

Are you planning a garden this spring? What do you plan to plant? I'd love to hear your plans or even just your gardening dreams!

P.S., below you'll see pictures of my sprouts, the biggest bed all worked up, and my go-to gardening tools.

Make your own bread to avoid unsavory ingredients

Ever checked out the hefty list of ingredients on a loaf of store bought bread? Though there are some brands/types that are better than others, most contain questionable ingredients that are used to preserve the texture and flavor, and also sometimes to stave off mold. Many brands that are free of preservatives and seem relatively alright still contain oils that often come from genetically modified plant matter. For example, soybean, safflower, and sunflower oil are often made from plants that have been modified. Since food  manufacturers are in no way required to report whether or not their product contains genetically modified materials, we are trying to stay away from ingredients that are commonly modified.

My answer is not to stop eating bread and other baked goods, but to make my own. I know exactly what will be in the bread my family have for breakfast in the morning because I'm baking it right now.

How did I do it? I'll show you! Remember I'm no expert, though. We got a first timer over here!

You'll need:

2 packets of dry active yeast, 5 cups of whole grain white flour, 3 cups of warm water, 2/3 cup honey (divided in half), 5 tablespoons of butter, 1 cup organic rolled oats, 5 cups whole grain wheat flour, 1 tablespoon salt

Start by mixing the yeast packets, warm water, and 1/3 cup honey together in a large mixing bowl. Add 5 cups of whole wheat white flour, mixing until the flour is all moistened.

Let it rest for 30 minutes, or until it puffs up and the surface gets bubbly.

Add the salt, the remaining 1/3 cup of honey, 3 tablespoons of melted butter, the rolled oats and 1 1/2 cup of whole grain flour.

I used a stand mixer up until this point, but I could no longer resist sticking my hands into the dough. Flour a surface heavily with whole wheat flour and plop the dough ball down in the middle of the flour and begin kneading in the flour on the surface into the dough ball. Keep kneading flour in until the dough is tacky, but not sticky anymore. Knead for another five minutes after you've finished adding flour or until the dough is smooth (except for the oats of course).

Place the dough in a greased bowl. Cover it with a tea towel and let it rise in a warm place until it has doubled in size. Mine took about an hour to double.

Punch down the dough and separate it into 3 equal parts. I decided to bake two loaves now and save one for later in the week, so I wrapped one of the three parts in parchment paper and then in Saran wrap and laid it flat in the freezer.

Roll the dough into loaves and place the loaves in a 9x15 loaf pan. Let rise again until the dough rises over the side of the pan.  Preheat the oven to 350° and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Remove from the pan immediately when done. You can tell it's done when it sounds full when you knock on the top, not hollow. Brush the top with the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter so the crust doesn't get too crunchy.

This was my first time baking bread and this recipe turned out great. The kids love it, and my husband, who dislikes wheat bread even liked it. Give it a try and let me know how your bread  came out!

It's a huge relief to me to know the toast my kids had for breakfast was preservative free and I know precisely what went in to it.