So, I wanted to share with you all what changes my family has been making in our diet to aid in our new whole foods approach to eating. I think that more than anyone in our household, I have felt the biggest difference physically and emotionally of our new way of eating.
Last week we had gotten sloppy and ate a lot of fast food. I felt yucky almost all week, and I knew it was because we had been eating heatlhy and slipped back into this habit of eating junk. I felt physically drained and couldn’t step off of the emotional roller coaster. I was just plain cranky.
This week I just sat down and wrote out a list of enough breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack ideas for 14 days that only included healthy options. No high fructose corn syrup, no highly processed junk. I shared before some of the changes we had made. For example, we eat as many whole grains as possible. We only use real butter now. But I wanted to share some specific meals we have been eating and some of the options that I have found to be an easy switch for our family.
Most things we eat only needed to be adapted in a healthier way. This includes what types of meats, oils, grains, etc we buy. We try to buy as natural of meats as we can afford, we only use peanut or olive oil for baking and frying, and we buy as many whole grains as possible.
Specifically, I wanted to share some of our new favorite products. For something quick and easy, Annie’s homegrown organic macaroni and cheese is great for the kids at lunchtime. It doesn’t inlclude junk colorings and preservatives, and it’s really good! It’s also highly affordable at my walmart. They also make a range of other products such as crackers and cereal.
We also love Nature’s Pride bread. I had been searching for a bread without high fructose corn syrup and tons of additives, and finally found this brand at Hyvee.
We’ve incorporated as much fresh fruits and vegetables into our diet as possible. I’ve also been making most of our baked goods at home, including cookies, muffins, brownies, etc. I can throw in all of the fresh fruits and vegetables I want into them, and I also mix in whole wheat flour and flax seed, making for a much more nutritious alternative to highly processed store-bought baked goods.
We’ve been making a lot of stir fry here lately with all of the fresh veggies. I found that Kikkoman soy sauce is a great choice because it is also free of all of the extra preservatives and garbage in other brands.
And just to throw out some ideas to others on this journey, I’ll list some typical foods we’ve been eating daily.
Breakfast: Bananas, eggs and cheese, cheerios (plain) with milk, toast (nature’s pride bread).
Snacks: Fresh fruit (kiwi, peaches, bananas, etc), cheerios, raisins, popcorn (plain kernels popped on the stove in peanut or olive oil)
Lunch: Annie’s mac & chz, tortilla chips, sandwiches w/ butter
Supper: stir fry, nachos w/ homemade cheese sauce, runza casserole (with homemade biscuit crust), spaghetti, tacos, pizza, etc.
I’m just curious – does your Wal-Mart sell the whole wheat Annie’s? Ours used to, but then they discontinued it, and they only sell the organic white flour version. (I find this rather pointless, personally, since they sell it right beside the organic Kraft mac & cheese.) I miss the ww one, as this was a great healthy meal for those days when everything has gone crazy!
I personally have never seen the organic kraft. Our walmart only carries the white flour ones, but we do have Hyvee 1/2 an hour away that sells them all but they are more expensive.