Simple Food

With Sarah's neurologist breathing down our neck about putting her on MS drugs, and my utter resistance I decided to really crack down on what we eat. I have done this before, but then wavered back into the Standard American Diet. Since some people have been able to manage their MS with their diet I really vowed to examine what we were eating in order to give Sarah a fighting chance to stay healthy. Taking a look at our food consumption in this house also went along with the theme of my life lately which is simplify, simplify, simplify.

I hate food shopping. Laundry and food shopping are the two household chores  that I just dread doing. I will put off doing both until I absolutely have to do them - which really if I just did them with some regularity both chores would just become a routine part of my life, and maybe I wouldn't hate them so much. Either way, right now, I hate food shopping.

I also don't like that the nearest Trader Joe's and Whole Food's stores are about 30 minutes away. I know that for some of you that type of trip is "just down the road", but for a spoiled girl like myself with grocery stores 5-7 minutes away in just about every direction that is pretty far away. BUT, I really like both of these stores, and if I am really trying to simplify and clean out our diet these are the types of stores I need to shop at (until I find something closer that I like). (On a side note - I also really hate driving up there because I find that the shoppers there are so snotty and rude. I don't know if it is because the area in which both of these stores are located in is a very affluent town, and by default rich people shop there or what. There is no politeness or smiling among the shoppers - people there act like the selections they are making are going to go out of stock if they don't rush their carts in front of you and cut you off. Seriously, if you think I am making this stuff up - try going to the store up in Woodmere/Beachwood area. You will soon find out what I mean. I do love the employees at both of these stores though. They are friendly, helpful, and wonderful. Maybe they are like that with me though because I  am polite to them and smile. I am not sure they get much thoughtfulness from their clientele very often.)

Anyway, I digress...so I made out a menu, and went shopping. My goal is to simplify our diet which means, for me, to eat as many whole foods as possible and also to make from scratch as much as possible. Although, to a purist my menu may not be as clean as he/she would prefer it works just fine for us right now, and is in fact a huge improvement. I would much rather make stuff from scratch, and  use unbleached white flour, than by a store bought snack that may have whole wheat flour, but also has a whole lot of other stuff in it as well. Homemade items using only whole wheat flour will not fly in my house right now. Maybe that is something we can incorporate over time, but I am not willing to go there yet. The taste of whole wheat only snacks is a lot different than those of the S.A.D. (standard american diet) that it will take some getting used to.

 Here is a look at our menu for the week:

***Anything with an asterisk by it means that I am making it from scratch. Any item that uses bread (french toast) will be used with home made bread.*****

Breakfast Choices:
Muffins*
Pancakes*
Waffles*
French Toast*
Eggs/Bagels
Cereal - (for 1 of the weekend days)



Lunch:
Soup* (Lentil)
Peanut Butter / Jelly
Turkey /Cheese
Sandwich Bread*

Dinner:
Taco's (black beans, basmati brown rice, lettuce, olives, tomato, chicken (organic, free range, blah, blah, blah), peppers/onions, cheese, taco shells* (taco shells are surprisingly simple to make.)

Spaghetti (whole wheat), French Bread*, Pasta Sauce*, Cauliflower, Salad

Meatloaf* (organic, 100% grass fed beef), Mashed Potatoes* (from actual potatoes, not from a box), Corn, Salad, French Bread*

Chili*, Soup* (Lentil), Salad, French Bread*

Pizza* (dough is pretty easy to make from scratch), Pizza Sauce*, Salad

Lasagna* - (spinach and tofu for me and Sarah, cheese for the rest of the gang), French Bread*, Salad, Broccoli

Snacks:
Pretzels* (these are fun to make with the kids because they can take the dough and make it into any shape that they wish.)
Froze Yogurt Pops* ( yogurt,  frozen raspberries, a touch of sugar)
Salsa* and Trader Joe's tostito style chips
Cut up veggies (carrots, radishes, cucumber, celery)
Fruit (apples, bananas, watermelon)
Rice Crispie Treats* (which, I know, are really terrible, but I couldn't resist.)
Chocolate Chip* and Snickerdoodle* cookies

Just about everything I bought was organic. I have wavered back and forth on the importance of buying organic and also the relevance. I feel that we, as consumers, are sometimes bamboozled by corporations now that organic has become so popular. I hesitated to spend the extra money on organics when there was a possibility is wasn't the kind of organic I was looking for. I especially worry about this for meat/dairy because I want to buy from growers that actually allow their animals the space and the right to live as animals not those that view their animals as a piece of property only that have no access to live in the world as they would naturally. There are a lot of companies that get by feeding their animals organic feed (of which cows cannot process properly) and appear to offer them access to the out of doors when really these animals are just as confined as traditional animals we consume yet these "farmers" are able to charge organic prices because of the feed they supply their animals and the fact that they do not use antibiotics or hormones.  This is not organic to me.

As you can see I am making most of this stuff myself - which to some may not seem simple at all, but to me really is. I know what ingredients are going into my children's mouths. They will still be able to enjoy the foods that they like - the items just won't be coming from a box anymore. I know at first, this will be time consuming, but I have been making my breakfast menu for some time now, and I have gotten much more efficient at it even though I am making everything (except for the cereal) from scratch. I expect this to be the same for my lunch and dinner menus as well. I do struggle with offering my family variety. I will most likely have to put some planning time into looking up different and new recipes that think everyone will enjoy (or at least most people). I like the idea of being old school, and making stuff from scratch is pretty old school in our modern society. I find it to be a comfortable way to live. A simple way, if you will.

So there you have it - simple home (packed away almost all non essentials), simple diet. Life keeps getting better and better....