'Real Food?' Why yes please!

I recently read somewhere about a '100 Days of Real Food' plan out there, and thought it sounded interesting so I started doing some digging.  Turns out there are quite a few people opting for a 'real food'  diet….the site I stumbled upon and so far am very impressed with is this one http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/. 

Let me be the first to say, I am not a huge fan of diets….as in I refuse to call anything I do food-wise to be called a diet.  Why? Well frankly, I think 'diet' is a dirty word. To me it implies a short-term, hard-to-follow and highly restrictive regimen.  I personally don't want to live like that and I certainly don't want my kiddos to grow up thinking in order to be healthy or the 'optimal weight' that you have to be on a diet.  If you have read any of my recent posts, you might remember my posting about a situation my daughter ran into in school…in first grade.  She was called fat and told to go on a diet.  This post and the life changes we are making in our home now are NOT because of this situation, they just happened to coincided at the same time.  My personal quest for a healthier lifestyle began when I was diagnosed 2 years ago.  Lots of things changed then and we are still continuing with those changes, just taking it a step further.

Some of the changes we made back then were a direct result of suddenly finding out that several things we were using or consuming were cancer causing….for instance, did you know that most dryer softener sheets have tons of cancer causing toxins in them?? Who knew! Switching to a safe fabric softener was certainly easier than switching many of our eating habits, especially with little ones at home that love all that processed stuff and things loaded with sugar.

I was diagnosed with a Gluten Intolerance a couple years ago, and that in itself is a bugger to work around…especially if you are a bread loving gal like myself. There are days where I give in to the craving and have that amazing looking roll or bread, but unfortunately I regret that decision almost immediately.  I have gotten much better about not giving into the cravings that I know will just make me feel worse later on.

I also started cutting out many of our quick meals out, like McDonalds for the kids or other quick drive-through things all in the name of saving time.  I also started watching the 'high fructose corn syrup' labels and cutting those and other sugar loaded items out of our lives too.  I also started reading labels and watching sodium at fat contents….lunchables for the kids were one of the first things to go. They are ridden with so much junk! I also started buying as many organic fruits and vegetables as possible.  There are things I don’t bother with because it doesn't matter….like avocados for example.  And even though it's more expensive, buying fresh fruit & vegies and not buying other frozen or pre-packaged items tends to balance out the budget somewhat. I have also cut out a lot of meat.  No, I'm not saying we are converting to a vegetarian or even vegan lifestyle, but after you replace some of the junk with healthier options and add in 4-5 servings each of vegies and fruits I have found that we don't want as much meat! Right now, with a 6 & 9 year old and my hubs and I, I usually only have to cook 2 chicken breasts to provide enough meat for all of us.  Yes there is protein in red meat and all that, but if you put in all the fresh fruits and vegies, nuts and other goodness, you're getting protein already!

After finding this 100 Days of Real Food it has prompted another wave of change around here. I would love to say I will start and end the 100 Day Challenge without consuming anything 'not allowed', but in all reality, I know that probably won't happen.  Don’t get me wrong I WANT it to happen, but I also know that I am not a fanatic. I will allow my kids a McDonalds meal here and there, and the reality of buying everything organic is just not in the budget.  However, I am committed to giving it my best shot and not thinking that giving in to convenience once in a while is not a complete failure.  If I succeed in changing a majority of my family's food habits, and instill an appreciation for health in my kiddos then I think that's success in and of itself. 

Thankfully I am blessed with kiddos that love their fruits and vegies, and a hubs that will eat anything. (And I do mean anything!) This means that so far this hasn't been a huge change for us.  In fact, the kids are actually very excited about some of the changes.  Like fruit snacks….they LOVE their fruit snacks, and if I'm being honest, there is one brand that I love too!  But have you ever looked at all the stuff in there??? Yuck! I haven't bought those in a while because they are just terrible for you.  And fruit rollups?  Even worse!  And what would you know? On this site, 100 Days of Real Food, I just found a recipe for homemade fruit rollups!! It had never even dawned on me that I could make my own!  So I dug out the food processor and went at it a couple days ago, and in fact just put another batch in the oven this morning.  The kids LOVE that they can make their own fruit rollups, and all of us think they taste MUCH better than the store bought kind.  You can actually taste the fruit in these! And the best thing, it's only fruit and lemon juice!  The recipe says to add honey for taste, but I left that out and the kids never said a word!

So, here are some of my favorite new recipes that I've tried in the past few weeks.  I hope you enjoy them too!  The fruit rollups are SO easy, if you've got kids you really should try them.  I have also found a recipe for fruit snacks but I haven't had a chance to try it yet…I'll report back when I have!

Until then, enjoy these recipes:

If you are Gluten-Free and /or want a good protein bar, this has such a good taste!  It is not quinoa tasting at all, and in fact I loved the taste of the bar without the chocolate….but I am not one to turn down chocolate, so I slapped it on there anyways!

Quinoa Protein Bar

http://skinnyms.com/quinoa-protein-bars/

Homemade Fruit Rollups (scroll all the way to the bottom for the recipe)

http://www.ourbestbites.com/2011/09/how-to-make-homemade-fruit-roll-ups/

Fudge Brownie Bites

http://skinnyms.com/fudge-brownie-bites/

Enjoy!! Let me know what you think about the fruit rollups if you try them!