Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Hope you all have a wonderful Holiday Season!
Its a crazy busy time so blogging will resume again in January 2010...hugs

Q&A - What is the One thing a working mom should do first?

Question....
So what do you recommend to be the starting point for someone who works FT and may not have as much time available to plan, prepare, think about all this? The 1 thing I should do first??? We cook all our meals already, but need healthier choices or ingredients to sneak in.

Answer....
Don't get overwhelmed!!! I can suggest, start with cutting out all Trans Fats, or introduce whole grain products (and those would be great starts) But in all honesty it starts with your thinking and mindset! Before you can physically start changing, you need to get the mental foundation for a lifestyle change in place first.

As a busy full time working mom, you have your own set of daily family challenges. I believe the better mentally geared up you are, then the more likely you will succeed and less of chore or added work load this will be. Like anything if you want something bad enough, you will find a way to make it work!

Be inspired!
I think the most essential first step is to be enthusiastic and inspired about making this lifestyle change. Otherwise it will feel like a chore and not last. Be Inspired for yourself and your family and decide if this is something you want to do and why?

Keep it Real!
One of the most important things you can do is establish the right foundation!
The hardest part of any lifestyle change is doing the groundwork. Starting on a solid foundation is vital to carrying you through. If you get this right then you have won half the battle! However, many people launch into diet changes on impulse, without proper preparation or unrealistic expectations and unfortunately, their motivation and drive will only last so long. You need to just do what you can for you and your family and see it as part of your already established lifestyle....keep it real!

To set up a solid foundation....You need to want to do it!
What is your motivation? Sum it up into a sentence and display it where you can see it, have a visual positive reminder (not a guilt reminder) And be excited about what you are doing for you and your family...Dig deep and be real!
Have goals, Learn about the fake foods you do not wish to expose your family to anymore, become familiar with the "naughties" and decide if its something you want to eliminate. Like anything if you don't have motivation/understanding or really want it, then its harder and less achievable to do.

Change as little as you can!
- Be real with yourself!
Its vital as a busy mom to set yourself up for success from the start, its easy to go in thinking about everything that needs changing, feeling like a failure when you slip up just once...keep it real and attainable for you. Only you know what you are capable of doing, don't overwhelm yourself and create unnecessary stress!

- Take it one step at a time.
Accept that any change you make is good and that at the end of the day/week/month if you have permanently changed one eating habit for healthier eating or have read an article that has given you motivation and insight then you are winning the race for healthier living!

- Incorporate it into what you already do.
If you are someone of schedule and you shop on a certain day for a certain amount of time, keep that up. If you get home after work and cook or if you cook on the weekends and freeze meals for the week, keep that up! Adapt real food into your now lifestyle and change as little of your schedule and routines as possible!

What do I do next?
I am really hoping that through this blog I can offer support to busy moms. By answering questions, sharing my journey, exploring the foods we eat, suggesting product replacement and anything else you can suggest that would make it easier for you to obtain the goal of eating real for real busy families!
The next part to real food success is Planning!!!
I'll post some tips on better planning for a busy mom soon, keep it simple/keep it real!

If you were looking for more of an answer that just suggests what you should and shouldn't eat. I will be putting a list together soon....so watch out for it!

And remember.....
Have fun and make it enjoyable!!!
You are on your way to becoming a real food family!

A trip to the grocery store!

Can I keep putting it off! Surely we still have food at home we can eat!
OK so we are out of juice, meat, bread, eggs, butter...agh! Better go!

When you have shopped at the same store for years, buying the same food week in week out, its hard to change! I am still getting used to all this change for the better, but honestly it is still overwhelming! I'm still learning a lot and am not sure what to buy (ie, what tastes good and my kids will eat. Yes we have had a lot of wasted food lately which is adding to my frustration) I figured I will just try my best and cut myself some slack! There are a number of things though that I have found and the family likes, my cart consists of a lot of fresh produce now too as we are making so much from scratch.

I have to say before I left for the store I spent an hour going through some "naughties" like bleached white flour (see previous post for the "goodies") So I could go armed in my mind with what to look for and what to avoid when it comes to grains. Whole grains and wheat it is. It feels empowering to start a shopping trip with some new knowledge like this.

With most of the store "of limits" the organic section has been such an adventure too look through. Its funny I have kind of turned it into a treasure hunt. Looking for something to replace the old bad version, its kind of fun and a total victory when I get home and it tastes good too...lol!

This week I ventured into the baking department, somewhere I would never go before unless it was to buy a packet confetti cake mix. Now I find myself with list in hand looking for things like, baking powder, wholewheat flour, allspice. I am going to do (try) some baking...Oh my gosh!!!
Pie crusts, muffins, cookies, pizza dough and anything else I can think of...wish me luck!

Now what to do with the cans of Pillsbury biscuits in the fridge? Have you seen whats in those things...yikes!

I want to thank the wonderful staff at Fred Meyers in Renton who are so supportive of my new journey, especially Jan in the organic department and Michelle in the kids club who let me have an extra hour of kid free shopping yesterday...THANK YOU!!!

Whole-Wheat Oatmeal Cookies

Whole-Wheat Oatmeal Cookies

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Wheat-The Whole Truth

Today my goal is to make some whole wheat pumpkin muffins!

The boys just can not get enough, but the ones we have been making are white flour based. While "googelling" Whole wheat flour I came across this interesting article......Since 1941, laws in the United States have required "enrichment" of processed wheat flour with vitamins B1, B2, B3 and iron in response to the problems created by 60% extraction. Since not nearly as much of these B vitamins and iron are replaced as are removed from 60% extraction flour, "enriched" seems an odd word to describe this process.

The health benefits of wheat depend entirely on the form in which you eat it. These benefits will be few if you select wheat that has been processed into 60% extraction, bleached white flour. 60% extraction-the standard for most wheat products in the United States, including breads, noodles and pastas, baked goods like rolls or biscuits, and cookies-means that 40% of the original wheat grain was removed, and only 60% is left. Unfortunately, the 40% that gets removed includes the bran and the germ of the wheat grain-its most nutrient-rich parts. In the process of making 60% extraction flour, over half of the vitamin B1, B2, B3, E, folic acid, calcium, phosphorus, zinc, copper, iron, and fiber are lost.

To read more of this lengthy article go to...http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=66

Headaches are a pain!

I have had a number of excruciatingly bad headaches lately. So have a number of friends. It may be the change in weather, now that its raining and cold we are indoors with our kids a lot more. That would be enough to give anyone a headache =)
But why now? Why are so many of us getting migraine like headaches? They really are quite debilitating. Is it maybe something we are eating?

Here is a book I came across in my search to find out for myself - Are there any foods that can trigger my headaches?

This book does list a lot of food you should avoid, quite overwhelming in fact. But I did discover that it was probably dried cranberries that triggered my killer headache the other night...who knew!

Real food and feeling good!

4 weeks in and others are seeing a difference!

We had Harry's parent/teacher conference last week, this is when we get to hear his progress for the first half of the year. Honestly I was a little nervous, you always want to hear that your child is doing well and topping the class, excelling and doing their best in every area. School has not been easy for Harry, usually we hear how he does not pay attention in class, he seems distant on his own world, even how he falls asleep in class. I have to approach these conference's with an open mind and hope for the best!

After hearing all about his experiences with 1st grade so far. He still has areas of academic concern. This much I knew. But what I heard next came as a real surprise. I was excited to hear that his enthusiasm and effort in class has improved and improved out of sight! All of his teachers were saying that just recently they have noticed his attention in class, his interest in work and completing it and his alertness and initiative have increased considerably. This was great news. I asked if this was something they noticed in the last 4 weeks? They all agreed! Wow! All I can put this down to is his change in diet!

Its so exciting to see results in only 4 weeks! And results that are effecting his life for the better, what great motivation to keep going with real foods! I too have noticed that his "fog" has lifted, he looks better rested and is more enthusiastic at home too.