Real Foods Update

So, I guess an update is in order.  We are 17 days into our challenge and things are going great.  I'll start by sharing a few of the good things that I have seen from changing our diet.  First of all, Andrew informed me this morning that he has now lost 10 pounds.  (It's so unfair).  I have lost maybe 2 or 3.  I am a bit surprised that I have lost any wait since I now eat everything that the kids leave on their plates since I am making most of it from scratch.  I have noticed that Oliver is having no problems converting to a whole foods diet.  He is eating pretty well.  Madeline doesn't necessarily love some of the things like the lara bars.  She still seems to have her mind on donuts and desserts.  But, it is much easier to tell her, "no" since we have these rules.  And there is much less whining about it.  I have even noticed her tastes slightly changing.  She ate some sugar snap peas the other day when she previously wouldn't go near them.  So, I think she will come around.  And lastly, everyone's... um... digestion, is better, much better.  

The one major negative for me is the amount of time in the kitchen.  Although I am enjoying it.  I do feel like I am either preparing a meal or cleaning up a meal for a big chunk of the day.  But, it has definitely pushed me to try new things I never would have.  

When you cut out "sugar" as an ingredient and you have a 4 year old asking for a dessert after every meal, you have to find something to satisfy that sweet tooth.  So, for desserts (and not after every dinner), we have had chocolate tortes with whipped cream and chocolate sauce (pictured below), banana bread mini muffins, strawberry ice cream, apple juice popsicles in these fun molds from Marshall's, and zuccini muffins.  A lot of these recipes use honey as a sweetener or dates.  

Andrew has missed his McDonald's.  So, he has made fries a couple times by just sautéing them in some EVOO.  I think they are great.   

 I've been trying to find some new snacks for the kids.  So, When I found a recipe for some soft pretzels on the back of my yeast packets, I thought they sounded great.  And Madeline and Oliver love the pretzels at the Amish Market.  So, I actually searched online for a recipe using 100% whole wheat and I found these.  Madeline and I made them tonight and they were fabulous.  I made 18 and there still seems to be enough dough left to make at least 18 more.  So, I will be freezing a bunch so we can just pull them out when we want.  

 Some other snacks we have been enjoying are popcorn.  We get a bag of organic popping corn from Trader Joes and just pop them in a brown paper bag.  Then we pour on some melted butter and salt and we have the perfect snack.  It's super easy and cheap.  We also like lara bars.  My favorite are the coconut cream pie.  They are easy to keep in the diaper bag and Lucy and Oliver both love them.  We also eat lots of nuts and raisins as snack.  I am also trying to stock the freezer with mini muffins to give the kids as snacks.  Triscuits are also a good snack.  They only have 2 ingredients.  I really like peanut butter balls.  I found them here and they hit the spot.   

Our dinners have been pretty normal.  I have been doing a few new ones and adjusting our old ones.  I made 100% whole wheat tortillas to go with lots of things.  They are a bit time consuming to make.  So, I doubled the batch so I would be able to freeze some.  They freeze beautifully.  And I can take out 1 at a time, microwave it for 20 seconds and it is ready to go.      

This past week, I went to the mall and knew we wouldn't be able to find something to eat there.  So, I packed up our lunches.  The kids think it is fun to eat out of these trays.  And they ended up eating them in the car on the way to the park after we left the mall.  They are perfect for holding in their laps.  I made them peanut butter and honey sandwiches, a banana mini muffin, strawberries and blueberries and  a little trail mix with peanuts, almonds and raisins.  Lucy got a whole wheat rice cake and fruit.    

So, I think we will keep trucking along with this diet.  Andrew has mentioned doing it for 100 days.  So, it must not be too tortuous for him.  Until next time...