Anyone who knows me knows I love food. I love good food. I love to cook. I love to eat. I'm hungry just thinking about it.
As I said in an earlier post my journey has been a slow one. My changes didn't happen over night 'cause I'm cheap, lazy and I mull... and mulll... and mull. I started to become aware, like a sloth becomes aware of a piece of fruit dangling at the end of the branch. It takes me a long time to get there, but I do eventually. Which I hope will happen to some of you who actually read this. Is someone reading this? Someone? Anyone?
Anyways, after the death of my sister Joyce from Ovarian Cancer I started to make changes at home. Nothing like watching someone you love die to jolt you out of your complacency. It started with the way I cleaned my house. I got rid of the chemicals. Then I was thinking about my sister's eating habits and it got me wondering again. I decided to educate myself and read everything I could get my hands on with regards to nutrition. Nothing too heavy duty. If People magazine had an article on how Brad Pitt goes organic I was all over it baby. Over and over again I kept reading "Read the labels.". Reading the labels. Read the labels? I have to bring my glasses to the grocery store now? You want me to read the fine print? It's not like I'm signing a power of attorney ... or am I?
You see I was one of those people who just trusted that the food supplied on my grocery shelf was basically good for me. I mean I knew that if I ate Twinkies all day I'd get sick and fat ... ter, but that was because of the fat and sugar right? But eventually and sloth like I started to read some labels. And soon I was questioning- Why did my can of tomatoes have more than tomatoes in it? And the package of Taco Seasoning - I couldn't even pronounce half the ingredients and the sodium was through the roof. (I knew this 'cause Jennifer Aniston talked about sodium somewhere) Why did the spray can of Pam have propane in it? Are you serious? Propane??? I was shocked. The more labels I read the more I started to realize that I had been filling my body and my family for years full of stuff that I had no idea what it was and couldn't even pronounce. I'd always been told "garbage in, garbage out" so I couldn't help but ask myself could this stuff cause some of the illnesses that are so rampant today? Could it have had something to do with my sister's illness? Did I want to feed my family this junk? Did I want to feed me this junk? Did I want to take that chance with my family and my health?
And so I started. I took things slow, again. Little by little. Trial and error. Once again, I wanted to find natural foods and recipes that were easy to prepare and taste as good if not better than their preservative laden and more expensive counterparts. This is a work in progress and I am far from perfect. But I'm well on my way. I am not saying all of this to make you all think I am better than others. I just want to share what I have figured out. Hopefully help someone. Share the little I know with you. Nothing is new here. It's all be done before. You hear it over and over and over. Then one day it clicks. That's what happened to me, and maybe it will or already has happened with you.
Before starting this journey I constantly got migraines. I popped liquid Advil like they were candy. I was sick all the time with Colds, the flu and of course killer headaches. I noticed a while ago that I don't get the migraines anymore. It was like this slow realization. I hadn't had one in years. Doesn't take me all day. Don't get me wrong I'll still get a headache, but it's usually from lifting something too heavy earlier in the day. I hardly get sick either. It will start, I'll get that old familiar feeling and miraculously I'll be able to fight it off. It's rather impressive actually. And honestly I think most of it has to do with changing my eating habits.
What can you do? Start small like I did, just maybe not so sloth like. Start by reading labels. Go look in your cupboard. Next time you're shopping try to find canned or packaged goods with ingredients you can understand. That's a great place to start.
I'm going to post a few recipes over the next little while that I've discovered. They will be easy to prepare and can easily replace some the of the 'packaged' stuff we pick up all the time. Give one of those a try. I promise there will not be any recipes for Tofu or Quinoa. (although quinoa is quite good) Why not experiment with new recipes or seasonings. Don't just grab the can of mushroom soup, or packaged seasoning. Think about it first. There is a different way. A better way. A better way for you and your family. Be aware. Don't think that just because its on the shelf its OK for your body. You'll be glad you did. Honest.
Oh - I'd be happy to see one of your recipes and post it for others to see (after I've tested it myself of course) . No seafood recipes though ... I hate seafood and it's my blog :)
Cayla
As I said in an earlier post my journey has been a slow one. My changes didn't happen over night 'cause I'm cheap, lazy and I mull... and mulll... and mull. I started to become aware, like a sloth becomes aware of a piece of fruit dangling at the end of the branch. It takes me a long time to get there, but I do eventually. Which I hope will happen to some of you who actually read this. Is someone reading this? Someone? Anyone?
Anyways, after the death of my sister Joyce from Ovarian Cancer I started to make changes at home. Nothing like watching someone you love die to jolt you out of your complacency. It started with the way I cleaned my house. I got rid of the chemicals. Then I was thinking about my sister's eating habits and it got me wondering again. I decided to educate myself and read everything I could get my hands on with regards to nutrition. Nothing too heavy duty. If People magazine had an article on how Brad Pitt goes organic I was all over it baby. Over and over again I kept reading "Read the labels.". Reading the labels. Read the labels? I have to bring my glasses to the grocery store now? You want me to read the fine print? It's not like I'm signing a power of attorney ... or am I?
You see I was one of those people who just trusted that the food supplied on my grocery shelf was basically good for me. I mean I knew that if I ate Twinkies all day I'd get sick and fat ... ter, but that was because of the fat and sugar right? But eventually and sloth like I started to read some labels. And soon I was questioning- Why did my can of tomatoes have more than tomatoes in it? And the package of Taco Seasoning - I couldn't even pronounce half the ingredients and the sodium was through the roof. (I knew this 'cause Jennifer Aniston talked about sodium somewhere) Why did the spray can of Pam have propane in it? Are you serious? Propane??? I was shocked. The more labels I read the more I started to realize that I had been filling my body and my family for years full of stuff that I had no idea what it was and couldn't even pronounce. I'd always been told "garbage in, garbage out" so I couldn't help but ask myself could this stuff cause some of the illnesses that are so rampant today? Could it have had something to do with my sister's illness? Did I want to feed my family this junk? Did I want to feed me this junk? Did I want to take that chance with my family and my health?
And so I started. I took things slow, again. Little by little. Trial and error. Once again, I wanted to find natural foods and recipes that were easy to prepare and taste as good if not better than their preservative laden and more expensive counterparts. This is a work in progress and I am far from perfect. But I'm well on my way. I am not saying all of this to make you all think I am better than others. I just want to share what I have figured out. Hopefully help someone. Share the little I know with you. Nothing is new here. It's all be done before. You hear it over and over and over. Then one day it clicks. That's what happened to me, and maybe it will or already has happened with you.
Before starting this journey I constantly got migraines. I popped liquid Advil like they were candy. I was sick all the time with Colds, the flu and of course killer headaches. I noticed a while ago that I don't get the migraines anymore. It was like this slow realization. I hadn't had one in years. Doesn't take me all day. Don't get me wrong I'll still get a headache, but it's usually from lifting something too heavy earlier in the day. I hardly get sick either. It will start, I'll get that old familiar feeling and miraculously I'll be able to fight it off. It's rather impressive actually. And honestly I think most of it has to do with changing my eating habits.
What can you do? Start small like I did, just maybe not so sloth like. Start by reading labels. Go look in your cupboard. Next time you're shopping try to find canned or packaged goods with ingredients you can understand. That's a great place to start.
I'm going to post a few recipes over the next little while that I've discovered. They will be easy to prepare and can easily replace some the of the 'packaged' stuff we pick up all the time. Give one of those a try. I promise there will not be any recipes for Tofu or Quinoa. (although quinoa is quite good) Why not experiment with new recipes or seasonings. Don't just grab the can of mushroom soup, or packaged seasoning. Think about it first. There is a different way. A better way. A better way for you and your family. Be aware. Don't think that just because its on the shelf its OK for your body. You'll be glad you did. Honest.
Oh - I'd be happy to see one of your recipes and post it for others to see (after I've tested it myself of course) . No seafood recipes though ... I hate seafood and it's my blog :)
Cayla
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