Wordless Wednesday is just what it sounds like. It is a post featuring a picture that doesn't need any words to describe it. I will be doing this weekly and couldn't have found a better picture to kick it off than the one below.
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Thursday, August 29, 2013
MORE things that will NOT kill your child
I got such an awesome response to yesterday's post about things that won't kill your kids that I decided to continue the post today. Below are 5 more things that will not kill your child, along with a list of things that other people assured me (via my Facebook page) will not kill your child.
1. Dog Mouth Kisses. Yup. We are those people. Scooter is a part of our family and we have always treated him that way. He has been allowed to kiss her since day 1. Sadly for her, he is a deep throat kisser.
2. Store Bought Baby Food. For the first 6 months or so, I made most of Moose's baby food. It had been something that was always important to me. Then I discovered those handy little packets of organic baby food. Brilliant! Not only were they convenient, but they exposed her to foods that she would not have otherwise been exposed. I mean, where the hell can I find organic rutabaga? I still make a lot of her food, but I also buy a fair amount, including those amazingly convenient packets. So, for all of those Mamas who are grinding out food from their Baby Bullets, good for you. If you are too tired to do it though, take this post as reassurance that buying some food won't kill your baby.
3. Eating directly off of the table at restaurants. Is it the cleanest thing in the world? Probably depends on the restaurant. Do we do it anyway? Sure do. What's the alternative? Oh, here you go, Moose, eat off of this glass plate. I trust that you won't throw it against the table and cut a major artery. Right. I know what you are thinking: could I bring those disposable placemats? Yup. Do I ever remember them? Nope. Hasn't killed her yet.
1. Dog Mouth Kisses. Yup. We are those people. Scooter is a part of our family and we have always treated him that way. He has been allowed to kiss her since day 1. Sadly for her, he is a deep throat kisser.
Kisses from her big brother.
2. Store Bought Baby Food. For the first 6 months or so, I made most of Moose's baby food. It had been something that was always important to me. Then I discovered those handy little packets of organic baby food. Brilliant! Not only were they convenient, but they exposed her to foods that she would not have otherwise been exposed. I mean, where the hell can I find organic rutabaga? I still make a lot of her food, but I also buy a fair amount, including those amazingly convenient packets. So, for all of those Mamas who are grinding out food from their Baby Bullets, good for you. If you are too tired to do it though, take this post as reassurance that buying some food won't kill your baby.
3. Eating directly off of the table at restaurants. Is it the cleanest thing in the world? Probably depends on the restaurant. Do we do it anyway? Sure do. What's the alternative? Oh, here you go, Moose, eat off of this glass plate. I trust that you won't throw it against the table and cut a major artery. Right. I know what you are thinking: could I bring those disposable placemats? Yup. Do I ever remember them? Nope. Hasn't killed her yet.
4. Dessert for dinner. Sometimes it just happens. Especially in the summer when you are having fun playing outside on a beautiful evening and don't want to make your toddler come inside for dinner. Those are the nights that you bring out the chocolate peanut butter cups (full of antioxidents, dairy, AND protein, I am not sure why they are not considered a superfood) and call it a night. It doesn't happen most nights, but it happens enough to create special childhood memories. Sometimes you just gotta have fun. It won't kill them. I promise.
Milkshake for dinner. Yummy!
5. Watching TV. Ah, this one I struggle with and I added it for your reassurance. Although I know that watching TV in moderation won't kill my child, I still feel guilty if I turn it on, even for a few minutes. Moose's TV is limited to long car rides (or shorter ones if we are in meltdown mode). I haven't let her watch TV inside yet, mostly because I am afraid that I will like the "break" so much that it will become a habit. It is stupid, I know. I am a logical person and I truly believe that everything in moderation is okay, but the TV thing makes me feel lazy and guilty. So, PLEASE, I beg you, talk some sense into me and tell me that your kids watch TV and that it hasn't killed them.
Other things that will not kill your child (provided by my friends on Facebook):
Other things that will not kill your child (provided by my friends on Facebook):
- The occasional hot dog. Agree! Moose had only eaten grassfed "hot dogs" until we went on vacation. When she first bit into the "real" hot dog, it was like she had gotten a new lease on life.
- Eating food that has fallen on the floor. We do it all of the time, especially if it is dessert.
- Cleaning the paci off with your mouth. Agree. Why not? It beats not cleaning it off at all.
- Letting them drink juice or, God Forbid, the occasional caffeine free soda. You gotta have "treats" in life or you will go nuts. When we go to our neighbor's house, they always give Moose a juice box and you would think she had won the lottery.
- Drinking a glass of wine while nursing your child. If nursing would have worked out for me, I would totally have done this. Worst case, it is a non-issue for the baby. Best case, it helps them sleep.
- Letting the baby drink from the sippy after the dog has licked the top of it. We do this all of the time. For some reason, Scooter loves the sippy and Moose likes to share it. Win-win.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Things that will NOT kill your child
There is a lot to be nervous about as a new mom. It seems like everything in the world is bad for you. You often feel that one wrong move could jeopardize your child's safety, health, or happiness. It can be overwhelming. Every time you open the computer, there is a story about something else that is going to cause some awful illness. Almost worse is that having a child is pretty much the same thing as wearing a sign that says, 'hey stranger. Please tell me what I am doing wrong.' It is exhausting.
I know all too well how those "bad" things can consume you, so I thought I would help you out by giving you a list of things that will not kill your child. I will admit that I am not a doctor though, so take it with a grain of salt.
2. Eating Sand. Trust me on this one. Moose has been living at the beach for the past 3 weeks and, during that time, has eaten at least 6 gallons of sand. At least. I wish I was exaggerating. This kid LOVES to eat sand. It is her sole reason for going to the "beachy." When she first tried it last year, I made the rookie parenting mistake of saying, "yeah, go ahead, let her try it. She won't like it anyway." Ha. She loved it. Same thing this year. The first day at the beach, she looked around like she was in a giant vat of ice cream. And much like being in a vat of ice cream, she immediately dug in. And you know what? I let her. Why not? You have to pick and choose your battles and it hasn't killed her yet. Plus, it is a hell of a lot cheaper than the $5.00 pint of berries that she typically snacks on.
I know all too well how those "bad" things can consume you, so I thought I would help you out by giving you a list of things that will not kill your child. I will admit that I am not a doctor though, so take it with a grain of salt.
1. Sitting directly on the cart at Target. I spend a lot of time at Target and I can tell you that I am the only mother whose child's tush is sitting on the cart and not on some Egyptian cotton cloth seat barrier. Seriously?! Like I don't already have enough crap in my purse when I go to Target. The last thing in the world that I need is to add a giant, 5 pound cloth ball to my 50 pound diaper bag so that Moose's golden a$$ doesn't have to touch the seat. Do carts have germs? Yup. Is that going to kill her? Hasn't yet.
2. Eating Sand. Trust me on this one. Moose has been living at the beach for the past 3 weeks and, during that time, has eaten at least 6 gallons of sand. At least. I wish I was exaggerating. This kid LOVES to eat sand. It is her sole reason for going to the "beachy." When she first tried it last year, I made the rookie parenting mistake of saying, "yeah, go ahead, let her try it. She won't like it anyway." Ha. She loved it. Same thing this year. The first day at the beach, she looked around like she was in a giant vat of ice cream. And much like being in a vat of ice cream, she immediately dug in. And you know what? I let her. Why not? You have to pick and choose your battles and it hasn't killed her yet. Plus, it is a hell of a lot cheaper than the $5.00 pint of berries that she typically snacks on.
Happily eating sand on the beach
3. Having people touch her without first sanitizing their hands. We have many friends who had us sanitize our hands before touching their newborn. I have no problem with that whatsoever. To each his own. We did not do that. And it didn't kill the Moose. First of all, we had already decided that some germs were good for the baby. Secondly, if you are in my house with my newborn baby to begin with, it means that I have great faith in your cleanliness. If I think that you are someone who wipes their a$$ with their bare fingers, you probably aren't going to be invited into my home. Obviously we wash our hands at normal times: after using the bathroom, after going to a store, handling meat, etc. Beyond those extremes though, some germs are good. Not only did this one not kill her, but she was a really healthy baby.
4. Formula. In my post-pregnancy, breastfeeding nightmare, crazy hormone haze, I was pretty sure that this one was going to do her in. Maybe it wouldn't kill her right away, but I bought into the propaganda that assured me that it would kill her eventually. After all, the only way to prevent death by ear infection or diarrhea in this country is to breastfeed, right? Turns out the answer to that is no. I was wrong. Formula didn't kill her and it still hasn't. In fact, she is healthy, happy, and intelligent. Who knew?!
5. Not washing the paci after it hits the floor. I was walking into Target one day (yes, my entire life takes place in Target) when Moose's paci hit the ground in a fit of rage. There were two male employees behind me who saw it and said, in a teasing manner, "whoa, Mama, what are you going to do now? Better go wash that off!" My response was to pop the paci right back in her mouth. The Target guys LOVED it. Literally, they started to holler and clap (as a side note, it is so sad that I now get hollered at for things like that rather than for being hot...sigh) and told me that I was the first mother they have ever seen do it. Are you kidding me? If I chose to go through the entire store without her paci, I would be forever banned from going back (and then what would I do everyday?).
That being said, I do have some standards. If it falls in a public bathroom or some other disgusting place, I don't put it back in her mouth. Otherwise though, I give it a quick wipe on my shirt (gotta keep up appearances) and do the world a favor by popping it right back in her mouth. Hasn't killed her yet.
That being said, I do have some standards. If it falls in a public bathroom or some other disgusting place, I don't put it back in her mouth. Otherwise though, I give it a quick wipe on my shirt (gotta keep up appearances) and do the world a favor by popping it right back in her mouth. Hasn't killed her yet.
Sucking on her filthy paci ;)
While compiling this list, I realized that I had way too many for one post, so this is going to be part 1 of things that will not kill your child. Part 2 will follow soon. Please share things that you know of that will not kill your child. Have you been judged for doing any of them?
Disclaimer: Prior to having a child of my own, I had 15 years of experience working with children, including my most recent job of running a daycare center. Without that experience, I wouldn't have been nearly as laid back about the above listed things. As with all of my posts, there is no judgement. Everyone should do what makes them comfortable.
Monday, August 26, 2013
Favorite Recipes
I wrote a post a few days ago about some tips for clean eating. I wanted to follow up by sharing a few of our favorite tried and true recipes. None of these are ones that I created, so I included a link to the original source. If you have any awesome recipes, especially quick and easy ones, please share them with me!! We are always looking for new things to try.
1. Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Pancakes from the Minimalist Baker. This is one of our all time favorite recipes. I double the recipe so that we can reheat these for Moose over a few day period. Instead of a flax egg, we use a real egg.
Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Pancakes
2. Banana Peanut Butter Cookies (no added gluten or eggs). I thank the people from babble.com for suggesting this recipe on my Facebook feed. These are actually really good. I couldn't believe it. Because there aren't any eggs, they tend to crumble, but you can fix this problem by flattening the cookies before you bake them. We are a big egg family, so I am not opposed to using them in recipes, but I have yet to try it with this one.
Banana Peanut Butter Cookies (no added sugar or gluten)
3. Kale Chips. Thank you to Once Upon a Chef for introducing me to these kale chips. I first started making these when I was home on maternity leave and had a great deal of spare time. As someone who is not a huge kale fan, I can say with full honestly that I love these "chips." The Parmesan makes them taste great and you actually feel like you are having a real treat. The best part is that you can feel great afterwards because it is not often that you can eat a superfood for a snack and actually enjoy it.
Lemon and Parmesan Kale Chips
4. Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf from the folks at babble.com. I am of the opinion that if it has bacon, it is going to be good, so this one is a sure winner. My husband is obsessed with this meatloaf and often asks that I make it when we are going to have company. As suggested in the recipe, you can use Panko instead of bread crumbs (no trans fat), but you can also used crushed up cornflakes for a gluten free option.
Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf
5. Satay Wraps. We have been making these for years and love them. We use coconut oil instead of vegetable oil. You can also use a peanut butter and/ or soy sauce substitute if you want. We sometimes use gluten free soy sauce, but have not yet
Satay Wraps
6. Moose's favorite meatballs. She is obsessed with them. I usually triple the recipe so that I can freeze them. To add even more nutrition, I usually grind up some carrots and throw them in the mix as well. You can't even taste them. I also make my own breadcrumbs using organic cornflakes. Be sure to use real Parmesan cheese for this (not the stuff in the unrefrigerated green container). Also, we broil these for about 20 minutes (flipping them over once halfway) instead of putting them in a boiling pan. It locks in the moisture without cooking and they freeze well.
Moose's Favorite Meatballs
7. Avocado Pesto (gluten and dairy free). This stuff is delicious. We are big pesto fans, but love this recipe because we can eat it without feeling guilty.
Avocado Pesto
8. Banana Peanut Butter "Ice Cream" from the folks at userealbutter.com. You have to try this one to believe it, but it really does taste like ice cream, only it is really good for you! The only ingredients are bananas and peanut butter. You can add other ingredients if you would like. I usually add chocolate chips. The recipe below uses cocoa power.
Banana Peanut Butter Ice Cream
9. Cilantro Lime Shrimp from skinnytaste.com. This is a very easy and delicious way to make shrimp. After marinating them, we throw them on the grill, but as the recipe suggests, you can also cook them on the stove top.
Cilantro Lime Shrimp
10. Quinoa Spinach Feta Toss. Okay, so I lied earlier. This is one that we did make up. It is one of our favorite summer go-tos when we have fresh tomatoes. We cook quinoa and then add cut up (raw) spinach (we used kale this summer because we had an abundance of it in our garden), cut up tomatoes, cut up avocados, and crumbled feta. We then mix olive oil, lemon juice (from fresh lemons), and a tiny bit of salt to make the dressing, which is mixed into the entire dish. Voila! A fresh and delicious summer salad.
I hope you enjoy some of these recipes, and, again, please share you favorites! As we get ready to start the new school year, it would be fun to have some new things to try.
Enjoying a banana peanut butter cookie (#2 below)
1. Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Pancakes from the Minimalist Baker. This is one of our all time favorite recipes. I double the recipe so that we can reheat these for Moose over a few day period. Instead of a flax egg, we use a real egg.
Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Pancakes
2. Banana Peanut Butter Cookies (no added gluten or eggs). I thank the people from babble.com for suggesting this recipe on my Facebook feed. These are actually really good. I couldn't believe it. Because there aren't any eggs, they tend to crumble, but you can fix this problem by flattening the cookies before you bake them. We are a big egg family, so I am not opposed to using them in recipes, but I have yet to try it with this one.
Banana Peanut Butter Cookies (no added sugar or gluten)
3. Kale Chips. Thank you to Once Upon a Chef for introducing me to these kale chips. I first started making these when I was home on maternity leave and had a great deal of spare time. As someone who is not a huge kale fan, I can say with full honestly that I love these "chips." The Parmesan makes them taste great and you actually feel like you are having a real treat. The best part is that you can feel great afterwards because it is not often that you can eat a superfood for a snack and actually enjoy it.
Lemon and Parmesan Kale Chips
4. Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf from the folks at babble.com. I am of the opinion that if it has bacon, it is going to be good, so this one is a sure winner. My husband is obsessed with this meatloaf and often asks that I make it when we are going to have company. As suggested in the recipe, you can use Panko instead of bread crumbs (no trans fat), but you can also used crushed up cornflakes for a gluten free option.
Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf
5. Satay Wraps. We have been making these for years and love them. We use coconut oil instead of vegetable oil. You can also use a peanut butter and/ or soy sauce substitute if you want. We sometimes use gluten free soy sauce, but have not yet
Satay Wraps
6. Moose's favorite meatballs. She is obsessed with them. I usually triple the recipe so that I can freeze them. To add even more nutrition, I usually grind up some carrots and throw them in the mix as well. You can't even taste them. I also make my own breadcrumbs using organic cornflakes. Be sure to use real Parmesan cheese for this (not the stuff in the unrefrigerated green container). Also, we broil these for about 20 minutes (flipping them over once halfway) instead of putting them in a boiling pan. It locks in the moisture without cooking and they freeze well.
Moose's Favorite Meatballs
7. Avocado Pesto (gluten and dairy free). This stuff is delicious. We are big pesto fans, but love this recipe because we can eat it without feeling guilty.
Avocado Pesto
8. Banana Peanut Butter "Ice Cream" from the folks at userealbutter.com. You have to try this one to believe it, but it really does taste like ice cream, only it is really good for you! The only ingredients are bananas and peanut butter. You can add other ingredients if you would like. I usually add chocolate chips. The recipe below uses cocoa power.
Banana Peanut Butter Ice Cream
9. Cilantro Lime Shrimp from skinnytaste.com. This is a very easy and delicious way to make shrimp. After marinating them, we throw them on the grill, but as the recipe suggests, you can also cook them on the stove top.
Cilantro Lime Shrimp
10. Quinoa Spinach Feta Toss. Okay, so I lied earlier. This is one that we did make up. It is one of our favorite summer go-tos when we have fresh tomatoes. We cook quinoa and then add cut up (raw) spinach (we used kale this summer because we had an abundance of it in our garden), cut up tomatoes, cut up avocados, and crumbled feta. We then mix olive oil, lemon juice (from fresh lemons), and a tiny bit of salt to make the dressing, which is mixed into the entire dish. Voila! A fresh and delicious summer salad.
I hope you enjoy some of these recipes, and, again, please share you favorites! As we get ready to start the new school year, it would be fun to have some new things to try.
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Clean Eating Tips and Advice
This totally strays from what my blog is about, but I have seen so much about "clean eating" lately that I felt the need to chime in. Gotta stay current.
First off, to all of my friends who have started to eat cleaner, good for you! What an awesome lifestyle change.
Secondly, I want to start out with a "disclaimer" of sorts. While eating clean and organically is very important to me, especially in the case of my daughter, it is not important to everyone. And that is okay. Maybe you don't eat as well as you would like, but you exercise daily. Or maybe you don't eat as well or exercise as much as you would like, but you work two jobs to provide for your family. All of those things are okay. Whether I am writing about pregnancy, toddler tantrums, or clean eating, I want my message to always be that you are doing just fine. All moms who love their kids are good moms and should never feel judged.
Josh and I started to "eat clean" when I found out that I was pregnant with the Moose back in April 2011. We had been trying to clean up our diet before that, but being pregnant was the kick in the butt that we needed. We switched to an organic diet, which we have stuck with ever since. I would say that 90% of our food is organic. We also gave up most processed foods, including things like salad dressing.
Since the Moose has started eating food, we have beencrazy vigilant about her diet. She eats strictly organic food, no gluten, and very few processed foods. Because of the time and effort that takes, Josh and I have seen a little lapse in our diets because we are just too tired to put the same amount of time and effort into ourselves. No biggie though; we do what we can.
So, as someone who has been doing this "clean" thing for awhile, I figured I would add to the discussion and share what I have learned. I am neither self-righteous nor I am a nutrition expert, so take this for what it is worth, which is just my opinion.
* Start by avoiding the "dirty dozen," which are the top 12 fruits and veggies that contain the most pesticides. Those are the foods that you should always buy organic. The same list (there are 50 fruits/veggies total) includes a "clean fifteen," which are the 15 fruits and veggies that contain the least amount of pesticides. Those are safe to buy conventional. The entire list can be found on ewg.org. There is also a handy app for your phone. This is a great tool because it allows you to switch to the most important organic foods, while giving your bank account a break. Dirty Dozen / Clean Fifteen
* Give it 6 months. Once you commit to organic for 6 months, you won't be able to go back to conventional produce. I am not kidding about this. The thought of buying conventional peppers literally gives me the same feeling as touching a public bathroom door handle does. It gets in your head.
* Give yourself a break. I would say that after almost 3 years of making a clean eating commitment, we are about 75/25 clean food/not so clean food. We eat healthy during the week and then relax on the weekend. Sometimes, if we are tired, we lapse during the week. It keeps us from going insane and gives us something to look forward to. Life without pizza is a life that that I am not willing to accept. Same thing with lapsing on vacation. I had a milkshake for lunch today. Not like a protein shake, but an actual dairy fat with coffee and chocolate chips milkshake. It beat the hell out of the salads that I have at home.
* Switch from vegetable oil to coconut oil. It is such an easy switch, but it can make a huge difference in your health. Costco sells a giant tub of organic coconut oil for around $16.00. It will last you forever. I love Costco.
* If it comes from a natural source, it is probably better for you. A perfect example: real butter is much better for you than any butter substitute that is really just a tub of chemicals that was made in a lab somewhere.
* Switch to grass fed meats. They are low in Omega-6s and high in Omega-3s making them much better for you than traditional meat. Because we live in the country, we buy directly from a local butcher. If that is not available, Costco sells organic, grass fed ground beef for a great price and it is conveniently packaged. Did I mention that I love Costco?
* Have good foods on hand at all times and buy a grill. We always have meat and fish in the freezer because it is easy to thaw and throw them on the grill when we are in a pinch. I also make homemade meatballs to throw in the freezer and we keep smoked wild caught salmon on hand at all times (it is Moose's favorite food).
* Realize that it sometimes sucks. When you first start eating clean, you feel great because you have made positive changes, which impact you both physically and mentally. Once you have made the change though, you see recipes on Pinterest for something that includes spaghetti and cheese and you literally start drooling. It sucks. Such is life.
* Real baked goods that contain flour, sugar, and butter are always better. I bake with peanut butter and bananas. It doesn't taste as good. Just accept that now and adjust your expectations.
* If you make it at home, it is probably better for you than anything you can buy at the store and definitely anything that you can find at a restaurant. This one kills me. I love carryout. If carryout did not exist, we would be rich.
* Best tip: you can't miss something that you have never had. Moose has never eaten gluten, so she can't miss pizza and pasta like I do. Human nature makes it almost impossible to take away what people have already had, so just get into the habit of never giving overly processed food to your children. The real challenge to this one is finding balance though because you also don't want your kid to be the weirdo who has never eaten a chicken nugget.
* Don't get all self-righteous about it. We all know the person who loves nothing more than to talk about his or her clean eating. HINT: if you got to this blog off of my Facebook page, you are NOT that person. I don't maintain personal relationship with people like that because no one wants to be judged. There is no shame in enjoying the occasional hot dog.
* Do the best that you can and don't beat yourself up. Sometimes we just don't have the energy to eat healthy. Those are the days that we have a frozen pizza for dinner. One night won't kill you. Plus, if you add organic arugula to the top of the frozen pizza, you can trick yourself into thinking it is a health food. It's a win-win.
So, there it is. A few of my healthy/clean eating tips for what they are worth. If you take one message from this blog post though, let it be this: It is my opinion that being extreme anything is never good, so I would advise you that moderation is best. Making a few key changes towards clean eating will make a huge difference in your health, just as keeping a few guilty pleasures will make a huge difference in your sanity and overall satisfaction.
First off, to all of my friends who have started to eat cleaner, good for you! What an awesome lifestyle change.
Secondly, I want to start out with a "disclaimer" of sorts. While eating clean and organically is very important to me, especially in the case of my daughter, it is not important to everyone. And that is okay. Maybe you don't eat as well as you would like, but you exercise daily. Or maybe you don't eat as well or exercise as much as you would like, but you work two jobs to provide for your family. All of those things are okay. Whether I am writing about pregnancy, toddler tantrums, or clean eating, I want my message to always be that you are doing just fine. All moms who love their kids are good moms and should never feel judged.
Josh and I started to "eat clean" when I found out that I was pregnant with the Moose back in April 2011. We had been trying to clean up our diet before that, but being pregnant was the kick in the butt that we needed. We switched to an organic diet, which we have stuck with ever since. I would say that 90% of our food is organic. We also gave up most processed foods, including things like salad dressing.
Since the Moose has started eating food, we have been
So, as someone who has been doing this "clean" thing for awhile, I figured I would add to the discussion and share what I have learned. I am neither self-righteous nor I am a nutrition expert, so take this for what it is worth, which is just my opinion.
* Start by avoiding the "dirty dozen," which are the top 12 fruits and veggies that contain the most pesticides. Those are the foods that you should always buy organic. The same list (there are 50 fruits/veggies total) includes a "clean fifteen," which are the 15 fruits and veggies that contain the least amount of pesticides. Those are safe to buy conventional. The entire list can be found on ewg.org. There is also a handy app for your phone. This is a great tool because it allows you to switch to the most important organic foods, while giving your bank account a break. Dirty Dozen / Clean Fifteen
Moose eating a freshly picked tomato
* Give it 6 months. Once you commit to organic for 6 months, you won't be able to go back to conventional produce. I am not kidding about this. The thought of buying conventional peppers literally gives me the same feeling as touching a public bathroom door handle does. It gets in your head.
* Give yourself a break. I would say that after almost 3 years of making a clean eating commitment, we are about 75/25 clean food/not so clean food. We eat healthy during the week and then relax on the weekend. Sometimes, if we are tired, we lapse during the week. It keeps us from going insane and gives us something to look forward to. Life without pizza is a life that that I am not willing to accept. Same thing with lapsing on vacation. I had a milkshake for lunch today. Not like a protein shake, but an actual dairy fat with coffee and chocolate chips milkshake. It beat the hell out of the salads that I have at home.
* Switch from vegetable oil to coconut oil. It is such an easy switch, but it can make a huge difference in your health. Costco sells a giant tub of organic coconut oil for around $16.00. It will last you forever. I love Costco.
* If it comes from a natural source, it is probably better for you. A perfect example: real butter is much better for you than any butter substitute that is really just a tub of chemicals that was made in a lab somewhere.
* Switch to grass fed meats. They are low in Omega-6s and high in Omega-3s making them much better for you than traditional meat. Because we live in the country, we buy directly from a local butcher. If that is not available, Costco sells organic, grass fed ground beef for a great price and it is conveniently packaged. Did I mention that I love Costco?
* Have good foods on hand at all times and buy a grill. We always have meat and fish in the freezer because it is easy to thaw and throw them on the grill when we are in a pinch. I also make homemade meatballs to throw in the freezer and we keep smoked wild caught salmon on hand at all times (it is Moose's favorite food).
* Real baked goods that contain flour, sugar, and butter are always better. I bake with peanut butter and bananas. It doesn't taste as good. Just accept that now and adjust your expectations.
* If you make it at home, it is probably better for you than anything you can buy at the store and definitely anything that you can find at a restaurant. This one kills me. I love carryout. If carryout did not exist, we would be rich.
* Best tip: you can't miss something that you have never had. Moose has never eaten gluten, so she can't miss pizza and pasta like I do. Human nature makes it almost impossible to take away what people have already had, so just get into the habit of never giving overly processed food to your children. The real challenge to this one is finding balance though because you also don't want your kid to be the weirdo who has never eaten a chicken nugget.
* Don't get all self-righteous about it. We all know the person who loves nothing more than to talk about his or her clean eating. HINT: if you got to this blog off of my Facebook page, you are NOT that person. I don't maintain personal relationship with people like that because no one wants to be judged. There is no shame in enjoying the occasional hot dog.
* Do the best that you can and don't beat yourself up. Sometimes we just don't have the energy to eat healthy. Those are the days that we have a frozen pizza for dinner. One night won't kill you. Plus, if you add organic arugula to the top of the frozen pizza, you can trick yourself into thinking it is a health food. It's a win-win.
Cheesesteak and chocolate. Not one of our better eating
days, but you gotta love vacation!
So, there it is. A few of my healthy/clean eating tips for what they are worth. If you take one message from this blog post though, let it be this: It is my opinion that being extreme anything is never good, so I would advise you that moderation is best. Making a few key changes towards clean eating will make a huge difference in your health, just as keeping a few guilty pleasures will make a huge difference in your sanity and overall satisfaction.
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