Answer to my most frequently asked Question...What do you eat?

What do you eat? This is my most commonly asked question.  

At first I want to say, what don’t we eat, we eat everything?? 

But then I remember…..

I remember when I thought I was eating healthy when I ate a Lean Cuisine every day for lunch….. I remember when I thought having a low fat (sometimes sugar free, yikes!) Yoplait yogurt was healthy…or thinking having Wheat Thins and reduced fat cheese spread was a wholesome snack….

Now, knowing what I know… I can never look at those seemingly “healthy” snacks /meals again.

Yes all of those things might help you lose weight, might curb a craving, and might be a better choice than you once were making before, but what is that food doing for you?   Is it even helping you lose weight?  Do you feel good when you eat it?  Is it serving you or taking from you? Is it full of toxins, dyes, and processed who knows what?  Is it part of the circle of life? Do you recognize everything on the label as something you can hunt, grow, or gather?    

Would you break it down ingredient by ingredient and eat each one separately? Does it pass the REAL FOOD test?

Seriously, ask yourself those questions the next time you: go grocery shopping, look in your pantry, and search pinterest for your next recipe idea.  Would you REALLY eat everything that is on that label if it was broken down?  Broken down, ingredient by ingredient, put in bowls (if possible), and served to you. I wonder what a plate of Soy Lecithin tastes like? Aka one of the top 10 ingredients used in processed foods.  What is Soy Lecithin anyways?

From www.Preventdisease.com:

"Soybean lecithin comes from sludge left after crude soy oil goes through a "degumming" process. It is a waste product containing solvents and pesticides and has a consistency ranging from a gummy fluid to a plastic solid. Before being bleached to a more appealing light yellow, the color of lecithin ranges from a dirty tan to reddish brown. Historian William Shurtleff reports that the expansion of the soybean crushing and soy oil refining industries in Europe after 1908 led to a problem disposing the increasing amounts of fermenting, foul-smelling sludge. German companies then decided to vacuum dry the sludge, patent the process and sell it as "soybean lecithin." Scientists hired to find some use for the substance cooked up more than a thousand new uses by 1939."

"One of the biggest problems associated with soy lecithin comes from the origin of the soy itself. The majority of soy sources in the world are now genetically modified (GM). Researchers have clearly identified GM foods as a threat to the environment, pollution of soils and a long-term threat to human health with links to of the world with unnatural genetic material that may have unknown long-term consequences with links to decreased fertility, immunological alterations in the gut and the exacerbation and creation of allergies."

 Ok.... I digress....

The point about the Soy Lecithin is that it is in everything processed (ok I might exaggerate, but seriously look next time).  In our house we have tried to eliminate all processed foods, we  avoid foods that come in a box!

OK OK ENOUGH ABOUT SOY LECITHIN – you get it... it's bad…now get back to the real question, 

What DO you eat?

We eat Real Food

Meats/Protein

These are high quality, organic (if possible), grass fed, and best if bought from the person who raised the animal!  Now if you can’t find this, then buy your meat from a reputable source, as close to its natural form as possible (aka bone in, skin on)

• Chicken
• Beef
• Pork
• Turkey (we do eat ground turkey)
• Goat (did you know this is the #1 most consumed meat in the world!?)
• Lamb
• Wild Caught Salmon and other fish
• Shellfish
• Venison (if we are lucky)
• Organ meats – liver, gizzards, heart, etc
• Broth - made from the bones of all these meats - super food!
• Bone Marrow
• Bacon, lots of bacon
• Eggs – pastured, fresh local eggs – look on craigslist or ask around, there are fresh eggs for sale everywhere and it is on my list of “MUST BUY from the Local Guy” because it is so easy!  

Fruits and Veggies

Eat them all! Fresh, local, organic (if possible and especially if on the dirty dozen list), and best if bought from the person who grew it! Venture out to your local farmers market; get the kids involved in the shopping.  Having them help choose the items will help them try new foods.  Find a local farmers market here http://www.farmersmarket.com

**Potatoes – we choose to only eat sweet potatoes and yams, we have found the hi-glycemic index in “regular” potatoes does not do our body well.  Now if you found a local farmer raising heirloom style purple, gold, and other yummy potatoes, I would go for it.

Fats

• Coconuts and Coconut Oil
• Avocados – lots of avocados, I probably eat at least  ½ to 1 whole avocado a day.
• Nuts (this does not include peanuts as they are not really a nut)
• Olive Oil
• REAL butter from a local dairy or made from raw milk
• Bacon Grease
• Schmaltz (from a grass fed source)
• Lard (from a grass fed source)

Fermented Foods

This is such an under rated food group in this country, I will be posting more about this soon.

• Sauerkraut – homemade or Bubbies Brand http://www.bubbies.com/prod_sauerkraut.shtm
• Pickles - homemade or Bubbies Brand http://www.bubbies.com/prod_pure_kosher_dills.shtm
• Kombucha - homemade or store bought (just watch for sugars exceeding 5g/serving)
• Yogurt – homemade from raw milk (yes I make yogurt, it is super easy, I will post about this soon) or store bought, plain, full fat, with live active cultures, no added sugar
• Kefir - homemade (we make this as well, we will do a post soon) from raw milk or store bought plain, with live active cultures, no added sugar

Drinks

• Clean water -drink from a glass or stainless steel container - I will save my rant post about bottled water for another time
• Kombucha – homemade or store bought (just watch for sugars exceeding 5grams or more per serving) 
• Bone Broth - homemade broth/stock - quickest way to really heal your gut naturally
• Unsweeted Herbal Tea or Coffee – hot or iced, could be sweeten with raw honey and raw milk   
• Raw milk (sparingly) - http://www.realmilk.com/real-milk-finder
• Almond Milk
• Coconut Milk
• Wine (lots of good wine, of course I recommend my parent's Tenbrink Vineyards)

Sweet Stuff

• Raw Honey – find this locally, you want raw, unpasteurized honey.  Local honey will help you with your seasonal airborne allergies too. Ask where the bees where located when they produced the honey you are buying.
• Real Maple Syrup
• Black Strap Molasses
• Dried Fruit (sparingly)
• Palm Sugar
• Chocolate - high quality, must be at least 60% cacao, preferably dark chocolate
• Dates

Herbs/Spices/condiments

• Spices - anything goes here, just READ THE LABELS. Try to buy the spices individually (fresh is best) and make your own mixes
• Mustard
• wheat free soy sauce (Tamari)
• homemade ketchup
• homemade BBQ sauce
• oyster sauce
• fish sauce
• olive oil mayonnaise – best if homemade or lacto fermented 
• Tomato sauce – look for brands that are lower in sugar (but no fake sugar added) and gluten free… yes they add wheat into tomato sauce… WHY??? Grrrr….
• real salsa
• real pesto
• curry paste 

I hope this list inspires you to focus on what you CAN eat and realize it is all about simplifying your grocery list. 

(photo source)

All you need to do when you go grocery shopping is:

1. Hit the produce section (stay here the longest), fill your cart with everything that looks good that day.  That is of course if you are not signed up with a CSA or heading to the farmers market this week.
2. Hold your breath when you walk through the devil area the bakery that separates the produce isle from the meat department...why do they do that to us??? You think I am kidding... I look down, sprint and hold my breath to make it through that evil, evil area! I am sure people look at me like...ok who's the crazy with the kid in the Ergo carrier in isle 1.   
3. Hit the meat department, we get a mix of chicken, beef, pork, turkey, and fish for the week.  
4. Swing by for a couple dozen eggs
5. Then finish off in the yogurt section if you are going to include plain, yogurt with active cultures.    

Be prepared to get funny comments and questions from the checker... here are my fav's

Do YOU eat all of this?

Ohh.... you must have a tortoise (yes she really said this!)

Ummm... what is this? when they hold up a parsnip, swiss chard, or bunch of kale

Why are you buying all this "stuff"

One lady in line seriously asked me... "you don't feed HIM this do you?" pointing to our cart full of AMAZING groceries, then to our son.  I looked at her and said... "yup right after he breastfeeds!"

Seriously folks, it is time for a change, we need to get back to our roots, back to eating FOOD, REAL FOOD, not make believe food that has been altered to look and taste "like food". Do it for yourself, do it for your kids, do it for our future generations, do it because you CAN!

I promise to help you along the way; to post recipes, to show you it is possible to change the way you and your family eat.  Let's get healthy together.

Are you in??
 Leave me a comment below to tell me how you are going to get started!