This is an old blog of mine from over 2 years ago. Seeing as my husbands health is a serious concern these days, I am taking our family nutrition to a whole new level. The black text is new input, my views have changed on a few things. Hope you enjoy :)
People always say "Knowledge is power" this is very true. But, knowledge can also be a burden in a way. Let me explain:
Before I had children I was a successful vegetarian for about a year. Then one day my husband and I were eating lunch at Ruby Tuesdays. He got up to use the restroom and when he returned to the table his cheeseburger was gone, I ate it. I couldn't help it, something in me needed to eat it. Well, that's how we found out we were going to be parents. My body needed those proteins and it didn't matter what it was, I was going to eat it. Since then I have tried to go back "Veggie" quite a few times, but have been unsuccessful. Translation: I was being lazy about my nutrition. Being a mom became all consuming & I let myself go. In more ways then just food... Have you SEEN my waist line?? AAHHHH!
One of the hard things about living in a very small town is your choices of food. The closest health food store is a 90 minute drive, and don't even get me started on healthy restaurants to choose from for dinner around here. McDonald's, Burger King, Taco Bell, Wendy's, etc. You get my point. Every time I attempt to eat the way I want to eat I am left with only a head of lettuce, and starving. Excuses, excuses, excuses! Do you hear the whining in this paragraph? I'm lame. The answer to my "small town problem" is easy. Have no clue why I didn't see it then. Step 1: get fresh produce from the local farms, and/or plant a garden. Step 2: cook at home!
Whenever I am enjoying a burger there is this huge part of me that feels so guilty. I am smarter then this. What is wrong? My main problem with the meat industry is how the animals are treated. Why do we need to torture in such an inhumane way just to be fed? Many years ago when men would go out and hunt for food they would only kill what they needed, and use every bit of that animal. Native Americans were experts at this. But now it's heartless, and even though the food may be good, every time we do eat meat we are contributing to these horrible acts that go on today in slaughter houses. Be advised, I wrote this prior to "Food, Inc." WOW was that an eye opening documentary! And as of late my husband being in the hospital has also been a huge motivator to change my eating habits. Not so much guilt, but necessity.
My husband is a meat and potatoes kind of guy, he is also the main cook in our home. What's a girl to do? (Not anymore! Red meat and starch is a NO NO for people with heart problems. He is now a salad and fish guy.) I need to find a happy medium. I need to find a Vegetarian cook book for people who can't cook. Oh and have no resources for ingredients other then a small town grocery store. Knowledge is power, yes it is. I have seen things about this industry, I have learned about the health benefits to eliminating meat from my diet. I consider myself an animal loving environmentalist. I just can't figure out why I am having such a tough time with this one. Any thoughts? K, as much as I understand, and sympathize with the "old me," I am no longer seeking guidance on how to do something I want to do, I'm living it. So what are my new challenges with food? Ingredient labels!!
My husband can't eat a lot of Sodium, Trans fat and Saturated fat. Yeah well those 3 ingredients are in EVERYTHING! The best way to keep these things out of his diet is to eat Vegan (eating no animal or dairy products at all.) This is HARD. So we're going to take baby steps...
We will keep fish in our diet, it's like #1 on the heart healthy list of what to eat. Egg whites, at this point i'm not ready to lose my wonderful yummy eggs. And grilled Chicken breast. We can do so many meals with chicken and our kids love it. Very limited Cheese & butter, slowly eliminating it all together. And of course we are eating TONS of fruits and veggies.
Hummmm. Fish, chicken, eggs, cheese and butter. Doesn't sound Vegan at all! Moral of the story is we are trying. We are making permanent changes & I fear if we do a 180 degree change it won't last. I think in the end if we are eating a vegetarian diet with fish every now and then I will be ecstatic!
I used to think the whole "Knowledge is power" part about food meant knowing how the animals are treated, and the processes our food goes through to get onto our table. But I have to say as important as that is, knowledge is power can sum up finding out my husband has heart issues. We have the knowledge now we are taking the power and eating right.
Sheesh! Sorry, I didn't realize this post had gotten so long. Hope I kept you entertained. I would love any recipes you would like to share for healthy yummy food :)
au revoir, adieu, ciao, till next time...
