The Whole New World of Whole Foods

As much as I love the grocery store “Whole Foods” I am not talking about them, per say, I am talking about the idea of Whole Foods.  This is defined, by my good friends at Wikipedia, as “foods that are unprocessed and unrefined, or processed and refined as little as possible, before being consumed. Whole foods typically do not contain added ingredients, such as salt, carbohydrates, or fat.” A world of food exists out there that isn’t mass produced in a factory that spits out pollution, uses up energy stores or packages every minimum quantity in maximum packaging that fills our land fills.  Isles and isles of grocery stores in the United States, and around the world, are filled with crap.  Pardon the frankness, but it is true.  That stuff is as far from natural and God grown as you can get!  But, when you don’t know to look deeper and start to peel away the layers of advertising and misinformation surrounding us, you give in.  You just go and grab those orange cheesy concocted salty snacks or the meats and cheeses produced by the big names.  Everyone else is doing it, why shouldn’t I?  Right?  But, the last part is crucial…  “why shouldn’t I?”  This is what we need to ask.  There is SO much information out there, you just have to look.  The books, shows, documentaries, websites and blogs devoted to this topic are numerous and people, like me, are discovering its benefits.  I have found one website to be very helpful and I thought I would pass it on to my readers as well.  www.100daysofrealfood.com has amazing recipes and information about real food (aka whole food) and the why’s and what can I do and how to do it questions and answers.  Check it out!

I have been blogging lately about our family’s food revolution over the last few years and the Whole Foods idea is our newest venture and it has turned into the biggest, most eye opening one yet.  How often do you look at your food labels?  Not just the fat and calorie count, but the ingredient label?  When you look how many things can you pronounce and recognize?  Is that something, if by itself, you would go and order a glass of and drink it down?   Probably not.  I am guessing it would have a label on it saying “harmful if swallowed” and “keep away from children”.  So, why eat it in our food?  Like I said before we are about a 90% organic household, but even our organics had things in there I didn’t know and a lot of added sugars and natural preservatives that I can do without.  Just because it is organic doesn’t mean it is the best choice for us.  Organic white flour is a great example.  White flour is nothing but carbs and sugar and lacks all of the awesome nutrients of a whole wheat flour.  This was mass produced ages ago because whole wheat flour wouldn’t keep as well on shelves, but guess what guys???  We have refrigerators now!  How cool is that?  We don’t have to sacrifice that anymore. 

Bottom line is you want to know what you are eating.  You are what you eat right?  You get out what you put in and I want the best things going in so I can have the most energy, concentration and effort coming out.  I want to be there for my kids today, tomorrow and as many days as I can in the future and set a good example for them.  There is a lot of information out there and some contradicts each other and it can be confusing, but that is only because there is a lot of research going into this field right now and people are learning more everyday.  Learning that processed foods we have created are not as good for us as the ones nature provides for us.  Keep educating yourself, read and explore you food options and you might find you are ready to abandon some things in your pantry and try some thing new.  

I have found such a weight off my shoulders since we have started adopting this.  I don’t worry about calories and fat counts, non-fat verses low-fat varieties and things because the truth is that we are naturally given a very balanced diet, we just need to use it.  I had a prof in college that I worked for that used the KISS principle often.  “Keep It Simple Stupid”.  I have always remembered his rants on the topic.  Many agriculture companies have gone and made something that is simple much, much more complicated and screwed everything up in the process…including the health of the people and animals affected.  You don’t have to obsess about food, just enjoy it.  Enjoy what the earth provides without the over refining and processing, without the chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides.  We, as creatures, are all made a little different as are all the fruits and vegetables in this world.  A basket of tomatoes should include an array of different color shades and shapes and not just cloned monochromatic red#5 globes.    

(Our garden in mid July)

(Lana harvesting some peas)

 

Get out there and plant a garden.  You say you don’t have time?  Neither do I, but we have one anyway and we try.  If you really don’t have a desire for your own garden there are CSA’s (community supported agriculture) that you can become a part of and get local, fresh produce from them on a regular basis.  Check into them for your area.  We can go out in the mornings and pick our vegi’s for lunch that day and my daughters think it is amazing…  because it IS amazing.  To watch a small seed you place in the earth turn into a massive plant taller than daddy is, in fact, amazing.  This year we planted, corn, green beans, sweet peas, carrots, zucchini, watermelon and tomatoes.  My husband and I do NOT have green thumbs, but we are trying and we will continue to try and fail along the way, but that is the only way we will learn.  Before this summer I had no idea how corn grew.  I have passed leagues of corn fields, but I never knew where corn grew on these plants and now I do because I grew some and my girls know too.  Embarrassing I know, but true!

(Our first corn!)

(We had to pull a lot of carrots to make room for the watermelon plants to take over, and they have)

(This was all his idea and making)

(It isn't much, but it is a start!)

We also make our own whole wheat bread now along with tortilla’s, pancakes, noodles, tomato sauce, veggie burgers, granola cereal, granola bars, mashed potatoes, jam and soups.  These are all things we previously bought at the stores and now I make at home.  I have never considered myself a cook by any stretch, but it is because I never really gave myself a chance and I have loved it.  I cook when my girls are awake and I do it with them.  I want to show them what eating is about.  It is taking the things we are given in nature and experimenting and discovering new flavors.  They love it.  The chairs are constantly pulled up to the island counter.

(Brian making some zucchini bread with the girls)

(Zucchini pie from scratch...even the crust!)

(I couldn't even get a picture before pieces were missing!)

This is an ongoing adventure because we are always discovering new things and experimenting with new combinations and challenges.  I am not perfect, by any means, and I will succumb to the industry from time to time when dining out or at a friends house, but as a whole we are transitioning again in our relationship with food to a more wholesome side of life.

(Pajama Pancake Day with some home made granola!)