Giving up my daily crutch...

Since I had my second child I have had the worse craving for a sugary drink. I craved it while pregnant and wanted it even after. He turned three in June and I still crave that sugary drink every day. It is worse now, as I use it to see me through the day.

I am not a coffee drinker at all. I cannot stand the smell of the stuff and often wonder why people would drink it. I have friends who thrive on it every day and need to have that first drink of coffee in the morning to function.

I prefer to drink water and on occasion tea (green tea) and some juices.

None of these are my new crutch, that sweet sugary drink that is full of caffeine and sugar.

I cannot stand to even drink flavoured waters and knowing that this sugary drink has now become my go to is bothersome. What use to be an occasional drink when out visiting friends, family or out dinning has become something I feel I need to survive.

Not anymore!

Today I stand my ground and say no to Pepsi and Coca Cola. I will no longer consume these products on daily basis, no matter how much I crave it now. I need to break the habit if I want to become healthier.

I have to be the role model my children see during this journey.

Good bye Coke.

Good bye Pepsi.

Hello water!

October 26-31 Meal Plan

This week was a bit tricky to plan for. We have company coming from out of town who are bringing one meal with them and I was not sure if they were staying for another meal or not. This weeks dinners are as follows.

October 26 - Sweet and Sour Pork (already posted on Adventures in Cooking Gluten Free)
October 27 - Gluten Free Lasagna with garlic bread and garden salad (prepared by my mom and I will only be eating the lasagna and salad)
October 28 - Stuffed Pepper Soup
October 29 - Creamy Mozzarella Chicken Bake with a garden salad
October 30 - Gluten Free Beef Ragu
October 31 - Chicken Pot Pie Biscuits with a vegetable

As I make each meal, a review from my family will be posted along with what I think of the dish after I convert so I can eat it safely. Feel free to venture over to Adventures in Cooking Gluten Free for my recipes and sources of inspiration.

I am now off to bake a cake for my company tomorrow, gluten free of course but sadly from a box.

October 19-24 Meal Plan

As part of my movement towards healthier food choices, I have also started to meal plan our family dinners. Sometimes my family helps me make the choices of what to have for dinner and other times I am met with great resistance and end up planning on my own. By meal planning, I am forcing others to stick to the grocery list and creating healthier meals for everyone to enjoy.

I have decided to share my weekly meal plans with everyone and perhaps it will aid in seeing where I can make even better choices. With that said, the following was planned for dinners during this week.

October 19 ~ Crock Pot Beef Stew
October 20 ~ Chicken Tacos
October 21 ~ Pork Souvlaki with Greek Salad
October 22 ~ Turkey stuffed Peppers
October 23 ~ Steak, potatoes and corn
October 24 ~ Salmon, baked french fries and mixed vegetables (I had rice instead of fries)

Now, I must add that this has already been changed. My husband arrived home supper late on Monday and the little one has been very irritable (cutting teeth), so instead of chicken tacos we had left over beef stew since all it required was warming up. I eliminated the pork souvlaki and bumped chicken tacos (I could not find the pork tenderloin while out shopping and did not feel like making a special trip just for the meat).

If you wish to try the recipes that I am using please see the page Adventures in Cooking Gluten Free. Everything we eat will be shared there, even if we did not like it after I made it safe for me to eat.

Enjoy the rest of your night.

New Pages and a New Blog

Over on the right you will notice a list of pages. These will take you to various articles that I have found useful in helping me make better choices. I use to have these as individual posts, but I needed to make them easily accessible.

At first, I had each individual article listed on a separate page. I have now reconsidered this option and placing similar articles under one page. I feel this makes it look less cluttered on the list.

At the same time, I realized that I needed to have a separate page for each recipe I try and alter to fit my dietary needs. If I were to put each recipe on my posts, I would eventually become frustrated trying to find a certain recipe among all the other items I have posted on here.

The new blog just for the food I am eating is called Adventures in Cooking Gluten Free, you can find it on the list of pages right under the option for Home. I am going to move my post about the pesto I made over the weekend to that blog.

For now I leave you to enjoy the rest of your day, while I tend to my little ones and make more baby food and clean out my cupboards of all the junk food my husband and children enjoy eating rather than the healthier choices.

To Pesto or Not to Pesto....

It is my hope to move my family from a lifestyle of processed, easy to obtain foods by just opening a jar or a box into a more healthy fresh make it yourself lifestyle, even if it takes a bit more time to prepare. With that, I grabbed more fresh fruits, vegetables and even herbs and spices.

Last night, I tried to make a homemade pesto. I received a lovely bunch of cilantro and parsley, in my organic fruits and vegetable box. I took to Google to look for a recipe and came upon one that looked promising.

I found the following

Cilantro Parsley Pesto

Ingredients

2 cups loosely packed fresh cilantro sprigs

2 cups loosely packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

1 large garlic clove, minced

3/4 teaspoon coarse salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1/4 cup olive oil

Directions

1. Pulse herbs, garlic, salt and pepper in a food processor until finely chopped. With machine running, add oil in a slow, steady stream. Pesto can be refrigerated in an airtight container up to 2 days.

I obtained this beauty from Martha Stewart's website. Figuring she knew what she was talking about since she makes her living this way.

I was wrong.

It was easy to prepare and did not take to long. But something was missing and a flavour over powered it. Could I pin point what was missing, no. Could I figure out what flavour was over powering, no.

My family ate it, with the exception of the 6 month old and the 3 year old who said it was gross after one tiny bite. When asked what the others thought of it, my husband and 15 year old both said it was missing something.

Will I make this recipe again? Who knows, but the only way it will be made again is with the addition of added elements that I will have to toy with until it is perfect.

Realization Sets In

Over the past few months it has been an endless battle to get my children to make healthier choices. 

My husband as well can be included in this battle.

I try to get them to choose fruits and vegetables over cookies, chips and other junkyard items.

Do I succeed? Not a chance.

I get angry and blame my husband for continually buying the garbage foods. I blame him for the poor eating habits of my children.

Reality set in today as I prepared a few weeks worth of food in our freezer for our youngest child.

I control what she eats and how it is prepared.

I choose organic fruits and vegetables.

I choose to make her food over buying the pre-made jars of baby food.

Why am I blaming my husband when I allow him to still buy the garbage we are painstakingly trying to eat healthier and teach better eating habits and life choices.

Reality is, I am more to blame. I make good choices with food introductions and some where down the line I become lax and allow for poor habits to take shape.

Today, I take a stand and insist that the garbage no longer be bought. I will purge the cupboards of the garbage and rid my family of the temptations. Even if it means more home cooking and better for you baked goods.