A Little Detour.....

On Friday, March 19, my husband and I attempted for the second time to take a little honeymoon trip. That evening, after arriving in southern Louisiana, I was admitted to the hospital and remained there for 9 days. I only returned home this past Sunday.

Hospitals do not serve much "real food". I quickly realized that the fried egg resembled a real egg more than the scrambled egg, which seemed to be an egg-like substance. Other than fresh fruit and some of the raw veggies available in the "salad" section of the menu, I did not have many "real food" choices. I did the best I could with what was offered. All in all, it wasn't the end of the world and my health issues (which were not food or diet related) were paramount, so I did what I could to eat well.

I will say the food I was served seemed to be better than the fare at the cafeteria that my family "enjoyed". The portions were reasonable and even on the small side, which was helpful. Milk, coffee, and iced tea were available with all meals. I went easy on the salad dressing, if I used any at all. I tried to have raw/fresh fruits and/or veggies at each meal.

The hubby was not able to stay with me and had to return home for work. He fared much better. He continued the real food lifestyle at home and without my prompting. He has determined that no one sells organic yellow squash - it just doesn't exist. I assured him that I'll grow some in the garden so we will have our own. He has also compared selection and prices to discover that our Super Target has most of what we want to buy at good prices.

Before being admitted to the hospital, I had lost about 8 pounds. I gained about 4-5 in the hospital. I've lost 1 since being discharged. Hubby says his pants are fitting better but he thinks he has hit a plateau. Exercise will be our next lifestyle addition, I suspect.

West Wind Farms

I found West Wind Farms on the internet while searching for locally raised and grass-fed beef, pork, and chicken. The farm is not really close to us, but they do deliver to a location about a mile from our house. I took that as a sign! Today I placed my first order with them for boneless pork chops, a boston butt roast, a whole chicken, split chicken breasts, salted cultured butter, organic grassfed medium cheddar, one dozen farm fresh eggs, and smoked pork bacon.

West Wind also offers a veggie CSA, along with other CSAs for their meat products.

Since I do not know if I am ready for the financial commitment of a CSA and I know I don't have any storage for that much meat (yet), I am glad West Wind sells meat in individual cuts. It also allows us to "try before we buy". We can sample the various meat products and decide if signing up for a CSA is right for us.

I'm looking forward to trying the sure-to-be tasty items from West Wind - delivery is this Saturday! I can't wait!

Two Weeks of Life Changing Actions

I suppose I should stop calling the change in eating an "experiment" because we are not experimenting. We are actually DOING it and have no plans to stop. I've decided to call our decision to eat real food our "Life Changing Actions".

Finding real foods is still challenging but it just requires a little more research and the willingness to go where the food is.

I will say I was quite shocked at the prices at Whole Foods (and the maddening crowd). A friend said someone he knows calls it "Whole Paycheck" and I have to agree with that description. However, our Whole Foods carries grass-fed beef from Georgia (as opposed to Australia or Uruguay). I bought a large rib eye and a shoulder roast. I also picked up a large wild-caught tuna steak and some yummy sauce. I found whole milk kefir, too, as well, as whipped organic butter. We tried some caseless organic sausages that were very flavorful while having a short ingredient list on the package. So, I bought 2 beef items, 1 tuna steak, 3 dairy products, 2 packages of sausage, and a jar of store-brand organic peanut butter for $80. Yep, EIGHTY BUCKS.

Hubby grilled the rib eye last night and it was DEVINE! Tuna steak is marinating in the yummy sauce for tonight. The whole milk kefir is extremely tangy and so good with fruit and sprinkling of turbinado sugar. The organic peanut butter has a wonderful nutty flavor and is not oily.

So, for $80, I don't think I wasted any money. I do have to wonder how people with less monetary resources could afford to eat "real food" when the overly processed stuff is so much cheaper?

My husband and I stopped at Kroger on our way home last night and we both noticed the processed food-laden cart of the lady in front of us. We watched as the cashier scanned yogurts, packaged mass-produced meats, pre-made cookie dough, and other "middle of the store" items. Later we discussed how we both noticed what she was buying and how we used to have the same items in our cart.

It really does not take long for your body to go back to real foods. I would argue that our bodies crave real foods and we don't realize it. We eat more and more of the processed stuff because our bodies are craving the nutrients the collective "we" don't get from food any longer.

We, as a couple, are eating less food. We are eating smaller portions. We are eating a greater variety of fruits, vegetables, and meats. Despite the smaller portions, we are not hungry. We are putting good food in our bodies and our bodies are responding in kind.

My desire for snacks - especially sugary snacks - had diminished. My desire for sodas is gone. My desire for a big, greasy hamburger is gone. In fact, the thought of my formerly-beloved Sonic burger makes me feel a little queasy. Processed items that once seemed delicious are lacking now.

I have lost 7 pounds since we started this new eating lifestyle. I have not counted a calorie, worried about a carbohydrate, thought about sodium or fat content. It's not that those things are not important, but 100 years ago the nutritional breakdown of the foods people ate were not commonly known and people simply didn't worry about it. People lived healthy lives and eat healthy foods without knowing the nutritional breakdown of what they were eating.

I have started planning for a vegetable garden. I will plant blueberries and blackberries this year so I can have my own fruit in a few years. I am contemplating dwarf apple trees. I am still sourcing local grass-fed beef.

The change is really not that difficult. It is more a change in how we think about what we eat and where that food comes from and what has been done to it before it gets to us. Pretty simple stuff, really. Basic and simple.

"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." - Michael Pollan

Real Food for the Weekend

Eating real foods is much easier on the weekend. Being at home, we have the opportunity to control the menu and prepare the food.

Saturday morning the hubby and I got up and went to Fresh Market and Easy Way to see what we could find.

Fresh Market has an impressive meat department! We decided to get some prepared (gasp!) sausages, hamburger patties, and stuffed chicken breasts. There are somethings that I may try to make at home but I don't think I'll always be able to make everything myself. If we are going to eat prepared foods, at least we can choose items we feel are fresher and made with better ingredients.

The sausages contained chicken or turkey with various seasonings (spinach, feta, asiago, garlic, etc). The burgers consisted of high grade, less fat ground beef mixed with (1) bleu cheese, (2) bacon, sundried tomatoes, and cheese, and (3) swiss-steak style. Hubby grilled all those and we all tried some of each item. They were all really, really good!

The chicken breasts were stuffed with (1) crab and shrimp, (2) asparagus and crab, and (3) feta and chives. Those were all excellent, too.

Last night we had more grilled meat. Hubby grilled salmon that had been in a marinade overnight. He doesn't care much for salmon but declared it was good and the marinade had taken away the "fishy" taste that he doesn't like so much.

Our side dishes were steamed broccoli, orzo with onions and garlic, steamed baby carrots, steamed summer squash/zucchini, and balsamic vinegar rosemary roasted fingerling potatoes. We did have canned corn. That was the only commercially canned/prepared vegetable we ate this weekend.

I made a chocolate cake from scratch this weekend with homemade cream cheese frosting. It turned out extremely well! The cake is dense and rich and the cream cheese frosting goes really well with it! We haven't gobbled it up yet, either! The cake recipe is from the Country Living website and they call it "Basic Chocolate Cake".

So far, so good!!!