What I've been eating lately

I got very absorbed in my first week of summer and managed to barely post! Part of my absorption, though, has been taking care of things around the house which includes cooking and eating good things!

I went to Trader Joe's last week to pick up just a few things for the recipes I was planning on cooking, but, as always, left with more than I planned! Their fruit just looked so good that I ended up getting grapes, strawberries, and blueberries. Add to that the cantaloupe, peaches, and pluots that came in my Full Circle Farm box, and I've been enjoying lots of sweet treats. I made a fruit salad and then demolished it in less than a day! Hot weather makes that cool, sweet mixture just call out to me.

In the last couple of weeks, I made the Veggie Burgers from The Great American Detox Diet, the Crunchy Chicken Salad Wraps from Weight Watchers, and a Kale and Bell Pepper Strudel from the Moosewood cookbook, all delicious. The strudel is a bit misnamed, I think, since it uses filo dough and looks much more like spanikopita. It was relatively easy to make, even with never having used filo before, and it was quite good. I actually had leftovers from that tonight. I coupled it with some Moroccan Roasted Veggies over bulghur from the Moosewood cookbook, which was delicious. Add some fresh cantaloupe, and it was a great dinner!

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One thing I've been struggling with and know that I will continue to this summer is all the celebrations and cookouts that come along with it. I agree with the commenter "Uncle Paulie" that said that you sometimes have to give into those cravings and really just enjoy what's in front of you. The problem is, I seem to crave it all and give into all of it! I tend to equate food with relaxation and celebrating, and need to be really mindful of that. It's an ongoing process, you know?

I am managing to be really slow in my reading which is very unusual for me, and so had to return In Defense of Food to the library. I'll put it back on my hold list and see when I get it. I also picked up Food Inc., which is evidently a collection of essays that are a companion to the movie. I'll let you know what I learn!

Cold Turkey

As I've wavered in my resolve to avoid things that I know are bad for me, I've definitely discovered that I have next to no willpower when it comes to sweets. Especially chocolate and very especially chocolate ice cream. I've tried to eat them in moderation, but just can't seem to. I have a bite of something sweet and suddenly I'm craving, and indulging in, more. So, back to avoiding refined sugars again. It wasn't that hard before, and I just need to stick with it.

Tonight for dinner we had the Hearty Vegetarian Stew from the Weight Watchers Turn Around cookbook. This is one of our old favorites: it's so easy and delicious. It's #19 here.

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I paired it, sort of randomly, with a curried quinoa from the Moosewood cookbook.
Very easy to make, and quite tasty. The second Jeremy tried it, he said it reminded him of biryani, and I agree!

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Oooh... pretty colors!

I figured that since it's been a while since I posted that I need to bring a peace offering. So, I bring you some photos of food I've made lately.

This was a portobella mushroom topped with brie and sun-dried tomatoes on a bed of bulghur. I brushed the mushroom with balsamic and pre-cooked it a bit in the oven before adding the brie. I added a little Italian spice mix to the bulghur. It was all delicious!

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This was a great stirfry with tofu, red cabbage, kale, and asparagus. I served it over brown rice, and it was delicious. It just tasted so clean and healthy and good, and I'll definitely make it again.

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Tonight's dinner was Corn, Potato, and Mushroom Soup from The Great American Detox Diet. I randomly paired it with a Roasted Veggie Quinoa salad from the same book. It's one of my favorite recipes.

For the soup, I used red potatoes and cremini mushrooms. A wonderful, hearty soup for a cold Memorial Day Weekend!

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Here are the onions, carrots, beets, and parsnip all cut up and ready to be roasted.

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This is the finished product:

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I spent some time making a list of meals today and doing a little shopping. I'll post that tomorrow in the "Meals and Checklists" section. I'm using the Moosewood cookbook this time around, and I'm really looking forward to it.

Cause and effect? Or just correlation?

One of the things that stuck out to me in Food, Inc. was the statement that poverty is the greatest predictor of obesity. They really didn't go into the causes of that, but the film seemed to imply that it's due at least in part to the government's subsidies of corn and other crops. After I posted that in my notes on the movie, I had an interesting discussion with a friend about the potential causes of this correlation. Suffice it to say that there seem to be many forces at work.

In that same vein, today I read this article about pricey grocery stores and obesity. Basically, a survey was done of different grocery stores and their patrons' BMI. Whole Foods, one of the pricier stores, was found to only have 4% obese customers (BMI over 30). In contrast, Albertson's, the lower-cost chain, was found to have 40% obese customers. The article then gives the basic idea that people that shop at the pricier stores are more willing to buy more expensive, whole foods and are therefore thinner.

Because I am a masochist, I read many of the comments on the story. In the spirit of finger-pointing that is so prevalent in our society in this day and age, the commenters bounce back and forth between "It's their own fault they're fat!" and "The government/big business is making us fat!" without offering up any real insights or solutions. Not that I expected any treatises on maximizing health on a budget; I guess the average MSN reader isn't thinking about it on that large of a scale (no pun intended.)

As I said above, I think there are many forces at work here. Larger, cheaper chains like Albertson's do make shopping on a limited budget much easier. They have larger sales and lower prices in general. I can see that someone trying to feed a family on a small budget would do well to shop there. If poverty is a high indicator of obesity, then it stands to reason that a store with lower prices will see more people that are obese.

That said, people that are shopping at PCC or Whole Foods aren't necessarily willing to spend more money for the same exact product. What they're buying at PCC is usually organic and sometimes local. Plus, PCC has a larger selection of fruits and veggies than does Albertson's. So, the argument that it's just rich people spending more money on a bunch of conventionally-farmed celery doesn't hold water. Not entirely, anyway.

I do think processed food does have a lot to do with it. Processed foods are not necessarily cheaper than say some brown rice and broccoli, but it gives you the idea that you're getting a meal in a box and I can see how that would be appealing. Albertson's is rife with those products and all of the additives and fattening ingredients that go with them. On the other hand, PCC has less processed food, and that that it has tends to be better for you, with whole grains and less sugar. So, people buying there would be consuming fewer calories and fat grams, theoretically.

I also have to admit there's probably a status thing about shopping at PCC too. I honestly like being able to say that the potluck dish I bring is from there. It would make sense that people that seek out such status in their shopping would also want to have status in the way they look. Not that people that shop at Albertson's don't care about how they look, of course, but I've met a few people that shop at PCC and carry out their little reusable bag like it's a Coach purse. No one I know, of course. Just sayin'.

Anyway, it's interesting that they're looking at this. It seems like every day there are more and more such articles in the news. Obesity and the way we eat are always in the news, and I think that's a good thing.

Maybe I should be dressed as Ronald McDonald...

When I began this project, I had two major goals: 1) to change the way I purchased and cooked our food, both for our health and our environment, and 2) to expand Lauren's diet and move her away from the so-called "toddler foods." On count one, I'm having some pretty good success. On the second? Not so much.

I knew I had to start slowly, as forcing her off the chicken nuggets suddenly might be an incredible shock to her system. I figured that I would try small changes, like making some of her favorites with better ingredients. She would never know, right?

Wrong. Totally wrong. I started making the little pizzas that she loves with whole wheat English muffins, healthy tomato sauce, and organic mozzarella cheese. I thought they tasted really well, but Lauren disagreed. She won't even touch them, after the first bite helped her determine their impostor status.

So, I tried another tactic. I tried hiding some healthier things in the dishes she does like. I put flaxseeds in the peanut butter when she eats peanut butter and apples. Nope. She will eat them in peanut butter on waffles if I really try to hide them, but sniffs them out easily if they're not perfectly stealth.

Finally, I've taken the 1/3 approach. I've left her meals 2/3 of her old foods (which included a good dose of fruits and veggies in the first place) and tried to add something new. The other night, she has her regular chicken nuggets (and dip!) with mixed veggies and then I gave her mango with that. She tried a couple of bites and then mixed them in with the dip and put them in her milk, but it was a start, right? She hasn't been so kind to the other things I've put in front of her (quinoa, beets, kiwi, etc.), but she's being exposed to them.

I'm just trying for her to be willing to try new things at this point. Really getting her to move to a whole new diet, to be eating the things that we're eating is my goal, but this is a start.

Mindless Eating

I've been very busy at work these last few days and have been desperate to relax when I get home, so I've been spending a lot of time in front of screens. Television and computer screens, that is. I've been eating in front of them more than I'd like to admit, taking my lunch at my desk as I've been working and eating dinner at home in front of the TV. I've found myself not paying attention at all to what I'm eating, just mindlessly chowing down as I eat.

Through a friend, I found another blog that I'm just loving: Real Food is Good Food. She has wonderful, delicious-looking recipes and gorgeous photos of the process to make it all. I highly recommend it!

Another is Smitten Kitchen. Ditto on the recipes and the photos. I can't wait to find out some of the things I'm finding on these sites! Namely, Homemade Pop-Tarts. I've never wanted a pocket pastry so much in my life!

Our dinner tonight was a Thai Protein Noodle Salad from The Great American Detox Diet. I can't find a recipe online, but it had bean sprouts, tofu, rice noodles, avocado, red bell pepper, and a yummy dressing made with peanut butter, ginger, and soy sauce. I can't even tell you how good it was and exactly what I needed to prep for the race this weekend!

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From the Farm to the Table: A Story in Pictures

We picked up our second box of food from Full Circle Farm today - so exciting! I decided to take a bunch of photos to show you the bounty and what I did with it.

It's here!

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Oooh... look at it all!

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Oh crap. Where am I going to put this? Can you tell I just went to Costco?

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There's a little room over here...

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Posed veggies - Those are cremini mushrooms and arugula

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Gorgeous new citrus fruits, tomato, and avocados

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Dinner-making in progress. Note my compost bowl.

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My ever-present chef's helper with a spoon on her head, right before she was banned from the kitchen for not listening. Hiring a new sous-chef if anyone is interested.

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Cooking in progress with my pan already nearly overflowing. Those are roasted golden beets on the right for the salad.

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Finished arugula salad with roasted golden beets and radishes. I made a dijon mustard/caper/maple syrup/olive oil concoction for dressing that was surprisingly good.

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Finished, steaming chili with ground turkey, eggplant, zucchini, mushrooms, tomatoes, beans, carrots... pretty much as much as I could fit in there.

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So, there it is! A gorgeous, yummy dinner in just under an hour with lots of great organic veggies. The bean and veggie chili was one of the recipes in Food Matters and the salad was my own invention. Delicious!

Sneaky, sneaky!

Running has been a large part of my life for the last two years, ever since a friend asked me to join a relay race team. I never thought I'd be a runner, but I find so much enjoyment in pushing myself and doing new things. I also find it very relaxing and a great way to relieve stress. One major reason I'm doing this eating overhaul is to improve my running, and I'm finding that it's working! Ever since I started eating this way, I've been getting faster and feeling so much better while running. Of course, that's not the only cause, but it certainly helps!

Today we were at a 5k race, and they had quite a spread at the finish line: carrots, apple slices, 100% fruit juice, yogurt, water... it was great. And then, there was this cookie. I won't name it, but it has the word 'power' in the title and says it's "naturally flavored." Right. Here's the ingredient list:

Rolled oats
Rice flour
Corn syrup
Maltodextrin
Sugar
Water
Dextrose
Fractionated palm kernel oil
Soybean oil
Fructose
High fructose corn syrup
Nonfat milk
Flax seed
Honey
High maltose corn syrup
Brown sugar
Rice bran
Nonfat yogurt powder (cultured nonfat milk)
Natural flavor (what could that possibly be?
Cinnamon
Salt
Calcium carbonate
Soy lecithin
Titanium dioxide (added for color)
Ferric orthophosphate
Niacinamide
Thiamine mononitrate
Riboflavin

What a list for a 1.76 oz. cookie, huh? Especially one that's supposed to be marketed for atheletes! Notice the bolded words? All EIGHT of those are kinds of sugar! That little cookie has 3 teaspoons in it! It'll give you energy for sure, but then you'll crash and burn in an hour. How sneaky of them to pack the cookie with all that sugar! Most people today picked it up, didn't even think to look at it and just wolfed it down. No more of that for me!

Tonight's dinner was Orecchiette with Turkey Sausage and Broccoli Rabe. I couldn't find the exact recipe, which I got from Food Matters, but this is close enough. I added just a few sun-dried tomatoes and put in much more broccoli rabe. On the side, we made some green garbanzo beans that we found at Costco. We just put a little olive oil, sea salt, and garlic, and microwaved it for 2 minutes. Totally easy dinner and very yummy!

Somewhere Between Eating to Live and Living to Eat

Every Friday night I get together with a couple of girlfriends to hang out and watch TV, usually The Biggest Loser. Sometimes we do dinner, sometimes not, and we usually have some sort of dessert. It's such a nice relaxing time and I look forward to it every week.

I have to admit, though, that I've been nervous about this ever since I started with this eating overhaul. Food to me means relaxation, fun, joy. Restricting food from myself will be miserable, right? Eat to live not live to eat, right?

Not necessarily. I'm finding that I get a lot of joy from eating well and taking good from my body, but I also am getting equal joy from eating food that tastes amazing. I'd say beyond the health benefits of my eating, the taste and the quality of what I'm eating has really soared. It's making eating a much better experience, and I'm finding a passion for food. I've been much more excited about the colors and textures and comingling of flavors on my plate. The nice thing is that I'm eating less, as taking the time to savor the first few bites somehow makes me feel fuller faster. That quality makes all the difference. Plus, I get to cook, which is one of the most relaxing things I know how to do, aside from sleeping. So, I'm trying to find that balance between eating to live and living to eat.

I found this gorgeous blog today and it really sums up what I'm thinking, just the idea that food is not just meant to be consumed. It's meant to be enjoyed, savored.

So, with that in mind, I made a cake for us tonight. I picked it out of the Moosewood cookbook: Presto Chocolate Cake. It's just a simple chocolate cake and I made a blackberry-chocolate glaze for the top. It was dead easy to make and was just the perfect amount of rich and light and sweet. It was delicious, and I savored every bite. Just like it's meant to be, right?

As usual, this photo does not do the cake justice.

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A little bit of an artsier shot, though I had a serving fail.

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Eating well doesn't have to mean restriction and boredom. It can be eating all the things you love that are good for you, while being conscious of the choices you're making. Listening to your body is key. So is chocolate cake every once in a while.

Carb Week!

No, I don't get to eat lot of them, though that would be fun.

Last night, I read the next week's chapter out of The Great American Detox Diet and found that this week is about carbs. I was actually excited about this, as I don't know much about carbs, besides hearing that they're bad for you and then that they're good for you and then bad for you again.

Basically, carbs aren't the enemy as long as you're eating the right ones. Same with fat, actually. It comes down to refined and unrefined carbs. Unrefined carbs are those that have not been processed down, so it's your whole wheat pastas and flours and brown rice. Your body takes longer to process these, giving you a steady stream of energy throughout the day. This is the opposite from refined carbs, like white flour, pasta and rice. Those go into your system and process much more quickly, giving you a quicker high of energy but then also a faster dip. Unrefined carbs also help you feel fuller longer, so you don't feel tempted to snack.

So what did I go out and eat today? Sushi with white rice. You can't win them all.

I will, however, be working to include more complex carbohydrates in my diet. The tally so far: more water, less sugar, less caffeine, more healthy fats and fewer bad ones, and more unrefined carbs. Check, check, check. I think I can handle this.

Observations from the guinea pig: Three of the six pounds I had gained were already gone this morning. I knew it was mostly water but was still disturbed. I'll be interested to see how long it takes the other to go away.

Tonight's dinner was a Chicken Not-Pie from Food Matters. It was decent. I think I'd need to tweak it a bit. I served it over some whole-wheat pasta, so the whole thing was a little bland. It also had a little too much chicken and I had cut my veggies too big. Live and learn. I definitely will try making it again.

Experiment Failed

Given that this is my pre-birthday weekend, I've indulged a little bit in the good ol' Standard American Diet. Fat, sugar, salt, caffeine... you name it, I've had it. I was feeling a little cocky yesterday, thinking that going back to the old ways hadn't really affected my body.

Not so much today. Last night, I put more nails in the coffin by eating bar food (reasonably healthy bar food, but still) and having beers. Three of them, to be exact. I knew I had to be ready for a long run this morning, but I'm invincible, right?

Ugh. No. I woke up this morning, feeling just gross. Mostly in my stomach, but my head was hurting too. Not fun. I met up with my running partner for our 12-mile run at 8, knowing it wasn't going to work. Luckily, she was understanding and we took a great long walk in the morning sunshine. Not what I needed to do for my training schedule for sure, but it was nice. I've always known that what I eat affects my run, but this was a very specific cause and effect response. I'm a little disappointed in myself that I fell so far off the wagon, but there's nowhere to go but up, right? I have to shape up quick; my first half marathon of the season is only 14 days away!

To get back on track, I made three different meals tonight to eat for the week. I made the Veggie Loaf again, and this time I'm going to freeze it. I also made a quick vegetable soup, using a recipe from Food Matters by Mark Bittman. In addition to onions, tomatoes, carrots and celery, I added broccoli and okra. We'll see how it turns out! I also made the Eggplant and Chicken Parmesan recipe from the same book. I didn't use chicken, though, instead adding zucchini from my Full Circle Farms box. It was very easy to make and really delicious! Even better, it made quite a bit so we have some for lunch tomorrow and even after. I'll be able to go back to the health eating again quite easily.

Tomorrow is a new day on The Great American Detox Diet, so we'll see how it goes. Still drinking water, still moderating caffeine, will be dropping sugar back out after this weekend (ugh) and still trying to eat healthy fats. I'll let you know what I learn tomorrow.

Early Mid-life Crisis?

So this evening, I was standing in the kitchen, hand-making veggie burgers and a roasted veggie and quinoa salad while wearing my running clothes and singing along with some song on Sirius' AltNation. It suddenly hit me like a bolt of lightning: I'm a totally changed person in the last couple of years. Heck, the last few weeks have been a massive change. Two years ago, you wouldn't have been able to make me run more than a mile and it would have taken some serious motivation for me to do that (like, being chased with a machete). I definitely wasn't an "alternative" music person; I've always tended more towards to pop music. And this whole cooking with whole foods thing is a total change. I mean, I've always liked cooking and have cooked mostly at home, but really paying attention to labels and using organic produce and cooking with whole grains... very new. I'm a little young for a mid-life crisis (nearly 32) but what else could it be, this total change? I guess it's not so bad as mid-life crises go; it's not like I'm running off with some sleek Spaniard named Alejandro. Not yet, anyway.

Today is day 7 without refined sugar and I think I made it. I had a bite of a cookie that Lauren was eating, but it was from PCC, so I'd suspect it has evaporated cane sugar crystals or the like. Ditto the apple crisp I just had a few bites of. Jeremy really wanted me to have a little bit of a sweet treat and I agreed that was a good idea. That I know was made with florida crystals, which is unrefined. So, I think I made it! Tomorrow is the beginning of the caffeine week of The Great American Detox Diet; I'm not a big caffeine drinker, so we'll see how that goes.

I have a couple of (clickable) photos for you! Tonight's dinner: Veggie Burger patty on whole wheat bread wit dijon mustard and lettuce with Roasted Veggie and Savory Quinoa Salad (both from The Great American Detox Diet:

From 2010-03-25

And from last week, the veggie loaf with mashed sweet potatoes and green salad:

From 2010-03-25

Tomorrow, I'm going to post about why I've chosen to go with organics. Until then, I have a couple of articles for you to read. One is an amusing send up of this whole "Double Down" business by KFC. Seriously, that sandwich is everything that's wrong with our food culture.

The other is about artificial coloring in food, from the perspective of one mom. The Spoonfed blog is fantastic and really shows how it can be a struggle to kick off our society's bad habits with food. She's the Militant Food Mommy of which I speak, but the milder version I wouldn't mind being. The advocate, not the crazed-letter writer. I can hang with advocacy.

Sneaky HFCS!

Day 6 of no refined sugar and I'm still going strong! I managed to make it through the baby shower last night and the bridal shower today without breaking into tears over not being able to have cheesecake or a scone. Actually, it was really quite easy. Tonight was really the first time that I wanted just a little taste of something sweet, so I just defrosted a few raspberries and ate those. I'm really looking forward to being able to do some U-picks this summer and freeze lots and lots of berries. Thank goodness for our extra freezer!

I did have a little bit of HFCS tonight, and it was in the sneakiest of place: the breadcrumbs I used on the chicken! Since I've started reading labels, I've found it all over the place: "maple" syrup, yogurt, granola bars, ketchup, spaghetti sauce, peanut butter, tomato soup... pretty much anything that's sweet these days and some things that aren't! It's amazing that it's going into our food and into our mouths without us being aware. Most people don't even know why it's not good for them, much less take the time to read labels and try to eradicate it from their diet. I've been telling as many people as I can about it, so hopefully they'll tell more people and so on.

(I have many more preachy thoughts, but I also have a throbbing headache, so I'm going to wobble off my soapbox and get into bed.)

Tonight's dinner was an easy Chicken Picatta (from Weight Watchers, esentially just chicken dredged in eggs blended with dijon mustard and then rolled in breadcrumbs, cooked in sherry and lemon juice) and Italian-Style Crispy Cauliflower. The cauliflower recipe is from The Great American Detox Diet and it was delicious! The flavors all worked really well together and it was easy to cook. Another winner from that book!

It Begins

I woke up still on a tear, so that's a good sign. I'm a notorious non-finisher of projects, but this is really interesting and very important to the health of my family. If I can just survive all the scary and gross information...

I'll get to that in a minute, though. I need to do a little before photo-taking. Here is my refrigerator and kitchen pantry in its current state (Yikes! A little messier than I'd like, and why does Lauren have four sippy cups in the fridge?):



You'll note that I have a decent stash of frozen veggies, nestled right up next to the Mickey Mouse Chicken Nuggets. In the fridge, I have two kinds of milk sharing space with a massive container of ranch dip (for the nuggets, of course!) There's low-fat yogurt (which I'm now feeling dubious about) and some string cheese, which according to the ingredients is actually decent. In the pantry, I have all my baking stuff, the granola bars with High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), Gatorade powder and not one but three kinds of oatmeal. Like I said, I'm not starting off horribly, but I can definitely do better.

What you're not seeing is our other pantry downstairs that has most of the canned tomatoes (which I'm also feeling dubious about), broths, pastas, and extra juices for Lauren. We also have a large freezer in the garage: we buy half a cow's worth of meat every year and a half or so and it's all wrapped up in its pretty white paper in there. This is one choice I feel really good about. We buy the meat from a family friend in Idaho and we know exactly where the cow has been. Plus, it's a great deal. We have that, at least.

I just feel like I have a ton of learning to do. I don't know enough about local resources, what sweeteners are best, whether organic is worth it... It's going to be quite a learning process, and I just have to be patient.

I did start my learning today, though all the books I want to read are on hold at the library. Behold the power of the Internet! Without yet picking up a book, I've already learned a bunch of interesting things about the food we eat and the business of food.:

- Half the people that helped to develop the food pyramid had ties to agribusiness.
- 70% of the antibiotics consumed in America are consumed by animal husbandry. Those antibiotics given straight to us through the meats we eat.
- Every American gets the equivalent of a 5 lb. bag of pesticides each year. (That literally made me shiver to write!)
- We spend about $500 a year per student feeding the children in the schools in the United States. Given all the payroll costs and other overhead, it ends up being about $1 a day per child.
- One out of every four meals is eaten in a car. (Are they counting snacks, you think? What about when I'm wolfing down some of the groceries I just bought because I'm starving?)

All of these facts come from a couple of TED talks I listened to today:

Mark Bittman, "What's Wrong with What We Eat"

Ann Cooper, the "Renegade Lunch Lady"

Jamie Oliver's "Food Revolution" page has lots of interesting and disturbing facts and figures here


The good news at the bottom of the page? Congress is looking at creating new standards for all food at schools, including vending machines. $4.5 billion over 10 years is a small payment towards the improved health of our children!
See the story here.

I've Gotten a Wild Hair...

On Facebook tonight, I saw a link to Jamie Oliver's TED talk about childhood obesity and starting a revolution in America for healthier eating, both in schools and at home. I then followed a link to Jamie's "Food Revolution" page based around this premise, which includes a TV show about this topic. His goal is to revolutionize how we eat in America, but his premise is simple: using whole, natural ingredients in our cooking. I was immediately inspired. I have a new goal: to do some learning about nutrition and tweak our family's diet to be healthier.

Now here's my asterisk, my caveat:
I think that, on the scale of things, we actually eat rather healthfully. I cook at home probably 6 out of the 7 nights a week and we pack our leftovers as lunches. I use actual fruits and vegetables in my cooking and I'm trying to teach Lauren to do the same. I plan our meals about a week and a half, two weeks in advance, and do all the shopping at once, so we don't eat on the run much. So, the good news is that we already have a lot of structures in place.

Now the obstacles:
-While I'm the one who does all of this (pretty) healthy shopping and cooking, I'm also kind of a bad influence. I love treats, especially chocolate, and I'm usually the one that decides to go out to eat for dinner. Not that these are bad things, necessarily, but I think I can do better and be more intentional with my decision-making.

-I've let Lauren's (my daughter's) toddler-ness pigeonhole her into some bad eating habits. She was a pretty adventurous baby as far as food was concerned, but she got a little pickier and I got a little busier and she eats chicken nuggets more than I'd like to admit. Again, not a bad thing necessarily, but when it's the one thing she requests while shunning fresher foods, I wonder about the path she's on.

-I work 40 hours a week and have a toddler. Add to that that I'm trying to run about 4 times a week and sleep 8 hours a night, and there's just not enough time. Like I said, I have many structures already in place, but doing more than I'm already doing is going to be a struggle. I'm going to have to get the most bang for my buck.

I'm a goal-oriented person, so here are my goals:
1. Learn more about nutrition and the business of food in the United States so that I can make better decisions for my family.
2. Change the way I purchase and prepare food to implement what I have learned.
3. Work to expand Lauren's diet to include fewer processed foods.
4. Find ways of fueling my body for running and life in general while still enjoying food.

Next steps:
1. Learn more about nutrition - I've placed several books on hold at the library. In the meantime, I'm going to finish Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver.
2. Brainstorm sources for healthier foods - I have some ideas, but I know there's more out there that I don't know about.
3. Invite other people on this journey. I need some accountability, and I want others to learn with me.

Well, that's it. I'm jumping off the diving board and into the deepend, and I really hope this makes some change for my family!


Here's the link for Jamie's TED talk:
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/jamie_oliver.html

Here's the link to the first episode of Jamie's show:
http://abc.go.com/watch/jamie-olivers-food-revolution/250784/254757/episode-101