Ok...
Healthy snacks like: nuts, seeds, spinach, broccoli, carrots, and berries.
...ok... (I couldn't help but smirk.)
Jeremy loves his tater tots, mac n cheese, and "rice packets".
I'm also going to eat whole grains, beans and less meat. "We eat too much meat."
Ok. It's almost all I could say since he won't eat a meal unless it has some sort of meat. I actually don't use a lot of meat when I cook and when I do its Ground Turkey, Turkey Ham, and Chicken Breast. We almost never have beef or pork mostly because its too expensive.
So, what brought about this great healthy revelation??
As it turns out TPT had a health guy on during fundraising week late at night and Jeremy got sucked in. Ive seen the guy myself and he is pretty convincing. The clincher was - ENERGY. Jeremy and I are both tired all the time it seems for different reasons but none-the-less its pretty annoying. Since Jeremy gave up energy drinks for lent he was especially feeling the lack of energy. The idea that healthy, good for you, foods will help give you energy is not a new revelation but it was just what Jeremy needed to hear.
I love the idea of cooking more healthy but since it often isn't the cheapest and certain things like carrots and spinach Jeremy wouldn't eat if I bought them. I've been cooking with only brown rice and whole wheat noodles for a while as well as only buying 100% whole wheat bread and Augustine and I eat fruit like its candy. Augustine LOVES healthy foods and begs for broccoli (one of my favorites too!), cooked carrots, hummus, beans, frozen peas, and most other veggies. He makes his mother proud when I actually have to say, "no more carrots, can you eat your rice?" The idea of cooking foods for our whole family that I also want Augustine eating sounds great to me!
In reality it has been a pretty big shift and I had some frustrating moments in the transition, but overall its been great and I'm finding my groove. I actually enjoy the challenge of making new foods and being creative with old favorites.
Most of our meals have some combination of meat, beans, and veggies and is often served on a bed of spinach. They are also, often, a sort of "hot" salad.
The "snacking" has been the hardest shift but now includes:
- Healthy Cookies: peanut butter, flax seed, shredded carrot, applesauce, whole wheat and oatmeal included! (Yum!)
- Whole Wheat/Lower Fat Banana Bread
- Pre-bagged/Portioned Almonds
- Apples
- Carrots
- Broccoli
- Hummus
- Grapes
- Other fruits and veggies
Monday I cook up a HUGE pot of brown rice (and maybe wild rice) as well as a HUGE pot of black beans and/or garbanzo beans etc... My hope is for it to last throughout the week. Saturday or Sunday we usually finish off the rice with a yummy rice, egg and veggie skillet! The garbanzo beans make a fabulous Greek veggie salad or hummus that have been huge hits so far.
The black beans I pretty much add to everything I make throughout the week.
My shopping list now includes:
- Dry Beans
- Brown Rice
- Fresh Spinach
- Fresh/Frozen Broccoli
- Mushrooms
- Carrots
- Tomatoes
- Cucumbers
- Almonds
- Peanut Butter
- Whole Wheat flour
- Oatmeal
- Apples
- Bananas
- Other fruits and veggies...
So, that's our health kick... I'll start trying to post weekly menu plans and ideas to track our journey with all of this as well as health improvements we are noticing. Starting with this one...
Since Jeremy has been eating this way and I am now keeping more health foods around and accessible I have been eating better myself. With Augustine I was low in iron towards the end of my pregnancy and I know it was a result of slacking on my healthy pregnancy "diet". This time around I've been eating better/more vitamins in my foods and was not low on iron!
To happy healthy eating!
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