My Plate Transformations

All through my adult life, my meals always had specific parameters.  Breakfast was cereal or toast with a glass of milk or juice.  Done!  Lunch was a sandwich or a bowl of soup with a glass of milk.  Done!  Dinner always had one starch, one protein, and one veggie. And never deviate from this outline (yes, I am a little OCD!)

After the birth of my youngest daughter, my definition changed and I decided that my dinner plates would be better if I skipped the starch, so there would always be one protein and 2 veggies, usually one green, the other yellow/orange.  I even decided that we could lighten dinners up with soups and wraps and salads (behold the goal to lose the baby weight I had gained).  

About 5 years ago, my meal definition changed yet again. I decided that we did not have meat on our dinner plates every day... and so dawned the era of "meatless" at least twice per week and the move towards re-defining how I fed myself and my family.  I even started to introduce whole grains back in our pastas, breads, and wraps back into our family dinners.  It was a good thing that I decided soup and sandwiches were acceptable for dinner because I only knew how to be meat free with soups and wraps plus the occasional pasta with marinara sauce! 

Fast forward to now.  My idea of a meal has morphed again and I have embraced a complete plant based meals at least half of the time, with a conscious effort to make sure all meals for the week are balanced and healthy.  When meals do include meat, I personally eat less of it and/or I mix my lentils, or beans or tofu in with the meat;   something I call "hidden healthy".   Given that my husband and youngest daughter have not willingly signed on to a plant based diet, I resort to "hidden healthy" when I convert many of my traditional meals to vegetarian or cut back the meat. I have found ways to decrease the animal products in my daughter's lunches and breakfasts; I have introduced a better quality of breakfast cereal to my husband, and I am, once again indulging in the most important meal of the day.  Thank goodness for my juicer, green tea and my healthy breakfast muffins.

I am not completely ready to dive 100% into animal free diet, but I do know that I feel a lot better when I eat less of it.  Our plate transformations for breakfast, lunch and dinner are works in progress.  Cutting back the refined sugars, substituting healthier fats and not as bad for you sugars, and increasing veggies in lunches and dinners on a daily basis was my starting point.  There has definitely been a learning curve for me to find ways to creatively introduce plant based foods into my family's diet and find ways that they enjoy eating it. Learning to prepare plant based substitutions has certainly been a little time consuming, but I have to say, almost all of my attempts have been delicious.  In fact, the only "oops" I had was buying a commercially made vegan cream cheese.  It was a big disappointment... a waste of $6.00, but that will happen from time to time when trying new things.   All in all, I am liking these plate transformations... and more important, when my eldest daughter comes home for a visit, I will know how to cook for her, as she has embraced this lifestyle much earlier than I!

After the #FixFood Conference

Last week I attended a Virtual Food Conference.  I know it sounds kind of weird, but it was truly a learning experience and timely for me because I am on this food journey. This conference, organized by Alexandra Jamieson was called the Fix Food Conference which was to commemorate the 10 year anniversary of the documentary Super Size Me (a documentary that followed the health issues of a man who ate McDonalds for a month - ew!).  The goal of this conference was to look 3 areas to "Fix Food":

1. Fix more of your own simple meals that will get you the energy and body you crave.
2. Fix your relationship with food and emotional eating.
3. Fix the food culture we all live in. 

There was a TON of information offered by a variety of speakers. One of my BIG takeaways from this experience was that even though there is a wide range of beliefs of HOW and WHAT we should eat, I now know that we must do what is right for us as an individual.  Whether you are vegan, vegetarian, paleo or whatever, the most important thing is that you do what feels right to you from a health perspective, from an environmental perspective, and from and ethical perspective.  I shouldn't feel bad because I still enjoy the occasional steak or I shouldn't feel bad because I don't. 

I also learned that it is important to take how our food system works away from big business and put it back into the hands of the people.  As a side, I believe that in the our current economic platform, that means encouraging the masses to make better choices for themselves and their families so that DEMAND can dictate what business supplies. Obviously, there are inroads being made.  Some people are thinking about what they put in the mouths... people are looking for better choices. There is more organic food on the market and you don't have to go to a specialty store for it. Being vegan or vegetarian or grain free is easier than ever because of product availability.  There are healthier and more eco-friendly choices available in the produce, meat and dairy aisles in mainstay supermarkets. In fact, organic and sustainable choices are easier to find locally too!

Now all we need is for producers PRETENDING to offer healthier choices to ACTUALLY provide healthier choices and not hide behind their labels of lies.  But that is for another blog.  Long and short; we need to embrace whole foods again.  We need to use our kitchens EVERYDAY.  We need to get off our assess and get organized... plan our meals, shop for the best and healthiest ingredients possible and COOK for ourselves and families.  Do it for your health.  Do it for your pocket book.  Do it because it tastes better.  Do it for our farmers. Do it because you are tired of big business telling you what to eat, where to get it and most of all, tell big business you are SICK AND TIRED of eating that slop they call food!

Finally, I also learned that we need to teach the masses how to get back into the kitchen, especially the impoverished and low income families.  We need to get the crap food, including those convenience foods that PRETEND to be healthy out of the schools (granola bars, breakfast bars, Gatorade and the like), especially in the cafeterias, vending machines and the special breakfast and snack programs. We need to re-vamp our food banks and INCLUDE fresh foods and teach the people who depend on food banks how to cook from scratch.

After this amazing conference I felt better about the choices I have been making over the past few months and have concluded that my dietary evolution plan is just fine and I am on the right track for me and over the course of time,  I will continue to tweak my "Dietary Manifesto". 


YES:

• I do want to eat plant based meals at least 3/4 of the time. I will have to get on that internet and research some fabulous recipes to appease my family!
• I do want to minimize our refined sugar intake by eating more natural products like honey and maple syrup or less refined products such as evaporated sugar cane, stevia and agave.  We do love our desserts, but I feel that at least homemade treats like cookies, cakes and pies etcetera, are better for you than the crap the corporates try to sell me!
• I want to make more of my own salad dressings to avoid the chemicals in the store bought ones... sorry Kraft!
• I want to find plant based ways to reduce my eggs and dairy intake because we need to consume less of it.
• I do want to source out and eat as much organic produce as possible and due to budget constrains, I will use the Dirty Dozen and the Clean Fifteen wherever possible.
• When I do buy animal products, I will try to buy organic and humanely raised.
• I would like to find local farms and buy from them.
• I would like to find a CSA in my area.

If you live on take out or restaurants or eat mostly canned or boxed food, remember that all it takes is ONE baby step to move forward in a positive direction.  All you need to do, is find a recipe or 2, plan one meal, pick up the ingredients at the supermarket, and get cooking.  If you can read, you can cook!

If you are interested in finding out more about Alexandra, the organizer of the Fix Food Conference, click here.

One Family, Two Books And Baby Steps To A Healthier Us

This Christmas, my eldest gave me 2 books to read.  One was "Crazy, Sexy Diet" by Kris Carr, the other was "Skinny Bitch" by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin.   Even though I have always considered my diet to be pretty good in general, I found these two books introduced me to some excellent ways of thinking about my food and what I was shoving into my face. I always thought plant based eating was difficult, would be limited and time consuming.  I also discovered that food was not just a way to sustain us, but it was an everyday medicine cabinet that was designed around prevention of illness and a way for those with underlying health issues to manage them with no or fewer medications.  The words within the covers of these 2 books made a lot of sense and were certainly worth trying out.

Thanks to my eldest daughter, I have been venturing into plant based meals.  Since January, some of my meals are completely vegan while others are a little meat and LOTS of veggies and grains.  Even though we are proceeding with this new way of eating in baby steps, my first BIG step was to ban bologna and wieners from my shopping cart. There will be failures and successes, especially since it's not just my taste buds I have to retrain!

Family Progress...
Green tea, juicing and veggie smoothies are a big for me.  Husband says NO to green juice but drinks my avocado/spinach smoothies; the kid says NO to green beverage so I have opted to make her fruit smoothies healthier.  I have started weaning her off the Kraft peanut butter and mixing it with the organic healthy choice.  We have more salads, better wraps in school lunches, I have been experimenting with bean spreads like roasted beet humus, and have tried "Save the Tuna Wraps" from Kris Carr (I will have to continue tweaking the recipe for my family's tastes, I have been making healthier desserts plus finding ways to incorporate plant based proteins in our traditional family favourites.  

Successes!

• Non-dairy chocolate pudding made from avocados, bananas, coconut oil and cocoa.
• Coconut pistachio and chocolate chip ice cream
• Kale, broccoli, Brussels sprout, purple cabbage salad with poppy seed dressing, cranberries and pumpkin seeds
• Red lentils hidden in the potato soup and the broccoli soup
• Green lentils hidden in my traditional shepherd's pie (half and half ground meat)
• Green lentils in my veggie stir fry
• Mushroom Chili (no meat at all)
• Lunch wraps with lots of spinach, diced red pepper and Ranch dressing with just a little cubed chicken
• Non-dairy fruit smoothies
• Using agave, honey, maple syrup and introducing evaporated sugar cane to replace white sugar

Rome wasn't built in a day.  It has only been 3 months!