A Kitchen Revolution

It's been a long time coming, but I must admit that even I am surprised to find myself making these changes in my life right now.  The issue: food.  You hear about it all the time - what you "should" eat, what you "shouldn't" eat, what is "good" for you, what is "not good" for you.  It seems like everyone has an opinion - and everyone's opinion is different!  I've been thinking about it for a long time, and this week finally took the plunge into some big changes for our family.

It all started in 2010 when we found out about Matthew's food allergies.  Wow, was that ever an overwhelming time for us!  Trying to learn to cook without eggs, dairy, nuts, berries, tomatoes...when I couldn't even cook at all really!  I didn't know where to start.  Slowly but surely we found our way.  We made changes, survived for a while, made more changes, I read and learned and we found our new normal.

Over time, this new normal transformed my feelings toward food and cooking.  I went from hating it, surviving it, and being frustrated every day, to loving it, enjoying it, and wanting to learn more.  Trying new recipes became fun instead of annoying.  I found things my kids loved and that tasted good to us, too.  And I got to the point where it wasn't stressful anymore to prepare dinner.

So over the last few years we have made a lot of changes, and I do a lot of cooking from scratch...but I still would take a shortcut whenever possible.  Snacks almost always came from a box and were some type of processed cookie, cracker or chip.  Don't get me wrong - we ate a lot of fruit (I thought) and my kids got plenty of vegetables (didn't they?).

As time has gone on, I've started thinking more about this.  I've been learning more about what is really in the food we've been eating.  And I've been wondering if we are really doing as well as I thought.  The driving force behind this, for me, is that I have not felt well for a long time.  I mean, stomach issues and headaches every day.  This can't just be normal, can it?  Do I just have to deal with it, or is there something I can do?

When we found out that Hannah has either a dairy allergy or intolerance, that was it for me.  I decided then and there that we were going to start eating differently.  I talked to Brad about it, and he was reserved but on board.  I knew that I couldn't just make small changes or I'd keep going the way we were going, so I decided to clean out the kitchen and start fresh.  I went through every cupboard, the fridge and freezer, and got rid of all the processed stuff in there.  Wow - was that eye opening!  We had way more than I ever expected.  I must say there are still some processed foods in the kitchen, as we seek out alternatives or finish up what we had.  But the majority of it is gone!  I even said good-bye to my most beloved salt and vinegar kettle chips!

My approach to our food is now this: I can eat whatever I want.  I am not going to say, "I'm not going to eat cookies!" because I know that just makes me want a cookie!  Instead I am just trying to be intentional and thinking about what will make me feel better, what is good for my body.  This approach is leading me to choose an apple and to feel good about that choice!  Plus, not having the other option in the house makes it easier.  This is not to say I will never eat a cookie - I had a couple about a week ago and that was great.  But I don't need to eat them every day (not that I would do that...nope...never...oh, okay maybe I used to just a little bit...).  I find I am not nearly craving sweets the same as I used to.  I used to have to finish every meal with some kind of sweet.  Now, I just finish my meal and that's that!  We are eating more fresh fruit and vegetables than I ever could imagine and I even found myself buying organic (would've sworn a few years ago that I would never jump on that bandwagon...).  Our dinners are mostly the same as they were already from scratch, but we've switched to whole wheat and whole grains, and have added more vegetables and salads to each meal.  We've done away with juice (for the most part) and we're all drinking a ton of water.  It's been a slow and steady change, and I feel good about what I'm eating and what I'm feeding my family.  I think more changes may come over time as I learn more, but for now, we're in a good place and I feel like these changes are sustainable.

I have yet to see if these changes will help me feel better, as I've had a cold this week so I couldn't tell...I feel pretty optimistic though.  I have had several days without a headache (that's a big deal for me!) and I don't feel so sluggish.  I'm excited to see what's ahead on this new journey!