Part 2: Our whole foods lifestyle: Feeding My Family Right {Yum, food! With pictures!}

So after the marathon post on WHY we eat the way we do, this post will discuss what we do eat, recipes, and reference my marathon cooking day.

Based on fruits & veg, the staples of our lifestyle.

We try to follow a semi-vegetarian diet, but the goal is always a whole foods diet.  I DO NOT mean the store when I say "whole foods". A whole foods diet is basically removing the processed junk out of your diet & cupboards and replacing it with fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains, legumes, etc.  Anything that is shelf-stable, canned, etc would not be included into a whole foods diet.

I say the diet, or lifestyle really, is a goal.  Are we always successful? No, and there are some things I will buy canned, although I try to buy the food that is packaged in tetra packs, recyclable BPA-free plastic, cardboard/paper, or canned in glass. Pasta sauce, crackers, breads, and cereals tend to be the most frequently purchased pre-made things. I also occasionally do beans. I can make beans, but it's such a long process that you need to be home for that sometimes I just need easy.

We start by buying our fruits and veggies organically through our co-op, Annie's Organic Buying Club. I then make my list of staples like organic milk, eggs, cheese, chicken, organic peanut butter & jelly, and 2 kinds of fish (usually salmon & tilapia). If our veggie box doesn't come with apples, carrots, cucumbers, grapes & bananas, then I'll add those to our list to because they are easy on-the-go snacks. We also have replaced canola or vegetable oil {which are often made with soybeans which is the worst offender for GMO aside from anything with corn} with olive oil, real butter, or organic, cold-pressed extra virgin coconut oil.

Freezer meals prepped and ready to be frozen!

Then I look to Onceamonthmom.com. They have become my go-to resource for whole foods recipes. They post new sets of recipes every month. While it is a subscription site, you don't need the subscription to access the recipes. This year I opted for the subscription because I do actually do the once a month freezer cooking method and have for awhile.   The reason is that during the school year, I found that we were eating out far too often because it was either too late to put together a proper meal or I was too tired to do it. Hubby is a basketball coach and during the season, I often feel like a single mom with two littles. I love the fact that I can come home to a crockpot meal or something I've defrosted and just need to nuke that is healthy. Add a salad and some fruit and bam! Instant well-balanced meal. If I were a stay-at-home mom, I'd take these recipes and prepare them fresh for that day.

Back to OAMC, I have found through trial and error that their site is the best all-inclusive site for tips and recipes. {Annie's Organic Buying Club also has a pretty good pinterest site for recipes using their foods, but I haven't had great success with the recipes.} Plus the OAMC moms respond quickly if you have questions or suggestions. I haven't been as thrilled with their vegetarian recipes, but I have less experience with those recipes. And, I can make any of the whole foods recipes vegetarian by subbing quinoa for rice and cutting the meat or subbing beans for the meat.  Any recipe that calls for beef is replaced with chicken or fish or one of the vegetarian options.

We try to do a couple of meatless days during the week and then when eating meat, we try to go light on the meat and heavy on the veg. Our goal is to set a table full of color where fruit AND veggies take the predominate place.

Again, note the word GOAL. Do we always succeed? No. But I feel as long as I'm actively trying to feed them right, the sum is equal to the parts.  6 bad meals this month + 24 whole foods meals = success in my book.

#2's lunch: Salmon, quinoa, avocado, and roasted broccoli.
Almost all are leftovers from the night before.

We then send the leftovers from dinner as lunch for #2. #1 actually loves the school lunch (yuck!), but I am refusing to let #2 eat the school lunch until at least 18 months old. Sometimes we send lunch meat, but I'm super particular that we buy specific organic brands that I have researched. Deli meat often has a lot of processed junk in it and even has gluten. Why meat needs gluten, I'm not sure. Why it needs to be combined with parts of the animal I would never eat, I'm not sure either. Lunch meat in general is one thing that I'm on the fence about, but we have it and we eat it, just not frequently.



I've had several people ask how we get our kids to eat so well.  My response? It's two-fold. First, we are not a restaurant so I don't offer to make a pb&j when #1 refuses to eat like 3 year olds do. Second, we are all eating the same foods, so we are modeling what we expect. My kids eat salad. My kids eat salmon. My kids eat real food. They are required to take 2 bites.  If they get hungry later and they didn't finish dinner, guess what is offered? Dinner.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think I'm a better mom than anyone out there. I do this because I'm freaked out about our food supply and how I can best feed my children for their short & long term health.

We do love our cookies though! Recently, instead of buying shelf-stable ones stocked with preservatives and GMOs and other chemically-laden items, we have been making our cookies. Yes, they are sweet, but I know WHAT they are made with and that there are no preservatives in them. I also make a mean homemade granola.

So, is this work?  Absolutely. Unfortunately, our American lifestyle is about ease & convenience, not health. I sometimes hit up 4 places in a week/weekend between our veggie co-op, Target, Publix, and Whole Foods (the store). I spend one day a month cooking ALL.DAY.LONG. I do a ton of research into things as well, but sites like OAMC & EWG.org make the research process shorter.

But it's worth it to be able to feed my family.

What do you working mamas do to feed your families? How about you SAHMs? Recipes? Links?

P.S. A very special shout-out to my SIL who inspired me to write these two posts. I do a lot of Foodbooking and have had several questions about our eating habits and my cooking process. I hope these posts address the why and how. Nothing excites me more to see people making positive life change!