Just the Basics

In today's post I will try to give just a basic outline of what is in and what is out in each category of food.

Meats

*We eat some kind of meat product  only about once a week on average.  Honestly, when I think about it, it could be even less.  The desire for it is no longer there.
Organic, grass fed when we do eat it.

*NO PORK Products.  Yep.  No bacon, no sausage, no chops, no ribs, no nothing!
**eventually unprocessed pork may be ok if it is pasture raised & organic, but it will be a seldom occurrence.

*Organic chicken is ok.

*We eat eggs from our chickens.  They are organic eggs.  We limit it to 3 each a week.  We prefer to have them as our dinner in a fritatta or with hash brown potatoes.

*Fish is okay no more than twice a week.  We don't eat it that often.  Maybe once or twice a month.  It must be deep water fish (fish that have scales and fins)  Tuna is okay.

*Beef has been off limits to us also.  Red meat and pork are not healthy.  That being said if you eat organic, grass fed beef in limited amounts it will be okay.  Just not a steady diet of it.

Dairy

Ugh.  This was my addiction.  I love me some cheese.

*We now keep only two types of cheese in the fridge.

Parmesan (the real stuff, I haven't found an organic one I want to spend $$$$ on yet, so it is not organic)
Cheddar organic

these are both condiments and used sparingly.  No more cheesy casseroles!

*Milk.  We no longer support the dairy farmers by buying a gallon of milk each week.  We buy organic 1/2 & 1/2 for our tea/coffee.  For all other milk uses we have substituted almond, cashew, or coconut milk.  They are great in cereals and smoothies and just about any other milk use.

*We still use butter, but it is organic and expensive, so it is also used sparingly for that reason.  But we do love to have some bread and butter occasionally!

*No yogurt!!!  We were yogurt fanatics.  Yogurt every day.  Nope.

*Sour cream & cottage cheese--we still buy cottage cheese and sour cream but both organic and they are used about once a week at best.

*No ice cream!  We make "nice" cream on a regular basis so we don't miss it.  (I will make a post about the nice cream soon.  Or just ask me ;)

Fats

We use organic butter, organic virgin coconut oil, and organic extra virgin olive oil.  We try not to overdo it on the fats, but your brain needs fats!

NO CANOLA OR VEGETABLE OIL!

Grains

*Breads:  We only buy good bread from the farmers market or the health food store (they sell bread from local bakers)  Even the grocery store bakery department sells good bread from local bakers.
Mostly I buy sourdough.  We have tried Ezekial bread, but we don't like it so much.  We don't eat bread every day!  I keep it sliced in the freezer and try not to have bread more than twice a week.

*Oats are our most eaten grain.  Organic Old Fashioned Oats.  Every morning.

*We eat barley, quinoa, brown rice -- all organic.  and wild rice.  We eat them as sides and we eat them mixed into salads.  Rice in a veggie salad is awesome!

Sugar

NO REFINED SUGAR!  We use raw honey (local if we can get it) and organic maple syrup.  We use it sparingly.  I no longer bake like I did, but I have been trying my hand at reworking some things to fit a healthier diet.  I also keep liquid Stevia on hand for random times I may want to use it.  My favorite is the stevia flavored water drops.  I find them in the health food store.

Processed Foods

NONE.  We eat as close to the whole food as we can.  We try to minimally process anything.  We eat a lot of Raw vegetable meals.  Nothing goes into the microwave.  Nothing comes from a package.

Legumes

These are our friend.  We try to eat one cup each per day.  We eat them on salads.  Yum....... all kinds........We make soups......yumm.......
Lentils, black beans, chickpeas----hummus!!!!  we eat a lot of hummus

We eat peanut butter and almond butter 

Vegetables

We start with the dark leafy greens and add from there.  The basis to every salad is romaine lettuce, chard, collard, kale, spinach.  EVERY DAY.  Most days twice a day.

We then go with the cruciferous vegetables: broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, etc........

into the salads or stir frys go onions, garlic, bok choy.  Anything that is leafy and green.

You can't go wrong with vegetables.  The average american salad of ice berg, tomato, and cucs is not eaten in this house.

We sometimes go for color!

CARROTS--I can't say enough about carrots.  We buy 25 lbs a week.

We eat white potatoes and sweet potatoes--organic, about once a week

*obviously all the vegetables are organic.

Fruits

We stick with bananas and berries.  I sometimes buy kiwis.  All berries.  Fresh, frozen, organic.  every day.

Nuts and Seeds

We eat almonds, pecans, walnuts, brazil nuts, pumpkin seed, sunflower seed.
We also eat chia seed and flax seed and hemp hearts

Condiments

We don't use too many condiments.  Salad dressing is either just olive oil with seasoning, or a store bought low sugar organic one.  ketchup and bbq sauce are gone.  If I want some I make it with organic canned sauce/paste/honey/seasonings.  Mayo is gone.  If I want some I make it with organic oil and an organic egg.  obviously these don't keep well, so I only make enough to use at the moment.

We use sea salt.  Either Himalayan or Celtic.  MINERALS!

We read labels and try to keep the sugars low. They can be high in condiments

Beverages

NO ALCOHOL!  ugh

WATER, WATER, WATER

Coffee--organic--two cups a week
Red (rooibos) and Green tea every morning

We drink smoothies a few times a week in the evenings.

Obviously I can't address every anomaly in our diet.  This is a start.  From here I will try to share a different idea each day from a different meal.  That way I can rotate through meal ideas and talk more in depth about them.

Also I want to say that if this seems daunting--baby steps.  One change at a time until it becomes a habit.  That is the way to go!