Here’s the challenge: for the 40 days of Lent I’m going to cut out processed food and only eat “real food.” For me, the link to Lent is twofold: 1) real food = the food God put here, and 2) if I think about the Big Man every time I want to cheat (probably going to be pretty often), there’s something good in there too.
I just got back from dinner with Sarai and Michael and confirmed that having some input before Wednesday to “firm up” the rules would be a good thing. So, the rules. There are a ton of blogs out there on this very subject (which I'm sure will be awesome later when I need some fresh ideas – wink wink), but I found one, in particular, that is right on par with what I have in mind – 100 Days of Real Food. The author outlines the rules as such:
- Whole foods that are more a product of nature than a product of industry
- Lots of fruits and vegetables
- Dairy products like milk, unsweetened yogurt, eggs, and cheese
- 100% whole-wheat and whole-grains
- Seafood (wild caught is the optimal choice over farm-raised)
- Only locally raised meats such as pork, beef, and chicken (preferably in moderation)
- Beverages limited to water, milk, all natural juices, naturally sweetened coffee & tea, and, to help the adults keep their sanity, wine and beer!
- Snacks like dried fruit, seeds, nuts and popcorn
- All natural sweeteners including honey, 100% maple syrup, and fruit juice concentrates are acceptable in moderation
All of that makes sense, I’m just trying to think ahead to what I’m going to have questions about later/be tempted to cheat on. So here are some questions for you, my loyal readers, to weigh in on. ;-)
- Cheese is on the “approved list” but I can see that turning into a problem without some stricter rules. I'm thinking limiting this to reduced-fat cheeses only might be a good way to put the kibosh on eating brie in front of the TV and convincing myself that it's okay because it's "real food." Thoughts?
- When it comes to seafood and meat, I’ll do my best to buy organic and local if possible, but that might be one that has to give a bit.
- Salad dressing – obviously olive oil, vinegar, balsamic are all okay. What about something like Annie’s Naturals Goddess Dressing? It has a pretty clean ingredient label. I’m thinking that’s okay?
- Soy sauce – I’m seeing brown rice sushi in the future and am wondering if it's kosher to dunk it in delicious soy sauce. I'm afraid this might be a no go, although I was reading another "real food" blog earlier about someone using low-sodium soy sauce (let's be honest, that stuff is just not as good). Still, could that be a happy medium? Or better to avoid altogether?
- Dried fruit & popcorn – I'm surprised about dried fruit because most have lots of sugar added. Maybe someplace (like Central Market) has the straight-up fruit? Guess I’ll have to check the ingredient labels on the bins. And what about popcorn? Is that like homemade popcorn or from a bag? Again - might have to check the ingredient label for that one.
- Green beans in a can – I know fresh is better and that canned have added salt, but nothing else is in there. So is that OK? What about other beans (e.g., black beans or kidney beans)? I'm sure fresh is better but in a time crunch you think these would be okay?
- Wine and beer – no real question here, just wanted to acknowledge how lovely it is that they're on the list without me having to secretly add them. Fermented grapes...as real as it gets. Mmmmhmmm!
If you're still reading this excessively long post, let me know what you think. And Happy Mardi Gras!
You just need to train yourself to read EVERY SINGLE LABEL of something that isn't a fruit/veg. Luckily, organic & fresh are en vogue right now, so you can usually find packaged products (say, of dried fruit) where the only ingredient is the fruit itself. (Same thing with popcorn, I'd imagine; canned veggies; and canned beans [of which you can get "no salt added" versions.])
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah - cheese is tough... I used to only eat LF cheeses, but then I realized that the full-fat kind is a lot more filling than the LF. So if I buy full-fat, I'm just SUPER mindful of when I'm full (and don't continue eating after that). But make sure if you buy LF that you get a good brand - some of them are full of gross stuff.
Do you guys have a Trader Joes? That place is a gem for cheap-ish organic stuff!
I have too much to say about this. Not enough room in one blog comment.
ReplyDeleteIf cheese was meant to be fatty (it was), I would skip the reduced fat stuff and just eat the real stuff very sparingly. That said, how are cheese and yogurt "real foods?" They're definitely processed (or at least as much as soy sauce or olive oil is - in fact, I don't see anything about healthy oils on the rules).
I appreciate that the rules stipulate moderation when it comes to meat. There is actually a local meat section at the Farmer's Market that you might want to check out if you're interested in staying totally local.
As for the wild caught vs. farm raised fish, I would both agree and disagree. Unfortunately, a lot of "wild caught" stuff utilizes catching practices that are unsustainable and ecologically damaging to other sealife. Also, your kids probably won't know what blue fin tuna is because it's so over-fished, so go slow on that sushi. Surprisngly, one of the most eco-friendly things in the sea that you can eat is farmed oysters. They're stationary, so think of it more in terms of relocation than farmed. Plus, they're raw on the half shell - so no processing there.
As for the canned vegetables, I don't think that's a huge issue. Just buy fresh in season if you can (farmer's market or co-op if you can) and canned out of season. I'd even recommend fresh frozen fruits and vegetables in some instances (especially frozen fruit for smoothies, since you could just use fruit and milk).
One other glaring piece missing - legumes (beans). I would say that's a pretty easy protein source that qualifies as "real." Wonder why that's not included?
As always, call the vegan if you have any questions on how to make vegetable dishes that taste good.
Jackie - thanks for the tips! No Trader Joe's here but we've got a couple more budget friendly options like Sprouts and Newflower Market. You always have good healthy ideas on your blog (and blog links), so I'll have to let you know when I try some out (like the banana froyo)!
ReplyDeleteBrad - what a wealth of knowledge you are! I'm definitely planning trips to the Farmer's Market for produce but I don't know about meat – that seems sketch. TBD. And yes - you're right about legumes. Those fo sho will work their way in. What's the blog you write for sometimes? I lost it!
This is hillllarious!! What is real food? Where's the chocolate section?
ReplyDelete