We eat a lot of chicken. So much that one time my MIL remarked that she had never known anyone who ate so much chicken. We seem to eat less now, only because I am trying to be more diverse and culinary savvy. Its slow going though. We still buy our frozen boneless and skinless chicken breasts by the Costco sized bag.
Looking at our December calendar, we have 25 days worth of meals scheduled (I started the menu on the third because I am a slacker and there are 2 "free nights" where I don't have to cook, and then Christmas and the day after leftovers make up for the rest of the month). So looking at those 25 days, 9 of them are a meal with chicken in them. There is Jerk Chicken, Gyros, Chicken Burritos, Stir Fry, Chicken Parmesan, Homemade Chicken Nuggets, and 3 of what we call "Chicken, Rice and a Veggie" which is exactly what it sounds like. There are 2 days with Pork, and 6 meals with some sort of Turkey, usually ground. We use turkey instead of beef for things like Tacos, Hot dogs, Burgers, Spaghetti Sauce and Swedish Meatballs (a new recipe I am trying). The other days are made up of breakfasts for dinner, homemade pizza, and one super lazy day of sandwiches.
The other 2 days are a meal made with steak. That's fairly typical, we don't eat any kind of beef other than steak, and we never have it more than twice a month. There are a couple reasons for this. One, it just tastes better when you don't have it often...its almost like its a special luxury treat. Two, because we only buy natural, grass fed, hormone free steaks...its rather expensive and not something we could afford to eat all that often. I'll be honest, we used to eat Winco steaks. And we didn't think twice about it. Then I read this article in Mother Earth News Magazine, titled "What you need to know about the Beef you eat" and it changed my outlook forever. And then I actually tasted natural beef, and I knew it would be impossible to go back. It looks, smells and tastes different...its juicy and flavorful and so incredibly good. I know the article is long, but its worth the time it takes to read. Beef is not very appetizing when you find out whats in it. Once I started reading labels, and learning more about what is in our food, the more disgusted I am by what our government says is safe for us to eat. Things that they know cause cancer. Things that they know are not normal or natural. Hormones and chemicals have no place in our food! No wonder there are so many problems with obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and all the other maladies that are so common in America. Just look at the crap we put in our bodies!
Now, I wont go off on some hippy tangent about the article. First, because you can do your own research and decide whats best for you and your family. Secondly, because lately we haven't exactly been practicing what we preach. With the late summer stress of finding our house, then the moving, and now the gluttony of the holidays, we haven't been eating like we should. We have fallen off our healthy, veggie and fruit laden wagon, and are soundly back into the soda and Doritos laden mud. Which is sadly ironic, considering I really believe all of what I just said above. Sometimes a lifetime of habits are hard to change, no matter how bad you know it is for you.
I wish that I made more things from scratch. I could be making our own corn flakes for goodness sake. Almost everything that we can find in a store, I can make at home, and it would be so much better for us. I would also love for our family to eat all organic, made from scratch, healthy meals. But sometimes the cost of organic food can be very prohibitive. We do get everything we can that Costco carries thats organic, because the price is good there. I can find organic pasta in bulk at Winco, along with our organic milk for Killy. Rowan, Matthew and I all drink rice milk, and since I have never seen organic rice milk, we just stick with the regular stuff. Trader Joes is a good priced alternative, when I actually make it there. Which I haven't since summer time. What I am saying is that while we do try to get what we can that's organic, we are a long way off from being totally chemical free in our food. It bums me out sometimes, but that's just where we are at right now.
I see change on the horizon though. There are a couple alternatives that I need to look into, and cookbook and websites to learn from. Its all about the knowledge baby! There is a really great place called Azure Standard that you can order a lot of organic and natural foods from, and they seem to have pretty good prices. There are of course farmers markets starting in spring, and even better, our own organic garden right out our back door. I am really excited to get started on planning out what we are going to grow back there, we have so much space that the possibilities are endless! There is all the canning that can be done in the summer, with fresh local hand picked produce from local farmers. It may not always be organic...but farm fresh is decidedly better than what we would find in the supermarket. Aimee and I picked a ton of berries and fruits this summer, but I know I didnt do as much preserving as I could. Next year I am going to fill all these extra pantry shelves with canned goodies! I found out the other day that our convection oven can be used as a dehydrator, so the kids and I are pretty excited about that. We all love snacking on dried fruit. So I guess I see a lot of options for us, and healthier eating in our future, but we just have to work at it. If you made it this far, congrats. This post didnt have a point really, only me getting some thoughts out and making plans for a healthier future :)
Looking at our December calendar, we have 25 days worth of meals scheduled (I started the menu on the third because I am a slacker and there are 2 "free nights" where I don't have to cook, and then Christmas and the day after leftovers make up for the rest of the month). So looking at those 25 days, 9 of them are a meal with chicken in them. There is Jerk Chicken, Gyros, Chicken Burritos, Stir Fry, Chicken Parmesan, Homemade Chicken Nuggets, and 3 of what we call "Chicken, Rice and a Veggie" which is exactly what it sounds like. There are 2 days with Pork, and 6 meals with some sort of Turkey, usually ground. We use turkey instead of beef for things like Tacos, Hot dogs, Burgers, Spaghetti Sauce and Swedish Meatballs (a new recipe I am trying). The other days are made up of breakfasts for dinner, homemade pizza, and one super lazy day of sandwiches.
The other 2 days are a meal made with steak. That's fairly typical, we don't eat any kind of beef other than steak, and we never have it more than twice a month. There are a couple reasons for this. One, it just tastes better when you don't have it often...its almost like its a special luxury treat. Two, because we only buy natural, grass fed, hormone free steaks...its rather expensive and not something we could afford to eat all that often. I'll be honest, we used to eat Winco steaks. And we didn't think twice about it. Then I read this article in Mother Earth News Magazine, titled "What you need to know about the Beef you eat" and it changed my outlook forever. And then I actually tasted natural beef, and I knew it would be impossible to go back. It looks, smells and tastes different...its juicy and flavorful and so incredibly good. I know the article is long, but its worth the time it takes to read. Beef is not very appetizing when you find out whats in it. Once I started reading labels, and learning more about what is in our food, the more disgusted I am by what our government says is safe for us to eat. Things that they know cause cancer. Things that they know are not normal or natural. Hormones and chemicals have no place in our food! No wonder there are so many problems with obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and all the other maladies that are so common in America. Just look at the crap we put in our bodies!
Now, I wont go off on some hippy tangent about the article. First, because you can do your own research and decide whats best for you and your family. Secondly, because lately we haven't exactly been practicing what we preach. With the late summer stress of finding our house, then the moving, and now the gluttony of the holidays, we haven't been eating like we should. We have fallen off our healthy, veggie and fruit laden wagon, and are soundly back into the soda and Doritos laden mud. Which is sadly ironic, considering I really believe all of what I just said above. Sometimes a lifetime of habits are hard to change, no matter how bad you know it is for you.
I wish that I made more things from scratch. I could be making our own corn flakes for goodness sake. Almost everything that we can find in a store, I can make at home, and it would be so much better for us. I would also love for our family to eat all organic, made from scratch, healthy meals. But sometimes the cost of organic food can be very prohibitive. We do get everything we can that Costco carries thats organic, because the price is good there. I can find organic pasta in bulk at Winco, along with our organic milk for Killy. Rowan, Matthew and I all drink rice milk, and since I have never seen organic rice milk, we just stick with the regular stuff. Trader Joes is a good priced alternative, when I actually make it there. Which I haven't since summer time. What I am saying is that while we do try to get what we can that's organic, we are a long way off from being totally chemical free in our food. It bums me out sometimes, but that's just where we are at right now.
I see change on the horizon though. There are a couple alternatives that I need to look into, and cookbook and websites to learn from. Its all about the knowledge baby! There is a really great place called Azure Standard that you can order a lot of organic and natural foods from, and they seem to have pretty good prices. There are of course farmers markets starting in spring, and even better, our own organic garden right out our back door. I am really excited to get started on planning out what we are going to grow back there, we have so much space that the possibilities are endless! There is all the canning that can be done in the summer, with fresh local hand picked produce from local farmers. It may not always be organic...but farm fresh is decidedly better than what we would find in the supermarket. Aimee and I picked a ton of berries and fruits this summer, but I know I didnt do as much preserving as I could. Next year I am going to fill all these extra pantry shelves with canned goodies! I found out the other day that our convection oven can be used as a dehydrator, so the kids and I are pretty excited about that. We all love snacking on dried fruit. So I guess I see a lot of options for us, and healthier eating in our future, but we just have to work at it. If you made it this far, congrats. This post didnt have a point really, only me getting some thoughts out and making plans for a healthier future :)