Low Fat Meals

If you are joining my family on its real food quest, there are a few things you need to know. One is this– fat is your friend. I do not mean being fat, although, it is totally cool to have fat friends. We like all kinds here. But to what I am referring is good fats: rich, dense, monounsaturated kinds.

In essence, steer clear of most things labeled “low fat, reduced fat” and the like. I say most things because refried beans, for instance, are NATURALLY low fat. So we can like them. But milk, not NATURALLY low fat. So we pour that nasty bidness down da drain. Sorry, I felt the need to break into pseudo-gangster rap for a second.

Okay, so if our  goal is to be a healthy family why oh why would we avoid low fat items? Great question. You get a gold star. Here’s the skinny on fat. Gosh I am funny. I know you are laughing. Come on. When a product naturally contains fat but is reworked to remove or reduce the fat, there is usually a lot of processing done. The more our food sticks to its Godly design the better.

Processing food removes a lot of its natural vitamins, nutrients and goodness through heat or chemicals. Puke emogi. The balance between omega-3 and omega-6 fats gets out of balance as well. Insert grump emogi.  Depending on what you are looking at— canola oil, margarine, cottonseed oil– dangerous pesticides, gases, and GMO’s are involved which deplete any goodness from your body and also leaves it confused about how to handle these unnatural substances.

Your body stores toxins in fat cells as an effort to keep them out of the mainstream, if you will. So if you are eating a lot of food with cheap fats, you might be encouraging fat STORAGE with all your LOW FAT food. Annoying huh?

Additionally, food robbed of its natural fat also loses its rich flavor. So guess what the darling food factories do? Yep, they doctor it with added salt, sugar, and flavoring. Where is the emogi for “oh holy biscuits you companies make me want to scream????????” Thankfully we can make our own educated choices.

Okay lady, you have shredded all the fats and oils I have been using so now what am I to do? No worries. There are wonderful options for us. Now I need a happy emogi for once.

Look for organic butter– grass fed like Kerrygold– is even better. Ghee is great but does taste a little different so you may want to test it first. Ghee is clarified butter, in which all proteins, milk solids and lactose have been removed, thus making it a great option for those with dairy insensitivities and allergies.

High quality, organic oils such as 100% coconut oil and 100% olive oil are delicious for cooking (and for carrier oils if you are an essential oil junkie such as myself…I won’t judge). Other fan favorites are sesame oil, hemp oil and red palm oil. I have used sesame for rice and zoodle dressing and red palm for homemade waffles. Each has its own qualities. See what works for you. Just make sure they are high quality and organic. Others will have cheap oils cut in. That is bad news bears.

What is your homework? Start looking at labels. If that cottage cheese or sour cream boasts a low fat label, I would laugh a little and put it back. Just don’t laugh loud enough that you look like a crazy person who hears jokes from her dairy. Just saying. Opt for the organic, full fat options. And if your recipe calls for canola or vegetable oil– vomit all over it — replace it with coconut oil or olive oil or organic grass fed butter. Pure bliss.

 

 

 

Be a Label Snob

My mom will laugh at this. When I was in elementary school she told me not to worry about labels. I HAD to have Guess jeans with that perfect triangle right on my booty. Keds were the ONLY shoe that could be worn. And the more Esprit I owned the closer  I was to Jesus. Or so it felt. Did I mention that not owning a Swatch watch meant my parents did not love my and that I would be a failure in life? Those were all true. I swear.

Fast forward — well, let’s not tabulate how many years— and now I am changing my tune. I want you to be a label snob. Tap into your middle school self and start turning up your nose. Only this time not at knock-off Under Armour or whatever the current trend but rather at chemical additives and laboratory created ingredients that are doing your body zero good.

Real food is just that. Real. You should recognize the names.  Tomatoes. Garlic. Cane Sugar. Peas. You get how this works. Things like yellow-6 and maltodextrin do not pass the test. I don’t know about you, but once I started learning what all those ingredients actually were and how they affected my body (and my kids bodies!!!!) I was angry. Like stepping out of the spirit wanting to gut punch the makers of Cheetos and Cheerios. I felt duped. Hoodwinked. Somehow I felt like if it was offered to me in a grocery store…where you buy food…then it must be food???????? #idiot #stupid #ignorant #overthat

The good news is that once you break away from all the fake stuff and start making your own food, eating becomes pure joy. I long for delicious recipes from sauces and seasonings I easily threw together myself. Rich flavors. Savory bites. If I tried to eat a lunchable now I am pretty sure I would vomit it up. Take a moment to enjoy that visual. So if you are investigating changing your diet and taking on a more real approach, you are in for some good stuff. Begin by purging your pantry and fridge. All at once is a bit overwhelming. Just do it as things run out.  Instead of replacing it kind for kind, make the switch to a real version. If it is just junk, do not replace it.

There are great resources already out there for stocking your real food pantry. Print one off and use it to rebuild your stash. I love that other people have done the dirty work for me. I am not big on reinventing wheels. Unless they are wheels made by Kate Spade. Then they will make me skinny/popular/successful/amazing. Right??????????

Healthy Eating 101

When we first decided to look at changing our diet I thought I was going to lose my mind. Fine, I had lost my mind after two kids, but you get my point. It was overwhelming. Like going to IKEA for the first time or popping into Costco on a Saturday. I shudder just thinking about it.

To spare you the diarrhea of the mind I experienced, allow me to make a few suggestions. Pick one or two blogs or cookbooks at a time and no more. My personal favorite is 100 Days of Real Food. Lisa Leake does a great job of keeping things simple and realistic. She has all sorts of meal plans (weekly) so you can get a feel for what eating real food is all about but you do not feel like you have to buy weird ingredients and feed your  family tofu. Bleh!

Another health food hack I appreciated was Michael Pollan’s book Food Rules. Short, clear and logical. My kinda deal. There are all sorts of books and documentaries on the American food industry that will make you scream at your tv and want to throat punch Monsanto, but it is all about baby steps.  Oh, and if you want to terrify your children or husband sit them down to watch Supersize Me. It is like a fast food horror film PG-13.

Here is your homework assignment: Yes you have homework. Time to nerd up. Take this week to build an awareness of WHAT is in your food. Read a few ingredient labels. Heck, look up some of the items that you are unsure of. Snoop around Lisa’s blog. You creep on Facebook, so why not creep on her page and learn a little something, right?

A final thought: If you have ever dieted before, a little heads up. This is a lifestyle change. If you think real food tastes like cardboard and will leave you starving till you just want to shove an entire pizza in your face to stop the grumbling, you are in for a treat! These recipes are delicious, rich, and full of flavor. I will never go back to eating processed disgusta food ( it is a word, I swear). Give it a month and then try to eat a McDonald’s hamburger without puking.