The older I get, the more important health is becoming to me. When I was younger, I never had an issue with weight or energy. But then I married and had 5 children in 7yrs and it did a number on both my energy and eating habits. Last year Bean was diagnosed with too much yeast in her system. Then came Baby Cuda's inability to have dairy. I came to the realization of just
how much food affected the way we all felt. And what a food rut I was in from Hubby's year-long deployment.
I decided to start slow - healthy snacks. I stocked up on high protein bars and bought bags of raw almonds at Sams. The protein bars ran out too quickly and I got kidney stones from all the almonds (seriously!). I began cooking at home more, but mostly quick meals or ones from the freezer section that left us feeling gross or still hungry hours later. Over the following months, I read more about GMOs, real food, protein heavy meals, and buying organic. Then my sister got engaged and Lent began. Both great reasons to make a drastic diet change :) Sometimes the best way to do something is simply to dive right in, and that's just what I did.
The new way we eat is referred to as "paleo." This is essentially the foods our ancestors would have eaten - no sugar, no dairy, no grains & no starch or beans (if you are strict!). It is protein rich with hearty additions of veggies and fruit. What a learning curve we endured for the initial month! Eating this way takes
much more preparation and organization as you cannot simply throw something together. It also takes time to build your ingredient staples, many of which are difficult to buy in our little town. Because I am nursing Baby Cuda and need extra calories, and since the older kids take lunches to school and have trouble with lettuce wraps, I made a decision. We would eat paleo as much as possible, while trying to stay sane. We will currently avoid recipes with ingredients I cannot buy here locally. If I make exceptions (such as rice with our salmon, potato wedges with veggie burgers, or low yeast flatbread sandwiches for the kids' lunches), they would only be healthy exceptions. So no easy junkfood or fast food substitutions for meals or snacks, even if it means we eat later or more simply than planned. Even the simplest dish can be delicious when cooked well :)
Many of our family and friends have requested recipes and in the best interest of sharing those with everyone,
Veggies Are Exciting was born :) We are still learning ourselves, but would be happy to answer any questions you have :) As Julia says, "
Bon Apetit!"
