When you are first starting out trying to change your family over to a healthier diet I would suggest taking it one step at a time. Do not try to do everything at once or they will likely rebel and be very unwilling to try anything else. Not to mention the hit you will take to your budget.Here are a couple of books that may be helpful.
Real Food: What to Eat and Why
Real Food On A Real Budget: How To Eat Healthy For Less
There is also a great E-course called A Peasant's Feast-Nourishing Food On A Budget
I am going to make several suggestions over the next couple of weeks as to places you can start. Pick one and keep doing it until you are comfortable with it and then start adding others as you are able to.
1.) Switch from margarine to butter. You may also want to switch from using vegetable oil to using olive oil or coconut oil.
You may be thinking the same thing I did at first. "I thought all those fats were supposed to be bad for you. Won't they make me fat." Actually my husband has lost 60 pounds with a wife who cooks using only real butter, olive oil, and coconut oil. That's it. The Lord made these fats to be used by our bodies. Man made margarine and most vegetable oils. They are not natural. In fact, my husband read somewhere that margarine is one molecule away from being plastic. Is that something you really want to be eating? For a great book on this subject you could try reading Eat Fat, Lose Fat: The Healthy Alternative to Trans Fats
2.)Switch from using white flour to wheat flour. The taste may take some getting used to, but eventually you will come to prefer it.
3.)Use brown rice instead of white.
4.) Try using natural sweeteners when baking such as molasses, honey, real maple syrup, or rapadura.
5.) Drink more water. When you cut out sugary drinks you not only cut out the cost from your budget you also save calories and your health.
Stay tuned Monday for more baby steps to better eating.
Originally Posted November 2009
This is a great starter list. I'm actually excited to see how many of these I am at least doing somewhat. I use mainly butter and olive oil. I haven't tried coconut oil yet but my chiropractor highly recommends it so it has been on my list of things to try. I've been using a lot more wheat flour as well. Water we are great with in the summer but it is harder in the winter.
ReplyDeleteThe brown rice is the one that we just haven't managed so far. I tried it a while back and neither of us could adjust to the different taste and texture. I'm thinking it might be easier for us to just cut down on the rice that we eat instead of trying to change this one over.
Thank you so much for this series! I think it is going to be a big encouragement to me.
(Thanks also for the Swagbucks info. We might have to redo my computer (again!) this weekend so I'll look into it when that drama is done)
We are doing most of those things now. We switched to wheat flour almost immediately after I started baking our own bread. It's so much better, and everyone prefers homemade bread to store bought.
ReplyDeleteThe brown rice was a bit tough for our teenagers to handle, so in the beginning we mixed it 50% with white rice. Now, it's all we cook with and they've grown accustomed to it. Not sure they'll stick with it after moving out, but at least they'll be healthier while they are at home with us.
We just recently started experimenting with coconut oil. I love the flavor it gives to popcorn, but it has a very strong scent that not everyone can really handle well. We also got some coconut flour to try, so I can't wait to see how that turns out.
Margarine is tough for us. We do use it, and a lot of it. I use real butter for baking, but margarine is what we use to butter our bread, add to mashed potatoes, etc. It just has such a better/stronger flavor. I'd like to switch though, and for me it's more of an intellectual exercise once I get going with it. If it's better for me, then I'll do it and enjoy it. But for my family, it's more difficult.
Sugar is also a little difficult as I have a severe case of gestational diabetes. Right now, I'm using a lot of splenda, but we also use honey too. I've never used molasses or even heard of rapedura. I'll look into those alternatives.
Thanks for the great post. We should all be reminded about healthier eating habits, and ways in witch we can switch our families over to a better food lifestyle. It's time for us to stop being fat, lazy Americans and take better care of four families. Being diagnosed with GD has really changed the way I view food, and motivated both myself and my husband to provide healthier meals for our family.
Good tips. Another few ideas for sweeteners are agave nectar, yacon root syrup and sucanat (SUgar CAne NATural). And definitely yes to honey! I would definitely not recommend Splenda. I highly recommend anyone using it to thouroughly research this (falsely marketed) product before putting it into the bodies of loved ones (yourself included). Another alternative to the already mentioned sweetners is using apples and/or carrots to sweeten baked breads, soups and other dishes.
ReplyDeleteOn water: Clean, cold & fresh spring water is best. If this is not available, try adding a squeeze of lemon, a sprig of mint or rosemary and a pinch of Himalayan crystal salt to make your water more alive. This is sure to please the palate of the person who "doesn't like the taste of water". The more we like the taste, the more we drink. The more water we drink, the healthier we are. Also, MSM powder is great to add to your drinking water.
such a great post! my husband always reminds friends about margarine and plastic...when they're bragging up all the Free margarine they scored with coupons...really butter is the way to go! we switched up our diets about a year and a half ago and strive really hard to do all the things on you list, i used to store rice, flour and sugar in 5 gallon buckets...but they were all white and i got rid of them...now we have only brown rice and TONS of it, natural sweeteners and mostly gluten free yet protein rich flours! i read somewhere that most all the artificial sugars are coal-tar compounds...nasty!
ReplyDelete