No wheat- while we are not cutting out all grains, wheat (in the form of white flour) is in so much of the "junk" be bring into the house. This (wheat) is also something we are phasing out, or keeping to a minimum for medical reasons. For this period of time we are going to get it all our of our systems. Oatmeal will be our main grain as well as some quinoa and a bit of brown rice.
No refined sugars- This will easily cut out the rest of the junk. No white sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, and (as always) no artificial sweeteners. What will we be using? We will mostly be using honey, maple syrup, and some stevia.
Dye free- We have been moving to no artificial colors, we will get all of it out of the house after Mardi Gras and then keep it out!
What will we be eating? I find that when taking something away it is very helpful to focus on what we CAN have and even add in some new alternatives.
For breakfast we will be having baked oatmeal, eggs, some bacon and maybe sausage. We may even try some yummy baked goods like doughnuts and cinnamon rolls. This looked like a fun breakfast too.
Lunches are fairly easy; the kids have a favorite bean dish we will have regularly. I've made quite the stash of crackers including graham crackers (a huge hit), club crackers (enjoyed by most), herb crackers (YUM! I love these; the recipe is found in this book), and coconut crackers (good, but need to be cooked until crunchy next time). We will add in fruits, veggies, cheese, and salami for some tasty lunches that are a hit with my kids.
Vanilla bean cake, brownies, honey "caramel" corn, and homemade Hazelnut spread(nutella) pictured to the right.
I'll be posting on my family blog about our Valentine's day treats as well as St. Patrick's day. Head on over there to see what I come up with.
Some of my favorite (on line) resources for healthy but "normal" recipes are...
Deliciously Organic
Elana's Pantry
What about you? Are you making some changes to how your family is eating? What are you doing? What are some of your favorite resources? What are you doing to make this fun and help you stick to your plans?
We need to back away from the wheat flour too. :( Isn't it strange that it can be so hard to do something that feels so good? Strange.
ReplyDeleteStill sick around here; sorry we had to cancel. I was really excited!
Oh do we miss oatmeal "cake" in the mornings slathered with coconut manna!!!!
ReplyDeleteWe're heading into week 3 of GAPS intro and learning to love soup for breakfast, lunch and dinner :) Since our diet is so limited these next 3 months (that's our goal for now anyway...may be longer), we have posters on the wall of the food we CAN have (instead of what's excluded as in the past). The children like that approach and are looking forward to the new things that will be added along the way in this extreme elimination diet.
Deprivation heightens anticipation and appreciation! That porridge cake is going to taste soooooo good come next fall :)
Here are posts about our current food adventure if anyone's interested in how to survive healthy eating with children--I'm shocked at how they're eating well and saying "no" to mainstream food! http://creativenourishment.wordpress.com/