60 minutes special on food additives!

This really is a must see! Watch it and research more on your own! You will be surprised how much is invested in food additives!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7Wh3uq1yTc

ABC article on worst food additives

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellness/scariest-food-additives/story?id=17049716


This article has some good news for those of us that don't really understand why food additives are so bad!

Thank you Ryann for bringing to my attention and inspiring this post!

Condiments make so many dishes so much better! Most of the condiments, including many "organic" options, are filled with natural and artificial chemicals, sugar and many other things that hijacked our taste buds and make us think we are eating something we are not.

This does not mean that we cannot enjoy our condiments! We can make everything that you can buy on a shelf right at home, for a fraction of the cost and in very little time. Best thing is you control what goes in. NO CHEMICALS, NO PROCESSED INGREDIENTS, NO SUGAR JUST FOR SUGARS SAKE!

I have been making our condiments for a couple of years now. I admit that I did not used to do it 100% of the time! If we were making potato salad and I did not have any homemade mayo we would run to Whole Foods and buy the best one we could find, for $5 bucks or something crazy. But I am re-dedicating myself and my time to making sure all of our condiments are homemade, for my children's sake!

I am going to include a bunch of recipes under the conversations tab on honor system.weebly.com under the recipes forum that I have tried and used. Try them out! You will be surprised how good homemade BBQ sauce is or homemade mayo. You may need to grow accustomed to the change in flavors but not in a bad way. I thought the adjustment was more whole and accepting of what food really tastes like without the added chemicals to preserve and or heighten the flavor.
Relearn what food tastes like! I saw a GREAT 20/20 special that I am going to search for now on the chemical flavoring companies that will blow your mind! Look for it in the next post, hopefully!

Condiment recipes I have tried and love!

Mayo
http://paleodietlifestyle.com/paleo-mayonnaise/

Ranch dressing ( use the mayo from the previous recipe for the mayo called in this recipe!! )
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/06/homemade-ranch-dressing/

BBQ sauce ( with this I would use coconut sugar instead of regular granulated sugar and would make my own ketchup )
http://bbqpitboys.com/recipes/bbq-sauce-country-style#.UQnCZKV5420

Ketchup ( I would use coconut sugar in here too and Apple Cider Vinegar instead of red wine vinegar )
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/jamie-oliver/homemade-tomato-ketchup-recipe/index.html

Italian dressing recipe ( I would use honey here and all olive oil )
http://www.pennilessparenting.com/2010/07/perfect-homemade-italian-dressing.html

Godess dressing ( I would use coconut sugar and Tamari sauce instead of the soy sauce )
http://vegetarian.about.com/od/saucesdipsspreads/r/goddessdressing.htm

Raw caesar dressing ( This isn't exactly a caesar taste but it is very close and just good in general! )
http://lowfatveganchef.com/the-best-raw-vegan-caesar-salad-dressing-recipe/

Carrot ginger dressing
http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2010/04/avocado-salad-with-carrot-ginger-dressing/

Another idea is to add half an avocado and a whole tomato diced, and just squish it all together in your salad bowl. You will get a creamy avocado/tomato dressing that is super light and really tasty! Sprinkle the top of the salad with a little salt too ;)

This is a good running list...Do you have any requests for more dressings you can't live without?? Also let us know if you try any of these!

LOVE

Beautiful new day! Inspiration and positivity! Something is brewing inside :)

Yesterday we finished up the day with some chili which I use ground grass-fed beef liver instead of ground beef! This increases the nutritional content of the chili a huge amount without changing the flavor or texture! Liver is an AMAZINGLY healthy and nutrient dense food choice! Our hunter gatherer ancestors would have eaten many if not all of the animal organs and may have even preferred them to the muscle as they are super nutrient packers! Liver is one of the organs that I personally image was a delicacy of sorts and given to pregnant women and children...
I have many "images" of what life would have been like 20,000 years ago! I've always felt I was born in the wrong time!

For dinner we had a bbq chicken kale salad. This is really yummy and is quickly becoming something I desire! The BBQ sauce just goes really well with the kale and with the chicken you can eat such a large amount of raw greens and get really full because of the chicken! We also had our fav japanese sweet potatoes!

My son is 18 months old now and has been very slow to solids but he loves these potatoes! He is eating at every meal now though so he is acquiring a taste for many foods now! It's amazing how much you can trust your babies! It was challenging to not worry about him not eating solids like "every other baby". He is 18 months old! Most babies start between 6-12 months. I had to focus and keep thinking of what it may have been like when mothers nursed for 3+ years. Would babies be totally content with milk and eat when they were really ready?? My time with my son has proven to me, yes and I trust my kids :)

For breakfast we had our juice, some fresh fruit and quinoa oatmeal! I think we will have leftovers - BBQ chicken kale salad - and for dinner we are having breakfast! I will make coconut flour pancakes with blueberries, and over easy eggs on top of rice and veggies. It is one of our favorite things to eat!

Haven't ran today so we will be going to the park soon and get active! I have NO miles recorded this week!! But I will get my 3 miles in before Saturday. By March my goal is to be able to increase it to 5 miles. I still feel a stress in my shin so I want to take it slow and build my legs up to it.

The Vibrams work muscles that you never knew you had! Have you looked into barefoot running??

Check this out

http://zenhabits.net/barefoot-running/

I will talk about my experience with minimalist running and what I did to prepare my body for the change and the changes I see in my body soon!

LOVE and Happy Wednesday!

Week 1 of the challenge is done!! I have been doing pretty good with my goals! NO WHEAT all week and no wheat CRAVINGS! This is the big part! OK...I did smell buttered toast and it smelled amazing! But I didn't feel that I must or even wanted to eat it!

I am approaching this attempt to cut wheat with the attitude "I can have it but I don't want it". It has changed the way I look at these products! It really is helping with my attitude and control with infamous bread products! The challenge continues....

Nothing super new with recipes this week. I am lacking inspiration in the kitchen and didn't try anything new this week. Which is ok. Though next week will have to be shaken up a bit. I did make some raw brownies over the weekend and I have a pizza planned for Friday. The dough will be a raw recipe that I will make on Thursday. I will post info on it when I try it out. I hope it works. It calls for a dehydrator and we don't have that so a really low oven will have to suffice and hopefully it will!
I am constantly noticing my waist shrinking! Last night I looked in the mirror and almost recognized myself from the many years in my pre-baby body. It is exciting! I still have work but I think I will be in my favorite jeans by the end of this challenge! This summer I will wear a bikini and feel comfortable again :)

I came across an AWESOME site and challenge a family did last year. They attempted to do a 30 day whole food challenge on a $500 budget and they did it! A family of 3, shopped at Whole Foods exclusively and spent under $500 for the whole month! Here is the link to what they did, in detail!

http://truefoodmovement.com/30-day-whole-foods-thrifty-challenge

This is really inspiring! I am going to be looking at the details of what she spent and ate and figure out if I can cut some off of our grocery bill too.

Check it out!

AND Check out Hungry for Change on Netflix or at http://www.hungryforchange.tv.

A lot of info here that can help with understanding why whole foods is SO vital!

LOVE

All is well here and on track! I didn't cook yesterday at all except eggs in the morning! Had a bunch of leftovers from the week so we had leftover rice pasta with the raw fettucini sauce and kale and carrots for lunch and had lentil stew with a large kale salad with avocado dressing and a sweet potato. All yummy. Nothing new. Tonight I am making chicken fajitas, minus the tortillas, mashed potatoes, corn, and kale/carrots sauteed. We will also have some juice since I made a smoothie this morning with fresh apple/orange juice and some kale and collards. Not the full juice though so I will make one for before dinner to start the meal off right! We have been going to the park about 3-4 times a week and I run most of these trips. I am doing about 3 miles a week and my goal is to be up to 5 in the next month. I would love to do 10 miles a week long term. We have talked about running a marathon, like the Boston or New York, in the future! So if 10 miles can become normal a full marathon will be easier to prepare for. For lunch today we are having bbq chicken kale salads! This is soooo tasty and fresh! The bbq sauce is homemade and almost perfection and having it tossed with the kale and other veggies is really, really good! We hope you are making the best choices that are available to you! LOVE

Factory farms map

PREPARATION


I am sorry I did not get this out this weekend! We had an extra day together as a family this weekend due to the MLK holiday so I am set back a day. I thought tomorrow was Tuesday! Hey baby brain is real even with a 1 1/2 yo and a 2 1/2 yo!

SO......... preparation! What have you done to prep your life to support a whole foods diet??!!

The 1st thing I say you MUST do is decide it is YOUR time! This is really it! We make decisions all day long and execute them without a second thought! You must do the same with your decision to create a healthy lifestyle for yourself and your family! It can be executed just as easily as say going to check your mail or washing your dishes. There is no difference except WE EAT ALL THE TIME!

This is where it can become really easy or more challenging. We eat more than we do anything else in our conscious lives! We eat 2-6 times or more a day! The most amazing part of this is we have SO many opportunities to eat well! SO many choices and with each one we can make the decision to make a health promoting decision!

The flip to this is we also have so many opportunities to make non health promoting decisions...but another is soon on its way so the time for change comes again quickly! So quickly that you cannot even stress on the bad choice. Focus on telling yourself, "hey self, that wasn't the best decision we had available. Let's make sure that the next time we make a better, more conscious decision." Be easy on yourself. Life is full of so many stressors. We do not need to create a new stressor with food choices. Be easy but be aware. Be conscious. Be in love with yourself and always strive to create a better relationship with yourself, in yourself.

There are many things that make whole foods eating easier. Here are a few:

A good blender - If you cannot afford a high end blender like the Vitamix invest in a Ninja or another good quality blender. If not that's ok too just have a blender! :)

A juicer - Not necessary at all as you can make whole foods smoothies/juices in a blender but it can make getting the nutrients in easier, especially in the beginning of your healthy lifestyle swap.

A good knife and or knife set

Good cook wear - say bye bye to the teflon, no stick stuff of your carcinogen yesteryears and say hello to stainless steel or to cast iron!

A food processor - If you do not have a high quality blender a food processor is a must! Makes veggie prep a breeze

A plan - a weekly meal plan, a grocery store plan, a in a pinch plan, a no food in the fridge plan, an eating out plan, a vacation plan, a visitors in town plan, a low on funds plan! Try to think of all the times that you make the lower quality food choices and make a plan on how to make better choices in the same circumstances.

A weekly shopping trip - This is the minimum and necessary, period.

A date with your kitchen - To get re-aquainted. You will be spending a lot of time together :)

Or you can try this....

Have faith in yourself!

Be in love with yourself!

Be thankful to be here and to be a witness to the beauty that is existence

Live with that thankfulness in your heart and energy daily!

Healthy eating will then come naturally!

LOVE

WHOA!!! SO this is a little hard putting out here! LOL! I still for some reason think I am as small as I was before I had babies! Though I have come a long way. My heaviest was 190 and that was after 2 pregnancies back to back. My smallest has been 125, in my adult years. I know I still look small to many but for me this has been a HUGE difference. I found a way to still see me through it all and that has helped. Though I will be in my pre-baby body again. I know it.

I am about 147 now. My goal is to lose another 10lbs to bring me to the 135 range, which is where I was right before my daughter. WOW! That stomach just looks so odd! Like the fat is just sitting on top of me yelling to be burned! LOL! Don't you worry fat I will grant your wish! hehe

Here are my goals again...

1. To break my addiction to wheat

2. To restore and prevent further tooth decay

3. To eliminate processed foods from our diet, with a few whole exceptions

4. To lose 10 lbs and find myself back in my pre-pregnancy body again!

5. To learn the basics of sprouting grains

6. To incorporate more raw foods into my families diet

7. To inspire YOU to meet your personal goals!

LOVE

BIG LOVE and hello beautiful people!

I want to post a few things here on our first day of our charged challenge! First I missed the opportunity to talk about prep. Prep is really one of the most important parts of living a healthy lifestyle...that and the decision to, which is the most important part! SO I will be posting on the blog shortly my ideas/advice of prepping yourself for a whole foods lifestyle.

Second I want to post my personal goals for this challenge.

1. To break my addiction to wheat

2. To restore and prevent further tooth decay

3. To eliminate processed foods from our diet, with a few whole exceptions

4. To lose 10 lbs and find myself back in my pre-pregnancy body again!

5. To learn the basics of sprouting grains

6. To incorporate more raw foods into my families diet

7. To inspire YOU to meet your personal goals!

I will be posting a before picture of myself on my blog shortly, which is a bit on a painful decision to make, but hey I got to put myself out there to inspire so it's all good! ;) And it's the truth! This is who I am! I always strive to create a better me so it is all good ;)

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let me know what I can do to help you stay focused and achieve your goals! If you need me to walk you through making a certain meal I will try my hardest to make myself available to you! If you need more recipes, to talk, where the best deals are in your town this weekend etc whatever PLEASE reach out! I cannot make any grown person do anything! I am here to help! Hopefully you will find yourself in a similar position soon and will offer your help to the group as well. We need more people to join too! SO keep spreading the word! Today is the "official" start date, but we all know someone who needs a healthy make over! And there are some who need it way more than others. Talk to them. Inspire them. Charge them! 

This is a 90 day whole foods charged challenge charged with love, health, inspiration and all the positive energy we can find within!! Spread this charged energy to others even if it isn't their time! You never know how they will respond or what seed you may have planted!

A wise woman told me once that "It isn't what you to that makes people remember you, it's how you make them feel"! Make yourself and the people in your energy field feel good! Give all love and your true self and inspire. It is our intention here! It is our intention.

LOVE

Juice this morning ::::::: carrots, collards, kale stalks, chard, parsley, ginger, oranges, apple, diakon, sweet potato, cucumber, rutabaga and radish. I made a mistake and didn't peel 2 oranges and it wasn't a good idea! had a weird taste to it. Peel your oranges!! :)

Also I tried some raw oatmeal this morning! You soak your steel cut oats (I also used buckwheat groats) in water with raisins over night. In the morning you add a banana and blend it all together. Niyah loves it! I thought it was ok...not as good as regular oatmeal or even quinoa "oatmeal" but good, whole and raw. Here's the link for it

http://www.therawtarian.com/raw-oatmeal-recipe

LOVE

We had a good long weekend! 3 day weekend so got a lot accomplished.

Friday night we had grass fed burgers wrapped in swiss chard instead of buns since we are wheat free for this challenge. This was the burger here

For desert I made a raw banana cream pie which was to die for!!! So delicious!

I used Saturday mornings juice pulp to make crackers. I will link a recipe that I based this on under Our Conversations in the recipe forum. I adjusted it some adding red onions, some of my sprouted lentils, sunflower seeds and some curry seasoning. 

This was our Monday night dinner. The wrap is a salmon wrap with red peppers, red cabbage, carrots, cucumber, spinach and a nut pate spread that I made. I will link the recipe to the nut pate in recipes as well. This was really good! I have never enjoyed the tasted of fish but have incorporated into our diet since last May and am learning to eat it. This I actually enjoyed! For all the moms who think their kids won't eat their veggies, this was Niyah's plate and she ate it all except the collard wrap which I think was just a little tough for her to chew. I will steam her wrap next time or wrap it in chard, which she has no problems chewing.

I took a break from running this weekend. My shins were feeling a little off from last week and still being a newer runner in my Vibrams. I looked up a video on barefoot running and change my stride and felt it that next day so I let my legs rest. I am going to start back today though. My goal is 3 miles a week now. 

All is going good here! I did cheat!!!! I ate about a cup full of ice cream last night! I needed to clear out the freezer and it was taking up room! Instead of throwing it away I just ate it! :) It is against our challenge because it is processed with regular sugar. I am going to make some ice cream this weekend so we can enjoy our favorite desert! BUT....I think this is a good lesson! We have to be easy on ourselves and accept our total selves. Sure, I could have thrown it away and it would have been a better choice for my body, but I didn't and that is ok! I am ok with it! It was a special treat and that was it. The rest of my life compensates for that one treat so it is OK! 

Give yourself a break and just keep on going!!

LOVE

Look at the beauty of collards being juiced! 

I used all the greens, carrots, radishes and 1/4 of the diakon, sweet potato and zucchini and the rutabaga. The lentils are sprouting in the background!

Red beet juice

This is our juice for today! It was delicious! 

Last night we had sauteed Kale with red bell peppers and carrots steamed with the kale. It was perfection. Kale is something that is just as good raw as it is steamed. We had grass fed beef burgers, wrapped in swiss chard instead of a bun and a baked japanese sweet potato!!! AND LET ME TELL YOU...if you like baked sweet potatoes you will LOOOOOOVE japanese sweet potatoes! WOW! I tried them for the 1st time in Hawaii and fell in love. I was on a japanese potato kick my whole pregnancy! We finally found them at Whole Foods and they are the only potatoes that I eat baked now. (I juice the regular orange sweet potatoes).


Juice this morning : ginger, kale, chard, collards, cucumber, daikon, apples, oranges, spinach, parsley, cilantro, zucchini, sweet potato, red beet and I think that was it. I took a couple pics of it. I don't know how to post pics yet but I am going to try to find out right now!!

:)

LOVE

You know the day never goes quite as planned BUT U have gotten some stuff done! Coco's pulp treats are dehydrating, the chili is done, the lentils are sprouting and when they are done probably tonight, I will put the stew on. I am waiting for a banana to thaw and will then make the raw banana cream pie!! Yummmm can't wait to try this! I am also going to make a cashew cream cheese for our collard wraps this week, and some kale chips for a snack through the week for the kids so they can dip them in hummus and also going to make babaganoosh tomorrow for dipping as well. I will post that recipe when I do it. I do not like eggplant but looooove babaganoosh! Especially with pita chips, but we are staying away from wheat for our 90 days so....kale chips and pulp chips instead which sounds delightful!

Preparing to go shopping for the weekend and next week. Planning my meal plan for the week and shopping list. We do this every week. Sometimes Friday night before Saturday shopping, most of the time Saturday in the parking lot of Whole Foods! :) Hey it gets done!!

Things I am planning on making for this week
liver chili - lunches for kids and me
sprouted lentil stew - lunches for the kids and me
chicken burgers - dinner
stuffed portabellos - dinner
chicken fajitas on rice - dinner
kale chips - for snack for kids through out week
collard wraps - dinner
pasta dish - with brown rice pasta
hummus - snack
juice pulp crackers - snack
pulp dog treats - for Coco :) (we have so much pulp its hard to find something to do with all of it!)


Not sure what else. I just found a new recipe for a raw oatmeal that I think I am going to try as well. You soak your oat groats over night with raisins and a few other ingredients and then just puree it. I think my daughter will like it.

I'll update with the recipes I use for these dishes

Happy Friday!

Breakfast:::::

juice, leftover steamed veggies, quinoa cooked in coconut milk w berries and coconut sugar (which we are cutting down on)

Now headed to the park to get active!

No wheat in 3 days! Hahaha

Morning juice:

Bunch of kale, chard, gold n red beets, garlic, ginger, sweet potato, carrots, apples, oranges, kiwi and chia seeds.

I'm saving my kale stalks from dinner and juicing these too!

Dinner last night:

Sustainable fresh caught salmon with brown basmati rice, steamed kale,  brussel sprouts and carrots. I still have to have something on my fish...I'm a recovering fish hater lol! So I topped my salmon with kale/basil pesto and also had a Japanese sweet potato baked. This is what my daughter ate too! She does not have the fish issues like her mom did thankfully! My son nibbled on some rice and kale

My (and the kids) 90 charged whole foods challenge plan!

Our diet is mostly whole foods now. Though my main goal, short term is to eliminate wheat and long term grains in general. Dairy is also something that I want to eliminate long term, for myself at least, but in the short term I will be switching any dairy we use to raw milk, cheese, yogurt, sour cream and just keep it very minimal.

I am focusing on  increasing our raw veggie consumption. We juice daily and have a kale salad daily but I think we can add a little more. My end goal is to be a "primal" eater, 80% ish raw, with high quality animal meat and fats. So.....step by step right ;)

Will update this weekend our shopping trip and what if any new things we get this weekend to help with our charged challenge!

Love

Morning juice:::::

apple, orange, kale. swiss chard, ginger, gold and red beet, spinach, sweet potato, 1 garlic clove, carrots, kiwi and oranges! Kids loved it.

1st day of 90 day charged challenge! I hope more join :) Happy Wednesday!

Had scrambled eggs with spinach for breakfast with a multi vegetable/fruit juice, lentil veggie stew and kale salad and chicken kale salad for dinner. Next time I will sprout the lentils before I make the stew. Everything else was on target today.

I also ran 2 laps around the park. Feeling good though my son is up crying now! lol toddler years are fun ;)