Change #1 Food: throw it away!

Well since we are what we eat. Let’s start there. The first step is to purge. The following is my criteria for what gets thrown away in the kitchen. Maybe this should be done in phases. I’m not ready for the raw food diet just yet. 

1. ANYTHING white. (White sugar, white flour, white rice) All of it is in the garbage.
2. High-fructose corn syrup. I’ve read recently that this stuff is just bad for you. Great book that will leave you laughing and it’s about health & corn. The Omnivore’s Dilemma. 
3. MSG. This preservative is just unnecessary and unhealthy.
4. Junk food. Chips, Candy etc. 
5. Vegetable oil.
6. Boxed dinners. (i.e Mac & Cheese, Hamburger Helper, boxed mash potatoes)
7. Processed foods (Velvetta)
8. Store bought salad dressings and sauces that have a million ingredients in them that you can’t pronounce. Let me tell you preservatives don’t make you look younger. 

Things to change later... I just can’t do it... YET! Slow steps... remember... slow steps. Help! How does one live without the ease of canned goods! 

1. Aluminum is bad for you and bad for the environment. 
2. Plastic containers... it’s even more dangerous if you heat it up.. so DON’T put it in the microwave. 

Well it’s a sad day... mostly I’m sad about the mac and cheese) but a fresh start. Do you feel better? I do. 

Q: What is or was the hardest thing that you gave up in the name of eating healthy?

New Beginnings

{I just thought that this picture was too appropriate for this post!} 

via... anthropologie

I’ve always thought about starting a blog. Up until now, it just hasn’t happen. Not for lack of topic... don’t get me wrong... I have almost too many interests... ask my husband. A blog just seemed like one more thing to add to the list of cooking, crocheting, pilates, designing, being with people, reading, studying etc. you know how it goes. However I’ve found myself in a new place of contemplation and re-evaluation. Maybe it’s because I’m entering a new phase in my life (my husband and I are expecting our first child! A baby girl). I think with the thought of parenting comes this huge weight of “oh my gosh, I’m going to be responsible for another person’s life”. It’s a big deal and I want to make sure that I’m ready on all fronts. Armed, prepared -- ready for whatever motherhood might throw at me. But being a mother isn’t as easy as it once was. Everywhere I turn I’m faced with a multiplicity of decisions. The cereal aisle at the grocery store is proof enough that our society is somewhat er... complex? chaotic? has spun out of control. I know I know what does this have to do with going green? I’m getting there... I’ve aways been a big fan of the “save the whales” movement. In middle school I recited a brilliant poem that my mother wrote “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle”, but that’s about as far as I’ve gotten. I’ve admired from a far the earthens and hippies that strive to make the environment a better place. I’ve made little changes here and there... little things that have caused friends, roommates etc. to question me. Like the no joke 65 glass jars under my sink in college. I’m not sure what I was planning on DOING with all those jars, but it just didn’t seem right to throw these perfectly lovely containers away!!! Of course eventually they found themselves in the trash, so now I’ve resorted to only saving the prettiest ones. I’ve attempted to purchase organic foods, natural beauty products etc. But in the end it all seemed overwhelming and difficult. I’ve often wondered if the environmentally friendly earth crowd woke up one day and said I think I’ll just go green from now on or if it’s more of a gradually process. I’ve just never seen the metamorphosis (can I call it that?) of a regular average Joe, or for me a Jane being able to pull off this going green stunt and accomplish this on an average american household income. Going green can’t just be for the wealthy. If you are getting back to nature shouldn’t it cost less and not more?? Can we really make sense of all this? The information is endless, the task... impossible?... we must conquer!

So this is the story of a new soon to be mom attempting to join the ranks of green mom’s everywhere. I hope that you will join me in the adventure, learn from my mistakes and I’m sure have a good laugh at times. So, in the face of resistance and among all my other interests I begin my quest.