It All Starts At Home

When I was a little girl, my mom called me her "fruit and vegetable girl". She had this silly song she would sing to me while she fed me her home made food. From an early age, my parents made sure they introduced me to every food possible. They didn't want me to turn out to be a picky eater. I think they did a pretty good job with that! Both of my parents always cooked and taught me how to cook at an early age and for that I'm very thankful.

Some where along the sea of fast food restaurants, I lost my inner "fruit and vegetable girl". I stopped eating my fresh fruits and vegetables and I stopped cooking, for the most part. Cooking, for me, used to be really fun. I made an activity out of it! I would put on some music and just go to town cooking and then when I was done, my husband and I would sit at the table, eat and enjoy each other's company. That was then... This is NOW: We grab something on the go and sit in front of the TV and stuff our mouths, while we barely talk to each other about each other's day or anything else, besides the TV. It's pretty sad, if you think about it...

When I was younger my enjoyment was helping my parents cook and then all of us sitting down at the table to enjoy what we had prepared together and discussing our day. It was kind of like the highlight of my day. We NEVER sat in front of the TV and ate...we always wanted to sit at the table.

Researchers say that sitting in front of the TV while you eat is actually less healthy for you. Mainly because you are so engrossed with what is on TV, that you keep stuffing your face with food and you don't even notice how much you are taking in. I TOTALLY believe that!
Researchers also say that families who sit at a table every night for dinner and converse with each other, have healthier relationships and the children actually do better in school. Who would have thought!

In my journey, I would like to bring that back... I am going to take a personal pledge to bring back the table!

So, here's the deal...along with that pledge, I've also decided that I'm going to start making dinner and eating fresh. Today, my husband and I are going to fight the Saturday rush and go grocery shopping. Before, when we shopped, we would just walk up and down every aisle and mindlessly pull things from the shelves in hopes we would use it one day...you know what that got us? A MORE EXPENSIVE GROCERY BILL!

Today, we need to watch our money! We have another mouth to feed now...my brother, who is temporarily (not sure how temporarily) living with us... This means, on about the same budget for food, we need to make healthy meals that stretch. This is why I've decided to make a grocery list and actually stick to it, clip coupons for the first time in my life, make a weekly meal plan and stick to a budget. All these things are going to be a challenge for me. But, I found some resources that might help me. I would like to share them and hopefully they will help you too!!

My first resource: Coupon Bug.
It's a website I saw an ad for while watching TV... You can print coupons for items in your area, for FREE!! It's a pretty cool concept...especially since I don't get the paper.
What you do: Sign up for free, install their coupon print agent, which helps print the bar codes, pick the coupons you want and wha-la! You've got coupons for ABSOLUTELY free!! Pretty sweet deal, huh? Here's the website....
http://www.couponbug.com/

My second resource: Recipes, recipes, recipes!!
SO, I used to REALLY love searching for new recipes, collecting recipes and trying them out. I am slowly starting to get back into that...and lucky for me, I just happen to have a friend who ABSOLUTELY LOVES cooking...Liza! I am picking her brain with all the food knowledge she has stored up there! I'm SO, SO glad she LOVES talking food...or else, I'd be in trouble! haha!! I have also asked my friend, Catherine, about food and what certain ones do and don't do and yada, yada...it's all REALLY interesting stuff! And through her, I found out that since I suffer from hypoglycemia and hypothyroidism, there are certain foods I should stay away from or eat in smaller portions. Like, starches, mainly...you know, your breads, grains, potatoes, corn. And the smaller portion foods, carrots and bananas...just to name a couple really important ones. She also told me to stay away from rice....BUT, I told her...."I'm sorry, Catherine! I love my rice WAY too much!" She told me, "that's okay...just don't eat it as often and portion it. You have to live a little! You still have to love what you eat too!" SO true, Catherine...SO true, indeed!

So, along with exchanging recipes and food knowledge with my friends, I figured I should also put all those recipe books back into good use! So, here are some of the books I am getting started with:

Low-Cholesterol Cookbook for Dummies. By: Molly Siple, MS, RD (I don't know what all those letters mean after her name...but in case you were wondering like me, she is a Dietitian. You are welcome!)

And, even though these have a lot of pasta recipes, there are still some good ones you can still cook or sub the pasta for something else, if you are like me and trying to cut back on the starches:

Rachel Ray 30-Minute Meals
Rachel Ray 365: No Repeats

I am also referring to my Mother-in-law's family cook book she sent me last Christmas. I am making sure they are healthy alternatives. I want to make sure my husband is still happy with what he is eating, while still eating healthy.

If you don't like books, here are some websites you can check out:
http://www.foodfit.com/
http://www.cookinglight.com/
http://www.foodnetwork.com/healthy-eating/index.html
http://allrecipes.com/Recipes/Healthy-Cooking/Main.aspx
http://www.eatingwell.com/


If you follow me, I would LOVE to see your favorite recipes or favorite recipe website or cookbook....if it has to do with food...I want to hear about it!!

SO...as I bring this blog to a close....one more quick thing: wish me luck on my grocery shopping! Today I am trying to achieve buying fresh for a 5 day meal plan, with a budget of $100. This might be COMPLETELY impossible...but I'm going to try it out for myself and see what comes of it!

THANKS FOR READING....and HAPPY SHOPPING/COOKING!!!