I'm still keeping most dairy out of our diets, but will have cheese to put on some of my husband's portions. It'll probably be a less than he prefers, but it'll be better than cold turkey. I haven't been getting enough calcium, so I don't think my son has gotten quite enough either. To combat this I will be giving him more non-dairy milks or orange juice with calcium added in. Since I still don't care for the taste of the non-dairy milks, I'm taking a calcium supplement and will be trying to add more natural, non-dairy sources of calcium into our diet.
As far as meat goes, we're still trying to eat less, but I'm done with the substitutes. We haven't liked any of the bean/veggie burgers, so we'll stick with turkey burgers or, if I feel up to shaping my own, venison burgers. For the most part, I still won't be making a meat based meal, but I might experiment a little more with meatballs and meatloaf to see how many plant based foods I can sneak in while still keeping true to the essential flavors of the dishes.
The main thing is that we are still trying to get more whole plant based foods into our diet. We are still trying to keep the consumption of processed foods down, but I'm adding a few luxuries like pretzels back into the diet, but we're doing so with extreme moderation.
Eventually, I might have the time to make more of the snack items myself, but to be realistic, it's hard to take care of 2 little kids, stick to a tiny budget, and make healthy meals so my house often suffers. With 3 little kids, I'll need the extra time to nurture them and focus on the house and laundry a little more. For those ladies that can do it all, I admire you, but I'm not there.
My mini goal for now is to get my husband to like more whole wheat foods. When he makes pancakes, he still makes basic white pancakes that have minimal nutritional value, he then adds a ton of syrup even if it's the expensive maple syrup. I'm still getting maple syrup for myself, because I think it tastes better, but anyone that wants to pile on the syrup can use the cheap stuff as far as I'm concerned (David totally agrees, so I'm not just being mean) If I can get him to actually prefer the whole wheat pancakes and waffles and make them instead, I'll be a happy camper even if he still drowns them in syrup.
Changing the family diet is hard! Slow and steady usually helps, but if hubby isn't on board it won't get very far.
ReplyDeleteThe trick we found for getting off white flour in our baking was to get it out of the house. Period. If the only flour around is whole wheat then that's what everyone can use and it will very quickly become normal. We haven't had white flour in the house for several years now to cook with. Cake, cookies, pancakes, bread - it's 100% whole wheat and that just tastes normal now.
Good for you on slow and steady!
I am so glad I stumbled onto your website! I am a stay at home mom of a seven year old son and a two year old daughter. I also homeschool my children and are slowing making changes to our life and diet so we can have a closer, nurturing and healthier family. I am not one of those Moms that can do it all but I sure do try lol and I can relate very much to your posts. Thank you for sharing you adventures, I'm glad I'm not alone on mine haha!!!!
ReplyDelete