Talking about food and such

You might recall that I mentioned the 100 Days of Real Food menu plan that I decided to follow a few weeks ago.  Actually, I ended up adhering to the menu plans for two weeks before branching out and creating my own. So, for three weeks now, with the exception of the occasional bakery visit and a trip to Runza, we have not consumed any refined sugars or processed food.   I knew that completely avoiding refined sugars and processed foods would be good for us,* but I didn't fully realize the changes it would make on Harriet's mood and our general digestive health.  Harriet has been much more stable and her fits have been infrequent.  Steve and I feel less off and I have officially gone below my pre-Edmund pregnancy weight.  That feels pretty good.

A couple of changes in our menu plan have really made a huge difference for us:

• Thanks to 100 Days of Real Food, I'm now being very intentional about planning snacks throughout the day.  During the first week of following the menu plan, I noticed a considerable difference in the tone of our day because I was prepared to give Harriet a nutritious snack before the crankies descended upon her.  Instead of rummaging through the kitchen in a panic or (more often) "stealing" food from another meal, we now have specifically assigned snacks for each day.  A relatively "duh" solution that makes a big difference.
• By carefully planning every single aspect of the menu for the week, I have an accurate idea of how much grocery I actually need to buy.  Again, major DUH.  I think I was having a mental block because I hate spending lots of money in one location all at once, so I would kind of skimp around on the grocery list in order to "save money."  The reality?  We would venture back to the store multiple times during the week and, you guessed it, spend way more than our food budget allowed.  Now?  I plop down the moolah once and...we have stopped making emergency runs to the store.  Nice.

With all of this brewing, imagine my excitement when I found the Parents Need to Eat Too cookbook at the library!  I'm seriously in love with this cookbook.  It combines the real food perspective of Food Matters* with the family-friendly attitude of 100 Days, all geared toward a busy mom chef.  The author also has a super-balanced perspective on eating organically, when to include treats, etc. It's perfect.  It's the cookbook I would write if I had the time and someone else hadn't already done it for me.  I know that we will be including many of these recipes into our new detailed meal plans.

And while I'm on a tangent about eating well, I happened upon this video which expresses my belief on why we need to eat well and exercise and go to bed at a godly hour:

I couldn't agree more.  Making all of these "health conscious" choices isn't really about saving the earth or looking really fit or prolonging life.  We make these choices so that the Holy Spirit can bear fruit in our lives and so that we can be ready servants of Christ. (I'm with Piper on I-exercise-so-I-don't-get-depressed.)

And here is Edmund attacking a banana:

Okay, so there you go.  I am fighting off some stupid cold/sore throat thing, so I feel like my head is floating around 25 feet above my body.  This post probably reflects that oody-doody mental state.  Good night.

*We strive to eat healthily, but sometimes it's good to step back, analyze how we've moved away from good choices, and have tools to jump back into the groove.