I was in the line at Costco one afternoon when I realized that everything in my cart was processed. It was organic, but it was still in a wrapper or in the shape of a bar. Not much if it still had to be cooked. I left there feeling like something different needed to happen in my kitchen. Somewhere along the way I had heard of the website “100 days of real food”. This website was created by a fellow Charlotte mom who realized that her family wasn’t eating real food either. She vowed to feed her family only “real food” for 100 days. She has a fabulous website!! It is amazing what she has accomplished and the time she has put into her site. I found a plethora of recipes that I could try. Because she only buys prepared foods that have less than five ingredients, I knew that I would be willing to feed my family the food that she cooks. She lives by the same food standards that I do: organic, all natural, etc. Beware, however, the woman is not afraid to use some butter.
Through her website I found another gem: Plan to Eat. (www.plantoeat.com) The most awesome recipe and menu planning website ever! It allows you to import all of your own recipes/recipes on the web with the click of a button, plan a weekly/monthly menu, and then it organizes your shopping list! Brilliant!! It has transformed the way I plan meals. I used to think about what I was going to cook for dinner around 3:00 pm that afternoon, dig through the fridge and then either make something boring with what I had or just decide to have cereal for dinner because I knew the kids would actually eat it. Now, I plan 3-4 days of meals, make sure I have the ingredients, and know ahead of time what I will make. Because it is so easy to import recipes, I can add ones that I find on the internet or the 100 Days of Real Food site. Then I can scan through them and choose some interesting ones for the week. So far I have made my own baked beans in the crock pot, stuffing, veggie burgers, cauliflower rice, and mini pizza pockets. Some were delicious (like the baked beans) and others (like cauliflower rice) were so-so at best. Faith still refuses to eat most of it, but my motto is “eat it or go hungry”. She has that choice. I will continue to try to cook more often and to make a wider variety of foods.
Now, all that being said, I know that real food is best, but the store bought granola bars and snacks aren’t going away, they will just be eaten less. Life is crazy enough without me spending all of my time in my kitchen cooking and doing more dishes. There is still a quality if life number that I have to consider. I equate cooking everything I eat to homeschooling – I wasn’t cut out to be a homeschool mom and I am not cut out to bake all my bread, make my own granola bars and make dinner every night. I am not that disciplined nor am I that creative. Somethings you have to leave to the professionals. If I can buy organic snacks for the kids and it saves me my sanity, then I will buy some snacks. But we don’t eat them quickly. I have had the same giant bag of Veggie Straws (which actually aren’t vegetables at all) in my pantry for almost two months. Snacks make lunches easier. Sadly, I don’t have kids that will eat heart shaped sandwiches or stuffed avocados for lunch like the super-moms on the internet have. Mine want gummies, fruit and some sort of drinkable yogurt (all organic, of course!).
I am excited about my new strategy and motivation for cooking more original meals for the family. I hope that this will make cooking dinner seem less daunting of a task. So far I have enjoyed cooking more and meal planning is much less overwhelming. I will actually use the recipes that I like. I have ten cookbooks in my pantry that I have never even opened, much less pull out on a regular basis to cook an exquisite meal. If you have the same problem cooking that I do, please, check out the Plan to Eat website. There is a 30 day trial membership and after that it is a measly $6 per month. Totally worth it!!
Bon Apetit