supper on sunday

On the menu for tonight:  Chicken Fajita's!  healthy, colorful and yummy.

Part II: What kind of food should I eat?  From the book Food Rules by Michael Pollan

Every day I am feeling better and better about making healthier food choices for my family.  As the one who purchases and puts together most of our meals, I feel responsible to make good choices when I prepare for our meals.  I am not one who loves to sit down and plan out menus (too tedious and requires a list), however, since reading Michael's book I have found myself thinking about new foods to introduce and new recipes to put together.  It is just happening naturally and I LOVE it when a new idea just settles in to your life and nestles right in.

Here are some more tips from Food Rules that are making their way into my permanent file system.

Don't eat breakfast cereals that change the color of the milk.

Ha!  I always loved having Cocoa Pebbles for breakfast when I was a kid because of the 'magic' change from white milk to chocolate while I chomped away.  And, if you really wanted a show, Fruity Pebbles were fantastic for cool psychedelic color changes. 

The whiter the bread, the sooner you'll be dead.

I knew it couldn't be good for you since it tastes so darn good.  Something about the refined flour being stripped of all nutrients and acting like a spoon full of sugar once it enters the body.  Shoot.

When I purchase bread this rule isn't so hard to follow.  My family will eat wheat bread and heartier grain breads just fine, as long as it comes in a plastic wrapped bag from the grocery store.  If I make whole wheat bread, it doesn't turn out like the fluffy sandwich bread ........ maybe because I don't have a pantry full of chemicals to make it taste like store bought.  Still working on this one.

Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself.

Want some french fries?  Make 'em.  How about a nice chocolate cream pie ...... hhhmmm.  Bake one up.  Need ice cream?  They have a machine you can buy to make your own!

But, these foods aren't healthy!  That's okay, according to Michael.  The thing is, junk food is cheap and plentiful in the marketplace so we eat it much more than we should. What if we had to make our OWN junk food when we had a craving?  Aha!  Maybe you would go to the trouble of making it, but probably not as often as you would get in your car to go buy it.  

I feel my waistline shrinking as I place this little snippet in my permanent memory file.

Finally, Be the kind of person who takes supplements - then skip the supplements.

Huh?  Yeah, I didn't get that one at first.  Further reading discovered the math-like explanation:   People who take supplements are generally healthier than the rest of us, even though supplements don't appear to be very effective. (studies show)  So, why are they healthier?  Because if they are concerned enough about their health to be taking supplements in the first place, they are also likely to be eating healthier and are better educated about nutrition.  They are more likely to be people who exercise regularly and are concerned about their overall health.  Since eating more nutrient dense food will provide all the vitamins and minerals we need, you can SKIP the supplements.  Oooooohhhhhhhh.

Next time I will close up my discussion with Part III, How should I eat.  Here is a hint:  not too much.

Happy Sunday, everyone!