If we were to sit down with coffee and my whole foods pumpkin muffin, I’d share our baby steps that we’ve taken to get where we are today. I started eleven years ago and make progress every year. In fact, I try to make progress every month by trying new recipes each week and keeping ones that work for me. In other words, it’s time efficient, I can make it in bulk and it tastes great. If it passes my family test, I share it with you!
Each year I take baby steps that help us eat clean, local and/or organic if possible. These are just a few of the baby steps we’ve taken over the past year to six months. I’ve identified the more expensive steps with $$ and the less expensive with $ so you’ll know how to dive into whole foods with your family budget and time.
Each family is different and that is why I’m consulting families before I set obtainable goals for them whenever I’m coaching. See my list of services here. It’s helpful to know where you are in this journey and where you’d like to be. In our family, we’ve adjusted to different homemade staples and less convenience items. However, I stock our freezer with many homemade “convenience” items you’d find in the stores so my family doesn’t feel deprived. Items like granola bars, granola cereal, chocolate chip cookies and more {all in the recipe index}
That’s not to say, I don’t buy commercial ice cream or never buy candy. We allow our children to have things in moderation. It’s easy to fall off the wagon, but easier to pick ourselves up and get back on. When we travel, I take along our freezer food, but we enjoy at least one meal out with kid’s meals. It’s a treat for them.
I have many ideas on eating whole foods in a previous series titled the Better Health Series.
Here’s our baby steps we’ve taken this past year:
- $$$ Buying Local Grassfed beef in bulk
- $$ Switching to Harvest Farms Chicken sold at Ingles
- $ Shredding own cheese vs. buying pre-shredded {small investment of a shredder or use food processor}
- $ making my own homemade broth with chicken breasts and stock with the whole chicken
- $ buying local vegetables as much as possible
- $ making my own homemade vanilla
- $$ grinding my own flour using white wheat berries
- $ making almost all my own homemade grain products {sandiwch bread, tortillas, flatbread, calzones, pizza crust, and crazy bread, etc.} I sometimes buy hamburger and hot dog buns
- $ buying some local cheese
- $ making our own crock pot homemade yogurt {I need to get back on the track}
What baby steps have you taken toward whole foods eating?
