Day 50!

Today is the halfway point of my 100 day REAL food journey!!  I’ve learned so much in such a short time.

Things I miss:  *Prego spaghetti sauce – I LOVE Prego spaghetti sauce and although I LOVE our homemade sauce just as much, I find it so tempting to open up the jar instead of making it from scratch. I have not given in to the temptation but oh, it would be very easy to do!

Things I thought I’d miss, but don’t:  * sugar in iced tea. This is something I thought I’d really struggle with but I’m pleased to say that it hasn’t been too bad. * store bought bread. I thought it would be such a pain in the butt to make our own whole wheat bread but it isn’t. I make a double batch each time I bake and therefore always have several loaves in the freezer. Store bought doesn’t compare in taste to homemade whole wheat. Dwight has even commented on how much better ours is. 

Things I’ve learned: *  Always have a snack with you “just in case”.  Don’t put yourself in a situation where you find yourself ‘starving’ and the only place you have to get something is a gas station! Trust me,  it’s very unlikely that you will find something healthy at a gas station. When you leave the house, just throw something in your purse, a snack size Ziploc of homemade granola, a piece of fruit, or a handful of almonds. You can have the best intentions in the world to eat healthy but when that hunger pang hits, common sense runs out on you pretty quickly. J * Keep junk food and food that doesn’t meet your ‘rules’ out of your house! Clean out your cupboards and pantry – get rid of it. Donate it to a local food bank or simply trash it, but get it out of the house. It’s just too tempting if it’s in the house. * I’ve learned that there a LOT of people concerned about what chemicals and preservatives are in our food and are taking actions by feeding themselves and their family REAL food. * Always read labels! I’ve been very surprised by what I’ve found. * I don’t go out to eat very often, but I’m finding it can be challenging to find something on the menu. I usually have to ask for something that fits me but so far, I’ve always managed to end up with a delicious meal.

I’ve asked myself if this would be harder if I had to cook for a family every night and I’m not sure. Dwight is gone a lot for work but I cook for Jaxon on a daily basis, so I do make meals every day. For me, I think the most important thing is to have a plan. I’ve tried to plan meals for the entire week and when I do that, it works really well but I don’t always get that done. But I do always have an idea of what I’m making a few days at a time. And I always try to keep a few things around as ‘a backup ’ for those days when things don’t go quite as I had planned.  All in all, I’m very happy about how the first half of this journey has gone. Here’s to the next 50 days!!