Real Food: Day 1

We survived.

Well, actually we're still two hours and five minutes from officially surviving our first day of the 10 Days of Real Food Challenge, and I'm literally shaking from chocolate withdrawal as I type this, but I think we're gonna make it.

HIGHLIGHT: Minimal complaining from the shorties.

LOWLIGHT: I had no idea how addicted I am to chocolate.

BREAKFAST: Sophie had the table set for breakfast when we came downstairs, and she had set out bowls, so I went with it. We tried a new cereal I got at Harvest Health. Puffed corn is the only ingedient.

not a hit

Sugarless cereal received lukewarm reviews. Anticipating that, I made oatmeal for everyone.

oatmeal to the rescue

I add copious amounts of cinnamon, a drizzle of honey, and golden raisins or banana slices. Add a little whole milk and it was a tasty breakfast. Eating something familiar was a good start. We have oatmeal several times a week, so no one felt out of their comfort zone. Soph had a glass of OJ, Charlie had a glass of milk, Kyle had a cup of hot black coffee (I know we're all thinking of the same joke here), and I had a cappuccino with whole milk. It was glorious. Good start to the day.

SNACK: Sophie had a banana. Charlie had some cantaloupe. I had a plum. I had a mild freak out on Kyle. I came downstairs and saw an empty cereal bowl sitting on the counter. I asked him what he ate and he said, "Oh, just a bowl of the Kashi cereal in the cupboard." After a momentary look of horror on my face, he told me he was kidding...it was just a bowl of my homemade granola with milk. Not cool, dude.

If today is any indication, I am going to be VERY busy for the next nine days. I barely left the kitchen today.

 I made a batch of granola.

best. granola. ever.

It's a recipe I've been tweaking for the last six months. I had to leave out the dried cherries I usually add because the ones I had have sugar.

Also bagged and frozen 15 lbs. of fresh blueberries.

LUNCH: We had whole wheat macaroni and cheese with these awesome Applegate hot dogs and peas. For the cheese sauce, I melted 8 oz of Vermont cheddar with 1/2 cup of plain yogurt. Added a little reserved pasta water (would use milk next time), and a little salt and pepper. The cheese didn't melt as well as it did when I used American cheese, so I need to keep experimenting with it.

only Charlie could find reason to complain: "too cheesy"

We also plowed through an entire cantaloupe and a couple bowls of cherries.

gone within minutes

By the way, this cherry pitter is the best thing I never knew I needed until I got one. Also works to pit olives.

the cherry pitter: landmark achievement of Western Civilization

SNACK: Sophie had a homemade popsicle (plain yogurt, banana, strawberry, and cinnamon) for afternoon snack. The rest of us survived sans snack.

DINNER: Sunday means dinner with family. Specifically, my brother and sister-in-law and their two kids who live down the street. They graciously played along with our pledge tonight. My SIL and I usually split up the duties for Sunday dinner. I made roasted chicken (locally raised, no druggy chicken from Kapenga Farms) topped with homemade breadcrumbs, corn on the cob, and sweet potato fries (roasted in the oven with EVOO, salt, and pepper). SIL brought fresh cantaloupe, blueberries, strawberries, and a homemade black bean and corn salsa. Nom, nom, nom. I did find some organic blue corn chips that qualify for our challenge. They are pretty tasty AND they are at Aldi's of all places! Kids had more homemade popsicles for dessert.

CHEATER, CHEATER, PUMPKIN EATER: I decided to cheat on the kids' vitamins. They have all sorts of added sugar and sugar-like substances, but I think the good outweighs the bad here. I also made an executive decision that if water is listed as a ingredient in a pre-packaged food, I'm not counting it against my the five ingredients I'm allowed. And if something is borderline, I'm trying to make a good-faith decision that keeps with the spirit of the challenge.

OBSERVATIONS:

Dinner isn't difficult. In fact, it's the easiest part of the day. I grew up with a mother who made us three meals a day. Every. Single. Day. They were always healthy and well-balanced. At dinner we always had a main dish (protein), a starch (nothing ever fried), and at least one fresh vegetable (often two). I know how to prepare fresh vegetables and fruit because I watched my mom do it growing up. I still can't get dinner on the table in 22 minutes flat like she can, but I do follow the model of simple, fresh, well-balanced dinners she gave us growing up. So what I grew up eating and what I usually make for my family at dinner time is pretty close to the Real Food Challenge already. Just a few minor adjustments (tonight it was just making the breadcrumbs instead of using the store-bought variety). What's difficult is the convenience food—ketchup, mayo, dry onion soup mix, etc.)

I really love chocolate. I don't mean to harp on this, but I am really blown away by how much I have been craving a square of dark chocolate all day.

I am exhausted. This is a lot of work. On that note, I need to go bottle the batch of yogurt I made today.