The Healthy Haul

I went to the store on Monday and I decided to try an experiment when I got home with my food.  I divided up my haul into food groups and took a picture of each group.  The idea was to see 1) if I was buying mostly in the grains, fruits, veggies, and beans groups, and 2) if there were very many/any items that didn't exactly fit in any group.  If you find that you have a lot of those types of items, those are the things to stop buying.  Also, as mentioned in the previous post, I spent a lot of time in the grocery store reading labels and attempting to buy mostly items with a very short if not one item ingredient list.  Here is how it turned out:

Dairy

We try to eat as little meat as possible.  When we do have meat, I prefer chicken.

Meat

As far as dairy is concerned, I'm not sure how I feel yet.  I don't know if it's good or bad for you, but I know that it helps us to eat less meat, so for now it is a staple in our house.

Grains

When I buy grains, I look for whole grains whenever possible, and I strive for a variety of different kinds.  This week we tried quinoa and couscous for the first time!  They were a hit.  :)

Vegetables

Veggies are a huge part of a healthy diet.  This group actually is quite small because I already had a lot of vegetables left at home.  Fresh is best, but we aren't adverse to canned or frozen either.  We especially try to make sure to have dark green vegetables, because those tend to be the most difficult to fit into your diet.

Fruit

 Fruit is similar to veggies in terms of us being fine with dried, canned, or frozen.  The dried fruit is great because it lasts a long time and its great on the go.  Fruit, though, is easy for us to eat, so we try to reserve it for breakfast, snacks, and as a treat after dinner.

Nuts and Beans

Beans and Nuts are my new favorite semi-made-up food group.  Really they belong in the meat or protein group, but I have chosen to see them as a group of their own which makes me be more conscientious about selecting them.  What you see in this picture is several new items that I'm trying out this week.  What you don't see is that our main bean staple is a whole pantry full of canned beans.  I had so many that I didn't have to restock yet.  (Seeds are also in this group, but the only seed we've tried are sunflower seeds.)



So, there you have it!  Please note that there isn't anything too foreign or weird.  We aren't perfect, but we eat healthy enough without having to branch out into unfamiliar territory.  This is our version of eating healthy and this is my current version of a healthy haul.  :D

Mediterranean Sandwich and Kid's Snacks

A few days ago we tried a special attempt to eat a healthy lunch. This was the result. It's a huge struggle to get my girls to eat vegetables so we tried some carrot "buttons" this time around. It seemed to be a hit. My three-year-old ate a lot more than she normally would, and without ranch too! She also ate crackers, olives, and grapes, and it filled her up quite nicely. I think sometimes I forget that I don't always have to feed my kids what I would deem as a meal. Sometimes a good collection of healthy snacks can do the trick. :)

For my lunch, I attempted to make up a different kind of sandwich using leftovers I had in my fridge. I toasted some whole wheat bread, spread on a generous amount of hummus, broke up some olives, cut up some sun-dried tomatoes, and julienned some fresh basil to put on top.

It was really just an experiment...

But, to my surprise and delight, it was delicious! All those earthy Mediterranean flavors melded very well. I'm definitely making it again!