Diving Into The New Year Head First
It’s so nice to say that we made it through the first week of 2012 with FLYING COLORS! It felt good to be back on track eating the way we want, and taking a little more control of our food. We haven’t been as brave as the family from the 100 days of real food blog to prepare and take our foods with us when we go to a party. At least not yet.
Michelle, bundled up for a cold day in Florida
I was very inspired by reading about this families’ journey to dumping processed foods out of their lives. And I would say that we’re well on our way. At this point we buy very few processed foods – in fact – we buy very little that comes in packages at all. We do still buy almond milk, almond butter in the jar, and some pickles from the farmers markets – or friends 
If you searched our cabinets now, the beans are all from the bulk bin. And I think there is one lonely box of microwave popcorn that just hasn’t been thrown away nor eaten since we started our new adventures. The other bags are organic flours of varying options – in my quest to find a way to still have noodles or bread without gluten.
Last week when the reporter came over for my interview I was proud to open my very messy, over stuffed fridge. Less than 3% of the contents isn’t some kind of a whole food. A few random bottles of seasonings or dressings – that need to be purged eventually. I guess I keep the dressing around for when the nephews visit — they haven’t yet adapted to a balsamic dressing on their salads. The rest was fresh, real food. Mostly organic, grown without pesticides and a large portion of it from local sources, too.
I don’t know what the rest of 2012 has to offer, but I am ready to find new ways to add healthier twists to each turn in the road, and I really appreciate your taking the time to read and journey with us. We love hearing from you, too, so always feel free to post a comment, if you’d like.
Michelle, it was so great to see you on First Coast News–congrats! I had met you at the JAMA conference a few months ago when my husband and I had just watched “Food Matters” and “Forks Over Knives” and got inspired about the health benefits of a plant-based life and have since taken the vegan plunge. It’s been quite a transition but overall, we’re glad we did it.
We’re struggling with finding veggie juice recipes that are palatable–any tips or resources? We’ve tried a few and they’re, well, AWFUL tasting! Most just taste too “green” for my palate, if that makes sense. Anything “mild” that you’d suggest for newbies? I saw your post on juicing but would love some additional info/recipes. THANKS
Kathy,
THANK YOU. I am delighted you found me here, too. I had such fun at the Fascinate Me event, it was a real blast.
You’ve asked a GREAT question – how the heck do I make the juices taste better. I have an incredibly simple answer … less green, more fruit
I am a big fan of the Raw Family Blog and I enjoyed their video on making green smoothies. I mimic their guidelines for a smoothie when I make a juice. Here’s a link to their “How to Make a Green Smoothie” video
If it’s not delicious, there’s no reason you’ll keep doing it. Over time your pallet will very likely desire less and less sugar, so meantime make them YUMMY! I only use about 2 loose packed cups of greens in a typical juice for the two of us – compared to 3-4 apples and usually some ginger. (Kale, Apple, Ginger is a favorite here).
how much ginger do you use? like in above recipe. Assume it is fresh ginger.
Bonnie …we are definitely ginger-o-philes… so more than the average person. Usually most folks test with 1/2″ to start. Honestly most of our 2 drink beverages have 3″ of ginger root