A few months ago I noticed a scary trend happening in my household. Everyone in my family was craving unhealthy foods. Forget the fruit and vegetables. We all wanted fries, burgers, cookies, candy, etc. I wanted to put a stop to this.
With my past bad eating habits, I have to be very careful. I was craving these horrible foods as well, so I decided to put my family on a healthy food track! I decided to cut out as much sugar as possible and switch to whole wheat/grain. Switching to whole wheat flour proved to be a bit tougher than I thought.
First, I had to find a whole wheat brand that the entire family liked. Some of it is a bit too 'rough.' I found a couple of brands that we all love (Hodgkins Mill and Gold Medal) and I got busy cooking.
For breakfast I almost always make a hot meal. We are not big on cereal, so we have a lot of pancakes, waffles and eggs. I switched entirely to whole wheat pancakes and waffles. It took a while to wean ourselves off the white flour, but we did it! I finally found 2 amazing recipes for whole wheat (or mostly whole wheat) pancakes and waffles. You will find the recipes below!
I also strive to only buy items with no high fructose corn syrup. YUCK! Do you realize how much of our food has this gross stuff in it?! Ew! Now, since we have a lot of pancakes and waffles, I needed to find a good syrup. There are quite a few out there, but they are pricey. However, they are worth it! The Log Cabin brand of syrups has a great variety.
We also always have fruit with our breakfast: strawberries, blueberries, bananas and blackberries. For snacks my boys always have fruit. I keep apples in stock because my boys love them so much. And the fruit drawer is at the bottom of our fridge, so the boys can just open the door and grab some. I always wash the fruit when I get home from the grocery store and put it in ziploc bags, so the boys can reach for fruit anytime they want. And I don't have to worry about them eating junk all day!
For lunch it's a bit more difficult with the boys. I have picky eaters, so I am a bit limited in what I can make for them. I started buying kosher hot dogs. We don't have hot dogs very often, but at least when I need a quick meal, I know I can grill up 100% all beef hot dogs -- no fillers. I also make the boys a lot of sandwiches for lunch. I only buy the Healthy Life brand of bread (yum and low calories!). I buy natural peanut butter and All Fruit jelly. I also only buy the 'natural' lunch meat from Hormel for sandwiches. For cheese, I buy the Kraft natural brand. I even buy the cheese in blocks and grate my own. So much more yummy than already grated! It takes a bit more time, but it's so worth it! For me and my husband, I make lots of salads for lunch, healthy soups, or even whole wheat wraps.
Dinner can be challenging (those picky eaters!), but I have found some really great ways to still eat the foods we love, but in a healthy way. I always serve 2 vegetables with dinner, sometimes more! My 3YO will even eat salad now! My boys love baby spinach salad! I use lean meat, always. I also only use whole wheat pasta (I even found whole wheat lasagna noodles!).
Pizza is a big hit in our household, so I just make my own whole wheat dough (oh, it is so yummy!) and I am pretty sure I could beat any pizza chain in a cook off! I also make mean sweet potato fries (recipe below). A great way to have fries without all that oil!
Don't get me wrong, we still splurge. We get ice cream, we eat out, but we try to eat as healthy as we can everyday. I am already seeing this pay off, as I am starting to crave salads (me!) and healthy foods.
The first time we ate at McDonald's after eating so healthy, we all got tummy aches. I loved how greasy food made us not feel so well. I know that probably sounds weird, but I really do consider that a success.
I am hoping to make a trip to Whole Foods Market soon to scope out their healthy foods and meats. I don't really have a lot of options for healthier meat near my house, and I would like to switch over to natural fed, free-range meat as soon as I can. That is the next step.
Eating healthy can cost more, but it is so worth it. Your family will feel so much better, and you'll love that you are feeding your family healthier. You will amaze yourself with the small changes you can make in your foods to make them healthier! Here are some great recipes we love (yes, even my picky eaters!)
Fluffy Whole Wheat Pancakes
1 ½ cups whole wheat pastry flour (I use regular wheat flour, too)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
¼ cup sugar
2 eggs (separated)
1 cup lite sour cream or fat-free plain yogurt
2/3 cup Milk (you can also use buttermilk)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar into a bowl. Put the egg yolks, sour cream/yogurt, milk, and cooled melted butter into a second bowl and beat well, then add the flour mixture all at once and beat until smooth. Put the egg whites into a clean bowl and beat until soft peaks form (a mixer works great for this). (If you want to add fruit to your pancakes, now is the time to add them). Don't overmix--a few lumps of flour and egg white don't matter.
Buttermilk Waffles
1 cup whole wheat (whole-meal) flour
1 cup All purpose (plain) flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon sugar
2 cups buttermilk
1 egg
4 egg whites
In a large mixing bowl, combing the flours, baking powder, baking soda and sugar. In a medium bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and whole egg. Add to the flour mixture and stir to mix evenly. In a large metal or glass bowl, using an electric mixture on high speed, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the egg whites into the flour mixture. Preheat waffle iron. Spray with cooking spray if necessary. Spoon or ladle about ¾ cup of the batter into waffle iron, depending on the size of the iron. Spread slightly with a spoon and cook according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Makes 8 waffles, 156 calories per waffle (not including syrup).
Sweet Potato Fries
2 large sweet potoes (skinned and cut into fries)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon brown sugar
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place fries in a ziploc bag, pour in oil, salt and sugar and toss. Spread single layered on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, then flip fries over and bake approximately another 20 minutes. Serve warm.
Enjoy!
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