Disclaimer: (I am only going to disclaim once) : If you are a totinos and banquet kinda family then that is fine with me. We are not. I do not buy it and we do not eat it (Banquet never, totinos very very very rarely). If this offends you, stop reading this blog. If the fact that I bake and cook a meal nearly every night makes you feel guilty or something, then stop reading this blog. I am not judging what you do in your house...I am only sharing what I do in mine. I am writing this blog to share what *I* do for my family's meals. No matter what you eat the menu planning ideas could help you...but if the rest gets on your nerves then stop reading this blog. Ok...now that I've got that out of the way....let's get to it.
Well, I think my mom would agree that I've never been much picky about food. I'm sure as a kid I went through "picky phases" but I dont' really remember those times. I will try anything once and will eat most anything that is served. The one exception to that rule is duck...I am just not a fan. I have tried it cooked several ways and I just don't like it. Yet, if it were my only choice I would pick at it and be ok.
I like to cook. I like to bake. And since I've been a stay at home mom, I have only gotten more obsessive about food and cooking and baking and menu planning and all that falls in the "food" category. We have always been a "family dinner" kinda household. And since the kids are still young that isn't so hard. There isn't 100 different activities pulling us in 100 different directions. Planning meals that everyone likes without eating the same 5 things every week is much more difficult. That is what started my menu planning obsession. Also, I learned from my mom when I was a kid to grocery shop once a month. It doesn't work for everyone but it works very well for us. Especially when it is combined with a menu and some flexibility.
So I was already cooking and baking most of our meals and we hit a little wall. We had behavior issues with our middle boy. We started trying to find a way to help him before going to a specialist, and discovered Feingold through an online homeschooling friend. Feingold totally changed our lives. We stopped eating fake food. No artificial dyes or flavors, no preservatives, no words on labels that we can't pronounce. At first it was a really really hard change. We followed the diet strictly and behaviors improved. Not just bad behavior being more manageable, but he stopped chewing on his clothes and freaking out about other little things. It was amazing and the diet "restrictions" weren't so hard. We were still eating normal food. Now we've lost friends because of this and I know my family thought we were a bunch of fruitcakes. But they are now believers. We are not as strict on our Feingold diet as we used to be. We have discovered that the boys are most sensitive to artificial colors, those with a number following like red 40, and we avoid those like the plague. At home we are still as natural as we can be. And we like it that way.
So if you are willing I would love for you to join us as we continue on our adventure. I plan to share my menus and how I plan them, both the monthly and then my weekly menu. I will share my grocery list, which is LONG. I will share how I shop and store food in bulk because, if it doesn't go bad, it can save a fortune. And I will share recipes that we use.
Let's eat!!!
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