Living in central New York is making me crunchy

This is the on going joke in our house right now.  One day Dan came home and noticed some organic coconut oil on our kitchen counter and gave me this "what in the world is this doing here?" look.  I have to admit I was kind of embarrassed that he saw it.  You see, I have been one of those people who roll their eyes when someone says they only eat organic chicken or organic fruit.  I would always die laughing when I watched this skit, and even though it's extreme, the concept behind them even asking their questions was crazy to me.  I've always told Dan even if we could afford to buy organic food, there is no way I would spend our extra income hitting up Whole Foods.

Then something happened.  Honestly, I don't really know what it was.  A mixture of a lot of things really.  I started noticing a couple of my friends posting some healthy meals on instagram that actually looked good.  I also began noticing that when I went grocery shopping I didn't take into account what I would eat during the day- as long as Jake and Dan were fed I would just eat whatever I could find.  During the day I would usually wait until Jake naps to make lunch, however at that point I knew I only had 1.5 hours of "me time" and I would quickly realize I didn't want to spend it cooking. So, I would heat up some mac and cheese, open up a diet coke and grab a couple cookies and head to my computer to catch up on social media.

Most of the food changes that I make in my life are weight related- this is the first change I've made that didn't have anything to do with that.  I wasn't gaining any excess weight and felt the need to diet.  I was simply convicted that I wasn't nourishing my body how it was created to be nourished.

Surprisingly when I started to look up blogs, articles, and recipes on pinterest related to healthy living and eating, most of them just talk about eating the appropriate serving of vegetables, fruit, dairy, water, and grains.  I know- it's the exact same thing they taught me in 6th grade health class. Mind. blown.  The sad thing is, I know there have been days where I maybe had 1 serving of fruit and almost no water the whole entire day.  I can't tell you how many times I bought a bag of spinach and had to throw it away because on Monday I had great intentions of being healthy at the store and then I just never made it a priority later in the week.

So to be honest with you I've waited a while to write this blog post because food has always been a sore point in my life.  Mainly because I love to eat.  Honestly for most of my life I have made my food choices based on what I am feeling/ craving at that moment instead of what is best for my body.  And really, who craves broccoli and carrots when there is leftover chocolate cake in the fridge?

Honestly, I haven't turned that crunchy.  Yes I've started to look into the benefits of buying organic foods and using things like coconut oil to cook with instead of butter.  However, that's probably as extreme crunchy as I've gotten.  For the most part I have started to change the way I think about food.  Instead of thinking and eating what I'm craving at any given moment, I have been thinking through what is best for my body.  When I was traveling in Chicago at the airport I had the choice between some awesome restaurants to eat at for dinner- Chipotle, Five Guys, and McDonalds were all in a row.  To be honest with you, it would not have been a big deal for me to get a burrito or a burger.  It's not like I'm never going to eat anything that I crave ever again.  I will guarantee you I will treat myself and eat something that I just flat out want even if there isn't an ounce of health to it.  But I'm just not going to do that for every meal anymore.

I've taken some pictures of some meals that I've started eating that are really good and not even that difficult to make.  Dan makes fun of me every time he sees them in my phone, but I take my role as a blogger seriously and this is part of my life, so I'm documenting it :) Please note, I have a LONG ways to go.  These are super basic meals, but honestly for me it's a start.  Eating fruit in the morning instead of two chocolate dipped granola bars is HUGE for me, friends. HUGE.

Shauna Niequist in her book, "Bread and Wine" says, "And modern life has pushed us into faux food and fast food and highly engineered food products cased in sterile packages that we eat in the car or on the subway- as though we're astronauts, as though we can't be bothered with a meal."  Shauna talks about a lot of other things in her book like how food creates community, (I gave a short review here) however I think she has a point about fast food.  We live lives that are moving so fast that we can neglect to take care of ourselves and what we put in our body.

So, like I said here are some small changes I'm making.  I'm not going to lie to you and say it's easy and doesn't take any work. I need to prep and I need to plan and I need to figure out how to do it with a what- feels-like-30-pound toddler on my hip who still wants to be held and see what I'm doing, all the while making sure he doesn't touch the hot stove.  That's why these changes are small, but it's progress.

Sauteed spinach with salt, pepper, and garlic with an egg over toast

Lunch one day- scrambled eggs, broccoli, and sweet potatoes- recipe here for sweet potatoes (ps she is pretty much my inspiration for all of these :)

Oats with almond milk, strawberries, and unsweetened coconut.  And please note my awesome slippers in the bottom right :)

My new favorite meal/ snack/ etc.  Avocado over toast- one is drizzled with olive oil and salt and pepper and the other has honey drizzled over it. so. good. Seriously I never would have thought to put these combos together!

Yogurt, strawberries, blueberries, unsweetened coconut, and granola

Fruit and avocado chocolate dip :)

I also have these energy balls every morning or if I'm craving something sweet (yes, I actually think the flax seeds taste good in them!) and try to use honey or maple syrup instead of sugar.  I try to have 2 glasses of tea a day with a tablespoon of coconut oil and I have tried to make it a priority to eat one avocado a day.  When I'm having a sweet tooth craving I usually grab a handful of dark chocolate chips and some nuts.   I also have two cups of coffee in the morning and if I've craving any in the afternoon I make some decaf- just trying to watch my caffeine intakes - being a stay at home mom has increased my coffee intake quite a bit!  I've also cut out pop and am just drinking water- it's amazing how much better I have felt by making these small changes!  I'll keep you updated if I find anymore recipes that I think are worth sharing :)