Day 28: A Special Lunch Outing

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs and a sweet potato

Snack: Cashews and a banana

Later Snack: Almonds and a peach mango pouch (yes, one of my kids' pouches). They are tasty and quick. We go for the organic with only pure ingredients.

Lunch: Today we had our youngest, Sienna, baptized. For the other two kids we had 50+ people at a pizza place for lunch afterwards. To keep costs down we had Sienna's post-baptism lunch at a local restaurant with only our immediate family and the Godparents. At this restaurant,  I would have typically ordered a burger (no bun) and fries or a grilled chicken/avocado melt (with cheese, no bun). It was the first time I really looked at the menu and had to find another option. The most difficult part about the lunch was watching the potato skins go by. They looked so yummy and greasy! I was also worried that I would have to watch everyone around me eat fries, but most of the people ended up ordering a more healthy meal. I ordered a tasty broiled salmon with a mango salsa, spinach with some lemon, and a house salad with olive oil and lemon for dressing (if you are trying to eat gluten-free, remember to tell the server no croutons on the salad-it has been awhile since I have eaten out in a place without a gluten-free menu so I forgot). I also had a half of a glass of wine. The meal was very good and filling. It's amazing how eating healthy can be contagious. It started with my brother, spread to my family and my parents, then spread to some other members of our extended family. Eating healthy was definitely a topic of conversation at lunch today. We talked about how we eat, what we eat and even gave each other some advice on things to try. My brother and dad were even talking to the pastor about Paleo/Primal eating, and he noted one of the books we use so he can check it out =)

Snack: Apple slices

Dinner: We find at the end of the week we have some leftover food we need to use. We actually did pretty well this week and didn't have as many leftovers as usual. That means we planned well. We made seasoned ground turkey, avocado, and salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing. We also attempted kale chips for the 3rd time. We didn't burn them, but some of them were not quite crunchy enough to make them chips. The taste was still good though.

Day 27: 10 Rules to Eat Safely for Life

I was watching an infomercial for the book The Blood Sugar Solution by Mark Hymen. I was curious to see where it was similiar and where it was different than the Paleo/Primal templates. I found out they are based on a few of the same premises, but his "solution" still involves eating whole grains, just not flours. The major similiarity is the push for whole, unprocessed foods that were grown or raised on a farm. One part of the infomercial I really liked was his "10 Rules to Eat Safely for Life." After the challenge is over, I will still strive to follow these 10 rules. It is very difficult with kids. Some of the rules we have done a good job following with the kids are: trying to eat foods with fewer than 5 ingredients, avoiding high-fructose corn syrup, avoiding hydrogenated oils, avoiding foods with ingredients I don't recognize, avoiding any food additives and avoiding foods with artificial sweeteners. At times I think some of the family members think I am crazy for doing that, but it is important to me. I would like to work on trying to decrease the amount of quick, less-natural foods we give the kids like cereal bars (even if they are organic).

The Ten Rules:
1. Try to eat food without labels.
2. If a food has a label it should have fewer than 5 ingredients.
3. If sugar or flour is on the label, throw it out.
4. Throw out any foods with high-fructose corn syrup.
5. Throw out any food with the word hydrogenated in it.
6. Throw out any highly refined cooking oils (stick with olive oil, coconut oil and avocado oil for example).
7. Throw out any foods with ingredients you don't recognize.
8. Throw out any foods with preservatives, additives, colorings or dyes.
9. Throw out any foods with artificial sweeteners.
10. "If it came from the earth or the farmer's field, not a food chemist's lab, it's safe to eat."

One other article I found by the same doctor was called: "3 Hidden Ways Wheat Makes you Fat."

Breakfast: Leftover chicken stir-fry and jicama/carrot mix.
Snack: Walnuts
Lunch: Canned salmon and avocado
Snack: Banana and cashews
Dinner: Beef burger (no bun) and sweet potato. I love that I now know how to make a burger using ground meat. It is an easy and quick meal to make. I also love that I now know how to cook sweet potatoes. They are so easy and a good slower-acting carb. How sad it is that I had never cooked one in the past (almost embarassing)!