10 yummy new foods we're trying this month

We made another trip to our new home-away-from-home Costco last weekend. :) We came home much poorer thanks to their brilliant ploy of offering delicious, interesting healthy food in bulk. Oh Costco, why do you do this to me? My children may not get braces, but they will know what good food tastes like. ;)

Here's what we found:

1. Steakhouse fingerling potatoes. I have no idea what on earth got into me, but these purple potatoes called my name after finding a recipe for purple mashed potatoes in my new Forest Feast cookbook! {I haven't tried them yet! so I'm excited.}

2. Bark thins: pure EVIL in snack form. Why, oh why did I buy these? Did I not realize they would taste magical? They must be spraying some kind of happy gas at you as you enter the Costco door. If you ever want to sabotage your diet plan, these will more than do the trick. ;)

3. Dried berry/cherry fruit. Now I can't claim full responsibility for this purchase. While I did buy three bags of a few figs to stock up, Rob spotted these next to them and said "get those!" 

4. Coconut? Dried, candied coconut? I was weak. And hungry. Oh my goodness. And I've haven't had plums in ages. They are so good. And 5. Madras Lentils sound so very interesting. I can't handle legumes very often, but Rob's been eating super well, so I thought these would make a great quick lunch addition for him when we're in a bind. I'll let you know how they taste.

6. Promised land cream.  Again, I took one for the team on this one too. We have always loved Promised Land products, so when I saw the cream... you know what happened. :) 

I've already used it in my coffee and in this creamy mexican soup I made up today:

It was SO good. I am not exaggerating when I say I think it's the best soup I've ever made!! {no recipe, sorry! I'm going to try to make it again for you! coming soon, I hope!} I also have a little Father's Day surprise in mind for the rest of the cream. :)

7-9. Tuscan olive oil, pan patty squash, and fresh garlic paste. I really must be on a try new things kick this week. :) I made veggies last night and Rob said they were the best sautéed vegetables he's ever had! The pan patty squash tasted like regular yellow squash, but it was all so good mixed together with a little salt! :)

I'm quickly becoming a believer in buying better food when you can. I'm sure it goes without saying, but Tuscan olive oil is way better than regular store brand and garlic paste is way better than dried powder. And I've always loved garlic powder, so that's saying a lot. Either I must be really hungry these days, or there really is a difference in taste and quality of certain foods. :P

10. Whataburger condiments. What is this world coming to?? How is this possible? These where supposed to be a Father's Day gift but I couldn't resist giving them early. They came from a local grocery store {as did the garlic paste and fresh veggies.}. If you haven't had Whataburger ketchup, it needs to be on your bucket list. :)

And now you know why we're not going to buy groceries again for the rest of the month. We may have to eat olive oil, garlic paste, ketchup and dried fruit for dinner for the last two weeks of June, but hey- that's okay. :)


What foods have you recently tried for the first time? Any winners? 
I'll write them down for July!

What fun things could I do with those dried berries? Any ideas? 
Do you think they would rehydrate for muffins?

Whataburger: love it or not so much?
I don't even like hamburgers and I love Whataburger. It's totally the Chick-fil-a of hamburgers and fries in Texas.

homemaking hack: bread kits "from scratch"

Okay, so I've loved the idea of having a big family ever since we started having kids, and I always knew lots of food would be involved, but I honestly had no idea how much food they would eat! :D

So far, I only have children 10 and under, but we're all big eaters here at our house. I think some of it is because we generally don't eat lots of snacks or huge breakfasts, so when we eat a meal, we are all hungry when it's time to eat. :D

Rob and the kids eat sandwiches at lunch because they're easy to make and clean up in the middle of homeschooling, but these days we are going through an entire loaf of bread every meal! And if we shop at Sam's Club, the larger loaves run between $1.75- $2.50 per 24 ounce loaf, which makes eating sandwiches expensive. Even at the day-old bread store we pay about $1 per loaf.

Now that the baby is getting a little older, I'm trying to find every way we can to save on food- which means I'd like to make our own bread as often as possible, and save our family $5-$7 each week. A 1.5 lb. loaf of homemade bread from scratch costs me approximately 85 cents because I'm using olive oil and flour from Sam's Club.

The artisan bread I make is actually cheaper and better tasting in my opinion, but the breadmaker is more convenient for homeschooling mornings and for making sandwich bread. :)

Thankfully, instead of having to pull out all of the ingredients every morning {not convenient}, I have a very old homemaking hack I'm bringing back to make my goal of having homemade bread every day possible! 

It's the bread kit:

To make a bread kit, I just pre-measure all my dry goods so that I can dump them into my breadmaker one-handed. :) I modified my favorite recipe to use olive oil instead of vegetable oil and added about 3 cups of flour, 2 tbs. of sugar, 1-1.5 tsp. of salt, and 2.5 tsp. of yeast to each bag.

I flattened each package out and wrote a little reminder of what I needed to add when I pour it in:

the recipe I'm using this time, adapted from here:
3 cups flour, 1 tsp. salt + a pinch more, 2.5 tsp. of yeast, and 2 tbs. sugar in each bag,
when using- add 1/4 cup olive oil and 1 cup warm water to the machine {plus a tbs extra if needed during mixing}

Since they have yeast in them, I store the kits in the fridge to use through the week, but if I wanted to leave the yeast out, I could store them in the pantry {and have done that in the past!}. When I'm ready to use one, I just pour in the liquids {1 cup warm water and 1/4 cup of olive oil for this recipe} first and then add the kit, and put the bread cycle on regular white for 3 hours. {I've never noticed a problem with the kit being cold in the past, but I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem to pull it out a little early if needed or add a little hotter water to warm it up.}

I've made whole wheat using a different recipe in the past, and if I can find a good source of whole wheat in bulk I will probably go back to that for everyday use. For now we all like the white bread version. :) {I'd love to hear if you have a good machine recipe for wheat, and here is one for gluten-free machine bread if you're looking!}

I save the ziploc bags to reuse when we're done, so I don't have to waste them. :) And with the bread kits already made, I think it's easy enough the girls could do it every morning without leaving a mess. :) I'd say this little hack definitely makes life much easier and saves us money too! :D

How many loaves of bread does your family go through in a week?

food on friday: fall recipes I'm dying to try

Pinterest is the ultimate recipe catalog, don't you think?

{Just don't pin when you're hungry... ;)}

Here are a few recipes I've pinned to try for fall:

1. homemade butterfingers

 {so not on my diet, but these look killer!!}

Focus, focus. Vegan, Mandy. Real food.

Okay.

2. crash potatoes from the Pioneer Woman

Olive oil, potatoes, and sea salt. Boil, smash, season, and bake.

Oh, I'm hungry. I could go make these right now. Yum! 

3. black bean tortilla soup

{I've been looking for a meatless tortilla soup recipe! I'll probably leave out the broth and the chips}

4. creamy polenta with thyme roasted tomatoes

I have come to LOVE roasted tomatoes, but I've never used thyme, so I'm interested to try it!

What's on your to-try list for fall recipes? Do share! :D

mandy's closet news + food & fitness on friday

Thank you guys so much for making Mandy's Closet a big success! It was an exciting day yesterday! :D I was so happy to hear great feedback on ease of ordering and paying! Thank you for giving your feedback!

Lord willing, I'm going to be fulfilling all the orders this weekend, to be shipped out on Monday, so you should be receiving those packages next week! And we still have a few items in the closet right now if you want to browse! {and if you want to add something to your order, shipping will only be $1 extra. Just email me when you order and I'll credit you the base shipping fee back since you've already paid it.}

My plan is to do another sale before the end of the year! :D So much fun! :D

It's Friday, and I've got both food and fitness on my mind!

Last week we did our BODYCOMBAT launch, and bright and early tomorrow morning I've got a BODYPUMP launch at the gym- where we release our new choreography.

Here are Abbie and I after a really warm hour of the newest crazy BODYCOMBAT 52:

And yes, she is preggo and still doing BODYCOMBAT, because she rocks. She's about 31 weeks here.

Isn't she tiny??? 

She's having twins. 

Shut up, right?

I know, I know! It's incredible. :)

Two 3.5 lb. baby girls are in there somewhere.... and I'm so excited to meet them in the next month or two! :D

And speaking of babies...

Tomorrow night we're hosting a little couples dinner shower! {you didn't expect me to say I was pregnant, did you? bahahhaha ;)}

Anyway... :D, party food is very much on the brain right now! I'm making the main dish and our friends are bringing the sides and the dessert.

Right now, I'm planning a little pasta buffet with three kinds of pasta {one is veggie}, two sauces- sun dried tomato basil cream and a marinara, two meats, and veggies, so that everyone can enjoy their favorite pasta and then mix and match helpings. :D

We'll see how it goes. Either way it's going to be so.much.fun!

I'll fill you in on the rest of the food details next week! :D

watters creek + eating regular food

The hubs and I had a chance to get away to Dallas for a bit, and we ate... and ate... and ate... regular food. :D

Food was definitely one of the highlights of our date time!

In just 36 hours I do believe I ate a record amount of food. But nothing compared to this guy:

You see, in Texas we have this little place we call Freebirds. :D

They make legendary burritos. And their gigantic burrito is aptly named "The Monster."

Oh, and the picture isn't an optical illusion either. The guy making it had to get on top of it to roll all that food into a tortilla. :D

When we checked out he told my husband, "if you eat all of this, we need to take you to the doctor because something must be wrong with you."

My husband just laughed.

And then he ate it. Every single bite.

And he proceeded to polish off half of my salad:

and a good portion of the best brownie I've tasted in months:

It was impressive. My skinny vegan weight-lifting husband can put away the food! :D

I did my fair share of eating though...

I had lots of sushi...

And bread, and salad, and spinach dip, and pasta, and carrot cake from this amazing restaurant called Brio Tuscan Grille. Everything we ate there was amazing. Seriously good.

It was in this little place called Watters Creek in Allen. It's one of the most adorable places to go on a date!

from their website

We shopped at their grocery store, Market Street {where I bought my made-for-me sushi}:

And then we browsed through their Francesca's and Anthropologie. 

I love shopping at Anthro. I mostly buy bowls there, but I don't mind looking at the clothes or the fantastic vintage pieces they have either. ;) 

 Some of their clothes are not my style {or price range}, but it was love at first sight with this adorable, $178 dress {*choke*}:

I figured it wouldn't hurt to try it on, you know, just in case I happened to find it on clearance online or something... ;)

In the meantime, it definitely inspired me, and I walked into Target and had to firmly resist buying a lace shift version of it for $25. Something about seeing an adorable $178 dress makes a $25 lesser version look like a great deal!

 But I resisted because it wasn't blue and cream, and it was a shift style. Phew. I'll keep my eyes out at the thrift store and Marshall's though! {and I'll keep checking Anthro to see if it goes um... 80% off} :D

Watters Creek was a lovely place, and a lovely little getaway for sure. :D

Indulging in regular food was fun for 36 hours, but I have to say I am completely happy to get back to my regular diet again. :D

Oh, and I forgot to tell you- I had my first sip of Diet Dr. Pepper in four months, and guess what?

I didn't like it anymore. 

And that actually made me very, very happy. :D

Yay for real food {and water!}... and getting to enjoy regular food and shopping with the man of my dreams, and sweet dads who will keep all of your kids for 36 hours while you have fun. And friends who take your classes for you. :D It was such a blessing to get away, and it's good to be back home too. :D

Happy weekend friends!

zucchini pizzas {recipe}

What do you do when you're blessed with a bounty of veggies like this?

You make individual veggie pizzas! :D

{to get an idea of how big these are- those are full-sized tomatoes and it's a full-sized plate! Talk about some mean zucchinis! :D}

My sister-in-law gave me the idea- she said she used their {super-sized!} garden zucchinis to make pizzas, and so I thought I would try to make our pizzas dairy-free. They ended up tasting just like lasagna or manicotti, which completely thrilled me anyway. :D

Instead of using dairy cheese, I used raw cashews for my rich fat. Let me tell you, raw cashew butter is the magic wonder of the vegan's diet. Raw cashews can be used as cheese or cheesecake {which is so incredibly good too, by the way!}.

All you need is large zucchini {or small}, sliced thinly lengthwise, raw cashew butter, and your favorite marinara and toppings!

Amounts of each are up to you- I liked an equal amount of marinara and "cheese" on my pizza, and my husband and I both agreed that the thinner the slice, the better the taste. :D

ingredients:


zucchini, thinly slices 
marinara or pizza sauce {pick a good one with lots of flavor! I made mine with all those fresh tomatoes.}, 1-2 tbs. per pizza to taste
raw cashew butter {roasted doesn't taste the same}, 1-2 tbs per pizza to taste
toppings: tomatoes, mushrooms, peppers, etc.
garlic salt

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Coat your cookie sheet in oil. Take your slices of zucchini, and top them with your marinara, then spread over with cashew butter. Add toppings. {Don't worry about how pretty it looks. The taste will be the same! :D} Sprinkle with garlic salt if desired.

Bake slices for 10-20 minutes, until they are tender but not browned on the edges. Serve with a fork. And be shocked at how much they taste like lasagna! ;)

How do you like to use super-sized zucchinis? :D

my top 5 favorite {real food} snacks

A little Friday confession: I am a snacker. I look forward to my snacks as much as I do meals. :D

Over here, Ange asked about my favorite real food snacks these days, so I thought I would share some of my favorites with you guys too!

Here they are in no particular order:

1. dates

Okay, so dates are the ultimate food on the original food diet. Now I admit that they look totally disgusting, but they are God's candy, I tell you. It's like eating cookie dough and a caramel bar all in one bite. They ring in at 40 calories a piece, and are almost $4 per lb. They are worthy every penny {and calorie}.

Dates also give your body pure glucose, so they are the perfect food for working out. I eat these instead of granola bars now. :D

2. frozen bananas
Frozen bananas are pure deliciousness.  If dates are God's candy, then frozen bananas are God's ice cream. Speaking of which, you must try blending them up in the food processor to make banana soft serve. They look like this when you do:

recipe and photo from choosing raw

Ahhh, heavenly. I eat at least two of these a day!

3. walnuts

pinterest source

I have a serious love for walnuts. Maybe it's something to do with their fat content, but walnuts {and other nuts} leave you feeling happy and full. Especially when you pair them with frozen bananas and dates in the food processor {think caramel nut ice cream!}. Yum.

4. pumpkin sauce

This dessert-like sauce is still one of my favorite foods! I don't even like pumpkin pie, but I love this stuff. It's best served warm, and eating it makes you feel like you just ate a luxurious dessert!

5. watermelon

pinterest source

Guilt-free food is the name of the game with watermelon. It's mostly water, and you can eat nearly as much as you want. {Just don't weigh for two days if you do! ;)}

Before we became original food/vegan, watermelon was the only food I ate on this list. So changing our diet has definitely changed the way I snack. I would normally eat granola bars before I exercised, and some sort of low-fat dairy ice cream at night, but now I've replaced them with real food energy sources, and I can't imagine going back! :D

Oh, and did you notice that four out of five of my top snacks are sweet? Oh, my, how I love sweets! :P

Do you have a sweet tooth too? Or do you prefer salty snacks?

What are your favorite healthy snacks? I'd love to hear some new ideas!

workouts you can do at home + losing excess weight

source

We all have times when making it to the gym isn't a possibility {financially, or time-wise!}, and it would be easier just do a quick workout at home. Luckily we live in the age of streaming video! ;)


Here's a quick arm toning video:


And if Pilates is more your style:



Ah, I love exercise! ;) It makes me feel good {ah, endorphins!}- it keeps me strong and in shape, and it gives me more energy through the week! Exercise is good, but I think it's only part of the health equation.

As a fitness instructor, I am often asked by my class members {and sometimes even strangers at the store}, "What's the best way for me to lose weight? How often should I work out? What should I eat?"

Now I'm not a nutritionist by any means, but I really believe that the way you look is 10% how you exercise and 90% what you eat. And my motto is that you cannot out-exercise your mouth. {unless you're an Olympic athlete. I'll give you that.} :)

So, this is the answer I give to people when they ask me those questions:

If you have a few extra pounds you'd like to lose, your best bet in my experience is to start by cutting out refined carbohydrates altogether. When you refrain from eating calorie-dense, blood-sugar-raising empty carbs I think you will quickly notice a difference in the way your body looks and feels.

Leave behind breads, pastas, cereals, and pre-packaged snacks and your mid-section will suddenly feel much slimmer- I can almost guarantee it!  {Your belly is holding on to those dense carbs and making you bloated as you digest them.} Drink water or tea instead of bubbly drinks and you'll notice you feel much better too... :D

You can easily replace those saturated, man-created carbs with naturally occurring ones like potatoes, oatmeal, quinoa, or rice. Or if you have lower energy needs, eat more slow carbs like beans, lentils, or zucchini.

It's really not about looking a certain way as much as it is understanding the place food has in your heart, and taking care of the body you've been given in your time on this earth.

For me, refined carbs don't make me feel good, and they leave my blood sugar on a roller coaster that isn't fun- one that makes me extremely grumpy when I haven't eaten, not to mention leaves me with extra storage on my hips. ;) They make food control my daily {or hourly} attitude, if that makes sense.

I believe if you want to feel better long-term, you should try to eat only the foods God gave us to eat in some form resembling their natural state. It's a very hard thing to leave behind granola bars and bread and breakfast cereals {trust me, I know!}. But it's so, so good when you do.

Eating real food is great for you, and it allows your body to rid itself of the excess fat storage that it doesn't want to keep. The truth is, your body actually doesn't want to carry extra pounds around any more than your mind does, and when you eat real food, you'll find the weight will start falling off on it's own!

So, anyway, that's the long answer. :)

I know it's such a hard balance to eat healthily without being focused on self-appearance. It's a struggle I think we all face, or at least I know I do. But God is gracious, and patient with our slow-learning selves! :) He gives us the right heart when we seek Him, amen? :D

Give yourself some grace in this area too- try to do what you feel God is leading you to do, not what I or others think you should do. It's between you and the Lord. :)

Do you guys have fitness or food questions today? I'd love to try to answer them! :)


{don't forget to enter the summer survival giveaway before Monday! You can win a $25 gift card or an ebook!}

the original food diet | week 2 update + new recipe

Has it been 13 days already? Wow!

Since we’ve been on the original food diet for almost two weeks, I thought it was about time for a personal status update:

Mentally:

The diet is getting easier and harder at the same time. I like how I feel physically, but some days I’ve almost lost my joy in eating, and I’d rather not even eat than eat what I have to. It’s puzzling, because I really had no idea that I loved eating as much as I do. I enjoy food. I thought I loved veggies, but I don’t enjoy eating them all the time. So that’s been a challenge.

We ate regular food on Easter at our family get-together. We decided to eat what was served instead of eating separately. We felt it was more important to eat there and enjoy it than to refuse what was given to us and eat our own food. People and life before food. :) It was actually mentally tough to leave the diet behind on day 8, but we did for one meal.

Eating regular food did not feel the same to my body as what I’d been eating for a week. We had chips and dip, potato salad, and the hubs ate two hot dogs. I felt crazy full almost instantly, and Rob was starving after a couple of plates. :P We didn’t even eat again that day, and when we came home, it was back to the diet. {which I’m starting to feel is our new normal. We were happy to eat plants again!}

Physically:

I feel great most of the time. I had headaches for a few days, but they’ve gone away. I feel lighter, and I didn’t realize how full my stomach was really staying until I started this diet. I don’t eat as much now, and I don’t have blood sugar crashes anymore. When I need to eat, I just feel extremely tired {and usually not even hungry}. And I have to eat proactively more now than I did before.

Body changes:

Size: I haven’t noticed as much of a change in my body as my hubs, but I do feel slimmer, and lighter. I might have lost 1/2 of an inch around my waist, and maybe 1-1.5 lbs. in 2 weeks but it’s hard to tell really, because it all varies so much through the week/month. Time will tell if the changes were merely a fluctuation.

Muscle: I really want to maintain my strength, so I’m interested to see what will happen as the diet goes on. So far I haven’t lost any muscle that I can tell.

Skin, hair, and nails: My skin looks better! My face looks smoother and shinier and I haven’t had a breakout in a while. I’m attributing it to all of the extra water I’m drinking, and the vitamins from all the veggies can’t hurt either, I’m sure. For the first time in my life, I’m eating nuts and avocados on a regular basis, too, so I think that might help the oil balance in my skin.

The man update:

In 13 days, Rob lost 6 lbs. and 2 inches in his waist. Unbelievable!

He’s also given up diet drinks cold turkey. He was consuming more than 100 oz. per day of them before we started. I’m so proud of him! He says he’s not hungry, and he loves the food I’ve been making him. {He looks amazing, and more cut than ever to me! He’s in better shape than he’s ever been, and the diet is showing that!}

Here’s his favorite recipe:

{I nicknamed it. heehee.}

{east} texas caviar

1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed {fresh- 2 cups}

1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed {fresh- 2 cups}

1 can corn, drained and rinsed {fresh-2 cups}

1 cup cherry tomatoes, chopped

3 green onions, chopped

lime juice {3 limes}, dash of cayenne, garlic and salt to taste {be generous here!}

Combine all ingredients, and let marinate in refrigerator for 30 minutes. Serve on lettuce or rice.

 

And my favorite new recipe I made up is pumpkin sauce {recipe coming soon!}:

And we love kale chips now too!

So far, this diet is difficult but worth it! We eat as much as we want, and our bodies are still changing. It’s a pretty great deal! It might be early to tell, but the original food diet seems like the magic “pill” everyone is searching for! It’s crazy!

How was your second week? Have you noticed any changes? I know some of you lost weight last week!! I’m excited to hear!

the original food diet | "the rules"

Whole, real, unprocessed food.

Food you could grow yourself.

Food God created for us to enjoy.

Starting April 1, that's all I will eat for 40 days.

Source: simplyscratch.com via Mandy on Pinterest

In case you might have missed last Friday’s announcement, I've decided to go crazy and conduct an experiment on myself! :) I'm going to change my diet significantly for the next few weeks.

It's going to be a big deal for this food-lover! I have no idea what will happen, but I'm hoping to see all kinds of benefits in my body and mind.

Today I'm setting up the "rules" for my experiment! I'm so, so excited. This is something I've dreamed about doing for many years, and I can't wait to see what happens!

Here's the deal: I'm going to eat natural food. I'm going to eat only the foods from the ground that God made, and I'm going to try to eat them in their original form.

 

the theory behind this experiment

Here's what I'm thinking... if we were to step back into the garden of Eden, and we had all of the food God made at our fingertips to eat, what would our health look like? How much are we really affected by what we eat now?

And what were we originally intended to eat before the fall of man? Definitely not meat, right?

What do we know God provided for them to eat in that perfect place? For sure? Plants- fruit from the trees.

Genesis 1:29-30 tells us what humans and animals were originally given to eat:

29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.

So that's what I want to eat too. Things that are from plants and tree yielding seeds. No meats. No dairy products. No eggs.

Crazy, right?

I know. It totally is! I've never done anything like this before. :)

Source: data.whicdn.com via Mandy on Pinterest

 

We basically have the world's plants at our fingertips. We are abundantly blessed with tons of food choices here. We have more than enough options to eat a balanced diet. I decided that I’m going for it! It’s a little scary, but entirely possible!

 

the original food diet “rules”

I'm creating my own scheme of foods based on what I've studied. I'm calling it the "original food" diet. For 40 days, I’ll be following these guidelines for what I eat! :)

 

My allowed foods are any naturally occurring plant-based foods:

vegetables
fruit
legumes
whole grains
nuts
seasonings from seed plants

 

Foods I'll be avoiding: anything artificially or factory-created or any animal meat or animal product.

meats
bread
cookies
cereals
pasta
refined sugars
dairy
eggs
artificial sweeteners {this is huge for me!}

for those joining the challenge

I know some of you are planning to join me on this journey, and I couldn't be more excited to have your company! For those of you following along, I want to encourage you to make it personal- make it work for you.

 

There is no Biblical law that says you have to eat any certain type of food. There are no Biblical mandates about eating or not eating certain foods now. This is not right and wrong, this is an experiment for me just about choosing carefully what I add to my body. :)

I encourage you to study food and really think about what goes in, and decide what you will eat and not eat. :) I promise, I won't be upset if you eat pasta and cheese! This is just what I've decided to do for me. :D

 

what I’ll be sharing

My plan was to do this by myself, but my hubs started listening and reading about it, and he decided he's going to do it with me! Yay! So we will get a man's perspective and since he works out, he's going to do measurements to see how it works with muscle-building exercise, too!

I'll be tracking what I eat, and what I'm feeling, and how it's affecting my body and energy levels.  I'll be posting pictures of my meals, and I'll be sharing my favorite recipes along the way. I’ve created a pinterest board to share posts I love and recipes too. :)

I’ll be sharing my menu plan as soon as I can- but the really the whole idea is, if it’s from a plant with seeds, you can eat it. :)  {I’ll be saying goodbye to all of my favorite processed things in the next 48 hours! :P}

I’m so excited- just two days left! Are you going for it too? :D

 

don’t forget to enter the spring cleaning challenge!

food on friday :: introducing the original food diet

Source: tastykitchen.com via Mandy on Pinterest

I'm excited to bring you a brand new series for {food on friday}! You might've heard a little bit about it over here... ;)

I'm finishing up the details this week for a crazy experiment I will start in April. I'll be following a strict whole foods diet, and will be sharing about it here on Fridays!

I'm going to cut out refined and processed foods {and phase out artificial sweeteners too, hopefully} over the next 6-8 weeks, which I'm hoping will be long enough to create a life-long habit.

The idea behind this project is that I want to eat natural, real food in the form in which God made it. For example, instead of eating bread, I'm going to eat only whole wheat grains boiled. Instead of cereal, I'll eat just natural oatmeal.

I think it's going to be hard... {bye, bye, sweet pre-packaged chocolate chip fiber granola bars...! I'll miss you!}, but it won't about tracking calories as much as it will be about tracking actual intake. I want to consider what's really going in, and how does it affect my body and mind?

I'll be tracking any differences I notice in the way I feel {physically and mentally}, exercise, and look {skin, nails, hair, body composition}. I'm so excited! Slowly but surely I hope to carry it on to the whole family. :D

I love a good challenge, and though I eat well it's hard for me not to eat something junk food related like a bite of cookie or a handful of chips or cereal at least a couple times a day. I also love Splenda, but I would be thrilled to eliminate it from my diet. I'm not a fan of ingesting large amounts of chemicals! {though I do it! sheesh!}

Oh, and I completely love desserts. Sweets are my downfall! {are they for you, too?} I've never gone without them completely. Wow.

goodbye sweets, hello sweet potatoes!

I'm both nervous and excited. I won't be crazy obsessive about not eating something not on the plan if it's presented to me, but I will try my best to avoid it when I can to see how I really feel when I only eat the food God has provided in it's natural form.

I'm hoping this project will be like a spring cleaning for my body, so to speak. :) I'll be setting up the rules for my own experiment right here next Friday, and you're welcome to join me in the challenge if you want to! I'd love to hear about your progress!

I will be posting lots of real food resources and recipes along the way {as well as spilling the beans about what it's like to suddenly change your diet ;)}. Oh, and for fun we can have a little Twitter support group called #foodsGodmade throughout the week if you want to ask questions or post your thoughts! :D

One quick question for you though: have you ever strictly followed a real food diet? I'd love to hear your experience! Any recipes or resources you'd recommend? {there were some awesome ones you guys posted over on facebook!}

the sweetness experiment: special treats | week 1

I told you I was a little afraid to look at my "be" character goals after last month, didn't I?

I checked on March last week, and was relieved to see God had a perfect plan lined up for this month too. :)

This month's character project is to be sweet. {phew!}

Last month, He gave me a new perspective on motherhood, and it made me enjoy being a mom all over again. And this month I get to practice loving my kiddos. How perfect is that?

So my "be" goal is to specifically act with sweetness for the next few weeks. I was thinking about what that really means, and I'm defining sweetness this way:

to be sweet = to be intentionally good for the benefit of another

For me, that translates into intentionally doing something special and out of the ordinary for my family for the month of March.

So what does this have to do with {food on friday}?


One of the biggest ways our little family shows love is with food.

{I can hear psychologists everywhere groaning!}

But really, at 2, 4, 6, and 8, we don't go crazy with material gifts or expensive activities. My children seem to mostly need love, affection, and lots of food! :)

I don't think it's a bad thing to give food as a gift- if you look at many of the scenarios of the Bible, the Lord blesses His people with food! Food is one of our most basic needs, and it's a gift to be enjoyed.

The first miracle: water into wine for the bridegroom. Later Jesus fed the multitudes, and He even used an example about good gifts centered around children asking and receiving food {how does the Bible know they do that? ha!}:

Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰ Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? ¹¹ If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! Matthew 8:9-11

So the little sweetness project began with treating the children with special food. :) Last weekend on our way to the flea market, we told them that we were going to go to one of their very favorite places for lunch: Pizza Inn.

Their reaction to special treats like that is always priceless- I so wish I had them on camera! They cheer, they hug, they jump! I'm going to miss these days when they grow up.

I snapped a few pics of them digging in at the all-you-can-eat pizza place. They were so excited to get to pick out what they want to eat and have as much as they wanted of it {apparently that is a treat in a large family! ha!}

I totally just laughed at the pics because I realized none of them actually chose pizza...

And I couldn't resist snapping a picture for you of my all-time favorite dessert- cinnamon stromboli. I think this is what manna must have tasted like:

And speaking of sweet, my husband is seriously the best example of sweetness I've ever met. He spotted this sign on the same trip and turned right around because he knows what I love. :)

He looked at me and grinned, asked me if I wanted some, and then got out and bought me an entire basket full of sweet potatoes. I so love that man.

Does your family speak the food love language too? :)


sweetness project week one: food
next week:  special activities

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