I get asked – often – what I eat; I have a What I Eat Page, but I guess it’s not enough! Here’s what I’ve eaten this week:
Smoothies every morning, since Monday. You could call my smoothies, “Kitchen Sink Smoothies”, because I throw just about everything and anything in there. My goal: to get as many nutrients as possible. I want the immune protection, the gut healing, the energy, the good skin, the satiety, muscle tissue repair, etc, and I know all that comes from Food. My gut breaks food down to it’s barest nutrients, which my body uses to remake every single cell. Did you know that the average cell turnover in your body is 50 times???? Every cell in your body will die and reproduce a “daughter” cell an average of 50 times! That’s a LOT of opportunity to improve your health, isn’t it.
I make sure to use a variety of vegetables, fruits, spices, and supplements in my smoothies everyday. I also alternate my bases back and forth between Kombucha (fermented tea), Keifer, or Plain Old Soured Raw Milk or Raw Cream ( how do you think they made that stuff in the olden days before isolating fermenting bacteria?), and every now and then, plain water. I want that good bacteria though and 90% of the time, that’s what I use as a base. Fermented foods/beverages have TRILLIONS more beneficial bacteria than pills. They’re easy to make or easy to buy – sugary yogurts don’t count. They’re not cultured very long, they have too many additives, and too much sugar. It’s also almost impossible to find Full Fat – which is the ONLY dairy product you should consume. Honestly.
I’m NOT a recipe girl. I’m a: throw everything in the blender or the pot and see how it comes out girl. (This doesn’t apply to baking, just cooking or smoothies. Baking requires precision.) If I like it, it goes in, if I don’t like it but I know it’s good for me, it goes in. I’ve trained myself to not just eat palate pleasing foods. Amazingly, my palate has adjusted to several of those foods and I’ve now come to LOVE : liver, onions, garlic, balsamic vinegar, apple cider vinegar, avocados, really sour keifer, yogurt, and milk(you can ONLY do that with RAW), brussels, blue cheese, and many other foods I didn’t grow up on. It really doesn’t take long to “develop” a taste for something, it just takes effort and practice.
Here’s some common smoothie ingredients for me, I pick a few or several of these at a time: kombucha/keifer/sour milk or cream (RAW ONLY !- pasteurized milk rots and would make you sick), a couple times a week protein powder, raw eggs, collagen, molassas, blueberries, cranberries, bananas, blackberries, strawberries, peaches/pears in season, avocados, coconut butter, coconut oil, coconut flakes, cocoa nibs, cocoa powder, stevia if using cocoa powder, frozen spinach, frozen kale, powdered greens, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger (powdered and whole form), and fish oil. I rotate ingredients every day and mentally keep track of what I use.
I ALWAYS have a smallish lunch: leftover meat or fish, a fruit or vegetable; sometimes nuts and seeds; sometimes a coconut-chocolate mix, or a store bought dark chocolate piece.
Dinner’s usually on the big side for me: meat and vegetables, sometimes cheese. I’m simple with dinner though: baked chicken breast (bone in, skin on), baked fish, sausage (we make our own, half venison, half pork, almost 200 pounds every December!), burgers or meatballs(no buns!), slow cooked/pulled roasts: ANY/ALL vegetables (corn, potatoes, peas ,broccoli, brussels, squashes, eggplant, greens, – I don’t care if they’re starchy or not), and I LOVE “mixes”. I use a lot of sea salt, pepper, and herbs/spices. Two nights ago my dinner was brussels, roasted tomatoes, onions, and sausage in broth, with a big side of sweet potato cut up, coated in butter, and roasted. Last night my dinner was a left over spaghetti squash with left over homemade roasted vegetable soup, and two paleo cookies my youngest made last weekend and I’d thrown in the freezer. Sometimes I make paleo biscuits or muffins (they’re great to freeze and pull out for breakfast – which is my youngest daughter’s favorite thing).
Does this help? Breakfast doesn’t have to be cereal and toast, lunch doesn’t have to be sandwiches, and dinner doesn’t have to be pasta/pizza/chicken nuggets. It doesn’t have to be what I eat either! Leftovers, eggs, sausage, bacon, soup, vegetables, nuts and seeds, they can all be breakfast and lunch foods. If you’re really struggling with what to eat, try to focus on Real Whole Foods with fat and protein that keeps you full for hours. Frozen waffles, bagels, english muffins,… they’re just drilled into your head from years of commercials and advertising. Change the way you think about food from a calorie/fat perspective to a nutrient perspective. What are the foods you put into your mouth going to do for your cells? your organs? your brain? Or your kids cells, organs, and brain?
Real change, about anything, begins in the mind. Make a plan. Stick to the plan. You can do this