The Good Food Message; We all Want and Need!

I cannot think of a better way to begin my blog than to write about the good food God put on this good earth for us!

For many generations, across the globe, our garden bounty has been at the center of gatherings and celebrations gracing tables with joy and nourishment.

So one of my passions is to impart the good food message, enjoying real food, mostly plants, weaved throughout day to day real life.

It’s tricky though,

It’s not so much that we don’t know deep down how essential good food is.

Or

That we don’t know that great food provides us with the needed nutrients to restore and heal our body mentally and physically.

I’ve learned that for many it’s not even that we don’t think we can learn to love the taste of real food, even veggies, and ditch most processed foods :)

In my experience, the question is more nuanced and the answer has more often been something like this…

"In my life, with my schedule and my resources, how can I get unadulterated real food? How can I put together healthy meals, simply?"

It begins with a choice and perseverance to do so most of the time, and the rest will be history… yours!

The good food message is for all... young, older, and yes, the good food message is even for the very busy.

Turns out focusing on one step at a time is propelling more folks forward than a “wait till I can do it all” approach.

Here’s a few of the “one step at a time” things clients report are helpful:

• Growing veggies or herbs in the ground or in pots. Clipping swiss chard and chives for your salad, sage for Thanksgiving turkey, mint for Sunday tea, kale for a smoothie or bok-choy for your soup. If you were to interview people that have come through difficult health conditions, many would tell you about the healing aspects of getting their hands in the dirt and eating something they have grown. In more ways than one, food is medicine.

• Shopping at local markets that provide foods free of unwanted pesticides, chemicals, hormones and antibiotics and that have not been genetically modified.

• Instead of meeting friends at a restaurant, invite them to join you for dinner at home and in the kitchen for last minute chopping, stirring and tasting.

• Prepare double recipes for two meals and swap half with a friend doing the same. You will have four meals.

• On hectic activity filled days, it totally helps to have what I call “pantry meals” in the pantry and freezer. My kids of course would have preferred a local fast food drive thru. To their dismay, I had it down, showing them how long it took to go through the local drive thru versus all of us getting in the kitchen and putting together one of our quick go to meals, black bean tacos. All of us washing and cutting this and that, me seasoning the beans… and wala! Seriously, in less than 15 minutes we had black beans, non-gmo corn tortillas,, olives, diced avocado, cherry tomatoes, and sliced radishes on our plate with a sprinkle of shredded cheese. I like to put fresh lime on the table to top our masterpiece.

• Today, depending on where you live, you may even have great healthy meal pick-up or delivery options.

And good news, we’re not going for perfect here.

So if I enjoy something less than “healthy” sometimes, I can still be healthy. One meal is not going to take down my day to day efforts or my health.

It’s a lifestyle that builds and keeps health.

So this is the beginning of the good food message.
It is committing to the idea that real food is essential,
it does take a bit of time to prepare and slowing down to savor the experience is one place families can start.

Cheers,

For your health, Debra