I want to start off by saying- I just thought Caleb was being a boy when he would run around the house like a mad man, do dive bombs off the couch and just about always appear to have just ingested an illegal substance- not to mention- have a hard time sitting still when talking to him, and the list goes on...
So after some research and an eye-opening view into what our diet contained- we made the switch-
I have been a pretty healthy eater since I was about 19- mostly organic, only free-range meat, ect. but as kids came along and I started to stay home, relying on only Kevin's income- we were gradually slipping back into affordable food- after learning about Genetically Modified Organisms, watching a few documentaries on Netflix- and having a nice date night in front of the documentary/movie- "Food Inc."- I realized I was up against something more than" just feeling tired most of the time", Caleb "just being a boy", having a general feeling of "just not feeling right", and thinking that my skin breakouts were just from "hormones".
So, I started out by cutting all white sugar, any artificial dyes/sweetners, and 98% of any GMO food that was so easily obtained (as 80% of what you buy at your local grocery store is a GMO or contains GMOs- yet they don't have to label it- nice huh??)- we switched to only organic cereal, bread, milk, crackers, veggies/fruit (which we were doing anyway)- within 2 days Caleb was already more civilized, within a week he was a new kid- I had way more energy within 3 days and feel completely awesome 3 weeks into it- My skin is clear, my mind is clear, Kevin doesn't walk around looking like a total zombie from working nights- totally worth the switch-
Luckily- they make really awesome healthy/organic treats that taste good- or I think my Caleb would go crazy- So I always have some sort of fun treat for him around when he gets that "itch"- and for me too ;)
You never hear of how to eat organic, but not totally go broke- So I decided I was going to eat all organic/free-range and spend the same amount (or less) than we were before we made the extreme cross-over- here is what I found has helped so far-
1 -FOOD SHARES- we bought 27lbs of free range/grass fed ground beef from South Shore Meats for $130.00- that will last us a good 6 plus months (we don't eat a ton of red meat)- it equals out to $4.81/lb- at the co-op right now a pound of free range/grass fed beef goes for $7.39- so totally worth the up front cost.
We purchased 5 lbs of free range/grass fed beef hotdogs- for $37- Kiddos love em and great for making corndogs!
We are splitting an organic Veggie-Share with some friends for all summer and winter- a bit over $300/family- we easily spend $30 a week right now on veggies at the co-op
- So once again- totally worth it-
We bought into a fruit share starting in June- going through the end of October- every other week for $170- Strawberries, Blackberries, Blueberries, Raspberries, Cherries, Pears, Apples, Apples, Apples- did I mention Apples? Plus Jellies/Jams
2. SAYING ADIOS TO MOST PACKAGED ITEMS- So I have been on an adventure making crackers, dried fruit (banana and apple chips), granola and granola bars, chicken nuggets, and corndogs at home- I need to tweak the cracker recipe-
3. BUYING FROM THE BULK SECTION AT THE CO-OP- I found you pay for the box/bag/package! Maybe bulk isn't as presentable or pretty to people- buying oatmeal and rice is less expensive in bulk organic that it is boxed/bagged non-organic-
4. EATING MORE FILLING FOODS- We do a lot of beans, rice and cheese meals, we eat eggs, oatmeal or a Kale smoothie for breakfast (all which keep you full for a lot longer than a giant bowl of cereal or 5 pieces of toast (not mentioning any names- KEVIN ;)), peanut butter and homemade hummus make yummy filling snacks- we find by eating more filling organic foods- we eat less and stay full longer- money saver!!
5. BUYING A WHOLE CHICKEN INSTEAD OF BREASTS- We did look into going in on the chicken share- but it was actually more money in the end- so we decided to buy chicken as we go- a whole chicken at the co-op costs anywhere from 10-13 dollars- but you can bake it- or crockpot it- and make several meals with it- freezing anything you can't use right away- I have found doing it in the crockpot actually makes it way tender and harder to deal with- oven makes it firmer and easier (for me) to work with.-
6. MEAL PLAN FOR THE WEEK- I find this to be the most important- if I have a plan of what I am making every night of the week- and shop only for what is on the menu- it ends up being cheaper than running to the store every other day for a "few"things- that turns into a pricey trip- as I see a "few more" things-
So- that's what I have found through my experiment of kicking GMOs, yucky milk and things that actually do more harm than good to me and my family out of our house!
Here are some interesting food facts I learned-
1. Non- organic tomatoes are picked green and sprayed with (toxic) Ethylene Gas to turn it red- (nice huh?) side note- Ethylene gas is actually a naturally occuring gas the the tomato itself makes to turn itself red, food producers tried to reproduce this- but it's actually toxic for our health- and... it doesn't wash off
2. Store bought beef today- is - awful- combine hormones, antibiotics, unsanitary living/processing conditions, plus some Irradiation (to kill the ecoli that cows have due to being fed grain)- not to mention the cows are fed in feed lots- GMO corn- not sure that any of that sounds like food to me! I won't even go into fast food beef- (and a "nice" gold n plump chicken is not much better!)
3. Genetically Modified Foods have been PROVEN to cause several several devastating illnesses/ailments, ect. in not only lab animals but people too- yet- it's too profitable to stop producing- so basically we are guinea pigs- and if you have an illness/ailment- go see your doctor- get your child on some ADHD medication, get yourself some prozac- and life will be fine!
4. 95% of breakfast cereals they sell in stores contain GMOs-
5. Monsanto uses pesticides that are so toxic they are killing the honey bees and hurting our earth- a basic reason for GMOs- is so the bugs would die from these chemicals- but the crop wouldn't- we need our honey bees!
6. When you hear of spinach being recalled (sometimes organic as well) due to ecoli- it is due to run-off from feed lots and unsanitary pig farms- buy local! Know where your veggies are coming from-
7. Here is a quick list of ingredients in items that also are GMO based-
Aspartame
Sodium Ascorbate
Vitamin C
Sodium Citrate
"natural or artificial flavor"
High fructose corn syrup
Hydrolyzed vegetable protein
Lactid acid
Malodextrin
Molasses (non organic)
Monosodium glutamate
Sucrose
Xantham gum
Sometimes it's hard to shed light on the truth- it costs something- but it's worth every penny, every time!
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