Written by Emily McClements, Contributing Writer

If there's anything you should know about me, it's that I'm all about taking baby steps.  Most of the changes that we have made in our lives and around our home, have been made by making small changes that add up to much bigger overall change in our lives.

Sometimes I wish I was one of those people that dove head first into something and went all out, changing everything seemingly overnight, but that's just not really practical or possible for me and my family in this season of life.  I’m thinking that’s probably true for many of you too.

What holds us back from making really big, quick changes?

First, there are time constraints.

Making changes usually involves a little bit of a learning curve and you need time for the changes you have made to become part of your habits and routine.  Until that happens, new things will probably take a little more time then your old way of doing things.  Especially when you have children, there’s not a lot of extra time to devote to making big changes.

Then there is the problem of information and knowledge.

Often, when there is an area that I want to make a change in, it’s usually something that I have read a little bit about, but still feel like I need to learn more about it before I jump in and make a complete change.  I like to do some research into things when I can, and I like to know that I'm making the most informed decision that I can make.  But, there's also the problem information overload.  We all know there is WAY too much information out there about anything we could possibly care to know about.  Sometimes I feel like I have too much information and it can be overwhelming to the point that I feel like I can't make a decision, or make a change, at all.

Finally, you may meet some resistance.

Sometimes you can be really excited about an idea, or about a change that you want to make in your family's life, but your children, or your hubby, are not quite as enthusiastic about it as you are, or might be downright opposed to the change you are trying to make.  There are some things that it's probably not a good idea for you to just make an executive decision about, without the support of your family.

So, in the midst of time constraints, information gathering, or information overload, and resistance to change, how can you go about making real, lasting and impactful change in your family and home life?

I think you already know what I'm going to say here…

Baby Steps

It really is all about the Baby Steps.

Photo by catatronic

Dealing with Time Constraints

Making a small change doesn't require as much time and effort as a larger change.  And small changes can often become habits fairly quickly, so you can move onto another small change, and another, and another.

I went to a composting workshop last month and then I started collecting my food scraps and food waste to begin my compost pile. I'm still trying to figure out the best system for this, but I have a bucket on my back porch that is filling up with food waste, and I'm happy that I am throwing less food away.  Once this has become a habit for me, I will move on to creating the larger compost pile, for now, this small, doable change is a really good start.

Get the Information you need

Small changes require less information.  If there's an area you want to make a change in, but you feel like you still need to learn more about it, see if there is some small thing that you feel good about and feel like you know enough about to get started.

Last week I tried to make a sourdough starter.  I failed miserably, it did not work for me.  I need to get more information about sourdough starters, but I thought that I knew enough that I could at least try and see how it worked for me.  Obviously, this is an example of how sometimes small changes don't work out the way we want them to, but we can still learn from the situation and move on to gather more information and try making the change again.

Dealing with Resistance.

Small changes usually meet less resistance. Husbands and children are usually much more willing to deal with a small change rather than a complete overhaul.  Small changes don’t require as much from the person resisting the change, and are easier to explain why you want to make the change, rather than trying to explain a complete change in how you normally done things.

About a year ago I started planning a meatless meal once a week on Monday, we call it Meatless Monday.  My hubby was not excited about it at first.  But, I started looking for meatless meals that would be appealing to him, and added other things to the meals like homemade bread and dessert and he was willing to go along with it.  Now, we are working on two meatless meals per week.  It helps us keep our food costs low, increase the amount of veggies and other forms of protein we are eating, and have an understanding (although very limited) of others around the world who don’t have the luxury that we do of eating meat at every meal.

So by tackling large, sometimes overwhelming changes, in small, easy, doable steps, you can see how small changes can add up to something so much greater.  Big, dramatic, complete changes in lifestyle can all be made by taking that first small baby step.

How have you taken baby steps that have led to larger changes in your journey to more natural living?

Emily is a blessed wife and mama to two little ones. She is passionate about caring for God’s creation and people by being a good steward of the resources He has provided. As part of her journey towards living more “frugally green” she blogs about the things she is learning and the changes she is making at Live Renewed.

Photo by Arkansas ShutterBug

Our Sponsors:

• Spoonk Rider: The Portable Accupressure Mat
• Plan to Eat: Drag & drop meal planner with automated shopping list maker.
• Fertility Flower: Helps women predict ovulation, increasing chances of conception. Outstanding charting tools.
• Experience God as Your Provider: Does Your Financial Future Feel Like a Crumbling Sand Castle?
• Learn to Cook With Sourdough: "Pay What You Can" Classes in Sourdough and Traditional Cooking
• Holy Ambition: If you're thinking, God can't use me, think again! YOU can make a difference.

You might also enjoy:

1. Making Healthy Changes When Your Husband Isn’t on Board
2. Real Food Makeover: The Anderson Family
3. Making Your Own Convenience Food Mixes
4. Real Food Makeover: The Startup Family

Written by Anne Elliott, Contributing Writer

As my family increased in size, I started trying to figure out more inexpensive ideas for breakfast. It had nothing to do with health back then. Later I found out that making breakfast at home was also one of the easiest and most influential things we could do to improve our health.

But making breakfast from scratch, from non-processed foods, can be really intimidating at first. If a woman is also battling chronic health problems, she might fear that she'll never have the energy to make anything in her own kitchen.

Let me show you how easy breakfast can be!

1. Think about what you already like for breakfast.

I could share my own recipes, but you might not share my tastes. For instance, we make soaked oatmeal in our crockpot several times a week, varying the "fix-in's" that we stir in each morning. However, a friend of mine tried it at her house. "Yuck, Anne... it's so slimy!" Honestly, it's just a matter of comfort food, isn't it? So what sounds good to you? Make a list.

Oatmeal is so easy to make with a crockpot! We have a large family, but I place 4 cups oatmeal, 8 cups filtered water, a dash of celtic sea salt, and a spoonful of yogurt into my crockpot. I bought a timer for my crockpot, so that I can program it to turn on in the middle of the night and cook on low for three hours. It shuts off at 7 am, after which I insert 1/2 cup of butter and some "fix-in's" like sucanat, strawberries, raisins, apples, or maple syrup. We serve it with heavy cream!

2. Almost anything "store-bought" can be made (better) at home.

If oatmeal isn't your thing, try something else.

• If you grew up on cold cereal, try making homemade granola.
• If you love toast, then simply make some healthy whole-wheat bread.
• If you need something quick, try homemade yogurt with fresh or frozen fruit.
• If you don't have much of an appetite, try a strawberry smoothie.
• If you need extra nutrition, try a green smoothie.
• If you want something savory, try salmon with fresh tomatoes, or even leftover chicken soup for breakfast!

Image by realSMILEY

3. Most breakfast recipes can be started the day before -- when you have more energy.

Don't feel as if all the work has to be done early in the morning. Just like I put oatmeal in my crockpot the night before, almost every part of breakfast can be started in advance. Thinking ahead doesn't take much time, but if you wait until you're foggy in the morning, you'll want to cry and reach for a box of Frosted Flakes instead.

I have a list of daily prep jobs on the side of my refrigerator, and I try to look at it around 4:00 every afternoon. At this time, I re-evaluate how hopelessly behind I am that day how realistic my schedule is going. This is my "catch-up time." If I need help from my daughters, this is a good time to ask. I plan ahead for the next morning NOW, before the night gets going and I run out of energy.

The best thing about planning ahead, though, is that food is actually more nutritious when it's prepared slowly. Ramiel Nagel, author of Cure Tooth Decay, recommends soaking all grains a minimum of 16 hours before cooking them. This is another reason why 4:00 in the afternoon is the best time to make tomorrow's breakfast.

4. Make a menu.

We've all heard that we should make a menu for supper, but why not make a menu for lunch, too? The only difference for me is that I plan the same breakfasts for certain days of the week, repeating this basic plan over and over again, so that I don't really have to do too much planning each week.

My personal plan is to have

• 2 daily stand-by's that we repeat week after week after week. We eat these twice each week, so this takes care of 4 days. For instance, my two stand-by's are oatmeal and cream of wheat. I might have oatmeal every Tuesday and Thursday, and cream of wheat every Wednesday and Friday. I think I could make either of these in my sleep now! They aren't so exciting, but hey, it's breakfast! (We usually have simple scrambled eggs these mornings also.)
• 1 super-quick, super-easy breakfast idea. This is something that I can put on the table in 5 minutes with very little mess and very little clean up. In all honesty, this is usually the most expensive breakfast on my menu; however, it's perfect for that inevitable crazy morning when we all need to get out the door -- and fast!
• 1 family-fun breakfast. We like making pancakes at our house... with Mickey-Mouse ears or chocolate-chip creations. My husband has Mondays off work, so this is the day we all get in the kitchen and make food together. This is the breakfast that is usually least healthy, but we have a lot of fun together. Remember planning ahead, though? You can certainly make excellent and nutritious "junk food" like pancakes.
• 1 sabbath breakfast. I try to take one day off cooking each week. Yup! A whole day! I find that I have a lot more energy for all the other days when I take an entire 24 hours off of cooking and cleaning and dishes. The afternoon before, I like mixing up some eggs with a little cream and some sauteed onions and whatever fresh vegetables are in my refrigerator. I sprinkle some sea salt, cheddar cheese, and a dash of Frontier spice blend over the top, then I refrigerate it until the next morning. I can pop this in the oven for 45 minutes and enjoy a delicious breakfast without having to do ANY work on that day.

So in review, I am confident that you also can have consistently healthy breakfasts, made from scratch and with love in your own kitchen, even when you're tired and busy -- if you'll just plan ahead. That's really the key! I'm sure you can do this!

P.S. Here are some excellent recipes you might enjoy...

• Pancakes from Leftover Oatmeal
• Homemade Pop-Tarts
• How to Brew a Delicious Cup of Coffee
• Crockpot Yogurt
• Homemade Doughnuts
• Anne's Whole-Wheat Bread
• Strawberry Slushy
• Sourdough Pancakes
• Kale Shake

What are your own easy breakfast ideas?

Anne is a pastor's wife and homeschooling mom to seven sweet kiddos, all living in southern Minnesota. Her passion is trying to discover what the Bible says about almost every topic affecting moms, and she blogs about it at http://anneelliott.com/blog.

Image by Just a Temporary Measure

Our Sponsors:

• Spoonk Rider: The Portable Accupressure Mat
• Plan to Eat: Drag & drop meal planner with automated shopping list maker.
• Fertility Flower: Helps women predict ovulation, increasing chances of conception. Outstanding charting tools.
• Experience God as Your Provider: Does Your Financial Future Feel Like a Crumbling Sand Castle?
• Learn to Cook With Sourdough: "Pay What You Can" Classes in Sourdough and Traditional Cooking
• Holy Ambition: If you're thinking, God can't use me, think again! YOU can make a difference.

You might also enjoy:

1. Real Food Makeover: The Woody Family, Part 2
2. Making Your Own Convenience Food Mixes
3. Real Food Makeover- The Anderson Family, Pt 2
4. Recipes and Ideas for What to Eat on the GAPS Introduction Diet

By Sherrie Cook, Contributing Writer

Confession:  I am not so skilled in the kitchen.

Conflict:  I need to write a blog post about a real food kitchen for Keeper of the Home.

Solution:  Write about hope.  Hope for those of us who feel clueless and overwhelmed at the thought of making better choices for our families.  Hope that no matter how unskilled in the kitchen we are, we can still make a difference simply by trying. Hope that one day, with a little practice and good mentors, we can all serve our families by providing them with nutritious and delicious real food.  I want to share with you a few of my trials and successes as I took a baby step toward a real food kitchen by making wheat bread.

How Healthy Is Whole Wheat Bread?

I remember well my disappointment when I found "enriched wheat flour" listed as the first ingredient in my store bought wheat bread.  My thoughts were that if wheat was so good for us, why did the bread maker need to enrich it? I started searching and discovered that they strip out all the good stuff first and then have to add some good stuff back into the flour. What? I looked closer the next time I went to the store in order to find some bread that said "whole wheat flour" first on the ingredient list. It was a bit pricey, but I rationalized that the purchase was for the health of my family.

Wouldn't you know, my family didn't care for it.  Thus started my research again for good-for-you, tasty whole wheat bread.

What I found surprised me.  I learned that wheat starts to oxidize as soon as the berry is ground into powder (flour). This oxidation process immediately begins to "ruin" the nutrients in the wheat flour making it less and less usable by the human body. One of the easiest ways to stop this process is to bake the flour immediately into bread.  Many bread bakers do not follow this practice, so the bread has already lost many of its nutrients.  So why exactly am I subjecting my family to something they like if it isn't super nutritious for them?

Finding Fresh Milled Wheat Flour

After many hours of reading the research, I decided to begin milling my own wheat and baking it into bread for my family.  I saved and scrimped until I could purchase a bread maker and a wheat mill. I know this option of owning your own machines (especially a wheat mill) can seem daunting because of the cost involved, so below I've included some ideas for getting your hands on affordable freshly milled wheat:

• Find other women in your area that are interested in baking whole wheat bread for their families and combine your funds to own "part" of a mill that you all can share.  I was surprised at how many of my friends expressed a sincere interest in grinding their own wheat after I started talking about it with them.
• Some natural or health food stores have a mill in their store that you can use if you buy grain from them.
• Check out your local farmer's market to see if the grain vendors have a mill for their customers to use.
• Watch ebay or your local Craig's List for a used mill at a discounted price. (This option is last because in my experience, everyone falls in love with their mill and never considers parting with it!)

(Also, a bread machine is not a necessity, but I have found it to be an invaluable tool for my family's bread baking.)

The recipe I use  is a combination of several different recipes, trial and error.

Simple Wheat Bread Recipe

Yields 2 loaves (3 to 3 1/2 lbs total)

Combining the ingredients:

1. Stir 1 egg, 1/3 cup oil, 1/3 cup honey &  2 cups hot tap water into bread machine pan.
2. Add 2 tsp. salt, 1 Tbsp lecithin & (optional) 2 tsp +/- gluten.
3. Grind 1/4 cup flax seed in a coffee grinder & add to mixture.  Stir well.
4. Add 3 cups freshly milled wheat flour to top of mixture and make a "little well" in the middle of the flour with your finger.  Put 3 1/2 tsp instant yeast into the "little well" then cover the yeast with another cup of flour.

Preparing the dough:

1. Set your bread machine for the dough cycle & allow it to begin mixing your ingredients. (I make my bread machine do all the hard work of mixing the ingredients, however, this can also be done by hand or with a stand alone mixer.)  Slowly add another 2 to 2 1/2 cups wheat flour to the dough. (Depending on the weather, you will need more or less flour every time you make your bread.  The more humid the air, the more flour you will need.)  Use a spatula to scrape the excess off the sides of the bread machine pan & close the lid to allow the dough to rise.  (If you're not using a bread machine, be sure to put your dough in a bowl & cover it with a damp towel.  Place the bowl somewhere still (no drafts) & warm.  Let it rise until it doubles in size.  The bread machine top with open slightly toward the end of the rise.  There is no need for alarm if this happens.
2. Just before the first rise is finished, clear off your counter top and wash and dry it well.  (This is also a good time to remove any rings from your fingers & pull your hair back again.)  Then put a bit of olive oil on the counter top and smooth it around.  (I also get my bread pans ready at this time with a coat of olive oil.)
3. Once the first rise is finished, run your hands across your oiled counter top to keep the dough from sticking to your fingers, then take the dough out of the machine and divide it into two equal sections.  Using your hands, roll it around into a ball and then roll it out into a thick cylinder.  Tuck both ends of the cylinder under and put the dough in the pan with the tucked side down. (Below you can see the loaf on the right is tucked.)

The next picture is a shot looking down on the dough once it is first placed into the bread pan.  Note that you can see the bottom of the pan in places.

The 2nd rise:

1. Next, you need to find another still (no drafts) area for the second rise. Some people choose to preheat their ovens to about 200°F, turn the oven off and then place the dough inside the oven.  Some ovens have a special proofing option which is a wonderful blessing to any bread maker!

The second rise takes a bit of practice to get the timing just right, but when the dough is done rising, it should be about double the size it was when you started.  The pictures below show the dough after the second rise is complete.  Compare the fullness of these pictures with the ones above to get a good idea of what to expect from this step.  You want to be careful not to leave the dough rising for too long or it will fall.  (Yes, this happened to me.)  It seems to make the bread a bit tougher which is obviously undesirable.

Baking the dough:

Finally, preheat your oven to 350°F and bake for 30 minutes. Let it cool for about 5 minutes in the pans then flip it out onto a cooling rack. Once cool (or not - I love warm bread), slice it as thick or thin as desired and enjoy!

Here are a couple of close up shots of my "masterpiece"! It was a fun experience and my family now enjoys fresh whole wheat bread on a regular basis!  It is a healthier choice for us and would never have happened without taking those initial baby steps.

Photo credits:  thirteenofclubs, rexipe, anniemole

What baby steps are you making in your own real food kitchen?

Sherrie is a wife, mother, peer counselor, speaker and author. She enjoys helping fellow moms in their quest for a simple, God-centered home for their natural living families. She notes her (hopefully) helpful hints at The Proverbial Woman.

Our Sponsors:

• Spoonk Rider: The Portable Accupressure Mat
• Plan to Eat: Drag & drop meal planner with automated shopping list maker.
• Fertility Flower: Helps women predict ovulation, increasing chances of conception. Outstanding charting tools.
• Experience God as Your Provider: Does Your Financial Future Feel Like a Crumbling Sand Castle?
• Learn to Cook With Sourdough: "Pay What You Can" Classes in Sourdough and Traditional Cooking
• Holy Ambition: If you're thinking, God can't use me, think again! YOU can make a difference.

You might also enjoy:

1. Beautiful Bread Recipes
2. Sourdough Bread Baking: Troubleshooting
3. Q&A: Avoiding wheat
4. Organization in the Real Food Kitchen: Planning to Make Food Preparation Happen

This week's makeover is for the Woody Family. There is mom Stephanie, dad Josh and children Delaney (5), Dawson (3), & Finn (2).

How They Currently Eat:

This family particularly touched me with the email they sent me to be chosen as one of the makeover families. Here is an excerpt from it:

Our journey to being a whole food family is much harder than I anticipated.  My wife and I are great planners and dreamers, but the process of doing and finishing, or sometimes even starting, leaves us wanting.  We love to read about and understand the benefits of a whole foods life.  They are numerous and, we believe, life-changing.   And yet we struggle week in and week out making these changes.

I imagine that there are heads nodding all over the blogosphere. We can all relate to that, can't we?

This family is willing to try new things, and yet they struggle with falling into old habits, not planning adequately, and when time runs short, they turn to processed or fast food. It is such a common struggle.

Though they definitely do eat some real, whole foods, there are a lot of convenience foods mixed in there (chicken nuggets, mac & cheese, toaster strudels, boxed cereals). Too heavy on the grains, not enough veggies. They use real butter (yay!), but want to improve the quality of their meat. They try to use whole grains, but a lot of times they don't.

Their Goals:

To make changes that will stick! They want this to become a lifelong change, even if it's slow and steady, so that it becomes a way of living, and not just something that they try for a while and then give up on.

Mom and Dad would both like to lose some weight. Mom has also struggled with increasing levels of depression after having each successive baby. They would also like to deal with some present and possible allergies (they run in the family), and prevent them from getting out of control.

Most importantly, they want to get on track with planning and preparing healthier meals in a consistent way and keep up the motivation to continue on with these changes. Overall better health and more real, homemade food is a major goal for this family!

Time for Their Real Food Makeover!

3 Baby Steps for Them to Take:

1. As a family, decide on some ways to further educate themselves, and also to motivate themselves to make these changes

2. Get rid of most of the processed/convenience foods that they are eating.

3. For Stephanie, begin to have 1 planning session and 1 prepping session each week.

Image by gusilu

Education and Motivation- They Make All the Difference!

As I read through their answers to my questions and prayed about what to say, the biggest thing that kept coming to mind is that for this family, it's not necessarily about changing their meat or soaking their grains or eating more vegetables (although those are all good steps that they should ultimately take).

What they're seeking is a lifestyle change... a way to really make these changes become the new normal for their family.

I've been there. In my experience, the only thing that kept me going when I began to make healthier changes was becoming educated about WHY I was making the changes, and having something that truly MOTIVATED me to change.

Ways to Educate Yourself:

1. Watch some eye-opening videos that will underscore the importance of these changes, like Supersize Me, Food Inc., or Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution.

2. Read, read, read. Some of the books that I have found to be very accessible and challenging are The Maker's Diet, What the Bible Says About Healthy Living, Real Food: What to Eat and Why, and Nourishing Traditions (though this one is definitely a bigger jump- start with some of the others first, perhaps).

3. Go through some real food basics, in bite-sized chunks. DON'T try to read through or tackle these things all at once. Just pick some topics of interest and start learning. Here are a few places to start:

• Nutritional Foundations- My own series that works systematically through the grocery store, discussing food options and some of the why's behind what I do and don't recommend
• Nourishing Foundations- From the Nourishing Gourmet, a selection of posts on various topics to do with real food, like grains, raw milk, natural sweeteners, etc.
• Beginner's Tour- From the Weston A Price Foundation website, an intro into who they are and what they believe about foods and health.
• Monday Mission Checklist- From Kitchen Stewardship, a fantastic list of posts on a large variety of real food topics, with baby steps to take and information on why you should makes these changes

Dad (Josh) with Delaney

Getting Motivated

For me, it was health issues that drove me to make changes. What will motivate this family to keep walking down this road?

I think that spending some time together as a family, discussing the reasons why you want to do this, would be so valuable. Write a list of what you come up with, including everybody's ideas (especially the kids!). Post the list up in a prominent place, like on the fridge, where you will all see it often and be reminded of the reasons why you are making these changes.

While you're at it, you should discuss some of your goals. Which areas would you like to work on first? What foods would you like to eat more/less of? What health results would you like to see? Post these up as well, alongside your reasons for making these changes.

In fact, you can increase motivation by making some tangible goals as a family and establishing some sort of family reward. Perhaps if you can make it through a week without any processed, convenience foods, you can make homemade popcorn and have a family fun night. Or a month of zero fast food runs equals a trip to the zoo or aquarium! If everyone knows that a special treat is riding on achieving your goal, then you will all work harder to stick to it and hold each other accountable!

Start Some New Food Traditions

Food habits are often related to our traditions, our relationships, our celebrations, and things that feel familiar or comforting to us. These can be hard to let go of. I know this, because many of the foods that I grew up eating, although I know in my head that I shouldn't eat them, are still a major struggle to say no to when they are offered or accessible to me. Old habits die hard.

Making new traditions can be a powerful way of creating positive associations with foods that are good for you, instead of ones that aren't. By establishing new family traditions, like special meals or a Saturday morning routine, real foods begin to have a more important place on your family table.

Simple Mom gives a great example of how real foods can be incorporated into a special family night. Why not choose a night each week when you can cook a meal together, enjoying the process, rather than feeling rushed like you might on other nights? Make Saturday mornings a leisurely time when you make soaked, homemade pancakes or waffles, with fresh berries.

Image by smittenkittcnorig

Planning and Prep Times

One of the best ways to ruin a good diet is to get hungry and realize that there's nothing quick and simple to eat. Not knowing what to make for the next meal and not having snacks or easy foods ready when you need them.

Make a time each week to plan- It will take about 1-2 hours at first, but gradually it will get easier and faster. See my makeover for the W family, for detailed suggestions and links for getting set up to meal plan in a more effective way.

Make a time each week to do food prep- This is also very important for a busy mama who doesn't want to resort to convenience foods. This can be chopping veggies, washing and ripping lettuce, pre-cooking meats, cooking large amounts of beans and freezing them, making baked goods like muffins or bread, making large batches of homemade granola.

Consider Once-a-Month cooking (or a variation of it)- Another useful thing to do is to make freezer meals, so that there can be some nights when dinner is as simple as thawing something in the morning and popping it in the oven that afternoon. This can be done by taking a half day or a day each month to make as many meals as you can. It can also be done by doubling or tripling meals once or twice a week, so that you can always have a few extra meals to pull out when you need them.

Get more efficient in the kitchen- The Nourishing Gourmet has had a couple of great posts lately on learning to increase efficiency and speed in food preparation. This is a skill that every busy mama needs! Check out her posts The Pemmican Principle of Food Preparation for Time Efficiency and 4 Tips for Increasing Your Work Speed in the Kitchen.

Just to help them even more with applying these suggestions to their lives, this family will be receiving:

• A copy of my ebook, Healthy Homemaking: One Step at a Time
• A 1 year Print Membership from ListPlanIt, to aid them in getting organized in the kitchen, with meal planning and with grocery shopping. Thanks, ListPlanIt!

What motivates you to stick with your health-related goals and eating habit changes?

Our Sponsors:

• Spoonk Rider: The Portable Accupressure Mat
• Plan to Eat: Drag & drop meal planner with automated shopping list maker.
• Fertility Flower: Helps women predict ovulation, increasing chances of conception. Outstanding charting tools.
• Experience God as Your Provider: Does Your Financial Future Feel Like a Crumbling Sand Castle?
• Learn to Cook With Sourdough: "Pay What You Can" Classes in Sourdough and Traditional Cooking
• Holy Ambition: If you're thinking, God can't use me, think again! YOU can make a difference.

You might also enjoy:

1. Real Food Makeover: The “W” Family
2. Real Food Makeover: The Anderson Family
3. Real Food Makeover- The “W” Family, Part 2
4. Upcoming: Four Families are Going to Get a Real Food Makeover!

This is a continuation of last week's makeover for the Anderson family.

This week I want to share a sample menu plan. It won't look quite as specific as the menu plan for the W family, because mom Andi is already a regular menu planner and has certain meals/themes that she uses each week, so instead I'm going to make a lot of overall suggestions.

In the first post, I discussed how her biggest priority is to make things that will help her husband with some health problems and to be able to lose some weight, but also that he will like. He really wants to be on board with making healthy changes, but finds it hard to change his food preferences. My suggestions are geared towards helping her to help him change what he eats, in a very manageable and gradual way, so that the changes will stick rather than be thrown out the window.

A Sample Weekly Meal Plan

Breakfasts:

The family sticks with a regular breakfast schedule each week, so I'm going to simply suggest some small ways to change and improve it.

Mon-Thurs: Cold cereal with milk, and a bread item (toast, bagel, etc.)

Friday: Biscuits and gravy

Saturday: Go out for breakfast wraps every other week

Sunday: Eggs, toast, hashbrowns, sausage/bacon

There are a few things that can be done here. The first is to simply add/substitute some other foods, while keeping this basic framework in place. A few good changes to make would be:

• Try making a homemade granola and substituting that for store bought cereal a couple times each week. Here are a few recipes that might work well. This is the soaked granola recipe that we enjoy, but there are lots of granola recipes out there. Also, see my discussion on buying cold cereals.
• Add more protein to the M-Th breakfast- peanut butter or almond butter on toast, a hardboiled or fried egg, a small bowl of yogurt, some cheese, etc. This helps to balance out the blood sugar high from all the carbs, and filing up more on protein might help to slowly decrease how many carbs are being consumed.
• Try adding a piece of fruit or a simple fruit smoothie each day. It can be something as easy as an orange or a couple slices of melon. The fruit smoothie could be some plain yogurt, frozen or fresh berries, a banana and some honey.
• Fridays could easily be improved by adding some protein as well, like eggs or breakfast meat. An omelet would be a great addition, with one or two finely chopped veggies (peppers, mushrooms, asparagus, zucchini, or even just herbs).
• Instead of going out for breakfast wraps, make them yourself! We love to make these using sprouted or whole grain tortillas, scrambled eggs, boiled potatoes, grated cheese and salsa or sour cream (or both).
• For any of the weekend breakfasts, a dish like Baked oatmeal might be a tasty way to try to add some variety. If the family really doesn't like the soaked version, you could try it unsoaked like this instead.
• Another way to substitute the cold cereal/toast routine is with hot (soaked) oatmeal . Try it just once a week, add lots of nice toppings to it to make it appealing (milk/cream, honey, dried or fresh fruit, nuts, etc.), and see how it goes!

The other way to improve upon breakfast is to improve specific ingredients that are used (the type of bread, eggs, milk, etc.) but I will get into this in a few moments.

Image by thebittenword

Lunches:

Andi makes bagged lunches for her husband each day (good for her!). He's a man who likes routine, and his standard lunch is a PB sandwich, some crackers or chips, and a banana.

The main problem with this lunch (especially for him) is the predominance of carbs and the lack of protein and more nutrient-rich foods. I would start to slowly change this by choosing one aspect of the lunch at a time. Don't try to change the sandwich and the chips and the banana at the same time, but pick just one element.

If it's the sandwich, try different ingredient combos. Perhaps meat and cheese with mayo and lettuce, or a wrap with shredded chicken. Last week I linked to some fun sandwich variations in the Lunch discussion. These might inspire, and hopefully you can come up with some ideas that your hubby would enjoy!

For the crackers or chips, I would suggest trying to find things that are salty, crunchy or a better homemade grain snack. Muffins might work well, and you can make them with things like zucchini (toss in a few chocolate chips), carrot, applesauce, berries, etc. Other ideas are veggie sticks with a dip, a bag of trail mix, homemade crackers or cookies, or even occasionally something like Terra Chips (made with veggies like sweet potatoes, parsnips and beets, these are surprisingly tasty, though the oils still aren't the best).

It would be good to see more variety with the fruit as well. Bananas are so portable, I understand. But so are apples and pears, oranges (mandarins are nice), grapes, kiwis, strawberries, or even a few slices of melon in a container.

As for her and the boys at home, they usually do sandwiches, leftovers or pasta. I think leftovers are a fantastic way to keep lunch nutritious but quick!

This would be a good time for her to get more adventurous, to help the boys develop an appreciation for some new foods! She could serve things like yogurt with fruit and homemade granola or nuts and seeds, salmon or tuna melts, fruit salad, wraps with finely chopped veggies (if they're hard for little hands to hold, serve the filling in a bowl with the wrap alongside it).

Pasta is a great place to add in veggies, like some diced tomatoes or peppers, grated zucchini, peas, etc. and make sure to include some protein as well. Another quick and easy option is cheese quesadillas, which can include beans (refried or whole), a good food to teach the boys to eat.

Dinners:

Andi currently has a great system where she uses themes to plan out her dinners (beef, meatless, chicken, etc.). I'm going to leave her to what she's doing in that regard.

Instead, I want to offer some husband-friendly but more nutritious recipe ideas. Though I'm fortunate to have an adventurous hubby who goes along with my crazy experimenting, he also really enjoys "meat and potato" kind of comfort meals. I have learned to tailor what I make so that the meals are up his alley, but the ingredients are top-notch, the methods are traditional, and the veggies are abundant.

Here is a list of meals/recipes that I think might work in Andi's repetoire:

• Spinach Rice Casserole
• Macaroni and Cheese Casserole with Cauliflower (add tuna or salmon or chicken)
• Piled High Chicken Potpie
• Meatloaf with a side of rice and a vegetable
• Chicken Divan
• Roast Beef in the crockpot with potatoes and carrots and homemade biscuits,
• Homemade pizza
• Turkey and Cheese Stromboli
• Fajitas (beef or chicken) or bean/rice/cheese burritos
• Addictive Sweet Potato Burritos (maybe these will go over well on meatless night?)
• Taco Salad.
• Spaghetti with tomato sauce (our favorite sauce recipe)
• Beef Stew
• Chili and cornbread
• Bierocks (bread pockets with ground beef/cabbage filling- very tasty!)
• Cheesy Beef and Rice with a salad (some good options- coleslaw, Greek Salad, green salad or broccoli salad
• Zucchini Spaghetti Bake
• Shepherd's Pie (with lots of veggies added in!)

I also think it would be a great goal for the Anderson's to start eating at least 1 fresh (not canned) veggie per night, and a fresh salad once a week. My post on how to cook vegetables is a good place to start, including lots of yummy recipe links. Some of the more complex dishes like Cauliflower Casserole might make for easy transitions into eating more fresh vegetables.

Image by Theodore Scott

Replacing Like With Like

You may have noticed a theme during this week's suggestions... to replace like with like.

By this, I simply mean that you take what you currently eat and find similar, but more nourishing, options to replace it with. Do it a little at a time, slowly improving different aspects of each meal, and gradually you will find that your diet has become much healthier, but in a fairly painless manner.

I mentioned above that the other main way to improve what they eat is to replace certain ingredients with better versions of the same one. This is a concept I've discussed before in my Nutritional Foundations series. The very first place to begin to make changes can be simple- by cooking and eating the same types of foods, but making the change at the time of buying the food instead!

Here are the top 3 places that I would suggest the Anderson family start with replacing foods:

1. White, refined grains with whole grains
2. Conventional beef with grass-fed beef
3. Milk with raw, grass-fed milk

Next priorities after these could be finding a source of free-range eggs, and then beginning to switch over to natural sweeteners instead of refined ones. This post is a good starting place for finding resources where you can purchase better quality foods where you live.

Just one more thing...

I said it in the first makeover, and I'll say it again. It would be worthwhile to add cod liver oil as a supplement for all of the family members. I've linked to a good information page on the Weston A. Price Foundation website, which can do the soapbox preaching about the merits of cod liver oil for me so that I don't need to be a broken record.

To further help the Anderson family with their Real Food Makeover, they will also be receiving:

• A copy of my ebook, Healthy Homemaking: One Step at a Time
• A 1 year Print Membership from ListPlanIt, to aid them in getting organized in the kitchen, with meal planning and with grocery shopping. Thanks, ListPlanIt! I should have known that Andi (the faithful meal planner) would be the one mom who already uses a ListPlanIt membership, but nonetheless, hers has been renewed for the next year.

What are some of your favorite husband-friendly, comfort food type meals? Have you used the concept of "replacing like with like" at all in your own journey towards better health and nutrition?

Our Sponsors:

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• Plan to Eat: Drag & drop meal planner with automated shopping list maker.
• Fertility Flower: Helps women predict ovulation, increasing chances of conception. Outstanding charting tools.
• Experience God as Your Provider: Does Your Financial Future Feel Like a Crumbling Sand Castle?
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• Holy Ambition: If you're thinking, God can't use me, think again! YOU can make a difference.

You might also enjoy:

1. Real Food Makeover: The Anderson Family
2. Real Food Makeover- The “W” Family, Part 2
3. Real Food Makeover: The “W” Family
4. Recipes and Ideas for What to Eat on the GAPS Introduction Diet

I am just loving these makeovers! They are long and take more work than my usual posts, but to me, there is nothing like really digging in and getting practical for particular families. Are you enjoying these posts, too? I pray that they are a blessing, for both the families involved, and those that read them as well!

This week's family is the Andersons. There is Andi (mom), Jesse (Dad) and two little cutie pies, Corbin (2) and Callan (just turning 1).

How they currently eat:

The first thing that I noticed when I read through their questionnaire answers is that they eat a significant amount of grains and starches (most of them refined as well), lots of protein (but the same types- not much variety), and very little fruits and vegetables. When they do eat veggies, they are usually canned.

Dad is a real meat and potatoes kind of guy, and isn't particularly adventurous when it comes to eating. Mom used to be, but it's tough to cook that way when not everyone will eat it. So far, their boys are not picky, which is definitely a huge plus!

Their goals:

Mom is a wonderful meal planner, but she knows that she needs to take that structure and add in some better foods for her family. They need to stick to their budget, but figure out how to get higher quality and fresher foods. They would like to find some more real food resources in their area (Lubbock, TX).

Dad's health is struggling, and he would like to lose some weight and get his blood sugar levels down, as he is at high risk for diabetes right now. Mom would really like to get back to being healthier, but most of all wants to help her hubby and find ways to make foods that he (and the boys) really LOVE, that will be better for them all.

Time for Their Real Food Makeover!

3 Baby Steps for Them to Take:

1. Decrease their consumption of grains and starches, particularly refined (white, processed) grains.
2. Increase their vegetable and fruit intake, especially more fresh produce (as opposed to canned).
3. Add better variety to their protein options, for more well-rounded nutrition.

Not only are these good steps to take in general for the whole family, but they will also serve their health goals for Jesse. By decreasing refined grains and starches, he will be able to lose some weight (which will help with the diabetes risk). Additionally, improving their protein intake will help his body to get more of the important nutrients that it needs, while balancing out his grain intake and keeping his blood sugar levels more steady. These are just beginning steps to take, but they are important ones.

Image by floodkoff

Let's Talk About Feeding Husbands

This is a tricky subject, but it is certainly not impossible to be able to help your husband learn to appreciate more real, fresh foods and eat a better balanced diet!

There are two main things that I think are important to keep in mind:

• Your husband is a grown man, able to make his own decisions. He is the leader of the home and deserves respect. He needs encouragement not criticism, and needs you to work with him, not just try to force him to change.
• Changes happen best s-l-o-w-l-y. If you can help him by changing things little by little, bit by bit, he will most likely come around and begin to eat more and more real foods than you ever thought possible.

There are lots of ways to get our men eating better, without pulling the rug out from under them and changing the foods they like to eat overnight. One is by simply talking with them about changes that you would like to make, and asking which ones sound like the most feasible changes to start with. Work as a team. Bring them on board. Let them be a part of the decision making.

Try finding out if there are some things that he is not ready to compromise on or change at all yet. Let him keep a few of his absolute favorites. This will help him feel better about the things that are changing.

Ask for his input as you create a list of meals/recipes that you would like to make. Get him to rate meals on a scale, so that you know what to include more often. Make sure that as you meal plan, each week includes some of his favorites and then it will be easier on him when you also include a couple things that are new or not as preferred.

Start by sneaking the good stuff in. I'm generally not in favor of the whole concept of getting our families to eat good foods in a deceptive manner. HOWEVER, when family members are used to the taste of processed, convenience foods or simply haven't acquired a taste for wholesome foods like fresh veggies, you need to help them out.

One of the easiest ways to sneak in vegetables is to grate or puree them first (works well with carrots, zucchini, peppers, sweet potato or squash, etc.). Next, add them in to more complex dishes, like meatloaf or meatballs, burrito or taco fillings, chili, meat/potato stews, tomato pasta sauces, etc. They won't be particularly noticeable, but here's the thing: by adding more and more in gradually you can help to change tastebuds (hubby) and mold and shape little tastebuds (adorable boys). As you increase the amount of good stuff in the recipes you make, they will become accustomed to the taste of wholesome, fresh veggies and then, the sky begins to be the limit!

As well, check out my post on cooking and serving vegetables yesterday. I offer some simple cooking methods, and lots of tasty vegetable side dish recipes. And always remember, if they're balking at eating the veggies you prepare, just add grated cheese. Cheese covers a mutitude of sins.

Here are a couple of previous posts I've written on feeding our husbands, which I think are helpful:

Making Healthy Changes When Your Husband Isn't On Board

Good in the Kitchen

Image by peet-astn

Increasing Vegetable and Fruit Intake

Priority number one is to switch from canned veggies to fresh veggies, for a few reasons. First, canned veggies are processed at high temperatures and lose many of their nutrients in the process. Second, they often have additives like preservative, salt, sugar, etc. Third, canned foods have BPA in their linings, a chemical you definitely want to avoid. Fourth, they just don't taste very good and if I only had the choice of eating canned veggies, I probably wouldn't be very keen on them either.

I know that fresh produce can cost significantly more than canned vegetables, but this doesn't have to be the case. Grocery stores have notoriously expensive produce. Get out of your regular grocery store, and find a produce market or farmer's market instead. I used the search at www.eatwellguide.org, and came up with a couple of options- Apple Country Farmer's Markets or Sunburst Farm Markets, both with two locations in Lubbock. Try one of these to start with, and if they are anything like the ones in my area, you will find an abundance of fresh, beautiful produce at prices much lower than a conventional supermarket.

Similar to what I suggested in the first Real Food Makeover, these are some excellent but manageabel goals for including more vegetables and fruits in your diet:

• Have at least 1 fresh vegetable with each dinner
• Include at least 1 salad in each weeks' menu plan (this can even be something like Caesar salad or iceberg lettuce salad in the beginning, and then progress to some other options down the road)
• Serve one type of fruit for either breakfast or lunch each day. Apples, peaches, berries, kiwi, melon, pears, oranges... anything! Fruit salads can be a nice way to get these in, as can fruit smoothies, or simply a plate of cut fruit.

We'll continue on later this week with a one week meal plan, lots of recipe suggestions, and some more ideas for switching some of their current foods choices over to more real, whole foods, especially some that are much more nutrient-dense.

How do you cook in a healthy way that also pleases your husband? What are your best suggestions for getting more vegetables and fruits into your family?

Our Sponsors:

• Spoonk Rider: The Portable Accupressure Mat
• Plan to Eat: Drag & drop meal planner with automated shopping list maker.
• Fertility Flower: Helps women predict ovulation, increasing chances of conception. Outstanding charting tools.
• Experience God as Your Provider: Does Your Financial Future Feel Like a Crumbling Sand Castle?
• Learn to Cook With Sourdough: "Pay What You Can" Classes in Sourdough and Traditional Cooking
• Holy Ambition: If you're thinking, God can't use me, think again! YOU can make a difference.

You might also enjoy:

1. Real Food Makeover: The “W” Family
2. Real Food Makeover- The “W” Family, Part 2
3. Upcoming: Four Families are Going to Get a Real Food Makeover!
4. Organization in the Real Food Kitchen: Planning to Make Food Preparation Happen

"I know we should eat more vegetables, but..."

This is a common refrain. I bet you've even said it yourself. Vegetables tend to be one of the most under-appreciated parts of the food kingdom, and sadly, one that very few people have learned to truly incorporate into their regular eating habits.

The video above is a clip from a recent episode of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution (one of the few things worth watching on tv!). Watch this brief segment to see that today's children are utterly lacking in even the most basic of knowledge about the abundance of vegetables that our kind Creator has given us for our health and enjoyment. It is both shocking and revealing of our culture's eating habits, just how uneducated these 6 year olds are in the realm of vegetables.

As I watched, I suddenly felt so grateful that my 5 year old could have quickly and easily named each of these colorful veggies. The reason why? Because after years of neglecting these nutritious gems, I have finally learned how to cook vegetables, and cook them well, in ways that are quick, simple and that we consistently enjoy (and yes, even my children and my husband!).

Two Simple Methods for Preparing Practically Any Vegetable

Steaming:

Steaming, rather than boiling, is preferable because there is less nutrient loss and quite frankly, the taste and texture are just that much better. Please (please), don't use your microwave. Let me teach you the simple stovetop method.

You'll need a pot and a colander that fits it. A metal pop-up steamer like this works well and will fit inside a mid-sized pot.

You could also use a tiered pot set, that comes with a steamer piece that has handles, similar to this one.

The basic method for steaming is to add a couple inches of water to the bottom of the pot and bring the water to a boil. Then place the steamer full of vegetables over top of the steaming water, put a lid on top and set a timer for the appropriate amount of time.

Depending on the vegetable, you will need to let it steam for as little as just a few minutes, or more commonly about 5-15 minutes. Here is a chart that lists most vegetables and how long they need to be steamed for (just ignore the microwave directions!).

What to steam? Almost anything! Carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, asparagus, cabbage, brussel sprouts, corn, greens, sweet potato... pretty much anything you can think of.

Don't leave your vegetables naked once they've been steamed, or you will probably find that they still don't taste as good as you'd like. I know we've been told so many times to stop using all that butter, but it's bad advice. Put some butter on your vegetables, and yes, a good sprinkle of salt, too (just try to make it an unrefined sea salt). Vegetables taste best and their nutrients are most easily assimilated when the are served with some good, old-fashioned fat.

For some other ideas, here are 8 Ways to Perk Up Steamed Veggies.

Image by Sandy Austin

Pan Cooking

This is my favorite method of preparing veggies because it is fast, simple and makes only one dirty dish (not that rinsing out a pot and colander is difficult, either). Mushrooms, asparagus, zuchinni, snap peas, green beans, onions... yum.

Here is my oh-so-technical method of pan cooking veggies: Chop veggies up (or for something like asparagus, leave whole but break off the fibrous bottoms). Warm up the pan to medium heat and melt a couple tablespoons of oil (butter, coconut oil, tallow or lard- they all work well). Toss the veggies in, and give them a bit of a stir/flip every few minutes. Once the vegetables have softened, they're done. Usually it takes under 10 minutes.

Depending on what I'm making and what we're in the mood for, I sometimes add some herbs, spices or other flavorings. We love to eat mushrooms fried with some butter, soy sauce and maple syrup (don't knock it til you've tried it!). For asparagus, I usually add butter, lemon juice, and dill. Zucchini is nice with Italian herbs. Snap peas are wonderful as is, so long as you keep them just a bit "snappy" still.

It only takes trying this a few times before you get the hang of it. You'll start to recognize when your vegetables are ready, and it never hurts to just pop a piece in your mouth to do a little taste test (the privileges that come with being the chef!).

Tasty Recipes to Get More Vegetables Onto Your Table

Salads and Greens

Broccoli Salad

Savory Carrot Salad with Toasted Nuts and Oregano

Greek Salad

Green Bean Salad

Spinach Rice Casserole

Potato, Sweet Potato, Yam and Squash

Four Seasons of Potato Salad (4 different takes on potato salad- all yummy! You have to scroll down a little to find the link)

Butternut Squash Fries

12 Clove Butternut Squash

Delicious Home Baked French Fries

Gingered Sweet Potatoes

Papas Chorreadas (Potatoes/Sweet Potatoes with a creamy tomato sauce)

Sweet Potato Casserole

Image by Summer Tomato

Root Veggies (Carrots, Turnips, Beets, etc.)

Pan Fried Buttery Carrots

Turnip and Squash Gratin

Roasted Beets (yummier than they sound!)

Cruciferous Veggies- Broccoli, Cauliflower, Cabbage

Buttery Lemon Broccoli

Cauliflower Souffle (I was looking for a different Cauliflower Casserole recipe that I printed from another blog, but I just can't find it. This recipe is pretty similar)

World's Best Braised Cabbage

Other Assorted Veggies- Beans, Asparagus, Zucchini, Mushrooms

Sauteed Mushrooms with Soy Sauce and Maple Syrup

Roasted Asparagus

Simple Zucchini and Onions

Garlic Green or Yellow Beans

This is just a small sampling of the variety of amazing, delicious ways that you can serve up more vegetables. Obviously this post only begins to scratch the surface, but I hope that it gives you a bit more inspiration and know-how, to help you increase the amount of vegetables that your family eats!

I'm sure that you have your own favorite vegetable recipes... Would you share one or two of them with us?

Our Sponsors:

• Spoonk Rider: The Portable Accupressure Mat
• Plan to Eat: Drag & drop meal planner with automated shopping list maker.
• Fertility Flower: Helps women predict ovulation, increasing chances of conception. Outstanding charting tools.
• Experience God as Your Provider: Does Your Financial Future Feel Like a Crumbling Sand Castle?
• Learn to Cook With Sourdough: "Pay What You Can" Classes in Sourdough and Traditional Cooking
• Holy Ambition: If you're thinking, God can't use me, think again! YOU can make a difference.

You might also enjoy:

1. Preserving Summer’s Bounty: Blanching and Freezing Vegetables
2. Recipes and Ideas for What to Eat on the GAPS Introduction Diet
3. Play it Again: The Great Debate- Washing our Fruits and Vegetables
4. Real Food Makeover- The “W” Family, Part 2

Continuing on from the first installment of this week's Real Food Makeover...

What to Buy, Where to Buy It

One fantastic thing that the "W's" mentioned is that there is a an enthusiastic local foods movement in their area, including a co-op, farmer's markets and CSAs. I think that the co-op would be an excellent starting place.

Last time I talked about creating a kitchen binder, including a grocery checklist. During mom's times of meal planning, she will be able to check off needed items on this list, as well as hopefully getting into the habit of quickly using it to check off things whenever she notices that something is running out. Once a month, maybe during her Sunday afternoon planning, she can use this list to put together a co-op monthly order, which will allow her to start buying some foods of better quality at affordable prices.

One of the easiest ways to instantly improve the way that anyone eats is to simply replace certain foods that they buy with similar foods of better quality. Here are some particular examples for the "W" family:

• Replace current bread with varieties that are either sprouted grain or actual sourdough (not just the white bread that tastes like sourdough- to know if something is truly sourdough, it should have only ingredients like flour, water, sourdough starter, salt, etc.)
• Replace white/brown sugar with an unrefined alternative, like Sucanat or Rapadura. Honey is the perfect sweetener for things like oatmeal, smoothies, yogurt, etc.
• Replace organic milk with raw, grass-fed milk if it is available (here are some raw milk sources for GA, where they live)
• Replace meat with grass-fed beef and free-range poultry (look for local farms near their home either  at Eat Wild or Local Harvest)

It would be best to replace boxed cereal ultimately, but in the meantime, she can replace what they currently eat with some better choices while making baby steps. Cereals with high sugar content and puffed grains are among the worst. Avoid anything with hydrogenated oils (even partially hydrogenated) and high fructose corn syrup. A couple of brands that are better are Barbara's (but avoid the Puffins- they all have puffed grains), and Nature's Path (they have lots of great flake cereals and sell bulk size Eco Pacs).

Don't try to do these all at once- replace one food or group of foods per month, until you've gradually replaced them all. I offered packaged cereal suggestions because I understand that it's hard to go from using convenience foods for breakfast to suddenly making everything all the time. Little by little is the best way to make changes.

Image by musicfanatic29

Increasing Homemade Foods and Vegetables:

I think that the easiest way to do this is by incorporating two things into "D"s weekly schedule:

1. A portion of time (perhaps during naps or if the children watch any videos) each week that is set aside for food prep. Use the time to make muffins and granola bars, chop veggies and fruit, soak beans, make a meal ahead of time, etc. Anything that makes meals go faster and easier the rest of the week. Even 1-2 hours will make such a huge difference!
2. One or two things that she prepares each week can be doubled or tripled. For example, if she is going to make muffins for breakfast one morning, make a double or triple batch that can finish baking while the family eats/cleans up, so that there are extra muffins to be eaten as snacks or food-on-the-run later in the week. One night a week, while making dinner, double the recipe and put an entire meal in the freeze. This means there is one night that dinner takes barely any prep time, and the extra time it takes to make two meals instead of one is fairly negligible.

I think that the other important area for "D" is to learn to make more veggies. It would be fantastic to set a goal of:

• 1 salad per week
• 1 vegetable minimum per night, as a simple side or as  part of a stir-fry or casserole.
• Chop one container of easy to snack on veggies each week, to be consumed with lunches or as snacks throughout the week

Very shortly, I will be posting about how to cook a variety of vegetables and some simple side dish recipes to help you incorporate them into your dinners more easily.

A Sample Weekly Meal Plan

(Including lots of recipe links and specific ideas!)

Breakfasts:

• (Soaked) Oatmeal with milk/cream, honey, dried or fresh fruit, nuts, etc.
• Smoothie with greens and homemade muffins
• Eggs (scrambled, fried, omelet) with sprouted/sourdough toast
• Fruit and yogurt (with nuts or homemade granola, if desired)
• (Soaked) Oatmeal
• Smoothie with greens and cereal (Yes, even boxed cereal, because we're baby-stepping still! But see the discussion about types/brands above)
• Baked oatmeal

*Note that the two smoothie with greens links go to different recipes.

Image by sweetonveg

Lunches:

• Sandwiches (sprouted/sourdough bread with cheese, deli meat, lettuce/veggies, etc.) and fruit of choice
• Leftovers from dinner
• Quesadillas (with some type of protein- beans, leftover meat, hard boiled eggs), guac or salsa and carrot sticks. (If available, sprouted grain tortillas are the best.)
• Soup (lentil veggie, or homemade tomato) with fruit of choice
• Sandwiches (try getting adventurous and add some fresh sprouts or something different like salmon melts!). Here are some fun sandwich variations for inspiration.
• Leftovers from dinner
• Homemade Mac&Cheese with raw cucumbers and peppers on the side (try this ranch dressing recipe)

Dinners:

I've created theme nights, to help make meal planning easier and to ensure more of a good variety of different foods over the course of the week.

• Monday (Soup/Stew)- Beezie's Black Bean Soup (from allrecipes.com- having trouble with their site today to get the link), Cream of Tomato Soup or Spud Special Soup, served with green salad and bread.
• Tuesday (Fish/Seafood)- Baked salmon with Spinach Rice Casserole, Macaroni and Cheese Casserole with Cauliflower (add tuna or salmon) with carrots cooked in butter and honey, or for a quick dinner, Salmon/Tuna Melts with raw veggies and dip
• Wednesday (Beef/Chicken)- Piled High Chicken Potpie, Meatloaf with mashed potatoes and broccoli salad, Roast Beef in the crockpot with potatoes and carrots and homemade biscuits, Chicken Divan
• Thursday (Vegetarian)- Apple Curry over brown rice, Lentils and Rice Casserole with steamed broccoli or cauliflower, or Indonesian Rice with Peanut Coconut Sauce.
• Friday (Pizza)- Homemade pizza or Calzones (a current favorite of the "W's"). Try this stromboli for a delicious, homemade pizza alternative. Serve with coleslaw, Greek Salad or green salad.
• Saturday (Quick & Easy)- Breakfast for dinner (pancakes with fruit, eggs and toast, smoothies, etc.), leftover buffet, or simple fried rice, wrap sandwiches (meat, cheese, veggies, mayo), or Taco Salad.
• Sunday (Pasta)- Lasagna, Spaghetti with tomato sauce (our favorite sauce recipe), or Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce.

Snacks:

• Homemade popcorn (with butter, sea salt, or nutritional yeast if you're brave!)
• Simple veggie platter- Any of carrots, snow peas, cucumbers, pepper strips, cherry tomatoes, cauliflower pieces. Nice with a quick homemade dip.
• Fruit- Any fresh fruit, like oranges or mandarins, apples, bananas, grapes, melon slices, etc.
• Homemade granola bars (this granola bar recipe looks good, too)
• Smoothies (a few faves- Peanut Butter Smoothies, Raspberry Pina Colada, and Orange Creamsicle)
• Homemade muffins (from the double batch you made for breakfast!)
• Hummus and whole-grain crackers
• Occasional Kettle chips or organic corn chips
• Good dark chocolate. Infinitely better than a candy bar, in every possible way. :)
• Fruit bars for the kids- if available, get organic ones or some with only fruit/lemon juice in them. Otherwise, the Sun-Rype brand is pretty good.
• Dried fruits and nuts/seeds. Make your own trail mix by combining your favorites and keep a container in the cupboard or even on the counter for snacking.

Image by naturalmom

Health Boosters

• Add cod liver oil for all family members. This provides good fats that they're not getting enough of, vitamins A and D for children's development and also Vitamin D for better immunity. It may also likely help with skin issues. Though pricey, I love the brand Green Pastures.
• Add smoothies a few times a week. Making them berry based adds lots of antioxidants to the diet, and more importantly, try adding in greens. Start with something really palatable, like Greens+ powder (from any health food store) or simply fresh spinach or kale leaves. See the recipes above in the Breakfast section.
• Everyone could probably use to take some probiotics for a season, since they do tend to eat heavy on the carbs. Add more yogurt to the diet (but the good sour stuff, not the sugary, flavored kind). Since they like salty and crunchy snacks, what about good dill pickles like Bubbie's for more beneficial bacteria?
• Add coconut oil as a good fat. This will also help mom to stay full and work towards a bit of weight loss. Try a recipe like these Peppermint Coconut Patties to snack on when hungry, as a way to fill up and stay full longer.

Even More Resources...

Just to help the "W" family with applying these suggestions to their lives, they will be receiving:

• A copy of my ebook, Healthy Homemaking: One Step at a Time
• A 1 year Print Membership from ListPlanIt, to aid them in getting organized in the kitchen, with meal planning and with grocery shopping. Thanks, ListPlanIt!

Do you see yourself in the suggestions for this makeover? Any tips that you will be taking away to try in your own home?

Our Sponsors:

• Spoonk Rider: The Portable Accupressure Mat
• Plan to Eat: Drag & drop meal planner with automated shopping list maker.
• Fertility Flower: Helps women predict ovulation, increasing chances of conception. Outstanding charting tools.
• Experience God as Your Provider: Does Your Financial Future Feel Like a Crumbling Sand Castle?
• Learn to Cook With Sourdough: "Pay What You Can" Classes in Sourdough and Traditional Cooking
• Holy Ambition: If you're thinking, God can't use me, think again! YOU can make a difference.

You might also enjoy:

1. Real Food Makeover: The “W” Family
2. Organization in the Real Food Kitchen: Planning to Make Food Preparation Happen
3. Upcoming: Four Families are Going to Get a Real Food Makeover!
4. Organization in the Real Food Kitchen: My Recipe Binder

Introducing the first of four families to receive a Real Food Makeover! Each week, I will be highlighting a different family and offering suggestions and resources to help them along the road to eating more real, whole, healthy foods.

Meet the W. family: Mom "D" (37), Dad "M" (35), son "I" (3) and twin daughters "G' and "S" (1).

How they currently eat:

A mix of both whole, homemade foods as well as plenty of convenience foods and packaged snacks. They eat out or have take out meals about 1-3 times per week (usually fast food). Milk, eggs and about 1/3 of their produce are organic. They enjoy a lot of comfort type foods, including milk, bread, cheese, pasta, cereal, etc. They currently eat some fruits and veggies, but know that they could be eating a lot more.

Their goals:

To learn to make cooking/shopping more efficient and organized, so that healthier and more homemade meals come together with less stress and without resorting to packaged or fast food. To improve their overall health, including losing the few last lbs of baby weight for Mom, increasing immunity for Dad (who gets hit hard whenever he gets sick), and working with some minor health challenges like asthma (Mom) and skin sensitivities.

They would like to drop some sugary and processed foods (including highly sugared coffee for Mom), and add in more whole foods, especially vegetables. They have good access to farmer's markets and a natural foods coop, but need to get organized and learn how to take advantage of these resources.

Time for their Real Food Makeover!

3 Baby Steps for Them to Take:

1. Improve organization so that meal planning comes together easily, allowing for healthier meals and less eating out.

2. Improve the quality of many of the foods they already eat. Keep eating the same types of things, but some better versions of them.

3. Add a few important supplements, including cod liver oil and greens.

Image by idovermani

Getting Organized with Meal Planning, Shopping and Cooking

"D" described how her meal planning often goes- she sits down to do it on Sunday afternoons, and begins to get tired and uninspired as she plans. She asks her hubby for ideas, they both get distracted, and ultimately meal planning only truly happens 1/2 to 1/3 of the time.

She really enjoys cooking and trying new recipes, but doesn't have a lot of time to come up with ideas. She also needs a way to make her meal planning and time spent in the kitchen very effective.

Here's what I would suggest:

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Putting in a bit of time to get herself really organized in the kitchen will enable "D" to use her kitchen time more efficiently, and be able to consistently pull together a meal plan so that she can stick to home cooked meals.

1. Create a 21 meals list- This gives her a very quick and simple tool to use while meal planning
2. Next, make herself a kitchen binder. It could ultimately be a homemaking binder, but doesn't need to be. She can put her 21 meals list in this binder.
3. Write out a few favorite meal pages, to help consolidate the recipes/meals they enjoy and give her some more easy references for when the 21 meal list just isn't doing it for her. Keep it simple and start by focusing on main courses and sides. Add these to the binder.
4. Make a place to either write down a list or even add printed recipe pages of new recipes that she would like to try. When lacking inspiration, she'll have a quick place to look.
5. Add a grocery shopping checklist. This is a great tool to allow you to just check off items as you run out or think of something you want to buy, minimizing grocery store trips and ensuring that you have what you need when you need it. Simple Mom has a downloadable grocery shopping checklist, and ListPlanIt has one that you can either print out, or you can customize it with a Download membership.

Don't try to add all of these things at once. By doing just one thing from the list every week, she will slowly have built up a VERY useful tool for all her kitchen and shopping planning.

Now, when Sunday afternoon arrives, the ideas should flow easier. There should be no need to ask hubby and get distracted. :) In fact, the best time to get her hubby's input would be for "D" to ask him to list some of his favorite meals and recipes while she is making her 21 Meal List and Favorite Meal Lists.

Finding Good Recipes to Use

One thing "D" mentioned is that she enjoys trying new recipes, but lacks the time to do a lot of searching for them (although she reads quickly, so a new cookbook or two would be helpful for her). She also hasn't begun soaking her grains or really looking into that at all, and is unsure of where to begin.

I would recommend that she buy 2 new cookbooks. Here are my top suggestions:

Jamie's Food Revolution: Rediscover How to Cook Simple, Delicious, Affordable Meals (Jamie is inspiring. He loves cooking, love whole foods, and has fantastic ideas)

Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats (This is the ultimate book that I must recommend to everyone. Some of it will be daunting. Some of it is easy. Start with what you can do, and know that as you grow in your skills and knowledge, this book will become more and more important and helpful)

Super Natural Cooking: Five Delicious Ways to Incorporate Whole and Natural Foods into Your Cooking (Heidi is another whole-food lover, with beautiful, appealing recipes that are often quite simple. Also lots of vegetarian meals, which the "W" family enjoys, although they also eat meat, eggs and dairy)

Sue Gregg's Introducing Whole Grain Baking with Blender Batter Baking and the 2 Stage Process (the best, easiest book I know of to teach how about soaked grains and how to easily incorporate them into your diet)

Another excellent way to find good recipes is to read some real food blogs. I like to either print out the recipes I find that appeal to me and add them to my recipe binder (or "D" could just put them in the "new recipes to try" section of her kitchen binder), or else use a bookmarking system like Delicious to store them online.

A few great sites to get simple, family friendly recipes from:

• The Nourishing Gourmet
• Passionate Homemaking
• Heavenly Homemakers
• Tammy's Recipes
• Kitchen Stewardship
• AllRecipes.com (not every recipe is healthy, but there are so many whole foods recipes in the mix, and if nothing else it provides inspiration and I love their ingredient search for when I'm trying to work with what I already have)

More to Come...

Later this week I will continue to give the "W" family their Real Food Makeover, by creating a week's worth of menu ideas for them, discussing some of the changes that they can make in their buying habits, and some suggestions for their specific health struggles.

Additionally, look for an upcoming post on simple ways to prepare vegetables and easily add them to your meals! I know that this is a challenge for the "W" family in particular, but I'm pretty sure that it is a common challenge for many families who would like to up their vegetable intake but aren't quite sure how to do it.

What are your biggest challenges when it comes to eating and serving real food in your home?

Our Sponsors:

• Spoonk Rider: The Portable Accupressure Mat
• Plan to Eat: Drag & drop meal planner with automated shopping list maker.
• Fertility Flower: Helps women predict ovulation, increasing chances of conception. Outstanding charting tools.
• Experience God as Your Provider: Does Your Financial Future Feel Like a Crumbling Sand Castle?
• Learn to Cook With Sourdough: "Pay What You Can" Classes in Sourdough and Traditional Cooking
• Holy Ambition: If you're thinking, God can't use me, think again! YOU can make a difference.

You might also enjoy:

1. Upcoming: Four Families are Going to Get a Real Food Makeover!
2. Organization in the Real Food Kitchen: Planning to Make Food Preparation Happen
3. Organization in the Real Food Kitchen: My Recipe Binder
4. Organization in the Real Food Kitchen: Ferments Everywhere

Edit: Wardeh just sent me a link to watch a video sneak peak! Learn how to make Soaked Muffins and get a feel for what this eCourse will be like. Let Wardeh show you how to make soaked muffins!

Image by Elena Ho

All those who read Nourishing Traditions for the first time and felt entirely overwhelmed, raise your hand!

(Yes, that's my hand raised along with all of yours!)

If there's one thing that I hear over and over again from the women that visit this site, it is that they want to learn how to eat and live healthier, but they often don't know how to start or feel daunted by all the information that's out there and the new skills that need to be acquired. What on earth is kefir? How do you make fermented veggies? Why don't my soaked flour baked goods turn out well? How do I use some of these whole foods ingredients? And why are some of these extra steps and different preparation procedures necessary in the first place?

Have you ever just wished for another woman to step into your kitchen and show you step-by-step how to prepare real, whole, nourishing foods? No more frustration, no more wasted time and ingredients, no more recipe flops. Just simple instruction on how to make regular foods that your family will want to eat.

I have to tell you ladies that I am just beyond excited to tell you about this incredible Fundamentals eCourse that is being offered by Wardeh Harmon of GNOWFGLINS (God's Natural, Organic, Whole Foods, Grown Locally, In Season). The goal? To give you a simple plan that you can follow so that you can cook healthy food. There is nothing fancy about it. It's not a gourmet course. What you will get is a regular mom, standing in her own kitchen, showing you in a simple and straightforward manner how to make foods like soaked muffins, dry beans, water and dairy kefir, whole chickens (and stock made with the bones), soft cheese, sourdough bread, and lacto-fermented vegetables.

Here's an overview of what this eCourse includes:

* Overview: eCourse Overview

* Lesson 1: The GNOWFGLINS Foundation

* Lesson 2: How to Soak Whole Grains, Nuts and Seeds

* Lesson 3: How to Make Soaked Whole-Grain Flour Baked Goods I

* Lesson 4: How to Make Soaked Whole-Grain Flour Baked Goods II

* Lesson 5: How to Soak and Cook Dry Beans

* Lesson 6: How to Sprout Beans

* Lesson 7: How to Cook a Chicken and Make Chicken Stock

* Lesson 8: How to Make Skillet Dishes: A Dinner Formula

* Lesson 9: How to Make Water Kefir

* Lesson 10: How to Make Dairy Kefir

* Lesson 11: How to Make Soft, Spreadable Cheese

* Lesson 12: How to Make Sourdough Bread

* Lesson 13: How to Sprout Whole Grains for Sprouted Grain Flour & How to Bake With Sprouted Grain Flour

* Lesson 14: How to Make Natural Pickled Foods

These lessons will take place in video format, and you will also have access to audio lessons and printable PDF files with further information and an overview of what was covered in each video lesson. Additionally, there will be a members-only forum in which you can connect with others who are also participating in the course and have support as you learn!

Alright, time to cut to the chase... it sounds amazing, but what does it cost? Only $27 per month, for 5 months! If you break it down, the cost is a mere $9 per lesson. (Please note that I had originally stated the cost was $6.75 per lesson, but that is actually the per week cost, as the course goes a few extra weeks with more support offered) If you were to take any sort of cooking course at a local college or community center, you would probably pay a minimum of $40-$60 (or significantly more) per month and likely receive a lot less support and resources along the way.

Additionally, Wardeh is offering a no-questions asked, money back guarantee, so if you are not satisfied with the eCourse you can receive a full refund. I highly doubt you would want one, though, after watching some of the videos myself and checking out the other resources like the printable sheets, audio lessons and recipe links, I am sold! She has done an exceptional job on this course. Way to go, Wardeh, and thanks for helping to make real food more accessible for all of us busy mamas!

Have I convinced you yet to at least take a good look at this eCourse and learn more about how you can grow in your ability to cook healthy foods for your family? Check it out here:

GNOWFGLINS Fundamentals eCourse

**You should know that I am an affiliate of this eCourse and will receive some financial compensation for each person who signs up for the course through my links. However, I have also previewed the course myself and can tell you with 100% honesty that I would not be giving the course such a glowing review if I was not thoroughly impressed with it and sure that it would be helpful for many of my readers.

Registration is taking place from now until February 22 and space is limited, so you'll want to look into the course quickly. It will run for the next 5 months (15 weeks), and so the next one will not begin for another 6 months.

Our Sponsors:

• Spoonk Rider: The Portable Accupressure Mat
• Plan to Eat: Drag & drop meal planner with automated shopping list maker.
• Fertility Flower: Helps women predict ovulation, increasing chances of conception. Outstanding charting tools.
• Experience God as Your Provider: Does Your Financial Future Feel Like a Crumbling Sand Castle?
• Learn to Cook With Sourdough: "Pay What You Can" Classes in Sourdough and Traditional Cooking
• Holy Ambition: If you're thinking, God can't use me, think again! YOU can make a difference.

You might also enjoy:

1. Real Food Recipe Roundup: January
2. Healthy Holiday Eats and Sweets Carnival
3. Q&A- Confusion with Soaking Grains
4. Making Healthy Changes When Your Husband Isn’t on Board