After a recent trip back to my parent's home in the Midwest I realized how impossible the industrial food companies have made it to make good healthy eating decisions, without considerable effort. I was unwilling to part ways, for even 9 days, with my no preservative, no HFCS, no GMO, no industrially produced foods diet. So in order to continue my eating habits I had to have my parents drive me to the Whole Foods in Tulsa after they picked me up from the airport. I know there are a lot of Whole Foods haters out there because of the high costs of their products but after reading my previous blog entries we can consider the extra expense a given for healthy eating. My mother was having a good time at Whole Foods - checking out the herbal medicine section and all the different cheeses and dairy products. Dad on the other hand was having a very hard time justifying the prices to himself.
For those of you that have watched the documentary Food, Inc., there is one very frustrating scene to me and that is the segment on the minority family that tries to buy dinner in a grocery store for the same price as they would through a drive-thru. The two daughters have a dollar a piece to spend and the youngest asks for some pears but can only buy two and the mother tells her that they are too expensive and it won't fill her up. This whole dialogue is idiotic to me because when you buy all the raw ingredients to cook a dinner it is almost always cheaper than drive-thru, even when purchasing organic and non-processed ingredients.
I know that most American families are strapped for time and don't always have the patience to cook full meals every night but it just takes planning. Lots of people have been asking me how I am going to continue cooking my great food when I start working 40 hours a week plus commuting. A great deal of what I make doesn't take that much time and I spend a few hours on Sunday planning out the weeks menu, writing a very detailed grocery list (sending myself or hubby to Whole Foods to purchase said items) and prepping anything in advance that can be prepped. I make a big squeeze bottle of homemade dressing that lasts all week, salads become a main veggie side because I don't have to cook it, steaks on the stove, pre-made shepherd's pie/lasagna/enchiladas/soups that were stored in the freezer for those nights I just don't feel like it, get heated in the oven or on the stove. I always have tubs of chicken/seafood/beef stock in the freezer for whipping up a quick flavorful soup. And I always request help after dinner is done cleaning up.
For those people unfortunate to not live close to a really great farmer's market, Whole Foods store or don't know anyone that raises their own pasture raised cattle and chickens then my biggest advice is to start a garden. While I was home I noticed that it was impossible to find a bunch of basil in any grocery store which seems so absurd to me. Basil is one of the easiest plants to grow - it likes humidity and lots of sun and loves to be cut and bugs don't seem too attracted to it. So do yourself a favor and start a small garden or window box with herbs to start and see where it goes from there. Just don't use any chemical fertilizer (that includes miracle-gro and osmocote) and don't spray it with insecticide (even organic ones). Happy planting!
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