Two or three weeks ago I had a good conversation with a friend which gave me a clue to a frustration I think many people would identify with.
She told me, “It’s so annoying trying to provide your family with healthy, real food - you start using something you think is healthy only to find out that it’s not quite as 'healthy’ as you think.” In her case this was rice milk and all the additives in it (my answer to this one is at the end). She said, “I just want someone to tell me about the good stuff. I haven’t got time to research everything all the time.”
Another friend spoke to me about her frustration of trying to eat “healthy” on a tight budget. Everyone has a concept that healthy food is expensive. We have a family of eight adults in our household and we know what it’s like to try to eat healthy without breaking the bank. Here’s a great little site that’s helping me with my real-food budgeting. http://dontwastethecrumbs.com/real-food-menus/
“Making healthy food is too time-consuming. I’d rather buy something quick when I’m on the go. I have in my mind that I’d like something healthy, but I usually fall for a muesli bar – high in sugar.”
Okay, these can be some of the really frustrating things about healthy eating, especially if you want to feed yourself and your family with good nutritious food. This is where the rubber meets the road and it’s played out in the issues of time and budget and an understanding of how our bodies work.
If anyone was to ask for advice about healthy eating I’d say, “Let me introduce you to the C-U-NO principle - See, You Know!”
The C-U-NO principle helps me make all sorts of decisions about what to buy from the supermarket, the vege shop, the farmers’ market, Happy & Healthy, the bakery, and so on… It’s really simple. Most of the time I remember to check everything through my C-U-NO filter.
C – is for “Created for food.” I only buy food that was created for us to eat. For example, in our family we have a preference not to eat shellfish (ocean cleaners), but we do eat fish with scales. We prefer not to eat pig or hog-meat products, but we do eat beef and lamb (cloven hoofed) and especially if it’s good ol’ NZ grass-fed and organically grown (where possible). We do eat the normal range of poultry-type birds like chicken, turkey, duck… We eat a meat or fish dish about 3 times a week.
U – is for “buy Unaltered.” Basically this means I don’t buy most of the so called “foods” that would have been unrecognizable to my great grandmother in her time; that is, I don’t, very often, buy highly processed items (refined carbohydrates). We buy wholefoods and make a lot of stuff from scratch. BUT, if I haven’t made any sweet treats to keep in the freezer to pull out at an opportune time I buy a good shortbread. Yes, they’re made with white flour and sugar, I know, but they do only contain flour, butter, sugar and salt (if you get a good brand like Kohi or Walkers). I do use lots of herbs and spices in our tasty meals and we grow & eat a lot of fresh veges, especially greens and smoothies..
NO – means No! “Say No to addictions.” Well actually this is the bit I find the hardest (when it comes to chocolate my will-power is fine, it’s my won’t-power that concerns me). My friend says, “I do have a little trouble with this ‘say NO to addictions’ thingy… I have dispensed with sweet drinks and other bad-for-me things, but I still crave them! Why? It seems more than gluttony, or lack of will power.” Yes, maybe it is – addictions can seem all consuming. Perhaps what we eat affects what we crave. I’ll look into that in a subsequent newsletter (stay tuned).
Oh, and with regard to rice milk, the Australasian brands are made using only water, organic brown rice, organic sunflower oil and sea salt (unlike the American brands in the report my friend read which raised concerns). We buy the Signature Range brand of Organic Rice Milk from Countdown. But you can also make rice milk or almond milk easily and very cheaply at home if you have a super-speed blender.
For a rice milk recipe click here .
I dare say C-U-NO has raised a number of questions for you, like... "Why on earth don’t they eat pork? What’s wrong with refined foods? So HOW do you break an addiction?" This week is just an introduction and I’ll expand on each of the 3 principles over the next three weeks.
The GOOD STUFF is to be found in the file marked "C-U-NO”, so why not try it as a guide, it may just become your friend. As always, here’s to wise health,
Penelope
www.happyandhealthy.co.nz
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