You are what you EAT :)

These words have never rung so true for our family, until now. Through the journey of Adam's food allergies and celiac disease, we slowly began researching more and more about the food we put into our bodies. But it wasn't until Caleb was fully on solid foods, reached a year old, and we were still having health problems with our little guy... that we really dug deep.

In December we went to visit a holistic doctor recommended by our cousin, for Caleb. (We had already tried multiple docs/allergy testing/so on before this point without any answers).
We knew it would be a good chunk of change, an investment of time and a change in our diets... but we never figured we'd turn into "those people"... those "heathy/clean eating goofballs" as we have often titled others while we munched on our chocolate bars and made weekly fast food visits. :)
I'll post more later about our experiences with this doctor and the changes caleb and adam have made, later... but if we have gotten ANYTHING out of this whole experience, its been such great knowledge about food and what we should & should not be putting in our bodies... and opened our eyes to the importance of what we feed our children. What we start feeding our children now, while they are young, can MAJORLY impact their lives.

For those of you who know me know i have a deep love for mcdonalds french fries and even 5 years ago could barely mix up a boxed batch of mac and cheese. Times have significantly changed. I am far from an expert now and far from a cook... but the more i learn, the more i try, and the more i want to become one.

So many americans are just mislead as to what is considered "healthy". Before, eating healthy to me meant simply lower the amount of candy and chips you eat, pick low fat items, and try not to eat out as much. Boy was I off! Now the words "eating healthy" mean far, far more. I've learned the dangers of all the pesticides, and genetically modified and processed junk that fill our grocery stores. I've learned the amount of ingredients in a food item does matter... the more the ingredients, usually the more fillers. I've learned that by simply terming an item "natural" makes it FAR from natural... those chicken nuggets and beef patties most likely came from animals that were fed antibiotics and junk that can effect the way your body functions. I've learned the benefits of making your own food, from scratch... so you know exactly what you are putting into your body. I've learned the benefits of foods i've never had in my kitchen before such as kefir, stevia, homemade stock, broth, and veggies galore. My eyes have been opened to significant health problems that are caused by simply what we are eating. And it's scarey.

Now, that being said, I will tell you I still eat my chips and dip on occasion, and have yet to give up my daily chocolate/latte consumption. I'm taking one step at a time. But as a family we are taking STRIDES towards eating healthier. For example, we have always been known to have a FULL stock of any soda-pop in our home... we LOVE pop. But we have now switched to drinking Zevia instead... which has no sugar or calories and is sweetened with stevia, instead of sugar, aspertame and sucralose which can be super damaging to your bodies. We drink a lot more water, and save calories this way. You won't believe how many calories you intake by liquids in a day. Another baby step we are making is eating out WAY less, its probably been a month or two since we've gone to a fast food restaurant, and we are making wholesome, clean and healthy meals at least 4x a week. heck, I... Katie Wallschlaeger, made my own chicken stock with a full organic chicken and chicken feet... UGH! i still shudder at the thought, but the benefits you get from making your own broth are outstanding. Check out this blog http://kellythekitchenkop.com/ and search chicken broth if you want to learn more about it.

Eating organic, and finding foods that are free of antibiotics and pesticides can get expensive. We aren't in a place where we can afford buying all organic, but we do where we can. We are still learning and are enjoying the process along the way. :) We aren't just making this change for ourselves, I'd say my main motivation is Caleb and finding ways to improve his quality of life. And let me tell you, since we've taken out soy from his diet, and any foods that are processed... and put him on a clean diet... we've seen improvements in his sleep, energy, and temperament.
To give you an idea, here is a sample of what we feed Caleb on a given day:

BREAKFAST -whole milk (organic)
-scrambled eggs (cage-free/organic), with cheddar cheese, spinach, broccoli
-plain unsweetened kefir mixed with pureed carrots/cauliflower/pear (currently we are giving caleb supplements/vitamins so we need an item each meal pureed to mix them in)
-banana
LUNCH -whole milk (organic)
-antibiotic free/organic deli Turkey (we buy applegate brand at target)
-Ezekiel bread toasted with real organic butter and avacado (he wont eat avacado plain so i spread it on his bread)
-broccoli
-pureed carrots/green beans and berry
SNACK -water
-peas
-cheddar cheese
-blueberries (organic if on sale, otherwise cleaned well)

DINNER -whole milk (organic)
-creamy italian chicken (made with my own chicken stock and homemade cream of celery soup)
recipe from: http://onceamonthmom.com/slow-cooker-creamy-italian-chicken/
-broccoli/carrots
-plain kefir/sweet potatoe and apple puree
-we also offer water throughout the day

Sorry this got long, but hope you learned a little something today. If you have any information to share, please feel free to email me at katie.oxborough@gmail.com. I'm always up for learning more about this topic or recipes to try! :) HAPPY EATING!