Good morning!  I already have dinner in the crockpot!  Yay me!  Tonight we are having chicken tacos - and I got the idea from one of my favorite websites - The Gracious Pantry.  If you follow the link, you'll see she also has a recipe for homemade taco seasoning.  I always have a jar of this made up in my spice cabinet.  It's super easy to mix up, delicious and soooo much better than the store bought packs full of artificial stuff. 

I also wanted to share with you what I'm having for breakfast.  This is my absolute, most favorite green smoothie ever.  It is called Dreamy Green Creamsicle and the recipe can be found here.  Kate Kim is a fellow IIN graduate who held a green smoothie challenge over the summer.  That was when I first discovered this tall glass of deliciousness.  It is the reason I always have a bag of  peaches in my freezer and almond milk in my fridge.  This morning I used some collard greens and spinach instead of the kale.  If that sounds disgusting to you, you have to try this.  It tastes like an orange creamsicle - it really does!  If you've been on the fence about trying green smoothies, this would be a great one to start off with.  If you're worried about tasting the "green" then spinach is the way to go.  You absolutely cannot taste it at all. 

I love starting the morning with a green smoothie.  It's a quick, easy way to start the day off with up to 4 servings of fruits and vegetables.  And they're yummy.  And they make me feel great.

Now I'm off to make some soup for next week.  I love fall soup weather!

Tonight, I again failed to plan ahead for dinner (geez, this is really going to take some work!) - BUT - I totally pulled together a healthy meal in a matter of about 15 minutes.

I had some sprouted brown rice in the fridge that I had made on Sunday ( I usually eat a 1/2 cup brown rice with veggies for lunch each day), some salmon in the freezer and some bell peppers.  Throw in some freshly grated ginger, tamari and some freshly ground salt and pepper and BA-BAM - dinner.  I really, really wanted some broccoli with this, however, when I picked up my CSA yesterday, they were out of broccoli.  :(  And I didn't get to the store today.  :(  So, no broccoli with my stir-fry.  It was greatly missed, but the meal was still satisfying.   I did throw in a small handful of grated zucchini that caught my eye when I was perusing the freezer.  Loving the fact that we had a great crop of zucchini this year!  I thought, hey, I can throw this in with the rice and the kids won't even know it's there.  And it worked.  :)

The best part about this meal was that they ate it - and liked it.  I was totally preparing myself for the "ugh" or "gross" I usually hear when I make something healthy.  I heard no complaints, except for my daughter saying the bell peppers made it too spicy.  LOL  No, honey, the reason it had some zing was because Mommy went a little crazy with the ginger.  Sorry.

I'm kind of freaking out about starting the challenge on Monday because I'm going to be in NYC all weekend and won't have time to be totally prepared.  Well, I'm prepared, but my family is not.  And this is why  -  SUGAR.   They love it.  They consume it every day even when I ask them not to.  I try to keep it out of the house but it's in practically everything!  No processed sugar for a month is going to be a huge obstacle.  But I am not going to back down.  Who knows, my daughter may learn to love honey by the end of the month.    Here's some of what Andrew over at Eating Rules has to say about the white stuff:

“Sugar”

Usually, the term “sugar” refers to bleached table sugar, those fine-white granulated crystals that come from sugar cane or sugar beets. The bleaching is done with sulfur dioxide, an ingredient that hopefully isn’t in your pantry.
The terms “sugar,” “granulated sugar,” “cane sugar,” “pure cane sugar,” “beet sugar,” and “table sugar” all refer to the bleached stuff.  So if you just see any of those on the ingredient list, it’s probably that (though the only way to know for sure is to ask the company).
Verdict?  Regular sugar doesn’t pass the kitchen test.

I haven't bought table sugar in over 6 months.  The fam has been eating turbinado, demerera or muscovado (basically raw brown sugars) without complaint.  Here's what Andrew has to say about acceptable sugars during the program:

 I’ve been getting a lot of questions about sugar and sweeteners, and whether or not they pass the Kitchen Test. In the past years of the challenge, the consensus seemed to be that date sugar, evaporated cane juice, raw/unfiltered honey, and maple syrup would all be acceptable sweeteners. An approximation of Turbinado and Muscovado sugars could probably be made at home, too, though the current industrial process to make them is probably a little bit different than what you’d be able to do at home.

Consensus for my house - none of them currently like maple syrup or raw honey.  This is going to be fun.  And don't forget the processed sugar detox that their bodies will go through.  I remember being a little out of sorts for the first few days post-sugar. But, like anything else in life, we will take this one day at a time.  I'm determined to help my family "unlearn" their love of processed foods.  Their health and their future are way too important to me to let them continue eating what they currently eat.

Today, I realize the importance of planning ahead!  The hubs is out of town tonight and I failed to plan ahead for dinner on an evening filled with karate, piano lessons and swim team.  So......I ended up taking the kids to eat some free pizza they earned through their elementary school's summer reading program.  At least tomorrow is CSA pick-up day so I know I'll have some delicious fresh veggies to cook! 

This is my first post on my family's journey to becoming naturally nourished.  This past January I began a personal journey to better health after enrolling at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.  Now, it's my family's turn to join me.  I've been making small changes in their diet from the beginning - some without their knowledge. :)  Now, with the help of Andrew over at www.eatingrules.com and his October Unprocessed Challenge, and my skills as a health coach, I'm beginning the lifelong journey of helping my husband and two children nourish their bodies with whole, natural foods.

Tonight's dinner was a success - homemade, clean eating chicken nuggets, Tinkyada elbow macaroni with my homemade marinara sauce, broccoli and applesauce.  Both kids ate some broccoli!!  This was a huge step for my daughter who swore to me she would NEVER try it.  Well, she survived and hopefully will learn to love it as I have.  I will be trying new clean recipes all week in preparation for the Unprocessed Challenge.  So check back and see what I made. And head over to Eating Rules and check it out.  Join us on this journey to better health.