I have to confess - I'm very lucky. I have two older daughters who do most of our cooking - they cook dinner three nights a week each, and a third daughter is learning on the other night. My oldest makes the absolute best steaks - I don't eat steak out anymore (ha ha, when do I get out for dinner?) as hers taste too good. Our side dishes though are totally boring - usually soggy vegetables. Trouble is, we're all too lazy to find nicer things to make, so we end up with the same old meals all the time. Not to mention that I now have an 18 year old and a 14 year old who are already complaining about how horrid it is to plan and cook dinner!We used to do great menu plans when we were only additive free and soy free, and we even had matching shopping lists. Then along came gluten free and casein free. A bit later on, we went corn free. Now we're also free from eggs, honey and pork and are supposed to be free from tomatoes, potatoes, onions and garlic. I honestly don't know what to cook anymore!
My shopping bills keep going up - we're buying organic vegetables and fruit where we can, and buying those on the EWG Clean Fifteen list where we can't. I try not to buy anything in a package anymore, as it takes me an extra couple of minutes to read the labels very carefully - every single time, in case they've changed the ingredients yet again.
I am constantly on the lookout for ways to maximise my children's nutrition by sneaking in as much goodness as I can to what we eat. I even wrote a blog post about it here, as I have a son who lives on air most days, so every mouthful of food counts! I have a shelf full of cookbooks specialising in 'without' recipes. You know the ones - without gluten, without casein, without any ingredients you've ever heard of before?
The trouble is, that when it comes time to start dinner, I often find that I haven't prepared anything beforehand, and we end up going back to our soggy vegetables.
So, one thing I've decided to do for myself, is attend the Thinking Moms' Revolution eConference on GMOs, Organics and Food Allergies: How to Feed Your Family Without Losing Your Mind. Because I am seriously going to lose my mind if I don't do something about our soggy vegetables soon!
The eConference will not only talk about the dangers of GMOs and pesticides in our foods, but will have a LIVE cooking demonstration, as well as a guide for preparing meals on a budget and on time, and a bonus eCookbook. One of the speakers is my very good friend and fellow Australian Team TMR member, Kris Barrett. Kris was our diet coach when we first embarked on our new eating regime, and I know how much she hates to cook LOL so her recipes are always easy to follow, quick to make, and best of all, use ingredients I can pronounce the names of.The good news for you is, that TMR have offered a FREE registration for one lucky reader! All you have to do is leave a comment below by (**Extended) midnight, Tuesday 7th October (that's 8am Tuesday 7th October EST for the Americans), and I'll get one of my girls to draw the name of the winner out of a hat.
Come and join me in learning more about the food we put in our mouths, and let's take a stand against soggy vegetables!
Please note - I have moved to a new blogging address! You can now find me at http://autismwithchocolate.com/
Hope to see you there!
I understand how you feel, it's not easy to come up with new and workable recipes when you're limited with the choice of ingredients. Hope you find a substitute for soggy vegetables soon. :-)
ReplyDeleteI've taken to oven roasting veggies with olive oil and a little sea salt or sauteeing them. Still not a guarantee my kids will eat them but even a bite or two is better than nothing! Of course, that's only if I remember early enough to get it done by dinner...
ReplyDeleteI totally understand you 100% I read labels all the time, even if I bought the same exact item the week before :\ everything for the love of my kids <3 hope I win something haha reynarg78@hotmail.com
ReplyDeleteForgive me. I tried to comment 4 times. Is the conference open from 10-5? We have aba tomorrow morning and once we get home, it's time to make lunch. �� so we are out of the house from 8-1230! We need a dvr option, haha.
ReplyDeleteI am eager to learn, as we just cut gluten, casein, soy��, yeast, fruit, sugar, dye, preservatives, nuts and seeds and added in ferments. Not only is my grocery bill up to 1200 bucks a month, everything tastes like cardboard. The promise of recovery is what keeps us going.
The eConference is available for viewing for an entire year afterwards, so you can log in anytime to watch it, and as many times as you like. If you do manage to make any of it Live, there are HEAPS of giveaways, so it's worth tuning in if you can!
DeleteYes, please!!
ReplyDeleteTotally empathise with these sentements. I'm either eating junk or juicing as I'm totally mixed up with what I should eat for me. I've just ordered some cookbooks for inspiration but feel like I should buy some books on time management for some tips on how to squeeze more time out of this day!
ReplyDeleteWe do AIP (Auto Immune Paleo) which sounds pretty close to what she is talking about. 90% of the recipes we have tried our 3yr old (Aspergers) loves so YAY!
ReplyDelete