Master of the Small Appliance

My goals after I surpassed the first 100 days of real food were to cook more and spread the love to the big guy and little girls.  Goals are really good to have... give you something to work towards...

...can you tell I haven't done too well?  I'm half-way through another 100 and still getting started.

But the New Year is another chance to tackle goals.  Santa brought the girls each a new lunchbox to help us switch from hot lunch to cold.  And something else has happened- we signed up for Netflix, where there are dozens of documentaries on the food industry, diet industry, benefits of raw food, perpetuation of obesity by the media and medical fields... etc.  The big guy and I have parked our butts in front of the tv and watched, jaws dropped, as we've learned that the situation is far worse than we could have imagined. 
So, family on board, I've finally made some progress.

Cold lunches this week have gone over well with their all-natural whole-wheat sandwiches (but not the whole-wheat-waffle-and-cinnamon-cream-cheese sandwiches-wth?) and cheese and grapes and white milk (the rule is chocolate milk on Fridays only). 

I've cooked- my famous chicken soup, whole-wheat pasta (something that will be more rare in this house), and real breakfasts in the morning. 

I acquired a few new tools as well.  Drum roll please..... a meat slicer!  The MIL really pulled through on that one.  I have used it and love it- the crock pot roast sliced thick for dinner and thin for leftovers was amazing!

And a juicer- we had to err on the side of budget, so it is plastic instead of steel and a little difficult to clean.  But, I have the option of raw juice whenever I want it, and the carrot/celery/apple/pear/grape juice I made on my first attempt was incredible.

To the average person, a blender might not be a big deal.  But I happen to love my blender, to the point of storing it on the counter right next to the hallowed Keurig.  Today I used my blender to work on moving to plain whole yogurt instead of the fat-free fruit (sugar) flavored stuff I used to eat.  1 1/2 cups frozen mixed berries, 2 Tbsp raw local honey, 1/4 cup half-n-half, and 1 1/2 cups plain whole organic yogurt gave me a jar of the most amazing yogurt smoothie for breakfast and another jar to take to the office for lunch.

So I have made progress towards perfecting my planning/shopping/cooking skills while bringing my family over to the real food world.  They are cooperating, bar the fact that the big guy DID bring home corn syrup ice cream yesterday.  Baby steps.

Meanwhile- I'm still doing great and loving food.  My weight loss has leveled off at 15 lbs, still staggering when I think about the fact that that was 15 lbs of chemicals and bloat.  I am loving a full-fat menu, eating more raw veggies, and moving away from bread... without tears, even.

And I've found that I really enjoy eating all I want all day long, to the point that I have developed a rather interesting routine.  Meal planning, hobbit style: