potatoes

I’ve had several moms contact me to ask what the ideal diet for kids is. They want something that will keep their kids full until lunch, something that will keep their energy up, something that will give them the vitamins and minerals they need, something that will prevent them from getting diabetes or from becoming obese. While that may seem like a lot, the ideal diet is pretty simple: real food! Kids need nutrient dense foods, just like their parents do. I can understand the confusion around diets for kids, especially when kids menus are loaded with mac and cheese, hot dogs, French fries, pizza and hamburgers. How the hell did this become the norm? Why are kids relegated to eating junk food? To be honest, I don’t believe in kids menus and when I have kids, they’re definitely not allowed to order off of one. Kids should eat what…

When I didn’t work from home, my coworkers would constantly ask how I managed to pack a healthy lunch every single day. It really doesn’t need to be complicated: a protein, a starch (read about why white rice is healthier than brown and is a paleo approved starch HERE), a veggie, a snack. Packing a healthy, paleo lunch is the easiest thing ever. AND IT SAVES A TON OF MONEY. Generally speaking, buying lunch everyday costs around $10, but packing your own 100% organic lunch is less than $5! The big problem with buying lunch is that you never really know the ingredients. When I didn’t work from home, occasionally I bought food from my favorite local lunch spot or from the cafeteria at work. I know the meat and vegetables were not organic, but even more than that, they likely used cheap, rancid vegetable oils, MSG, soy and wheat.…

Eating healthy is not too expensive. This is a huge misconception, and a lot of times it’s an excuse that people make to not eat well. Of course, there are some people who genuinely cannot afford to eat, much less eat well; I’m not talking about these situations. For most of us, eating well is completely affordable. It just requires a bit of extra planning and effort. Each week I plan out my meals and make my grocery list based only on the ingredients I need to make each meal that week. This saves a ton of money. Ya need a plan at the grocery store! Another money saving tip I love is roasting a whole chicken. One chicken is so easy to make and can be made into so many different meals. Here’s how I do it. Step 1: Buy an organic chicken. My chicken was five pounds and…

Every holiday season when I hear about people gaining weight I always think of the episode of Friends where Joey and Ross are dangling from the fire escape and Joey asks Ross how much he weighs. But here’s the thing: you don’t need to eat terribly, gain weight, or deprive yourself of awesome holiday food. I used to do one of two things every holiday season. Scenario 1: Convince myself that eating terribly was fine, that the holidays were an exception and that I’d be missing out if I didn’t indulge. I’d gain weight, break out, and feel terrible. Scenario 2: Convince myself that eating all of my favorite, delicious holiday treats wasn’t worth it so I’d miss out and be completely miserable. But it doesn’t have to be one or the other. You can have your pumpkin pie and eat it too. In the Healthy Holiday Challenge I’m sending you…

Burger King has come out with a new fry recipe called Satisfries. It’s supposed to be healthier than the McDonald’s fries. They contain 40% less fat and 30% fewer calories. Is it actually better? No. The ingredients in the Satisfries are: Potatoes vegetable oil (contains one or more of these oils: canola, soybean, cottonseed, sunflower, corn) tapioca starch modified corn starch-modified paprika extract (color) rice flour salt sodium acid pyrophosphate (to maintain natural color) turmeric extract (color) xantham gum Now compare them to the regular fries: Not too different, huh? Not only do the Satisfries contain GMOs, they are deep fried in vegetable oils. These oils are extremely inflammatory. This means they wreak havoc on the body. They are very high in omega-6 fatty acids and very low in omega-3 fatty acids. Even small amounts of this oil distort omega 3 to 6 balance that is necessary to maintain a healthy body…

I finished the Paleo Snap Challenge and I have to be honest, it wasn’t that difficult. Growing up I was raised by my grandmother and occasionally by my mostly absent mother. My grandmother’s income consisted of social security, which left little money for food; therefore I ate a lot of white bread and margarine sandwiches. By 16 I was living on my own and had hardly any money at all, much less to spend on food. I know what it’s like to be poor. I became really good at creating different meals from the same ingredients, which is something people do in jail, which I learned from a very sketchy roommate I once had. While the food this past week was repetitive and boring, it was nourishing, it kept me full and it did its job. I was unable to spend on luxury items that keep my body optimally functioning…

The hardest part of this challenge hasn’t been hunger or malnutrition, it’s been eating the same foods that lack variety. I am not one of those people who likes to eat the same thing day after day. I crave variety. I am completely bored with my food choices. I would love to eat sushi, Mexican, Russian, Thai and every food that I can’t eat right now. Getting creative with these foods has been challenging, but in a good way. It’s forced me to come up with more recipes, put more effort into planning and to think critically about the food that is available to me, which is great. Today for lunch I had boiled eggs with salsa and potatoes. I felt like it was an extremely random lunch. I fried the potatoes like potato chips, but by lunch time they were soggy. I love potato products so much that I didn’t even…