I’m not the healthiest person on the face of the earth, but I’m also not the most unhealthy. I know what foods are good for me and for my family and aside from the secret drawer in my desk at the office and the one in the kitchen (which isn’t really a secret, the kids just know better than to touch mom’s chocolate); we eat fairly healthy as a family.
I’ve even dished a bit on what I think is wrong with school lunches so we make every effort to healthy meals at home and we limit our eating out to a rare occasion (it’s our celebration for good report cards) and even then I’m eyeing the menu as to what is healthy and what I think I’ll like.
Maybe it’s age that’s making me more health conscious or the fact that I don’t want my kids to see me choosing potato chips over an apple or fresh veggies for a snack (I have a love affair with green peppers in case ya’ll didn’t know). Regardless my body has decided that all those years of loving on the chocolate (I still indulge) is catching up with me and so even now I eat a lot less chocolate than I used to (Which is sad because I’m a true chocoholic.)
Still getting my kids to completely come over to the healthy side has been a struggle at times but it’s definitely worth a fight worth having! We have a standing rule to try everything new just one time and we make the kids participate in meal planning and preparing. Over the next couple of weeks we’ll be canning homemade applesauce, freezing acorn squash (to be used in muffins, soups, etc) and if I get my way, I’ll have some apple butter. Okay, not the healthiest of foods but I know where the apples came from and I know what’s going into the apple butter so I feel more in control about what I’m eating and what I’m feeding the kids. (You’ll be able to read about my canning adventures at Know-it-All Nikki, where I dish country life, food, and crafting)
My very own sweet Italian sausage and broccoli pasta dish!
I have a lot left to learn about eating healthy and for us it’s a family learning process.
Bug participates in FAA and Dairy judging so he has learned so much this past year about pasteurized and unpasteurized dairy as well as what goes in to growing healthy dairy animals. All that he’s learned in the last year he has been eager to bring home and share with all of us so I feel like we are growing as a healthy family.
And really? If not for places like The Aetna Healthy Food Fight and SheSpeaks, I probably wouldn’t have known what actually classifies some foods as sodium free and the real low down on fasting (could never do it! So glad I don’t have to!).
Aetna wants you to get involved to by joining in the food fight by attending one of their cook off events or even submitting your own recipe into the Aetna Healthy Food Fight recipe contest!
My new dutch oven that made the yummy Italian sausage dish
I’ve been truly blessed to be a part of this campaign and take my interest in eating better, eating healthier to a new level. While I don’t see myself being an adventurous cook and entering my own recipes, I love finding new dishes through the contestant recipes and recipes in the test kitchen. The Interwebs are truly my best friend when it comes to finding new things to cook (And did ya’ll see the awesomesauce new dutch oven that I won at the #SSFoodFight Twitter party? Sorry I don’t have a better picture but it seems like it’s always in the sink now being washed from something we made the night before! ———->>)
*this is a campaign that I’m participating in with SheSpeaks and Aetna. My participation is completely voluntary. I have been compensated with products by Circulon to keep me on my path to healthy cooking and healthy eating.*
Follow on Twitter with @shespeaksup and #SSFoodFight
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