The Granola Escapades – An Explanation
We’re beginning an experiment of lifestyle.
During one of our Saturday morning breakfasts, Bill said, “Soooo I’ve been thinking…” which always means that he’s really been pondering something, “we’ve seen lots of friends who have had complications during their pregnancies and since we’re going to have kids soon, I’ve been trying to figure out why.”
My interest was perked.
“I think a big factor is our food, preservatives, hormones, all that stuff, its got to be messing around with our bodies. I’d like to go all organic with our food.”
Insert my shock. My family owns a chain of health food stores in upstate NY; health food, organic, vegetarian, homeopathic remedies, carbon footprints, recycling, going green…all that was engrained in me from childhood, you know before it was cool. Bill grew up in a “typical American” household with white bread sandwiches and ravioli that came out of a can. For him to say this was…shocking.
So after many more discussions and research and chatting with family members we’ve made the decision to go all organic. We won’t be those crazy people that refuse to eat anything else, we’ll still go out to eat, we’re not going to impose our decision on our friends. But since the majority of our meals are eaten at home we’re making the conscience commitment to make better choices and be aware of what exactly we are putting in our bodies.
Here’s Our Game Plan:
1. Remove all processed, non-organic foods from our home. We’re not made of money so we’re doing this in phases as we can afford to replace things. And don’t worry, we’ll be donating all these items to food banks and a few charities (more on that later).
2. Buy organic produce and meats (and pretty much everything else) as economically as possible (we’ve found some great produce co-ops and farms in our area that we’ll be sharing in the next few weeks).
3. Eat healthier by making better choices. We’ll be making better choices when we go out and at home. I’ll be sharing some new recipes along the way as well.
4. Exercise. Period. Bill and I operate on somewhat different schedules so we’ll each need to make up an exercise schedule that works for our schedule, goals, and likes and dislikes (I like to run, Bill does not).
5. Record our experiences. We’ll be divulging everything here on the blog. Bill will be writing too (yay). We want to share with you the resources we find, knowledge we’ve gained, and what we’re going through both physically and mentally, all what we’re calling “The Granola Escapades”.
So that’s that. We’d love to hear from anyone who’s already doing this. Are you all organic? What have you learned?
Hey Chris,
Love the idea. Would love to go do a vegetarian cooking class with you guys (or something like that). I am very interested in learning more about cooking with beans, lentils, etc. I know Hubbel and Hudsons does some cooking classes. Perhaps we can check it out!
We’d love that! I’ve got a couple really delicious vegetarian recipes that I could share with you guys.
Hey Baby Girl,
Sounds good…I encourage you both to pursue wholeness – spirit, soul and body. I do have to say that since being in Bill’s life since 1992 (almost 20 years), I have never seen anything that resembles a can of ravioli or any of that processed stuff. It was the real thing or nothing:)
Thanks! We’re excited…that whole bit about ravioli in a can was what Bill wrote for that post. I think that was more during his high school/college days.
Come and check out my many cookbooks in the cabinet. There were some good favorites from when you were a kid. Remember when i would send the stuffed acorn squash to day care?
We will need to do that. And I was telling someone about stuffed acorn squash this weekend!
We have tried this too!. We have a two year old and one on the way, and I have to say everything we buy isn’t organic, but I cook most things from scratch. I now have a two year old who loves avocado, curries, veggie dogs, countless fruits and veggies. He is not into the processed junk(save fries, but who doesn’t)and eats most of what I cook(not into making two dinners). I think you guys are on a great path and we have tons of healthy, fun recipes if you are seaching for some!
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