A new journey.

A year ago my Sister-in-law and her entire family (6 kiddos in all) decided to eat a clean, vegan diet. I have tried to be a vegetarian, a vegan, a paelo enthusiast, just about every other "eat-a-tarian" imaginable, so I was certain they would give it up after a few months, especially once Thanksgiving & Christmas rolled around. They didn't, in fact they have gotten my Brother-in-law and his family on board as well. Why? I asked. "Forks Over Knives," they said, "it's on Netflix, watch it." We did, my husband and I, and we were convinced we needed to cut our meat consumption down. I'm still skeptical about eliminating meat altogether, but we need to focus on buying clean, organic meat. We can't afford that, so we have to limit it, two days a week is my goal. That, coupled with the fact my doctor told me to avoid soy and red meat, and my 6 year old has, what I believe to be,a dairy sensitivity, our protein food choices are dwindling. BUT! I have the internet, nothing will stop me in my quest.

As a whole, we already eat fairly well. Two guidelines I follow are:

1) Eat REAL food, organic if we can afford it.

2) AVOID highly processed foods (usually around 5 ingredients and I have to know what they all are).

Aside from keeping pounds and pounds of fruit, nuts, and veggies like carrots and snap peas around for quick snacks. I do A LOT of baking, I usually schedule one day to make the snacks for the week so we can avoid having to purchase any processed, pre-made junk food. Items we like include:

-Granola

-Granola Bars

-Muffins

-Popcorn, including homemade Cracker Jacks

-Crackers (these are my favorite )

I plan to keep updating on how our "mostly" vegan dining is going. Tonight is a knock off of PF Chang's Spicy Eggplant Stir Fry. Hopefully happy tummies and beautiful pictures will follow.