Some of our Healthy Food and Household Choices

Marc and I try our best to be responsible and make healthy choices not only for our family, but for our daycare family. Below is a list of various things Marc and I choose to use within our home:

      We typically only drink coconut or almond milk 

      We mostly cook wild deer or moose meat, but when we don’t have any we buy lean meat 

      We bye rye bread and sometimes whole grain bread, but never white bread.

      We buy free run eggs from a local farmer. When we can’t get the free run eggs from Costco or the Organic Farmer’s Market eggs from Extra Foods

      We always buy butter, never margarine.

      We use Pink Himalayan salt or sea salt, rarely table salt

      When cooking we use extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil, and coconut oil.

      We almost always buy organic carrots, bananas, apples, oranges, broccoli and many other fruits and vegetables when we have access to it. 

      We buy our honey from the Farmer’s Market and we almost always pick up cucumbers, carrots, potatoes, peppers, and various seasonal fruit when we are there. Sometimes we go to Robertson’s Farms to buy produce such as potatoes, cauliflower, cucumbers, and tomatoes.

      We typically buy Nature’s Path organic, non-gmo cereals.

      We try to purchase crackers that don’t include ‘enriched flour’.

      When buying pasta we try to buy the whole grains, whole wheat, some gluten free, and the organic edamame and black bean spaghetti from Costco

      We rarely ever buy juice, but when we do it’s usually cranberry, orange, or apple and I typically water it down for the kids. 

      We make steel cut oats instead of the Quaker Oatmeal that is high in sugar

      We rarely add sugar to anything.  If we use a sweetener it’s typically a very small amount of organic coconut sugar, maple syrup, or liquid stevia. Baking is usually the only time we add sugar and we usually lower the amount in the recipes

      If a child is a little constipated I might add a very small amount of flax oil or milled flax to their yogurt.

      We typically buy the plain and honey flavoured Greek Gods Greek yogurt or a yogurt that is low in sugar (without aspartame or sucralose). Sometimes I mix the plain Greek yogurt with the honey flavoured one for snacks.

      We try use a lot of basil, garlic and add vegetable when cooking as much as possible.   

      We make homemade soup regularly (usually 1/week in the winter and 1/month in the summer) and rarely buy any canned food.

      We are always looking for Organic, non GMO products and boycott Monsanto companies like Kelloggs, General Mills, and Quaker.

Marc and I are constantly doing research on how we can eat healthier.  Our latest ongoing research has been on food combining.  If you have any suggestions about any other healthy eating choices, I would love to hear them  J!

We follow the Wellness Mama’s and Food Babe’s blog and have used many of their recipes. Some of our favourite cook books we use are, Cooking From the Farmer’s Market, Looney Spoons, Magic Foods: Simple Changes You Can Make to Supercharge Your Energy, Lose Weight and Live Longer, Cook Great Food by Robert Rose, and The Kitchen Garden Cookbook, by Dorling Kindersley.
Here are a some top cook books/books about food we like...
http://www.amazon.ca/Clean-Up-Your-Diet/dp/1844833623/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398824965&sr=8-1&keywords=clean+up+your+diet http://www.amazon.ca/Magic-Foods-Simple-Changes-Supercharge/dp/0762108959/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398825191&sr=8-1&keywords=reader%27s+digest+magic

http://www.amazon.ca/Cook-Great-Food-Delicious-Recipes/dp/0778800466/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398825625&sr=8-1&keywords=Cook+Great+Food+by+Robert+Rose

http://www.amazon.ca/Kitchen-Garden-Cookbook-Dorling-Kindersley/dp/0756671884/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398825673&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Kitchen+Garden+Cookbook.

COOKING AND EATING	Why we choose to
Butter vs Margarine	Margarine is a chemically produced substitute for butter. There is interesting things that happen to butter then it’s heated.  The fats aren’t necessary bad in butter if they aren’t used excessively.
Olive Oil or Avocado Oil vs Canola or Vegetable Oil	When cooking with canola oil, it has a lower oxidation temperature which introduces more free radicals/damage producing cells into your body. Olive oil has a higher temperature oxidation.
Organic no salt spices or Herbs and Spices vs salt as much as possible	There is a lot of sodium in many foods already. Sodium is a key contributor to strokes, bloating etc. We should be at a max of 1200 mg/day  for adults
Rye Bread vs Whole Wheat or White Bread	Rye bread isn’t a bleached white flour and it tastes better. White bread is very processed it has little nutrients. Whole wheat is refined, leaving little fiber left.
Whole grains/ancient grains vs whole wheat	Whole grains keep the fiber and nutrients
Reverse Osmosis Water vs Distilled or Tap water	Reverse Osmosis is a filtration process that removes almost all particles from the water. Distilled water works slightly better than RO at removing particles, but uses significantly more energy because it needs to heat the water first. Although tap water has minerals, it also contains chlorine and fluoride.  You can add trace minerals to RO of distilled water.
Almond and/or Coconut  Milk vs Soy	Soy beans are excellent for you, but the latest research we’ve read suggests that when they are processed they aren’t good for you at all. Milk straight from a cow is excellent, but store bought milk has hormones.  From what we researched there is more nutritious calcium in spinach and almond milk than in whole milk or 3% milk.  We mix ½ almond milk and ½ 3% milk for Soleil and give her 1 cup/day.
Cheddar and Mozza cheese vs Processed Cheese Slices/Cheese Whiz	Cheese isn’t good for your digestion, but when eaten in moderation it is a good source of protein. Processed cheese is even worse and we do not use it.
Aguava or stevia sweetner vs sugar when possible	Aguava and stevia are both naturally plant based sweetners and don’t spike your blood sugar levels like corn based syrups or refined sugars. We sometimes use aquava in sauces when cooking.
Sea salt vs table salt	Sea salt is more naturally produced and unrefined making it easier for your body to absorb.
Raw or organic foods whenever possible	Organic foods don’t introduce new toxins into our bodies. Raw foods are high in beneficial enzymes that start important chemical processes within our bodies.
HOUSEHOLD
Castile Natural hand soap from Dad’s	Less abrasive on children’s hands
Natural spray toy cleaner (or dishwasher) vs chemical cleaners like bleach	Still kills germs, but safer for environment and more cautious of children’s sensitivities
Vinegar vs Bleach	More environmentally friendly and still kills germs. When doing laundry we add vinegar.
Warming up food on the stove vs using a microwave	The radioactivity of microwaves changes the makeup of the food itself.  It also doesn’t take that much longer to do so.
Homeopathy/Aromatherapy before prescribed medication	From what I’ve researched and from taking them personally, natural remedies absorb into our bodies quicker and are more effective than synthetic medicines.  They also have minor if any side effects.  I find that the price isn’t that much of a difference and the symptoms are gone almost instantly. Within the daycare I will use Chamomila tablets for teething and overly irritable children. I will add a couple of drops of eucalyptus and peppermint essential oils if the kids have funny noses and a ‘Happy Kids’ essential oil here and there.