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Week One of my eight-week, life-changing adventure was completed with the pantry purge.
My objective was to read the labels on everything and get rid of anything with synthetic oils (the "hydrogenateds"), additive sugars (dextrose, glucose, HFCS, CS, etc), and ingredients that you wouldn't find by themselves on the grocery store shelf (chemical cocktails, basically). Oh boy, was this one fun!
Fortunately, my pantry wasn't cram-packed full...I was in need of a minor shopping trip before this little exercise, and now I'm really in need of one! This is my "before" photo.
I grabbed a grocery bag for items that were unopened and still fresh, for food pantry donation. (I know, they have my "targeted ingredients" in them, but not everyone cares about such things, especially when hard times befall, and they just want and need something to make a meal with. This will do, and I think it's better than throwing it in the trash at this stage.) I also pulled my trash can close, and ended up grabbing a large, "contractor bag" size trash bag since my kitchen can filled up too much and too heavy. Better to double up the bag for strength!
Since my youngest is diabetic, we do need to keep rapid-acting sugars on hand for treating hypoglycemia, as well as what we call "fast carbs" which are the simple starches like saltines, oyster crackers, raisins, etc. I was delighted to discover that these things did not have hydrogenated oils in them, nor the additive sugars! Hooray! So I didn't have to feel badly about keeping them around...not that I really would have, we need them, but it was a little "victory" to have no need for justifying their presence!
Our favorite breadsticks, Alessi's, made the "good" list:
This herb stuffing mix, which has been in many a casserole and on my Thanksgiving table forever, did not:
The opened bag of stuffing went in the trash, and the unopened, not-yet-expired bag went in the donation sack:
How did two different containers of turkey gravy fare?
One stays:
One definitely goes:
At the end of my pantry purge, all of this was "faux food," headed for the trash bin (the organic corn chips on top were not exactly "faux," but they were stale, so they went out!):
This is the "donation" bag:
And this is what's left of my pantry!
A couple of friends have asked what program my husband and I have chosen...it's the PATH Healthy Eating Curriculum by Dr. Will Clower, from his Mediterranean Wellness plan. I just love the photos they have at the website!
I don't really need to be taught about synthetic ingredients, I already know and understand an incredible amount. But I really wanted something that my dh could work through to understand all of this, and that would give me daily and weekly assignments to kind of "kick-start" my overwhelmed and over-burdened mind and body into action on what I know and long to do, but just couldn't seem to begin.
So far, so good.
Tomorrow I'll go to the store and look for "clean foods" with recognizable ingredients to build up my pantry. Then on Saturday, I'm off to the farmers' markets for the fresh stuff, which is just beginning to show up in our area. My tomatoes are looking good in my garden bed at Christine's home, so I hope to have a decent tomato harvest to eat and put up for wintertime, Lord willing!
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11 comments:
Great work Lori! What a nice detailed post. I should clean out our pantry too - I cringe to think of all that would probably have to go. And thanks ever so much for sharing the program. I'll have to read it more and give it some consideration - like you, I know what to do/eat, but it would be good to have that little extra boost with a plan of action all set out for me. Just curious, how did you find out about this program in the first place? Did you read a book or something?
Thanks for sharing what you are doing. I look forward to hear more as you progress through the 8 weeks. ♥
Hurrah! Good for you!!! :) I'm so proud of you!!! Cleaning that out is such an initial shock... so glad you're doing it!!!
Have a lovely weekend~
love,
Shani xxx
Have you seen Tammy's Recipes? She's got a recipe for 'stove top stuffing', so much better than packaged. You could make it even better by leaving out the chicken powder and substituting your own chicken broth instead of plain water. I completely agree with sending the non-expired food to the food bank. I'm sure the people there were happy to get it.
You are motivating me to go purge my pantry. I find it so much easier to eat whole foods in the summer but more challenging in the winter. Do you plan on canning some of your own foods?
Thank you all for your lovely comments!
Jane...I saw the photo of the greek coastline (with the blue-topped roofs) on someone else's blog...I was absolutely drawn to them, and I clicked, and found Dr. Clower at the other end! I am very familiar with Mediterranean food and its healthiness, it's what Jesus ate, by and large, afterall!
Shani, it was a shock! Can't believe that I've put garbage into my body for so many years and that I'm still here in spite of it. Blllech!
Paula, I will check out that recipe, THANK YOU!!! I'm glad for the encouragement about the food pantry, part of me felt like I shouldn't "poison" someone else, but I also know that we are all at different places, and their cares and woes about food are far different than my privileged position. So thank you!
Alli, yes, I do can my own foods...I hope to get a good tomato harvest this summer, and I freeze my green beans. I garden at a friend's house, as I have no yard (I back up to a park...so it looks like a huge yard, but it is not mine!).
Thanks for visiting today!
Blessings,
Lori
This is great! More and more, I'm just making as much as possible from scratch, so that I know exactly what's in it.
Susan, I agree...really, that's about the only way to know we're "eating clean" is to make it ourselves. Thanks for stopping by!
~Lori
It will be oh so worth it! Good work!
Carol
PS Sorry your garage sale wasn't as good as you'd hoped, and then to have to suffer through the heat and humidity - ugh! You should move to Alaska - it is sunny and 70 here!
Well done, Lori! There are many real food blogs where you'll be able to find a recipe to replace that stuffing you tossed. I know I had a hard time giving up ingredients for my family's "traditional" recipes, but a little research and experimentation in the kitchen has resulted in even better tasting foods we all love. Of course, it's more work, but then our health is so worth it.
The class you and your dh are taking sounds like a lot of fun; wish we had something like that around here.
Blessings! ~Lisa
Lori, I just nominated you for the Sunshine Blog Award over at my blog! :) http://lifeatmennageriefarm.blogspot.com/2012/06/tickled-pink.html
Impressed :)
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