Food Matters
by Mark Bittman
I read all 300 pages of this book in TWO DAYS. I could not stop reading(granted the last 1/3 of the book is recipes, but I still read them). The main point of his book is "eat less meat, eat more plants." I was completely blown away by some of the things he talked about. The way products are advertised, the amount of corn syrups and oils in packaged food, the amount of antibiotics pumped into animals. Did you know...70% of the world's farmland is dedicated to livestock production? 50% of the antibiotics produced are given to ANIMALS. There are NOT ENOUGH vegetables grown in the US to supply every American 5 servings a day. Pathetic!
The thing I love most about it is that it is strictly facts and common sense. It's not some new-fangled diet that he's trying to sell. These aren't 'his' ideas. And he only wants you to tweak your eating habits...not completely change them. Just incorporate a LOT more fruits and vegetables into your daily meal plan.
On my grocery list this morning:
Apples
Oranges
Limes
Avocados
Bananas
Spinach
Mushrooms
Green leaf lettuce
Cabbage
Onions
Celery
Carrots
Zucchini
Peppers
Pineapple
Strawberries
Tomato Soup
Along with a FEW other items like milk, butter, oatmeal and canned beans and tomatoes. No packaged food. The overall goal: Less preservatives, sugar, & meat in our house. I will cook with chicken or beef once a week, maybe twice.
This isn't a huge change from what we were doing before, I'm just a LOT more committed. Cam used to ask for candy, cookies, fruit snacks, fruit roll-ups when he was hungry. This was about 6 months ago. Last night before bed, he asked for a carrot and peaches. My children eat oatmeal for breakfast. They eat cheese, yogurt, whole wheat toast, and apples for snacks. It's easy. They have just learned that those are their only options! Don't get me wrong, I still bake cookies and brownies like crazy...they just come at the END of the day.
This isn't a huge change from what we were doing before, I'm just a LOT more committed. Cam used to ask for candy, cookies, fruit snacks, fruit roll-ups when he was hungry. This was about 6 months ago. Last night before bed, he asked for a carrot and peaches. My children eat oatmeal for breakfast. They eat cheese, yogurt, whole wheat toast, and apples for snacks. It's easy. They have just learned that those are their only options! Don't get me wrong, I still bake cookies and brownies like crazy...they just come at the END of the day.
If you want some ideas, jump over to my Dinner Blog. And Please share your ideas with me! The more vegetarian, the better!
An example:
What I Am Eating Today
Breakfast: Whole Wheat toast with honey, Banana
Snack: Orange
Lunch: Grilled mozzarella/tomato sandwhich, an avocado sprinkled with salt
Snack: Raspberry-Blueberry Smoothie (frozen berries, yogurt, milk,)
Dinner: Lime Chicken Soft Tacos (served with green leaf lettuce, tomato)
GIVEAWAY TIME! This book has re-committed me to a healthier lifestyle for my family. Leave a comment to win a copy! Read it. Make one change in your family's eating habits. Make ten changes. It's up to you.
Good luck! Winner will be chosen by random.org on May 1 at 7 am.
Good luck! Winner will be chosen by random.org on May 1 at 7 am.
14 comments:
Hey Becca! Eating better has always been one of our top goals. I love the High Fructose Corn Syrup commercials when they say "What? That it's just as good as sugar when eaten in moderation?" Ahh, key word there, MODERATION. When EVERY walmart brand food has HFCS in it, it makes it hard to eat in moderation.
You should watch Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. It comes on Fridays on ABC, and his goal is to get American's eating junk less and cooking fresh food more. and he's starting in the schools. Have you seen the CRAP they give our kids at schools? I'll be packing my childrens' lunches until I see a change. I signed the petition and everything! It's quite the eye opener. He also has a website with LOTS of great recipes to use. I just got one for Banana Honey Bread and I can't wait to try it! Good luck! It's fun cooking fresh!
Oh, it looks fabulous! I would really enjoy this book. This has been something that's been on my mind for a while now. Eating "closer to the ground."
Fingers crossed.
OOH! Yes, this is definately something that we could incorporate into our family! Kelby is a meat eating machine!
I would love to win this book. It looks like one I might actually find some useful info. in. :) I love that you are doing book giveaways!
ME, PICK ME!!
i would love to read this! i am not a meat lover anyway, and neither are my kids. this would be a great new tool for cooking fresh!
Looks like a great book, heaven knows I could use the recipes too!
What a motivating post! I hope I win. I could totally use this book. Keep sharing with us.
Thanks for the great book review! I love books about food!!
I have never been a huge meat eater! Since Mark and I got married, he no longer eats meat like he did when he was younger. I would LOVE this book!! Where did you hear about it? Ohh I hope it's ME! I would also love the recipes in the back. Just think, you wouldn't have to mail it. :)
Sounds like an interesting book. We have been trying to eat better lately too. I'm sure we could use more healthy recipes too.
Have you read "animal vegetable miracle" by barbara kingsolver? I think you'd like it. Pretty eye-opening. And this is such a good reminder to me to re-commit myself to healthy eating. I've begun to slack off and buy packaged snacks (wander into the middle aisles of the grocery store- gotta stick to the perimeter!)
I love, love reading your blog! You are so amazing!! I feel like I learn something new every time I read it!
It's so funny, when we moved here, I thought how am I going to feed my kids without their boxed snacks? especially my 5 year old! Now, fruit and veggies are taking their place constantly. My kids love the cucumbers here. We can go through 5 in a week easy. They are very long, and have very thin skins. We constantly cook Italian and Mexican dishes that we used to use meat for without, and they don't even notice. Thanks for your great ideas!!
Maybe I'll be lucky......I'd love to win!!!
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