Day One of Eating Real Food

Since I have finally committed to changing our family's eating habits, yesterday I read through my "Real Food Diet" by Josh Axe (GREAT start, if you're ready to make a change) and took notes on different food items to start the shift in our kitchen. 
Quinoa, kale, coconut milk, rice crackers, organic eggs, etc.
I head on over to the PCC (organic, crunchy grocery store) to dive in.  As I was parking, I immediately started panicking.  Signs in the parking lot had cutesy notes on them like "A bag in the hand is worth two in the car" (what does that even mean?) and "Didn't forget your bags, did ya?"  I did!  I did indeed "forget" my bags.  So...I headed straight by the registers and picked out a few of the colorful reusable bags for .99 cents.  I was rather fond of the smiling fruits & veggies.  THEN I was ready to roam the aisles of organic bok choy and detox teas.

I did quite nicely through produce.  Avocados are an excellent food.  Anything that has "good" fat is great by me.  Dates for some snack bars I'm making later for the kids (will report back).  Kale which is known as a "super food," so I am determined to find a variety of ways to prepare it.  Until I do, I just keep opening the fridge and telling the kale "you're super!" Nuts and pumpkin seeds (good for joint pain), gluten-free bagels, dried cherries, and some other healthy snacky-type foods.  I also decided to replace my oils with coconut and grapeseed oils (canola is a no-no due to so much processing). One of the things I love about some of  these foods is that you can cook with them AND use them externally!  Coconut oil rather threw me.  It comes in a mason jar and looks like mayonnaise or marshmallow fluff.  It's somewhat hard (like cold butter) but it smells AWESOME and melts down quickly into an oil (I used it to saute some red peppers last night and YUM).  But the label also reads "massage into skin or apply to hair for one hour."  I am definitely liking the fact that "real food" can be used for many things.  I guess I can now stop using that Pam non-stick spray on my freshly shaved legs.

Check out the italics above.  Smell like the islands.

So I now have a great selection of healthy, non-fake food in my kitchen.  I already feel better about things.  I'm still going to finish off some of the not-so-great food we have in the house, but I think that will help everyone with baby-steps to our new lifestyle.  I started the morning off with some quinoa porridge that did not go very well with my two young boys, so I topped it off with some sugary applesauce.  I'm going to follow some suggestions from a friend to soak in almond milk to sweeten it up.  Once I find a winner, I will post.  I figure I will post all good recipes that work for my family.
Today I am making chicken with organic salsa in a crock-pot for dinner, that is EASY and looks great.  I'm going to make up some Cherry Snack Bars using nuts & dates, plus try some kale chips. which is just kale, olive oil & salt baked up.  After that I will be baking & decorating dinosaur shaped cookies for my son's third birthday, which will not include one iota of the above.  Like I said...baby steps.