The Bitter Truth

I am a mom to two healthy kiddos and one amazing husband.  Yes, I consider my husband one of my children.  Really?  Yours isn't?  Well then, bless your heart.  I am not sure mine would survive for long without me, which is completely my fault. And, he probably couldn't tell you exactly when he became completely incapable of tending to himself. Now, let me paint you the picture of my family:

We are a typical American, middle class family of four.  Possibly more dysfunctional than some, but we are definitely entertaining.  We love cooking, smoking (aka BBQ to the novice), football, and friends.  A perfect weekend to us is smoking a brisket and cooking all night Friday, and spending the day Saturday feeding friends and watching college football.  Now when I say we are carnivores, I do not speak of that lightly.  We have been known to cause meat comas in many of our friends, and vegetables are rarely spotted at these gatherings. We enjoy cream corn, tater tot casserole, beans and cobbler. And don't even ask which cobbler is better, peach or blackberry. Our Savior, Jesus Christ, and BBQ are two things sacred in this house. 

Okay, now to everyday life. I am currently laid off from teaching public middle school.  I like to bless my own heart for that, LOL. My husband works an average of 50-60 hours a week. Our kids are in 2nd and 4th grades at the public elementary school six blocks from home. We try to eat healthy during the week, pre cooking meals, having snacks ready.  As I have already explained, I am far from granola. I didn't make my own baby food. My kids didn't wear cloth diapers. Heck, I didn't even breastfeed.  But, I admire those that did.  I can say that I could have competed with the local dairy when I was pumping. We eat too much fast food, too much pizza, too many things that come in a box, and nothing organic.  We love meat, and only avoid red because it is too expensive.

So, I am busy trying to get a job, cleaning the house, doing homework, etc. etc.  I know, you feel me. Being unemployed has gotten me around to thinking about what I love to do, and that's cook. I have recently realized that I make more and more things from scratch. Not only do they taste better, they are so much healthier.

So in an attempt to clean up my family's eating habits, I am going to start trying to replace the items in my pantry with homemade options. I have recruited a good friend (and you can follow her blog also at http://thewhitesbackyardfarm.blogspot.com) to help me with this adventure and assist me with the recipes.  I am going to be posting as often as I can, new recipes, cost, pros/cons to making it yourself. Please remember, I am not a trained chef; nor do I have any authority on this subject.  I am doing my research and throwing my opinion out there. Feel free to give me feedback, and share your experiences. My main goal is to find efficient, inexpensive ways to remove processed foods from my family's everyday diet.

Check back soon to see the garden, making your own bread and butter, jelly and hot sauce. We have to start somewhere. Here's to a healthier family! Cheers!