Jan. 13, 2014


Today was successful. We ate organic hot cereal for breakfast with organic raisins and almonds. Unfortunately the almonds were not organic because our local health store doesn't carry organic nuts.


We had pork chops with gravy and organic potatoes with organic cauliflower for lunch. The pork was from our farm. The starch to thicken the gravy was not organic and the butter for the veggie was not organic. I know it seems tedious for me to write down everything we eat, but it helps me to see our diet realistically and know how to make adjustments.


We had spaghetti for dinner with salad. The Italian  sausage in the sauce was not organic but was preservative free. The spinach and zucchini were organic but the tomato based things were not. The noodles were gluten free, organic, rice noodles. The salad was half organic half not. I can get organic lettuce and squash but radishes, cucumber, and mushrooms are not available right now in organic.


This brings me to a point of decision. Do I go organic no matter what and only eat fruit and veggies if they are organic? If I do, I am extremely limited. Not only by the availability but also the cost. But if I mix both organic and non organic produce then what is the point of picking any organic produce?


Let's go back to what I'm trying to accomplish.


1. Owen's weight loss- any veggie will do
2. Owen's energy- any veggie will do
3. Owen's Parkinson's symptoms reduced- non-toxic diet- only organic will do.


Purchasing organic food exclusively is the only way to truly see if a non-toxic diet/environment will reduce or reverse his symptoms. I will have to make it a point to purchase only organic foods from here on out.


I can also see after two weeks of this that new recipes are a must. There are some recipes that we are used to that are just too expensive to do organically.


I can also see that as busy as I am with homeschooling three girls and church responsibilities,  I will need to make a menu for the whole week in order to stay ahead of the food demand. For instance, the sprouted, dried, wheat berries are still sitting on my counter in a bowl. I have not made bread out of them yet, therefore we have gone without bread for a week.


I have been busy, and the extra step in grinding my own flour has kept me from tackling the making of bread. It would have served me better to buy organic flour and forego the sprouting, drying and grinding. Or, just buy organic wheat berries and grind them right away so I will have the flour I need. One must weigh the benefits. If sprouting my own grains means that I don't get it done so we end up buying store-bought bread, then I have missed the mark. I believe in K.I.S.S. Keep It Simple Sister. Sometimes our ideal is so high that we set ourselves up to fail, or at least be miserable trying to meet the ideal. Peace is worth the compromise. Set an ideal, if one can not make it within a reasonable amount of time readjust the ideal until the goal has been met. After the goal has been met for some time and has become easy and second-nature then raise the bar. That's my motto in life anyway. It's not a cop-out, it's about balance and peace.


It's amazing how much of my lifestyle is going to need to change in order to live the way I think I want to live. It reminds me of when we decided to live debt free. The idea was easy but the practice was hard. Neither of us realized the affect it would have on our spending habits.


Like living debt free, living healthy is going to be worth it. And, like living debt free, sometimes one still ends up with debt and then has to re-commit and adjust once again.


I'm not in a hurry. As I learn to cook new recipes and we find what we like, replacing old tastes for new ones, our lives will make a vector change that I hope can last a lifetime.


Until next time...