Last week I made beef stock. Yep, I was pretty excited and proud of myself. I make chicken stock fairly often…every time I roast whole chickens in fact. But I had a chance to get some stock bones from local grass fed cows and decided to make some beef bone broth. It was amazingly rich and delicious, full of gut healing nutrients and collagen. I ended up with six quarts of beautiful stock and I froze most of it in glass jars to use this fall.
At least half of you are probably thinking right now that I clearly have WAY too much time on my hands. But I assure you that is not the case! I’m a very busy, work-from-home mom with 4 kids to keep up with, including a 2-1/2 year old whose constant and ever changing demands keep me running from morning till bedtime.
But this post is not actually about making bone broth, although I highly recommend it! (You can read about some of the benefits and check out the recipe I used here.)
This post is actually about making real food a priority. None of us, including me, have time to spend all day in the kitchen, which is why in my next couple of posts I’m going to share some of my favorite tips for eating real, whole foods in the very limited time we have.
Tip #1 is simply to choose to make whole food nutrition a priority.
We all lead such busy, hectic lives and it’s easy to use time as an excuse for not cooking or not eating as healthfully as we know we should. But honestly, what is more important than your health, or the health of your family? If there is one thing we should make a priority, isn’t it our health?
We all order our time and lives around the things that are our highest priorities. So why not make the decision, right here and now, to make your own and your family’s health a priority and invest your time in eating real, whole foods?
Once you make the decision to skip the drive thru, take out and processed, packaged foods at the grocery store and eat only real, whole foods, there may be a transition time when it seems overwhelming and really hard. But stick with it a few weeks and I promise you’ll soon get into a new groove where planning for healthy meals and snacks will just be a normal part of our life. You might even find you love it! And feeling great, having more energy and better health–both now and in the future–will be an amazing reward and the best gift you could give to your family.
So once you’ve made the decision, what next? How do you get started or improve on your commitment to eating real food?
Tip #2 — Set yourself up for success with a well stocked pantry and freezer.
The most important things you can do to set yourself up for success are planning and preparation. I’m going to devote part 2 of this series to how I go about planning our weekly meals, grocery shopping & meal prep. So stay tuned for that. But even more important than a weekly plan is your overall preparation with a well-stocked pantry and freezer. This makes last minute meals and snacks when you haven’t had time to plan much easier and makes it less likely you will resort to the drive thru or carry out or processed foods.
The things I buy in bulk and always have in my pantry include:
- oatmeal
- Rice (white and brown)
- Quinoa
- Gluten free flours (buckwheat, almond and coconut are my favorites right now)
- Lentils
- black beans (dried and canned)
- chickpeas (dried and canned)
- canned tuna
- canned tomatoes
- canned olives (our favorite is Castelvetrano)
- gluten free pasta (our favorite brand is Jovial)
- jarred pasta sauce (I use Aldi’s Simply Organic brand)
- Dates
- Raisins
- Nuts (almonds, walnuts & cashews)
- Nut butters
- Juice Plus Complete plant-based protein powder
- Local raw honey
- Nutiva coconut palm sugar
- Real maple syrup
- Applesauce
- Popcorn
- Coconut oil (I buy Nutiva brand from Amazon or Simply Organic brand from Aldi)
- Extra virgin olive oil (California Olive Ranch or Bragg’s)
- Sea Salt ( I like Celtic Sea Salt or Redmond Real Salt)
- Enjoy Life (allergen-free) chocolate chips and chunks
- Organic spices and herbs
We buy meat from hormone and antibiotic free, pastured or grass fed animals in bulk from a local farm (Fischer Farms in Jasper, Indiana) so our freezer is always stocked. In my freezer you will also always find wild caught Alaskan Salmon, plenty of frozen fruit for smoothies (my daughters also like frozen fruit straight out of the freezer as a snack), extra loaves of sprouted wheat and gluten free bread and homemade stock for soup or other dishes.
This means even if I don’t have time to go to the grocery store all week, I can always pull together a healthy snack or meal in relatively short order.
Please don’t think real food has to be time consuming to prepare or fancy! No guilt here … there are plenty of times I don’t have time to cook a fancy meal. My go to quick-and-easy (but still real food) meals when I have had zero time to plan or prep a meal are:
- Leftovers!! This is one huge advantage of cooking regularly.
- Our favorite Buckwheat Pancakes
- Eggs–scrambled, fried, hard boiled (if I have some already made) or if I have just a bit more time an omelette or frittata
- Gluten free pasta with jarred pasta sauce or a quick pan sauce
- Oatmeal
- A nut butter sandwich on sprouted wheat or gluten free bead
- A big lettuce salad with canned tuna, chickpeas, leftover chicken, avocado, nuts or berries. (You can find two of my favorite green salads here and here)
- Depending on what I have on hand, we usually have fruit and/or veggies with hummus and/or a big leafy green salad on the side.
- In a pinch I’m perfectly satisfied with a Complete plant-based protein shake. It’s satisfying and healthy and I feel a million times better than if I had gone through the drive thru.
We also have an aeroponic growing system called a Tower Garden which means I always have fresh lettuce, herbs and other greens growing right in my kitchen that I can grab for a quick salad or to go in a smoothie or protein shake. I absolutely love our Tower Garden and highly recommend it for any real food home.
#3 — Break your prep and cooking into smaller jobs and squeeze them in whenever and however fits your schedule.
This is where I come back to the beef stock. It may seem like a big, overwhelming, time consuming project but it really couldn’t be easier when you break it up and fit it into your existing schedule. I kept the bones in my freezer til I had a few extra minutes one evening after dinner. Threw them in a stock pot with water and some aromatics and let it simmer over night. Five minutes and done. In the morning, I didn’t have time to deal with it so I stuck the whole stock pot in the refrigerator. 1 minute or less. One afternoon when I had a few minutes I strained the broth, put it in jars and put the jars in the freezer. 10 minutes max. It took a little planning but almost no actual time.
Another example of this is my favorite quinoa salad that I like to make for a dinner side dish or have on hand for a quick lunch or dinner. It feels like a lot of work by the time I cook the quinoa, make the dressing (an amazing tomato vinaigrette) and chop all of the vegetables. But it’s a lot more manageable if I break it up into smaller jobs. I make the dressing one day when I have time and put it in the fridge. When I’m cooking rice for dinner, I put on another pot and cook the quinoa at the same time. It goes in the fridge too until I have time to actually make the salad. And then it doesn’t take much time to chop the veggies and put it all together and I have a yummy and nourishing side dish or meal for whenever I need it.
These are just examples. Think about the real food dishes or meals your family likes, and figure out ways to break up your prep and cooking time to fit it into the nooks and crannies of your schedule.
Make the commitment. It may take some time and effort to make the transition and figure out how to make a real food eating plan work for you. But once you do, it really won’t take much more time, only a bit more planning! And it will be so worth it for your short and long term health!
XOXO,
PS — For more tips and tricks, read Making Whole Food Nutrition a Priority, Part 2! And follow me on Facebook for more healthy living information and inspiration!
