Try a new food!

My goal for the new year is to make our food base broader in my family.  It seems we are in a bit of a food rut. And while my family has come a long way on their healthy food choices we don't all eat the same foods. I acknowledge that this is a challenge at times in the cooking and lunchbox for school department. My husband has now become more open to trying new things as has my youngest daughter. For a long time, my husband was rigid and close minded about eating anything he THOUGHT he might not like. He has come a long way from the meat, bread and potatoes guy he once was.

We still have more food ground to cover. The family is now mostly gluten free, and on board with healthy fats and we loves them. The sticky area is getting more veggies into our diet.  Still my peeps at home are more fruit/carb lovers. Both my husband and child know that veggies are powerful foods, and they find it hard to get past eating their faves just spinach and broccoli. It is a work in progress. CHALLENGE ACCEPTED - I got this! 

My commitment to trying new foods means searching for recipes we all eat and like. No easy task when you look at my plate of options. Being mostly diary free, egg free and totally gluten free leaves us with hurdles to clear. I decided that I will make recipes even if they are not 100% AMY compliant, so that they are at least eating some new foods on the healthy side of life. My focus will be creating dishes that have yummy veggies. I too need to broaden my veggie base. I am working to then modify new recipes to be AMY compliant. For example using a vegan egg instead of a real one.  I have an egg sensitivity.

My husband heard of a cook book by Anna Vocino called, Eat Happy and ordered it for me. At this point I have tried three recipes of hers and really like them.  I am now sharing healthy foods with two of my hooping classes. At the end of each class I have a little food component that I added to the class a food topic or recipe. Last week the topic was, Ghee and we tried some. This week I made Anna's Vocino's, Apple Spice Muffins. Anna has Celiac Disease and for her, this book was a labor of love. Her Muffins on page 202 were yummy. They did have eggs in them and I substituted the dairy milk out with Hemp Milk. It worked just fine. On the next go around, I am going to use flax seed eggs as I mentioned above and and see how that works. 

The muffins got the approval of my family and both hoop classes. That was a big thumbs up! I always know when a recipe is not approved at home, because my husband will make a face, even when he is trying not too. My daughter will say, "This is okay!" and not eat the rest of it. In the hoop circles, when someone says, "That's an interesting flavor."  It is usually not because they like the new foods. I feel good when people say they like something new. 

I first started sharing foods with my classes, because one day after class a lady asked me what was in my green smoothie that I was toting. She wanted to know because she had gained weight and knew my story included losing 50+ lbs and I had kept it off. I said I would bring a drink in for her to try the next week. The next week I brought in my Vitamix blender and the ingredients and shared it with the whole class. Since then I have been bringing in something new each week.  Trying new foods can be challenging. A new recipe takes time and if you are not sure you are going to like it, it can be challenging to invest time and money into making a new dish. Especially if it is not your your typical food palate. Let's just say you only cook broccoli one way and don't love it. Maybe a new way you will love it more! It is easier to find out if you like a new dish if someone else cooks it and you try it. Or the challenge can be simply buying a new food that is packaged on the shelf because you are not sure you are going to like it. No one really wants to waste money. Here is my thought, if I bring something like Ghee and people like it, and find out why it is good for them, they might add it to their diet. If I bring in a new recipe that is healthy and they like it, maybe they will add it to their diets. I brought in bacon wrapped Brussels sprouts and they were delicious. People loved them, even someone who had not been a Brussels sprout fan. If people are willing to try one thing that is a healthy food and they didn't eat it before, maybe they too can broaden their food base or swap out a bad food.  I think is is a win if I can share information and people are receptive to it and if someone adds too or improve the food they are eating.

- Food is wonderful and a part of who I am now, a bit of a self professed foodie.

And if you have not read about me prior. I was at my all time high, 192 pound on a 5'4" frame. I am now 134 lbs. I have stayed roughly this way for 5 years. My diet choices and changes were a direct result of being diagnosed with MS in 2012. A big thanks to Dr. Terry Wahls for blazing a food trail and sharing it with the world via TedTalk. I am blessed with a hula hoop, good food and a fantastic family. 
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