Over the past couple of years, we have taken baby steps to replace processed food(commercially prepared food designed easy consumption) with natural, homemade, organic, fresh foods. This is no easy task and very easily become overwhelming. I wrote a blog when I first began answering some questions and giving encouragement on how a journey to better eating is simple, when you take baby steps. You can find that post here. One of the hardest baby steps I have come across was boxed cereal. I love it. My kids love it. Who doesn't love it? We made a lot of changes, but cereal was always on the menu for the week. It is so convenient, so easy, so good. It is also so processed, and so full of ingredients you can't pronounce. So I, like I mention so often, took a baby step in my goal in no processed cereals. I switched to buying only cereals at Trader Joe's first, then only organic, and now I am proud to say we are down to ONE day of cereal for breakfast! And that box is reserved for a morning that is well, at my discretion :) That one boxed is organic with only one or two ingredients. Simple.
When eliminating something not so good for you, you must replace it with something good for you. It does require a little more effort than pouring a bowl of ceral, but the value far outweighs the effort. Eggs, oatmeal, smoothies are all part of our weekly menu. Our family favorite: Homemade yogurt(easy recipe coming soon) and granola(found here) with fruit. I make it in bulk because of the size of our family, but you can easly adjust this recipe because it is really simple. It is packed with a ton of nutrients that give you energy for the day.And because everyone has different likes, you can easily add or replace any ingredients to you liking! I make this recipe about every 3 weeks. If I don't monitor it closely, it is gone a lot sooner than that. I get most of these ingredients at our local flour mill. Buying in bulk ALWAYS saves you money. So enjoy!
