The Accidental Chef

I have always hated to cook.    And everything about it….the planning, the shopping, the actually cooking, and the cleaning.

Now, I still dislike the cleaning aspect, but my feelings toward the other aspects have undergone some major changes.   This former dreaded activity has become more of a hobby these days.  I am not ready to say that it is a passion, but it seems to be heading there.

So how on earth did I go from hating the entire process of cooking to soaking wheat flour overnight in order to make fresh homemade biscuits in the morning?   Let’s just say that it has been a VERY SLOW process.

I have always tried to “keep up” with modern day “food rules” for moms.  I limit the trans fat, avoid the high fructose corn syrup, keep fresh veggies around, and all that good stuff. 

And then, we had our food makeover weight loss time period.  During that time I read, “The Maker’s Diet” by Jordan Rubin.  Some of the information was interesting enough that I wanted to pursue it.  No, I didn’t think I needed to buy his “dirt” products and I didn’t really pursue the healing oils and all of that.  But I was shocked by some of the information I read. 

The two things that really stuck out were:

1.   Refined Sugar has horrible effects on the body, especially sugars high in fructose.

2.  The Phytates found in whole wheat products prevent the absorption of certain minerals and vitamins.   Grains should be properly treated through soaking.  You can read a little more about that  on this post if you are interested…and the explore her awesome recipes!

It was actually quite eye-opening because this is NOT the type of health food information you will find if you only look at mainstream media.  Whole wheat is such a HUGE push in our mainstream health messages, yet I had never heard of a phytate or the idea of soaking my flour. 

And sugar?  Sugar?  OH. MY. WORD.  It is in EVERYTHING!  Of course, in health food stores it is cleverly disguised by phrases like “cane juice” or “brown rice syrup”. 

In fact, I took my girls on a field trip to “Whole Foods Market” just to show them that everything in a “Health Food Store” is not necessarily healthy.  You have to be a wise consumer wherever you shop.   Sugar is still the second ingredient in the majority of the “boxed” items at the health food store – cereals, granola, chips, dressings, etc. 

Even the Bare Naked brand of granola is far from Naked when it comes to sugar…

So I began another “pantry overhaul”.  I can’t say I was enjoying any of the cooking, but I was enjoying the education, after all I am a teacher, so I love to learn!  I had gotten lazy about what I was willing to feed our family and now I was ready make another change.

Now, while I was tossing things left and right, let me assure you that I know that there is also balance.  I have 4 kids and I realize that they aren’t going to grow up and never eat a chip, have a bowl of ice cream, or enjoy a bagel made from unsoaked flour (gasp).  The same is true for me.  But I needed to do a better job of weighing down the scale on the healthier side.

So that is where we began.  Me, tossing out food all over the place and trying to find acceptable substitutes.  But it led to so much more…slowly, over time…and that is where I will pick up later this week.