Trading in convenience for health - My journey.

Recently, I have been hearing a lot about the 100 Days of Real Food blog.

For those who haven't heard about it, basically, in 2010, a woman named Lisa Leake vowed to go 100 days without eating a single ounce of processed or refined foods. She included her husband and 2 kids on this plan. After reading her blog, as well as several articles about the dangers of processed foods, I was more or less convinced that this was something I needed to try as well. 100 days; however, is a long time and requires more commitment than I feel I can give at this moment. Luckily, on her blog, she has a shorter 10 Day Pledge, which I think will be totally do-able for me.  After that is over, I may continue it or I may say "forget it" and load my pantry back up with boxes and bags. No matter what I decided to do, I think the awareness gained during this 10 days will make it all worthwhile.

In anticipation of this 10 day challenge, I figured I should remove the temptations to ensure my success. I have made a sizeable donation to Scouting For Food including lots of canned pastas (see ya, Chef Boyardee!), an insane amount of Knorr Sides, and even a few of my precious cans of soup. I did keep a few cans of my Campbell's Select Harvest, just in case I hate this non-processed food thing and really want to consume some xanthan gum. Or maybe if I would decide that I was no longer concerned with the dangers of BPA from canned foods.  Or, maybe I will think that consuming over half of my recommended sodium intake for the day in one meal is the way to go... (Yes, I plan to reread this initial blog if I decide to be done with this challenge and figured maybe my healthy self could convince my addicted to processed foods self to make an educated choice.)

I also stocked my pantry with whole wheat flour (This will have to do until I can afford to buy my own grinder), yeast, natural peanut butter, Triscuits, tons of fruits and veggies, and the ingredients for my planned out meals for the next week. I will go back to the store on Saturday to buy the things needed for the last few days of the challenge. As my faithful readers know, I am a big fan of meal planning! See my meal planning blog post here.

This afternoon, as things were winding down from our Easter celebration, I took advantage of the calmness, to prep some Breakfast Casserole Bites. I used 4 whole eggs and 4 egg whites instead of 8 whole eggs and then instead of the breakfast sausage/bacon, I threw in some ham. What a great way to use up some of those pesky leftovers. *wink* Because I was using a mini-muffin pan, I was able to make 24 smaller bites with the same amount of ingredients as listed on the website.

Prepping:

I even grated my own cheese. This is HUGE for me....

Going into the oven:

15 Minutes Later:

YUM!

 

Tomorrow is the big day and I'm so excited to start. I know a few of you on my Facebook page are trying it as well. Be sure to check in as often as you can so we can share stories, swap recipes, and learn from this process together.