I feel like I am at the beginning of a new journey that started yesterday with a talk I attended, the Autumn wholefood seasonal seminar, run by Jude Blereau. I wasn’t planning to go but I had an offer of a free ticket that was too good to pass up. (Thankyou bruisemouse). I have mentioned a couple of recipes that I have made for Mister E from Jude’s wholefood recipe books. Jude reminds us that to be properly nourished, in body and spirit, we need food that is delicious and wholesome. She gave a valuable talk yesterday that has motivated me to be more mindful of the food that I create at home, for myself and my family. The key is to get back to basics, and make food with ingredients that are as close to their natural state. I will start with small steps. It so happens that I needed to buy more baking ingredients today so instead of the white flour I usually use, I have bought organic spelt flour. It’s only a little thing but I hope that in making lots of small changes, eventually it will make a big difference to the quality of our lives and the food we eat at home.
I have always had the niggle in the back of my mind that I should be more educated about reading food labels. I get to the supermarket and turn the packets around in my hand to decipher the ingredients list, but it’s like reading a foreign language. All the numbers and scientific names mean nothing to me and it’s all a bit overwhelming. Yesterday I met Julie Eady, a mother of three who ten years ago had the same niggle that she should know more about exactly whats in the food we buy. She’s written a book called additive alert which gives us the information we need to shop better and avoid products with additives that are suspected to be harmful to us. After reading the book, I am still feeling overwhelmed at the task or reading labels. It’s a monumental task in itself to buy groceries with a toddler in tow, let alone taking time to read labels! Now that I have the book, with a list of additives and what they mean, I am feeling far more educated and empowered to make the right choices, and avoid the nasty chemicals that are in so many of our foodstuffs.
I feel like that was rather a preachy post! My brain is still processing all the information I got yesterday, so I was purging some of it here to clear up some space in my head. Aside from all the theory and rhetoric behind eating healthy I’m just going to enjoy baking yummy home cooked meals for my family and instill in my kids that they should love the food they eat, as it’s one of our biggest joys in life!
