Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Success-Or So My Husband Tells Me

We real food wives have set before our husbands many less than gourmet meals. Some meals have been met with success, but there have been a couple of occasions that I didn’t even bother putting the leftovers in the fridge because it wasn’t worth it! The unfortunate part (for me and I am sure many, many others) is that while I am serving new and highly suspect food I am trying to convince my husband that real food is not only worth the time and effort but also tastes good! 

I asked him the other day for a list of some of the recipes or foods that he is really glad that have changed in the past few years.  It is always nice to focus on the positive!  He came up with quite a list of things that he truly enjoys eating.

v  Roasts-If there is nothing better than a tender, flavorful roast there is nothing worse than the disappointment of a chewy, bland piece of meat.  It took me a while to learn how to cook roast.  I love it when Jordan smiles across the table and says, “You’ve got this down!” 

v  Bread-I started making homemade bread this year.  I was really hoping to make a great sandwich bread, but to be honest our bread rarely makes it to the sandwich.  Homemade bread is just too good fresh from the oven with a little butter.  If a loaf survives long enough to be made into sandwiches we love using it for grilled cheese and BLTs.  Jordan not only likes homemade bread but also homemade buns.  The other day I asked him if he wanted homemade or bakery buns for his hamburger and he choose homemade buns.  Had I not been sitting down when I asked I think that I would have fallen over!

v  Potatoes-I didn’t grow up with instant potatoes.  My mom made real mashed potatoes and my grandpa made real mashed potatoes.  Real potatoes were all that I knew!  In addition to mashed potatoes, we love cheesy potatoes.  I started making French fries this summer, and I get an “Oh, Good!” from Jordan when I tell him we are having homemade fries for supper.  I never got that from a bag of frozen Ore Idas!

v  Veggies-We are not a steamed vegetables family.  Surprise, surprise we like a little fat with our veggies.  Fortunately for us many of the vitamins in vegetables are fat soluble and are better absorbed by the body when eaten with a fat!  Oven-roasted, sautéed, or grilled is how we prefer to cook our veggies.  I am THRILLED to have discovered ghee.  It is butter that has been clarified.  With the milk solids removed, so is the casein and lactose, making this dairy digestible by those who are dairy-free.  Now this d-free family can have our veggies cooked with that wonderful butter flavor!  Ghee is pricey so I am hoping to figure out how to make it myself! 

v  Granola Bars-I am going to steal a line from my friend’s husband, “These granola bars are the best healthy food thing that has happened to our family!”  We use a little less honey in ours, but we love these!  My husband has even taken these to work and shared them with co-workers!

v  Stove Top Popcorn-This one surprised me.  When I first made popcorn on the stove my husband gave me a very skeptical look and said, “Really?  Even our pop corn can’t be normal?”  The other night I left him with four kids and a movie and he said, “If I wanted to make that popcorn on the stove like you do, how would I do that?”  I asked him if it would just be easier to use the air popper.  “I really like the taste of it on the stove better!”  It is enough for me to have my husband enjoy real food.  It is quite another for him to start cooking it himself!

I have heard stories of husbands that cast the vision for healthier eating for their family.   I don’t think that they are urban legends.  They really are out there.  That is not our family.  Jordan agrees with the idea of eating real food, but like most of us he is resistant to actual change.  As we have changed our diet over the last few years even his body has realized the difference between real and packaged food.  Every now and then he’ll say something to the effect of “I have eaten healthy with you for a long time now.  When you are at the store please get me something else.”  I am not an unreasonable person and will get him the Double Stuffed Oreos or something to that nature.  He eats them and then usually regrets it.   He admits that he “can’t eat like that anymore!”  I have ruined him.  (Wink!)

9 comments:

  1. My dad is similar to that, but worse. He'll eat my mom's real food dinners, but he's not a fan of them. He usually asks why we can't have "normal cheese", "normal bread", or "normal food". Plus, he loves energy chews and gatorade. I try to get him to stop eating them, but he's convinced that they're good for exercise. Anyways, I hope he can eventually be like Jordan, maybe not totally loving it, but at least giving it a chance. Any advice?

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    1. For me it was logic. If Egg Beaters are the best for us than God would have put Egg Beaters in the shell, but He didn't He put in the egg. http://www.westonaprice.org/ is a great site for logical information on how great real food is. After that if someone will try it for for a couple of weeks one usually can feel the benefits of real food.

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    2. That's a really good point! I'll tell that to my dad and maybe it'll get through to him. Thanks!

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  2. I have to agree. I usually find making it homemade it better and really just as easy and much more cost effective. I love making homemade bread and jelly. I love making homemade yogurt, potatoes, granola, oatmeal... and the list goes on and on.....I think if we all ask ourselves, "can I make that better and at a lower cost", the answer will more than likely be a big YES!! A great post!!! thanks!!

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    1. Who doesn't get excited when it is BOTH cheaper and healthier?!

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  3. I forgot about making pop corn. It was really great. I'll have to see when my grocery envelope has a little "pop corn cushion" in it :)

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    1. Popcorn is such a great snack! We love it!

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  4. Thank you so much for this post ! Both mine and my husband's family have enough health problems (cancer,diabetes,high blood pressure,high cholesterol, ect..)between them for us to change. My husband was all for it initially. This was easy to say but it's difficult for him to change. He considered modern processed foods to be "normal" and doesn't like brown rice no matter how I flavor it w/broth and or seasonings.

    He doesn't realize the emotional attachment to food memories of his youth and if I don't want to feed our kids something he feels like we're denying them something that could make them happy like it made him and there's no reason to be so paranoid about food. Even when I try to explain it to him he just doesn't get it or sometimes doesn't agree with the reasons being valid and yet he won't look it uyp himself to learn/understand it better. It's a constant,exhausting, frustrating struggle.

    I usually have the last say in the kitchen but he doesn't want to eat the same as I do with our toddler and baby. You hit the nail on the head when you mentioned "normal" !!! This post gives me hope ! Thank you !

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    1. Sorry for the late reply! I was having trouble with the reply button!
      I think that one of the keys is finding real food that appeals to your family's taste. Skip brown rice if that is a problem. Move on and find something that works for your taste and health!
      Best of luck to you as you try to improve your health. I have lowered my cholesterol from 279 to 199 eating real food. It works for me!

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