I can't believe how far I have come.  I have made so many strides regarding the way my family eats and I am really proud to say that it is all really hitting home now.  Do I eat perfectly?  NO!  I am not striving for perfection.  I want the way I eat to be sustainable, mostly healthy, and also realistic.  It is not realistic for me to say I will never eat white flour, take out pizza, or a snickers again.  It is realistic for me to say that I will eat as much whole, real foods as I can, cook from scratch, and introduce new foods to my family.

Some changes I have made......I no longer use any "low fat" dairy products.  I switched to whole milk from grass fed cows that is also minimally pasteurized.  It taste fantastic and is much better for you than the organic milk I used to buy from the store.  The milk is also a lot more local, as it is produced in my home state.  It's as close as I can get to raw milk, at least for right now.

I quit buying kool-aid and most fruit juices.  I grew up drinking kool-aid but I know that drinking colored, artificially flavored sugar water can't be good for you.  I rarely drank the stuff, but my oldest two kids drank it by the gallon!  It really worried me so I just quit buying it.  Yup, that simple.  Though it didn't seem that simple at the time.  I struggle with food guilt from time to time, but that's another story.  I also cut out the fruit juice because it's really expensive, unnecessary, highly processed (most of the time), and basically glorified kool-aid.  I do buy orange juice and organic apple juice on occasion, but it is a treat to have juice now.  Eventually I would like to invest in a juicer so I could make our own juice a few times a week.  We typically drink water, milk, and an awesome fruit smoothie every day.

I have eliminated most packaged snacks.  Yes, even the organic teddy grahams, organic granola bars, and organic snack crackers have been told goodbye.  They may have been organic and even sold at Whole Foods, but they really weren't much better than the non organic versions.  We snack on popcorn, fruit, yogurt, and sometimes I have cheese and bread.  I notice I don't snack much at all anymore. 

I have become a HUGE fan of butter.  I have always preferred butter, but now I can't get enough of the stuff.  I get a large block of yummy yellow butter from grass fed cows.  I use it for baking, cooking meats, and it has completely replaced any need for those nasty synthetic oils.  I do use unrefined coconut oil for some things, like adding it to smoothies, the boys oatmeal, and some baked goods.  I have to be careful with coconut oil because it does tend to leave the food with a coconut flavor and that is not ideal for every dish.  I use extra virgin olive oil as well, but it isn't good for cooking.  EVOO has a very low smoke point and can turn toxic even with moderate heating.  To think I used to cook with it all the time because everyone said it was healthy!  I use EVOO in dressings and such but not so much for cooking. 

Right now I am working on cereal.  Eventually we will phase out of breakfast cereal.  This is a tough one because  my kids LOVE cereal and they have grown up eating that for breakfast.  They do like oatmeal and all my boys like eggs, though my daughter isn't fond of eggs and may be slightly allergic to them.  I know I could make some breakfast burritos, waffles, pancakes, and freeze them for quick breakfast options.  I don't think pancakes or waffles are my idea of an outstanding breakfast choice, but it is certainly better than the sugar laden, genetically modified brightly colored puffs, with strange and questionable ingredients.  Even organic cereals are not much better for you, plus they are quite expensive, and in my opinion taste nasty.  I also find that a hot breakfast is so much more satisfying than cold cereal.    

There is much more to come.