Today we have Katie from Kitchen Stewardship joining us to share her real food confessions!
How “into” real food are you? (how long have you been doing it, how many different foods do you make from scratch, etc.)
Although by most standards, my mother cooked from scratch a lot, and I even made things like homemade chicken stock and homemade spaghetti sauce (although with Campbell’s tomato soup as the base) in college, my transition to “true” real food has been happening since my first pregnancy eight years ago.
I always tell people, when food comes up, that I make everything from scratch, and in case they don’t believe me, I list things like homemade yogurt, homemade crackers, and even homemade salad dressings.
What is one food you just can’t make yourself? (even if you’ve tried a lot…!)
I don’t do pasta (did it once, just TOO much work for me!) and I don’t do tortilla chips, for pretty much the same reason. I know I could make tasty ones, but I haven’t nixtamalized my own corn yet either, so the organic tortilla chips from the store are probably only slightly worse for me than homemade would be (although I would use a healthier fat, which is a big deal, I suppose).
How much of what your family eats is *really* homemade? (vs. storebought, restaurants, etc.)
Hmmmm…good question. Probably 60-80%, depending on what’s going on around here! And it depends on if you count things like butter, which I can’t make enough homemade for all my recipes.
What is one junk food or processed food your family still eats?
Tortilla chips (and ice cream – no room in the freezer for an ice cream maker bucket!)
What is the worst thing your family’s eaten in the last few months? Why?
Probably the one-quarter of a doughnut I let my kids have after church on Sunday! Ugh, white flour, sugar, and trans fats, the trifecta of food evils.
What’s one area where you won’t compromise, no matter why? Why?
Artificial sweeteners. Because I have to have ONE line that I’m a total jerk about, right? These guys have no purpose whatsoever and should be easy to avoid. I wish I could say “trans fats” too, but I’m just not there yet, sadly. I won’t make anything with trans fats, but they sneak into things so easily….
What’s your best tip for eating real food in the real world?
Focus on fruits, vegetables and meat when you’re eating out. At home, just find great recipes and do your best, and don’t beat yourself up about the times you fudge it.
Katie Kimball is a mother of three who spends a ton of time in the kitchen making real food with whole ingredients and then blogs about her successes and failures at Kitchen Stewardship. She also tries to balance the green lifestyle on a single-income family budget and teaches others to do the same with weekly Monday Mission challenges. Katie is the author of four eBooks: Healthy Snacks to Go, Smart Sweets, The Family Camping Handbook, and The Everything Beans Book. Visit KS for real food and natural living dished out in chewable, baby step portions.
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TESTING!
What a good idea for a series! It’s easy enough to get the wrong idea about people in real life, without the added abstraction of the internet to make it seem like everyone’s life exists in carefully crafted moments wherein they don’t have laundry, crying babies, or recipes that turn out badly resulting in pizza delivery.
I just cannot stand artificial sweeteners. I found myself getting headaches after eating light mayo, turned around the label and saw sucralose. I guess it is time I start making my own mayo.
I just found a method of making ice cream that doesn’t require any tools or equipment (other than a mixing bowl to whip cream). Calls for sweetened condensed milk, though you could make your own if you want. And all you do is mix it up and stick it in the freezer for 6 hours-done! Instructions are at moneytalksnews.com, search for “make your own ice cream.” One more thing you can control the ingredients of!
Single-income budget? Don’t tell m e that you don’t make money from your blog. You work too hard for that!
Katie, My ice cream bucket is about the same size as a half gallon of ice cream. It is a Donvier. Take your processed ice cream out of the freezer and you will have room for your ice cream maker. There is no comparing the taste and health benefits and it really takes about 45 minutes to make – start to finish.
Artificial sweeteners are the one thing I am a “total jerk” about, too. Water is pretty much always available so there is just no need to compromise. The kids go along with it pretty well. Sometimes it is hard for them to tell by certain labels when I’m not around so I won’t get mad if it happens by accident. Otherwise, we have a long way to go toward eating more whole foods.