What's in the mac & cheese?!

In a past life I recycled, bought "whole foods", ate from a garden, and limited my families sugar. And then we moved to a small town. Laziness ensued. Choices were slim. Twenty ingredients really isn't that much for a loaf of bread... right? The box of cereal says it has 27 vitamins and minerals, I can overlook the fact that it has more sugar than a candy bar.

My willingness to ignore the health of my family was recently brought into light when I came home from the grocery store, having spent too much, and realized how much boxed, bagged and canned items I was putting away. This didn't use to be my normal!! I read the ingredients on a few things that I purchased. Enriched came up a lot. Enriched with what? Sugar, high fructose corn syrup (ok, same thing), tons of things I can't pronounce, and Hydrogenated vegetable oils. That's what I'm putting into my body? That's what I'm letting my kids eat? That's what I'm allowing their little bodies to try to process? Gross.

The second unacceptable discovery was the insane amount of trash we set out by the street. We don't drink soda (or "pop" as my adorable Midwest friends say) so we don't have the aluminum factor. But the boxes and plastic bags resulting from the processed crap we just consumed filled up three trash bags in a week! I don't know, maybe that's not that much. But for me it's unacceptable.

About a year ago I got tired of paying $10 or more for a bottle or box of laundry detergent so we started making our own. That has been a huge savings financially. In the past year laundry soap has cost us around $15. That's for the whole year! And I do laundry almost every day. On top of the huge monetary savings we use a five gallon bucket for the soap. No more discarded packaging. It uses three ingredients and our clothes get clean. I wish I had discovered this years ago.

I have made a small step with the laundry soap. I want to take the next step with our food. I have to say no to all the chemically "enhanced" products and waste that goes with it.

We are coming up on Emily's 6 year "re-birthday".  Her little heart has been through a lot. I don't need to make it work harder by feeding her chemicals and upgraded sugar. She's a fairly healthy eater but it's time to re-evaluate what goes in. My goal for the grocery store this weekend will be to come home with 5 items or less that are processed. This sounds a little crazy, even to me, who now probably appears to have been raised by hippies.

My first project will be trying to replace snack foods. It's just so easy to hand out a granola bar (which is a glorified Snickers) or get a bowl of goldfish. But I'm sacrificing my children's health for my laziness. So today I will make (or attempt anyway) my own crackers and apple chips. Not to worry, I will not be donning tie-dye any time soon.