Music to a Real Foodie Wife’s Ears: “I Feel Like Crap”

Yes, you read that right…my husband recently said that to me and I couldn’t have been more happy to hear it. Why? Because it reinforces why I do what I do and shows my husband that I’m not such a lunatic after all. What am I talking about, you ask? Read on…

For the last week almost, we’ve been busy getting ready for Number Two’s high school graduation. This meant cleaning house, moving furniture, shopping…busy busy busy.  And if you don’t plan ahead (something I’m not exactly wonderful at…) you end up eating stuff you shouldn’t…and wouldn’t normally. Even though I was feeling like a brand new person, after recently beginning treatment for low thyroid, I had months of cleaning and organizing that I was behind on and that took center stage. I didn’t bake or soak or otherwise prepare anything that would necessarily be called “real foodish”. Honestly, I don’t even really remember cooking. I know we ate…but what, who knows!

My father-in-law came from Arizona and stayed with us, and following tradition, treated us to supper one night. We ordered two giant take-out pizzas from a local pizza joint…and I mean GIANT. The leftovers ended up being breakfast and lunch at least twice! We had brats and hot dogs on commercially baked, white buns, potato chips, fried chicken from a local grocery store, and prepackaged coleslaw. Sodas. Capri Sun drink pouches. Cake...don't forget the cake...at least two of them were homemade by my mother-in-law, but one was a commercially prepared cake loaded with buttercream icing and lovely food coloring. It really looked neat though. And ice cream…mmmmm….I just love ice cream…and honestly, I didn’t care that it had red 40 in it, it was that yummy!

This is my handsome second-oldest stepson. This young man will soon be serving our country and protecting our freedoms as a United States Marine and we are very incredibly proud of him! That's that cake I was talking about there...

The graduate wanted a taco bar for his open house, and I bought pre-cooked and seasoned taco filling from GFS for far less than I could make it, even buying cheap meat…I didn’t look at the ingredient list, on purpose! Canned nacho cheese sauce…I would never buy that…for one, I don’t like pepper-flavored cheese, and for two, canned cheese is not necessarily food, I don’t think. Shredded iceberg lettuce has minimal nutritional value, and commercially prepared tortillas are laden with hydrogenated fats. There were, at least, brown rice and sesame tortilla chips and fresh veggies.

I really struggle sometimes, when it comes to preparing food for others. On one hand, I know certain foods really are not healthy for you…but on the other, do I “waste” expensive, healthier foods on people who don’t particularly care what they eat? I feel guilty, but my main focus when it comes to food is my family. And so I do my best to feed my family foods that I know are healthy and nutritious, and when it comes to feeding others, I revert back to the SAD most people are used to (that’s Standard American Diet…no surprise the acronym for that is SAD!!) unless I can afford to do otherwise.

Yesterday, my husband told me he felt like crap all day at work. Couldn’t concentrate or think clearly…tired, and generally feeling yucky. I felt bad that he felt bad, but secretly I was pleased in the sense that the benefits of the changes I’ve made in our diet aren’t just  “all in my head”. My husband feels better…we all feel better, for eating, at the very least, less processed foods and chemicals.

So, tonight, I enjoyed preparing some “real” food for a change. I must admit I enjoyed the convenience of the last several days, but at the expense of our health and well being…well, it’s definitely not a long-term habit I want to pick up again. As we enjoyed our supper tonight of ground turkey burger patties topped with sour cream, soaked and seasoned brown rice, buttery mixed veggies and fresh sliced tomatoes (with a lovely sprinkling of that heavenly pink Himalayan salt on mine….Oh. My. Word.), every cell in my body seemed to be giving me a standing ovation. It tasted lovely and was deeply satisfying. Plus, I know my husband will feel better tomorrow and that makes me very happy indeed.