Break the Rules: Sanity Saving Mom Moments Part 1

I am all about healthy eating and exercise.  I am all about organic whole foods.  I am all about cooking as much from scratch as possible.  BUT….sometimes I don’t…and that’s okay too.  You see, if I never allowed myself to break the rules and ignore the screaming angel on my shoulder reaching ten decibel level as she reminds me why I should NOT give, then I am sure I would go slightly insane!  I am a working mom, running a small business on the side, tying to help her pre-teen and teen boys grow into great people…that’s a LOT of work people!!!!  So…I cheat every now and again…and it feels great (until I read the labels so I avoid that).

So here’s how I cheated today:

It was Superbowl Sunday yesterday and half my household were thrilled by the outcome…the other half, not so much.  We had junk food in…Hubby had been in charge of shopping so the Red 40 and Yellow dyes were everywhere.  Chips, of every conceivable variety were in abundance…crazy huh?  Anyway, we chowed down on organic hotdogs and burgers with these horrendously popular chips as a side.

Today, we have LOTS of leftovers.  I could take the high road, throw out the chips and cook a hearty homemade soup for lunch…but no.  I made hotdogs and a lovely side of chips!  Yep….me….moi…I did that.  Why?  Because it is a snow day, I’m trying to get my new website off the ground, and I felt like cheating.  And that’s okay!

So go ahead…cheat now and again.  Use paper plates.  Give in to laziness.  Just don’t do it too often.  Tomorrow’s lunch?  Homemade organic baked potatoes with salad and grilled chicken.

The moral of the story is…let it go sometimes…give yourself a mommy break…life is too short to be a supermom all the time.

How do you “cheat” a little?  Share your stories and help us all feel better!

Organic? New York Times Article

Having read the New York Times article on the lack of ‘organic’ in our organic food, I am very disturbed by the latest revelations. It seems that we cannot buy real food anymore. We can buy almost real food, but there is always something added or modified. I, like so many others, felt okay buying the overpriced organic options, after all, they had been certified and followed the rules of untarnished, un-poisioned (my own word) food right? Apparently not!

Eden Foods seems to be in the small minority of companies that actually care about providing truly organic products in non-toxic cans and packaging. I strongly suggest all those who can afford it, buy many shares in that company now!

But what of us Joe Shmo’s who just want to feed our children healthy food without going bankrupt? When big companies buy up smaller organic companies, the prices might can come down a little. Of course now I know why. And what about meat? I eat meat, but cannot afford the cost of organic meat too often…which can be a good thing as I’m forced to eat more veggies 🙂 However, it makes finding restaurants that serve organic meats very hard to come by!

So, super-companies are reducing our ability to buy real organic food…they have the majority share of the food industry and are manipulating the way food is deemed to be considered organic. What can we do about this?

Many people are shouting out that we should skip the stores altogether and buy locally grown produce from our Farmer’s Markets. Others suggest being careful but not overly dramatic about the issue. I am sure that there are also many who have just thrown in the towel, as time and money are just too limited to cook from scratch everyday or buy the more expensive goods.

Personally, I’d like to focus more on asking why this is allowed in the first place. This has become public and a major paper has written about it. We all need to shout out and be heard…write to our member of congress, respond to the article, petition stores, boycott products.

How should we, as a nation of consumers, win back our rights to real food?

Is My Food Organic?

Many of you who have read this blog from the start know my son, Button, is a cancer survivor. The fact that I tried my best to be organic, clean with as many green products as possible, and avoid obvious harmful situations such as living next to a gas station did not change the painful news I received about my then five-year old son. I cannot beat myself up about it, however. That would serve no purpose at all. Instead, I can put even more effort into living the non-toxic life.

A Better Me

Many people start the New Year with a plan to get fit, lose weight, stop (fill in your own word).  I don’t make New Year’s resolutions, mainly because I believe that once made,  they are easily broken, and then one feels like crap for being a failure!  Ever the pessimist am I!

However, the past two and a half years have led me to devote ALL of me to my family and some!  Read here to see why (but come straight back as this is not a sob story post).  I need to remember that all the good things I do for my family, all the advice I give myself about keeping them healthy, needs to apply to ME too!  Can you believe I actually don’t eat all the great organic foods my kids eat?  Instead I down a quick bowl of cereal (ceramic of course), while feeling like I need to sleep for a year.

Well, that needs to change.  I have reached the point that I cannot stand being so exhausted all the time.  I have the will to do all sorts of things, my darn body just won’t let me!!!

So I am starting A Better Me. My own plan for myself….for me…just me….moi!

I will always hold true to my belief that a healthy mom leads to a happy family, I just forgot to do it…duh!  So I am changing my ways.  Hard to do when all I want to do is sleep…literally!  (If you didn’t click on here, now is a good time so you don’t think I’m just plain nuts.)  There are ways to approach this change which may be successful, or not!.  So I am going to map out small steps to achieve my goal:  A Better Me

1. Find a way to drag my butt out to a class of some kind…one that I will enjoy and keep doing.

2. Resume home-cooked meals at night rather than ordering in, cereal or quick-cook pizza

3. Actually take the vitamins I have in the cupboard!

4. Begin a schedule for keeping on top of the housework – one that is realistic and includes help from the whole family

5. Drink more water – five  8oz glasses.  (And while I’m at it, water the plants that I KNOW are improving the air quality in my house)

6. GO TO BED AT A REASONABLE TIME EVERY NIGHT!!! (New Year’s Eve will be an exception)

Okay, so I have six manageable steps for me.  I will add more as I master these.  Some will take practice…making a habit out of them rather than a chore.  Some I do already for my boys, so I just need to add me into the mix!

What are you doing to become a Better Me?  Let me know.  Also feel free to add some suggestions to help me achieve my goal… I’m gonna need some help.