Eating "Real"

This past week I have been suffering from a massive head cold. It's been nasty and I've been living on the couch for the past few days. Besides being sick with this common cold, I haven't been feeling my best lately. Ever since we found out that we would be moving to a small town that is 90 miles to the nearest anything we have been eating out a lot trying to enjoy our favorite spots in town to dine before they would be a distant memory. I have a feeling that my recent poor eating habits have something to do with me becoming sick.

On Saturday, as I was laying on the couch with wads of tissue surrounding me, Vick's vapor rub under my nose, an ice pack on my nose and nasal spray clutched in my hand due to my massive nasal congestion, I decided to watch "Hungry for Change" on Netflix. If I had to watch another minute of the NFL draft I was going to go insane, so I thought this food documentary couldn't be any worse than 7 hours of NFL draft. What I didn't expect was how good the movie was going to be and how much it opened my eyes. It definitely got me thinking about my own health and what I'm putting into my body.

Just for curiosity sake I also checked out the "100 Days of Real Food" blog I had heard about a long time ago. I read a couple of her articles and started reading their journey of eating real food for 100 days. This all got me thinking and curious.....how would I feel if I cut out white sugar, white flour and white rice? What would it be like to cut out processed foods? 

I decided to experiment this week prior to Dusty's graduation on Friday/Saturday to see if I could cook and eat "real food." I wanted to see how the grocery bill would differ, if I would start feeling better and also, how would Dusty react. Would he still love my cooking???

So far and luckily, yes! Dusty didn't even know I was changing up our way of eating until I finally said something to him at dinner time. I swapped out whole-wheat tortillas instead of regular flour tortillas and he said my quesadillas were delicious. Score! Besides that, he has barely noticed any changes.

Also, the grocery bill was the exact same, if not a little bit less! 75% of our groceries were veggies/fruit which cuts down on grocery costs, so I was able to splurge and get wild caught fish and some organic produce. I was so proud of our cart when we were checking out. It felt really good!

Here is the menu I planned out for Sunday through Wednesday for this week....

~Sunday~
Breakfast: Fruit Smoothie
Lunch: Salad with organic goat cheese and homemade vinaigrette
Dinner: Broiled Tilapia with Tomato Caper Sauce with roasted broccoli and carrot fries

~Monday~
Breakfast: Plain Chobani Greek Yogurt with Honey & Blueberries
Lunch: Salad with goat cheese, hard boiled eggs and sliced apples
Dinner: Veggie Quesadillas

~Tuesday~
Breakfast: Cottage Cheese & Fresh Pineapple
Lunch: Leftover Quesadilla
Dinner:Chili Lime Shrimp Skewer with Butter Garlic Quinoa and creamy honey buttered corn (from Picky Palate Cookbook)

~Wednesday~
Breakfast: Plain Greek Yogurt w/Honey and Blueberry
Lunch: Salad with goat cheese, hard boiled eggs and sliced strawberries
Dinner: Smokey Spice Rubbed Grilled Salmon w/Black Bean/Corn Salad

Snacks: Banana, Carrots, Apples, Strawberries, and Watermelon

On Thursday through Sunday, Dusty's parents will be in town to attend/celebrate Dusty's graduation from his Master's program, so I didn't plan any further for the week. I gotta say, so far everything has been tasting great and I look forward to trying this more "hardcore" once we get settled up North after our big move.

Have you every tried eating "real food" or participated in the 100 days of real food challenge? Or even 10 days?

I'm curious and excited to see how my body is going to feel after sticking to it for a while!

Going Country

I feel like a broken record when I say this but....nursing school has taken over my life and time has gone by so fast! Has it really been since February since I last posted on here???? Dang. Can it be summer break yet? I miss cooking, food photography and my blog friends!

Good news is that in less than a month I am free for the summer! Which means that in about 2 months I will get to meet up with my favorite ladies in the blogging world at Blogher Food in June for everything food and blogging. I can't wait!

The real reason I'm posting today is because something crazy has happened to Dusty and I in the past month. We have been keeping it under wraps for the entire time and haven't really talked about it until now...

Dusty and I are moving in May up to the Hi-Line of Montana!

Dusty applied for an administrative position at a critical access hospital up on the Hi-Line and this week we found out he got the position! We couldn't be more excited and I couldn't be more proud of him. It's been a constant celebration this whole week since he found out.

It's going to be such a huge change because we are moving from a city population of over 100,000 to a town of just over 700 people. Plus we are going to be 90 miles to the nearest city which means I need to get a Sam's Club membership and a large freezer chest so we can stock up! I honestly can't wait though because everyone that we have met in the town so far has been so welcoming. It is going to be so much fun to be apart of a small community and get involved.

One of the things I'm actually really excited for is the adorable home we are going to rent through the hospital. The kitchen is awesome and has tons of natural lighting....perfect for food blogging!!! Plus we actually get to paint the walls, which will be a first in a rental and we can finally get our first dog!  So if you know of anyone who has doberman pinscher or german shepherd puppies, let me know! Also, there is only one restaurant in town, which means we are going to be saving a lot of money not eating out and I need to start stocking up on ethnic cuisine cookbooks since I'm going to be doing way more cooking :)

I seriously can't wait to move up to the Hi-Line! It's going to be quite the adventure for the two of us. The only complication is that I'll still have one more semester of nursing school in Billings, so figuring out the housing for me for that last semester is going to be interesting. I'm hoping that I can just stay in the dorms on campus (did I just say that???) so that it will be simple and easy. We will see!

Fun things are in store for Dusty and I....a move, Dusty's graduation, a new job, a wedding (which is 99 days away!) and maybe even a new puppy if we can find one! 

 

{Photos courtesy of LMC website and Google!}