Back In The Good Old Days....

I am constantly disgusted by what people buy as if it is real food.

Processed meats.
Salads in a bag.
Already made pizzas.
Microwave breakfasts, lunches, dinners.


Let's take a trip through the average grocery store. You walk in and there's the produce section:

You can buy organic vegetables, but they are more expensive, has anyone heard of washing their produce? Better yet, back in the good old days, people actually grew their own vegetables! My next door neighbour makes excuses to visit me when she sees that my peas are ready. I have now helped her plant some of her own peas, carrots and tomatoes. You only have a balcony? Well, cucumbers, tomatoes, herbs, and peas (on a trellis) do great in containers.

Next we go past the bakery, I have to admit that I usually only have time to bake cinnamon buns once in awhile, fresh bakery bread is great as no preservatives are used. Do not grab that bread that has a shelf life of 2 weeks or more, you can be guaranteed that they have added some chemicals to make it stay fresh for longer.

Next the meats, buy the family packs, go home and divide them up into one meal servings, freeze. Now, I know that in the old days they butchered their own meat, but this is just something I can not do, so I am happy to buy my meat, not having to do the actual killing first. If you can, kudos!

The freezer section has become the saviour of a whole generation. Kids need a snack, pizza pops; quick supper needed, TV dinners; need to lose weight, frozen lite meals; need breakfast, eggos; the list is endless. The only thing I buy from the freezer section, is ice cream.

Then we go up and down the aisles of endless canned/preserved goods, all I can say is read the labels, if you don't know what some of the ingredients are, be careful.

This is not to say that I don't buy canned goods, with our long winters, you need to buy some canned stuff.

We wonder why people are overweight? Fast food, even in the grocery store. Does anyone actually cook anymore, or is everything nuked?

Back in the good old days, people worked hard, but they also ate healthier. Nothing wrong with bacon and eggs in the morning, if you are going out into the fields all day. I have never used anything but butter, everyone told me how bad it was for my family, and lo and behold, now butter is healthy because it has no trans fats! HA.

So, what can you do?

Plant a veggie garden, or even some tomatoes in a container.
Visit your local farmers market.
Plant some strawberries, they do great in containers.
Cook at least one meal a day, most suppers only take 20-30 minutes.
Use natural ingredients if possible, butter is natural, margarine is not.
Pickle those cukes and beets.
Make your own pasta sauce, and freeze it.
Make your own baby food.
Use your microwave only to warm up leftovers, defrost the meat you forgot to take out in the morning, or pop some popcorn.

Just like you can recycle, reuse and compost, you can eat healthier, without the preservatives. Stay away from the fast foods, and stay away from the freezer section in your grocery store.

Go back to healthy eating, natural is best. Moderation works. Oh and garlic, how could I forget garlic? You want to stay healthy, garlic is a must. You might stink, but you won't care when everyone around you is coughing or getting the flu, and you aren't even sneezing.