Ready to Eat Fresh, Mama?
You can count on Eat Fresh, Mama! to inspire you with recipes that are tasty, family-friendly, and good for your body.
Eat Fresh, Mama! is kind of a silly name, but it’s what I used to say to myself when I was learning to eat healthier. “Eat fresh, mama!” Because if I was eating fresh foods – rather than things that came from a package or a drive thru – then I was doing better for my body.
What do I mean by healthy eating? To me, healthy foods are whole foods that are high in nutrients and without artificial flavors, colors or preservatives. Food made from scratch in your own kitchen with ingredients you can pronounce. I emphasize plant foods for their rich array of vitamins, minerals, and enzymes. Use organic produce and grass fed meats when possible. I don’t endorse any particular dietary style; you and your doctor are the only ones who can determine what diet is healthiest for you.
Loving What’s Good For Us
The anthropologist Margaret Meade once famously said, “It’s easier to change a man’s religion than to change his diet.” Boy howdy, did those words resonate with me. When I first acknowledged that the health issues I was having were my body’s way of begging me to change what I was feeding it, I went through a grieving process. I made long lists of “naughty” foods I could “never again” have.
That turned out to be a little silly. By learning about healthier swaps for common ingredients, by packing recipes as full of plant power as possible, and by broadening my palate and learning to love what is good for me, I no longer suffer from food FOMO.
At least most of the time. And then when those feelings of deprivation sneak up, that’s my signal that it’s time to come up with a new recipe for a healthier version of what I’m craving.
Start Slowly, with Kindness
The prospect of needing to make big dietary changes can be overwhelming. Maybe your doctor has warned that you’re on the verge of diabetes, or high cholesterol or high blood pressure. There’s the fear of what will happen if you don’t make a change, layered with the exhaustion of having to learn a new way to eat. Plus all the planning, shopping, cooking, and cleaning up.
I get it. It’s a lot.
First, start by giving yourself a big ol’ hug. Acknowledge that you are your best asset when it comes to making positive change. And you don’t have to do everything all at once. It’s about progress, not perfection, mama! Start by changing one habit, or making one healthy swap. Give it a chance to take hold, and then add another and another. Before long, it’ll be a snowball of positive change.
At Eat Fresh, Mama! we believe…
Why I’m So Passionate
You know, I am just one suburban mom spending my free time posting recipes on this blog (with the help of my awesome tech guy hubby). I don’t have writers or a photographer or a social media wiz on my team. I take all the food pictures myself on my second-rate cell phone right there in my home kitchen. I haven’t posted recipe videos yet because I haven’t figured out how to edit them!
It takes a lot of time, but it feels so worth it. This is the work I’ve been called to do. I’m driven by my personal experience navigating my own health issues, as well as those of my family. I have witnessed the dramatic positive effects good nutrition can have on health. I’ve seen my child go from crippling fatigue and nausea and chronic IBS symptoms to being a happy, healthy child once again with the energy to thrive at school and pursue their passions. It has been an incredible transformation. I still pinch myself when I think how far we’ve come.
If what I’ve learned can help even one other person, then this blog will be so worth it!
