Day 4

I cooked my chicken today.  I've never cooked a whole chicken, so I didn't really know what to do with it.  I simply washed it, stuck it in a pan, and cooked it at 375 for 2 hours (the insides had already been gutted out, phew).  When it was done, I cut off all the meat (it fell right off the bones, it was perfect) and I sliced & diced it into small pieces in anticipation of making chicken enchiladas for dinner later.

Next, I made whole wheat tortillas from scratch.  The ingredients are very simple: whole-wheat flour, oil, salt, and warm water.  Confession: I did use vegetable oil, even though that's a big no-no and it makes me very sad, but it's honestly all I had in the house.  In case you don't know yet, refined or hydrogenated oils should be avoided, including (but not limited to): vegetable oil, soybean oil, corn oil, canola oil, margarine, and grape seed oil.  I totally forgot to pick up an alternative at Sprouts yesterday, dang it.  Anyway, so the tortillas weren't difficult to make at all, and they taste great!  Although, Mari thinks they need more salt, ha.  But once they have chicken and cheese wrapped inside and are topped with sauce, I doubt their lack of salt will matter. ;)

They look good, right?

Mari wanted to check out Sprouts after I told her about it, so she left for awhile.  When she came back, she had lots of veggies and had bought some dried fruit and cashews to make a trail mix.  Dried bananas, dried cranberries, cashews, and some pretzel-stick things that I picked out because they're probably processed. :)

Then!  Mari also made a veggie soup.  Carrots, broccoli, cabbage and fresh cilantro.  I know, I'm spoiled. :)  Thanks, Mari!

We blended it up in a baby food processor for my daughter to eat, too.  I tried to get my son to eat some but that brought on probably the most epic tantrum I've ever seen which resulted in him pushing the bowl off the table, spilling veggies on the rug, and thus losing his TV privledges for the day.  I hope this gets easier for him.

Another day, another authentic bite!  This is, honestly, pretty difficult and even discouraging at times.  I am not Laura Freakin' Ingles and I have a lot to learn about traditionally prepared food, rather than popping open a box of processed crap when I'm hungry.  It takes so much more thought, time and energy to prepare meals... and there is so much information, so much to consider and remember, it's overwhelming!  But I just need to be patient and remember that it won't happen over night.  I have full support from my amazing husband on this and I know together we can work towards our goals.