Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Friday, February 19, 2010

Nobody's Perfect

With all the talk lately about what we should be eating, and where it should come from, and so on, I wanted to make another of my now ever so common points: nobody's perfect.
One blog recently posted on how important it is to not let your food become your religion. I agree, totally. We get caught up in trying to do the right thing, but need to make sure the right thing does not become an idol.
Along these same lines is the fact that, even though I talk a lot about food choices and how we eat, I am human, and a busy mom, and we cheat. Regularly, at that. We can, and until we aren't offered that choice (being the person I am, I do think there may come a time when we aren't), I will take advantage of it from time to time. But, that's just it-it isn't constant. We do not eat out every night. We do not use processed foods everyday. Yes, we keep white flour in the house, but mainly for use in special things like birthday cakes and celebratory things. That is how it should be used-for special occasions. The point shouldn't be to totally isolate yourself from modern foods. As a lifestyle they can be and are very dangerous, even deadly. As an occasional splurge, they shouldn't cause that much damage if used appropriately. We sometimes have to drive through, gasp, McDonalds. The other morning we just were not going to get out the door in time if we ate first, so ran that first errand of the morning then grabbed breakfast. The thing is, it was a treat for the kids. Their norm is whole foods at home. And, I have to honest, it does take a little more time to do things this way. I was thinking yesterday about how much time I spend in the kitchen each day, and it is quite a bit. I make snacks for the week, I work on meals-three a day. I make drinks and have to clean up messes. I have to keep the sourdough starter rolling. I made that choice, though, and can maintain it because I stay home full time. I know it would be very difficult to maintain if I worked outside the home. Even so, I have my days where we order in, or there are certain items my husband loves, so yes, even though the folks at Real Food Media might freak, we have fruit snacks (though I do make our own fruit leather, as well) and boxed crackers and tortilla chips. There are some items I think are easy to buy at the store, so we do, like yogurt and cottage cheese. Once I have goat's milk I might start making that stuff, but there are good, reliable local sources for certain items that I am okay with buying already made.
Eating out of season is not an absolute crime. I do my best to be aware of what I am eating but Fareway had kumquats in the store, so I bought some. Not from my state, for sure, but also I thought the kids and I would enjoy them. They had bags of perfect bananas for 99 cents because they were no longer the green they usually sell them at. I bought them-I think being frugal and, really the best word here is REASONABLE are also part of real eating. From those bananas I can make a lot of good food for my family, even if those bananas aren't from my state.
The main idea I am trying to get at here, is one: small steps-do what is comfortable for your family and work slowly from that point to make changes; and two: be reasonable. We aren't perfect! Some bloggers out there are not as "real" as they could be and don't blog their bad days so you don't see the Domino's on their dinner table or the Reece's peanut butter cup stash or, a personal favorite, the real Pepsi in the back of the fridge-but it's there. Those things on occasion will not kill you. At every meal, well, that's different story, but we deserve a treat every once and again for trying or surviving tax time or a bad day with a two year old. Don't feel bad about it!
In the words of Cornelius Robinson (yes, I am quoting a Disney/Pixar cartoon, and thus actually Walt Disney-deal with it) "Keep Moving Forward!"  and don't feel guilty about your mistakes. We all love you anyway :)

1 comment:

  1. Oh my gosh Abby, you are so horrible! You mean you don't make EVERYTHING from scratch!! LOL!!! So JUST KIDDING! Loved this post! I am so with you and the thing that I always remind myself is that we live in a completely different world than in the past. You know, I had a really really rough week! I was sky high in prepping for classes and getting some web work done. Yesterday, the last thing I wanted to do was spend even 15 minutes in the kitchen. I didn't want to go to my mom's to have her feed me or my sisters. All I wanted to do was lounge on my couch! Called Gabe and we ordered Pizza Hut! What made me laugh even more is that Gabe stopped by Dahl's because he will not drink raw, and bought himself his milk and with that came Reeses Peanut Butter Cups! How funny is that! I don't eat them, quite honestly I don't like them but he does. Anyways we eat at home the majority of the time, I make as much as I can from home, but when I can't our bodies are meant to remove toxins when they are fed good nourishing foods the majority of the time. A green smoothie in the morning and back to homemade meals, and we're fine! I put my faith in Christ! Only God knows the number of my days and I will not freak about an occasional day out!! I do what I can! That is why on my blog I like to write that I am NOT perfect. And who is perfect anyways? Isn't that why God sent his son for us? I could go on, lol! Can't wait for next Friday!!

    XOXO!!!

    Diana

    ReplyDelete

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