Food Inc. Fallout

Movie night madness again. We watched Food Inc. on Sunday. Then we purged our cupboards. We packed up almost everything that was packaged, prepared, or otherwise processed. Our cupboards look so neat and tidy now, though much less colourful. Now it's mostly nuts, beans, seeds, grains and other varying shades of beige and brown. So very granola of us. It makes me feel a bit extreme, but then I just ask myself, would my great-grandmother even recognize these purged items as food? She managed to feed 11 children every day without Fruit Roll-Ups and Lipton Sidekicks. I only have 2 kids to feed, surely I can do this and stay moderately sane, right?

If you're tempted to think that I've always been a processed food hater, think again. I love it. I can't resist it. But I want my kids to know real food. I want them to like it, and I want them to know how to cook it. How else to do this except rid my kitchen of temptation?

I had two successful days, then I got the stomach flu. Who feels like a well planned week of spinach, sprouts, and lentils when your stomach is a raging animal? So I dragged myself and the kids to the store and bought a supersize box of popsicles instead. Partly to keep them quiet so I could curl up in the fetal position, and partly so I could eat my favourite flu food. There is an exception to every rule. And to be honest, our current exceptions include: ketchup, pasta sauce, pasta, maple syrup, waffles, pancake mix, rice cakes, raisins, bread, mayo, dark chocolate, bbq sauce, and, and for bribery, jellybeans.

Tomorrow we'll get back on track with baked falafel made from actual chickpeas and fresh herbs, and homemade tzatziki. Yum.