Things are so far so good on our trip…well, for the most part. In some cases we are having even better luck than I expected finding real food in The Big Apple, but we did have one little incident before we even got all the way to NYC. On our first night up north we stayed with my parents and they were in charge of dinner. You would think that after months of discussion with them about our little food project and even getting them to read Michael Pollan’s book themselves they would get the hang of it by now…but apparently not.
My dad was preparing spaghetti with whole-wheat pasta, red sauce, and locally raised ground beef for the kids. I was thrilled to get a much-needed break from cooking and also a break from having to ask a hundred questions about what was being served (since it was my own parents after all). As soon as the spaghetti was served I took a bite to try it and served one bite to my 3-year-old. Then I looked a little more closely and said, “Dad, are you sure this is whole-wheat pasta because the noodles don’t look as brown as usual???” He said it was what my mother gave him and they looked brown to him.
So in order to further research my suspicion I had to resort to digging through the trash to find and inspect the empty box of pasta. Sure enough, my mom fell prey to the food claim on the front of the box that read “whole wheat blend”. The last word (which was overlooked) is pretty darn important. I would like to use this opportunity to remind everyone to never make a decision based on health claims or pictures of nature advertised on the front of a package. ONLY trust the list of ingredients. Fortunately my youngest daughter and I only had one bite and as soon as my 5-year-old heard me say it was against the rules she didn’t want to eat any of it (that’s my girl). So needless to say I had to have an unpleasant discussion with my parents about the rule-breaking food and then go fix my kids something else to eat. Not exactly an ideal start to our trip.
On the other hand, we are now in NYC enjoying lots of fabulous “real food” food. What a relief. We have been eating at some places spontaneously (breakfast and lunch) and others that I had researched in advance (for dinner) and having lots of luck with both. We arrived in New York just before lunchtime yesterday and easily found a casual little place that was still serving breakfast. Scrambled eggs is always the perfect go-to dish for both of my daughters…they like it every time and it is obviously not against the rules. So I ordered that with some fruit (for my 5-year-old) and potato skins without bacon and shrimp cocktail without the cocktail sauce for me. It hit the spot.
Last night we went to a fabulous seafood place called Esca for dinner and enjoyed every last bite of our meal. It was well worth my hours of rese
arch. Before we left home I wasn’t sure where I should even start my search for “real food” restaurants, and I ended up workin
g off a list of chefs/restaurants that buy products from the local farmers market (the NYC Greenmarket). I ran through the list of restaurants with the hotel concierge and at end of our 45-minute phone conversation I finally narrowed it down to a short list of those that were close-by, tasty, and had something for all of us to order.
The biggest challenge on this trip has been finding places where both a “real food” child will eat something and that a very picky “non-real food” child will also eat something (our friend’s child that is with us). After enjoying a delicious meal of side items for my daughter and salads (both pictured), sole, and kale for the adults to share at dinner last night I felt it was well worth the effort!
Today we had breakfast at the hotel. I’d brought along some homemade granola cereal and had the hotel’s milk and fruit along with it. My 5-year-o
ld had a hard-boiled egg, fruit, and some bread that they claimed was whole-grain (toasted with butter).
Then we really lucked out at lunchtime and came across a place called Le Pain. They bake their own breads and had a whole-wheat sourdough loaf on the menu with only 4 ingredients (yea!). This food at this place was so natural and good that I had my first sandwich at a restaurant (an open faced sandwich with black bean spread and avocado on whole-wheat bread – pictured) and my first cup of lemonade (sweetened with agave nectar) in months. It was such a treat!! I ordered steel cut oatmeal for my daughter and unfortunately she wasn’t as big of a fan as I was of the restaurant…but what can I say, I thought it was fabulous!
Out of curiosity, what does the ingredient list say for pasta that is acceptable? Does it just include “whole wheat” or how does it read? Thanks!
There are a ton of whole-wheat pasta products out there that only contain one ingredient and it should say either whole-grain or whole (something). For example it could say “Whole Durum Wheat Flour” or “Durum Whole Wheat Semolina” and nothing else. I hope that helps!
It does! I’ve got a pantry full of “Whole durum wheat flour, semolina, durum wheat flour, oat fiber” pasta. I’m assuming that’s a no no? Once we use this I’ll have to look into one ingredient pasta
We’re not currently doing the challenge but hope to soon.
Definitely the ones that simply say “semolina” or “durum wheat flour” are refined. If it is whole grain it will say the word “whole” for sure. Check out this post on my other blog that explains in more detail how to seek out the how whole grain options…http://thefoodillusion.wordpress.com/2010/07/29/understanding-grains-corn-wheat-multi-grain-etc/
You are awesome for all the planning you put into going places and finding acceptable foods
Not trying to nit-pick, but isn’t agave nectar actually pretty processed (despite the claims made about it)?
According to Wikipedia “Raw agave nectar…is produced at temperatures below 118 °F (48 °C) to protect the natural enzymes, so this variety is an appropriate sweetener for raw foodists” So if you use agave you just want to make sure it is “raw” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agave_nectar
I had just read that most of agave nectar is produced in Mexico and that because it is so expensive to make, they add HFC to it to make the consistency right (and to lower the price). I am sure there are quality producers out there though.
I thought that agave nectar was a processed food? I was told by many people that the process is similar to how corn syrup is made. Maybe I heard incorrectly?
So glad you had so much success in looking for food you can eat in NYC. Just wondering whether you checked the scrambled eggs wasn’t made from powdered eggs. I don’t know if that’s what they do in the US but they do that a lot here in Australia – it’s quicker and makes for a more “uniform” product. ICK!
And about Agave – a lot of agave nectar is processed but it is possible to find raw, unprocessed agave.
I don’t think powdered eggs are very common here…so it is not much of a concern to worry about. It certainly does not sound good though!
Yes, I read in an article (somewhere) that agave nectar is just as or more processed than high fructose corn syrup and heavily marketed as a wonderful replacement to sugar. What’s the point?! Somehow it all seems the same. Like Michael Pollan says “The more a product claims on its packaging how healthy it is for you, the more it’s not.” Beware!
If you’re feeling guilty about dissing your parents at dinner despite thier back-bending efforts to accommodate you, then all is as it should be. I think the underlying goal of this experiment is a book deal and a seat on the set of “Today” one morning, and that’s not worth the level of disrespect and rudeness that was shown to your own parents. It wouldn’t have killed anyone to eat one ingredient against the rules out of respect for your visit.
Mean People SUCK!
Hi Mary. There was nothing to indicate that a ‘disrespectful’ or ‘rude’ conversation had taken place with the parents. It is also not your place to decide what the underling goal of this experiment is. No it wouldn’t have ‘killed’ anyone to eat an ingredient against the rules, of course the parents have been well aware of the rules for the last two months and were simply taken in by advertising. It could happen to anyone.
Perhaps you could find something better to do with your time then impolitely judging others? We would all appreciate it.
I think being able to further spread the importance of cutting out processed foods to a group like the “Today” show audience would be a wonderful accomplishment.
And of course it would have not killed us to eat something against the rules, but I am not sure if you are aware that all four of us have worked EXTREMELY hard to keep up with this new lifestyle over the past couple of months. I don’t see any point in suddenly and purposely “breaking the rules” just because it may be convenient at that moment. That is not what this is about. The whole point of doing “100 Days of Real Food” is to see what obstacles we would encounter (and have to avoid) in trying to go 100% of the way for 100 days. We do not plan to be this hard core once the 100 days are over and after that point we would absolutely eat something just to be polite. As far as this project goes, hopefully the blog readers can tell that we are taking it VERY seriously and the rules are the rules no matter where we are or who we are with. I think most parents would understand when something is this important to you – especially when it is only temporary.
Mary,
I disagree that she was disrespectful to her parents. Yes, they were trying to accommodate and made an honest mistake, but why should she blow 67 days of hard work just to appease parents who want to be supportive in the first place? Pointing out the honest mistake was a good lesson for all of us. Life is easy when everything goes to plan — your true character comes out when things are difficult. Instead of taking the easy way out and saying nothing and eating the food, she spoke up and went to the trouble of making a new meal. Nothing disrepectful about that.
Thank you for much for saying that…I couldn’t agree more and also responded to Mary appropriately.
On one hand, I think that you’re on the right track in trying to protect “the rules” by strictly following them. On the other, it doesn’t make sense to adamantly refuse “whole wheat blend” pasta at your parent’s house and then feed your daughter what the hotel said was “whole grain” toast…I’m surprised you didn’t root in the hotel trash can to read the bread bag’s ingredient list. As a fellow real foodist, I know it’s tough to find suitable food options, but it sounds like you make it harder than it needs to be sometimes.
Once the 100 Days are over we will still be extremely careful, but have a lot more flexibility in more difficult situations. In regards to the bread at the hotel, they said it was whole grain, I examined the bread carefully (which they showed to me in the package – albeit there was no label because it was from a local bakery), and the loaf was heavy like real bread should be, and it looked as dark as the whole-wheat bread I buy at home. So with all of those factors taken into consideration I decided it was acceptable.
I agree I wish things weren’t always so hard either, but we are going to see this project through to the end no matter what challenges we encounter.
I don’t understand the condemnation of Lisa’s blog or her effort to make a healthy difference in her and her children’s lives. It doesn’t make sense for her to break her own rules…how stupid would that be? Thus, the reason for her efforts to make sure she goes out of her way (at times) to abide by her rules.
KS, it makes perfect sense to refuse something you know 100% is breaking the rules and have evidence of it. Your comment about her digging through the hotel’s trash was ridiculous. She is trying to make a difference in your family’s life, and little “slip-ups” here and there add up and eventually lead to going back to old ways. She is leading by example.
Thank you for the kind comment Lisa…it is good to know that others “get” what we are trying to do here!
I am SO impressed at how seriously you and your family are taking this 100 day pledge….and I guess it is astonishing (wow..I don’t use that word very often) how hard it is to eat pure, unprocessed foods (as is shown with your parents and the spaghetti)! The fact that you stick to your guns is commendable and I appreciate so much what you are doing and how it is opening all of our eyes to our food system and the junk we inadvertently put in our bodies. I thought I was doing pretty well feeding my family, stocking my pantry with what I thought were healthy items but I went through it last night and only found 5 unprocessed things….what?!!!! Once again…I can’t thank you enough! It is one thing to hear about people eating pure food diets but it is another to find someone with 2 small children doing it!! I am signing up for the challenge today! Did I mention…you are a rockstar?!!!
Thank you for your sweet comment! And you are already doing way better than most with only 5 processed things in your pantry…good for you!
Just curious, when you eat eggs and milk at restaurants do you ask if they are local or organic or free-range etc? Which is the most important according to the rules of eating real food or are none of them taken into consideration?
This was my question as well…so I’ll just ditto on Melissa’s. Do you make sure your eggs and milk are local, farm raised and free-range organic?
Ditto to the above. I would much rather have pasta that wasn’t 100% whole wheat than factory-farmed milk or eggs. The former is a minor detail, the latter supports a whole icky corrupt system.
Your comment made me laugh…some of the other comments on this post so far indicate that I might just be way over the top, and then you are hinting at the fact that I should be asking ever more questions before we eat stuff. I love it! To answer your question, when we are at home our first priority is always local and within that category organic of course over conventional (whether it is produce, eggs, meat, etc.). When we are out to eat it is honestly already so hard to order anything I don’t think there would be many restaurants left if I tried to worry about those details away from home.
Honestly I think it’s more a matter of being over the top about the wrong things and not asking enough questions about the right things. A commercially produced pasta with 90% whole wheat flour vs. a commercially produced pasta with 100% whole wheat flour is an extremely minor distinction. But a fresh free-range egg vs. a conventionally produced egg (which can, by law, be up to 60 days old before it even reaches your plate) is a much bigger difference. Given the higher demand these days for local, organic, and free-range, more and more restaurants (especially in a foodie city like NY) use them, and a quick phone call or polite question to the hostess would easily confirm that for you.
What might be rubbing people the wrong way is the fact that you’ll literally go through the trash to check the ingredients of a mass-produced, processed product, but won’t even do a quick search on yelp.com or localharvest.org to locate one of the eleventy billion restaurants, delis, and cafes in NYC that offer fresh, organic, locally grown food as a specialty.
You’ve been at this for 60-something days, by your own admission. A lot of people see local whole foods as a way of life. Please, be willing to learn from them, rather than adhering to the “my rules are the only way” attitude you seem to have adopted.
I am not sure how many of my posts you have read, but I actually did spend hours researching dinner restaurants in NYC by using the Greenmarket list of chef’s/restaurants (that use local ingredients) as a guide. Their link can be found here: http://www.cenyc.org/greenmarket/chefswhobuy We ate breakfast at the hotel (for which I brought my own cereal to supplement whatever they offered). Which left three lunch meals for us to find spontaneously. I also spent hours preparing food and snacks to bring along in case we couldn’t find something with enough acceptable options. I see your point about the eggs, and apparently that was something I overlooked. In addition, I hope no one has gotten the impression that we saying our rules are the perfect and only way to go when it comes to eating real food. I have no problem admitting (and did so on the about page) that despite my hundreds of hours of research and work on this topic over the last six months – I was eating white bread from the grocery store just earlier this year. So relatively speaking I am fairly new at this, and I am sure it does not come as easy as it does for someone who has been eating real food for years. I absolutely agree that I can learn from those more seasoned whole food eaters, but in the meantime I am doing the best I can to provide a valuable learning experience for my family and others.
And as hard as I have worked to go from a white-bread Kraft Macaroni and Cheese kind of girl to where I am today my curiosity got the best of me once I noticed how “white” those noodles looked. I think they were more like 50 or 60% whole-wheat (not 90%), but either way we are just trying to do the best we can. I do welcome opposing comments (which is why none of them have been blocked), but at the same time I hope everyone remembers that if they are not a fan of what we are doing it is of course optional to read along.
From the post above: “remind everyone to never make a decision based on health claims or pictures of nature advertised on the front of a package”
You are so right! I have been buying the Kashi brand crackers and cereals thinking they were a better option (less additivites, better ingredients and what not) when I should have just stuck with Plain Triscuits and Post Shredded Wheat cereals all along! Lesson learned! Kashi makes such big claims and spends millions of dollars on advertising and yet the oldies but goodies are actually much less processed, have fewer ingreidents and less (or no) sugar! Oh, and cheaper! Another great find for healthier eating!
Thanks for reminding us to read those labels!
Sorry, less additives…got type happy with those i’s!
I am so glad people are starting to get this! I recently did a post (on my other food blog) about not judging your food by the cover and I am going to do another one in a few days. Be on the lookout. Here is the link to the older one: http://thefoodillusion.wordpress.com/2010/05/24/dont-judge-food-by-its-cover/
Keep posting stuff like this i really like it
As much as I enjoy reading this blog- and preparing my family for our own Real Food Challenge- I must agree with Mary about being disrespectful towards your parents. They tried, and it still wasn’t good enough for you. I know the ultimate point was to educate your readers about the lies in advertising, but it came across as spoiled and ungrateful.
And as for believing you did not eat any processed foods at P.F. Chang’s and The Pewter Rose, I’m 99% sure the staff finally gave up and told you what you wanted to hear about what was in the food. I’ve worked at both places and while staff does not mind accommodating special requests, interrogating the server, chef and manager over every tiny detail resulted in them nodding, smiling and lying.
I am sorry you feel that way. Here was my response to Mary’s (and your) point of view:
…of course it would have not killed us to eat something against the rules, but I am not sure if you are aware that all four of us have worked EXTREMELY hard to keep up with this new lifestyle over the past couple of months. I don’t see any point in suddenly and purposely “breaking the rules” just because it may be convenient at that moment. That is not what this is about. The whole point of doing “100 Days of Real Food” is to see what obstacles we would encounter (and have to avoid) in trying to go 100% of the way for 100 days. We do not plan to be this hard core once the 100 days are over and after that point we would absolutely eat something just to be polite. As far as this project goes, hopefully the blog readers can tell that we are taking it VERY seriously and the rules are the rules no matter where we are or who we are with. I think most parents would understand when something is this important to you – especially when it is only temporary.
Also, we have actually felt that most of the restaurants we’ve gone to were rather accommodating (considering) and in some cases even very interested in what we are doing. Some servers/wait staff have even gone so far as writing down this website because they were so interested in our little project.
Wow! Your parents must be really patient. You didn’t mention what you ended up feeding yourself and your daughter.
Oh, the adults were having seafood and broccoli so I gave my daughters each a plain whole-wheat tortilla (that I brought in my suitcase and they love…), some broccoli too, and some cheese. Maybe some nuts too. It is hard to remember exactly after such a whirlwind trip!
Food is a very emotional issue, and never more than between parents and children. It’s also a very personal issue, personal to that relationship with all its quirks. I think we should all give Lisa a break and let her and her parents and children work it out for themselves. They love each other, they’re trying hard, they don’t always agree or get things right, but what could be more human?
I do have one piece of advice, though, Lisa, as a sympathetic whole foods parent who works hard to keep the balance between keeping things as healthy as possible and letting the grandparents have their own relationship with the grandchildren: when you get back, don’t ask what your youngest ate, and ignore anything you find out! I’m sure your folks tried their best.
Thanks for your comment! The funny thing is I didn’t even ask my 3-year-old (just as you suggested)…it was almost a little strange because as I was putting her to bed out of nowhere she volunteered one thing that she ate (and probably shouldn’t have). All in all I thought they did pretty well with her though. I will blog about it in more detail tomorrow.
What a tough position to be in- Intergrity and avoiding hypocrisy in sticking to the goal, versus being kind to well-meaning parents. If the blog didn’t exist, it would have been easier to just eat what the parents made.
You are exactly right…if I wasn’t publicly reporting out on following my own set of rules things would surely be different. I can’t imagine what the comments would have been if I knowingly ate the partially refined pasta just to be polite!
Mari, Sandra & Victoria – you can buy raw agave – I get mine at Trader Joe’s and make sweet (green) iced tea with it all the time. Tastes great and takes far less than real sugar or honey to sweeten.
New Yorker here! There are SO MANY fabulous restaurants in NYC that serve fresh whole foods! We are incredibly lucky here in New York as it is truly a ‘Foodie’ town!
DOJO’S in the east village has the best Soy burgers, Jerusalem on 104th & Broadway has fantastic falafels, etc. Enjoy your trip!
I’m wondering how pasta – even whole wheat pasta – fits into the “unprocessed food” category. A vegetable looks pretty much the same from the ground to your plate. A grain, however, must be HIGHLY processed before it can be eaten (even a “whole” one)!
With what we are doing we consider anything with 5 or less ingredients to not be “highly processed” although it is of course somewhat processed (basic cooking is even technically considered a process that changes the food). Our approach is of course just one way to do this and others out there follow a “raw food” diet which sounds more like what you are describing.
I just wanted to comment that we use whole grain RICE pasta. The texture is more like white pasta and it tastes WAY better than whole wheat pasta (YUK). The only downside to it is that it doesn’t store well after it’s been cooked, so you only want to make as much as you will eat AND if you put it in chili or casseroles, it gets mushy, so cook it to al dente or firmer before adding it if it will continue to cook.
You can use agave nectar as the second choice to maple syrup or honey. Baking with agave nectar is no difference with when using traditional ingredients, but there are some rules you must observe in order to achieve good results. What is your favorite recipe for baking with agave nectar?
Oh my gosh, Lisa… I am terribly proud of you for doing this for so long that I can’t believe the backlash that took place here. I think it’s great that you stuck to your guns and didn’t eat the pasta. Your mom obviously understood the rules if she was attempting to buy the whole wheat option in the first place, so I don’t think she would have been angry at you for eating something else. Besides, it’s your family and you know how to handle them… who’s right is it to tell you that you were wrong? HANG IN THERE AND KEEP ON DOING A GREAT JOB!!!
Thank you for saying that and for the encouragement….and yes it is too bad not everyone agreed that I would know the appropriate way to handle such a situation with my own family!
Hi Lisa,
I recently started reading your blog and I love what you and your family are doing. I, too, have recently made the switch to healthier whole foods. Pasta is one of my favorites and I wanted to make sure you knew about Bella Terra pasta. I was worried about switching to whole wheat pasta because I’m not a huge fan of the 100% whole wheat kind, but I fell in love with the Bella Terra 100% Organic “8 Whole Grain Pasta with Milled Flaxseed.”
The ingredients are: Organic 100% whole wheat, organic defatted milled flaxseed, organic whole grain rye, organic whole grain buckwheat, organic whole grain kamut, organic whole grain spelt, organic whole grain millet, organic whole grain barley, and organic whole grain brown rice.
I think it has a nicer texture than plain whole wheat pasta and it also has a slightly nutty taste. I live in Virginia and I buy it at my local Giant, but you can also buy it online. http://www.racconto.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3&products_id=130
Thanks for much for the pasta tip, but (when we are at home) I am honestly just making ours from scratch most of the time. It is hard to beat fresh homemade pasta…that is for sure!
Could you share you recipe for homemade pasta? Sorry if you’ve already posted it and I just couldn’t find it!
Well I haven’t done just a plain pasta recipe yet (I should!) I’ve only posted a ravioli pasta recipe. But, you can use the exact same dough and cut it into noodles…here it is: http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2010/09/01/recipe-butternut-squash-ravioli/