There is no question that this has been an incredibly enlightening experience for us so far, but at the same time who wouldn’t be ready for it to end? The reality is that we will still eat very much the same as we do now, but on day 101 we will have the ability to make exceptions as we see fit. For example, just tonight, right after we ripped open a package of prosciutto from the farmer’s market I noticed the label said it was cured with brown sugar. I guess once I got the locally raised meat part checked off my list I forgot to double-check the ingredients…what a bummer! Now I have to find a lucky recipient for our $8.50 package of meat.
Lots of people have been asking us what we will do when this is over so I thought I would make a list of other exceptions that we plan to dive into after the 100 days…
- Some store-bought items with either six or seven ingredients or with forbidden ingredients including…
- Mayonnaise (my girls love egg salad and I have not been happy with homemade mayo recipes)
- Apple pie flavored Lara Bars (several friends have told me this is their favorite flavor and I have not been able to try it yet!)
- Some good ol’ organic Heinz ketchup (although we don’t really use that much of this condiment it will be incredibly convenient to use again)
- Worcestershire sauce happens to be an ingredient in a lot of good recipes and no matter how natural it is it has been strictly against the rules for us
- Something deep-fried, although it will be homemade of course…I am thinking sweet potato fries will be first on the list.
- Maybe one batch of my (old) signature chocolate chip cookie recipe with real chocolate chips instead of the unsweetened bitter ones. I will also probably use the sugar that the recipe calls for, but may stick with whole-wheat flour.
- Lastly, we are all looking forward to the ability to be more flexible when we are out of the house. Aside from the items I have listed so far, things will probably pretty much stay the same at home. But, since it is always so much more difficult to stick to the rules when we are out (at a restaurant, friends house, or birthday party), that is where I expect to see the most change. I really don’t know for sure though if I could stomach my girls digging into a high-fructose corn syrup filled grocery store cake at a party or not…I will just have to wait and see on that one.
Once we truly hit day 100 I will be sure to also make a list of what we will do differently (in a positive way) as a result of this experience. As we close in on the final stretch of our pledge it is too easy to think of what we miss, but of course we have also learned so much and will make many more changes for the better going forward.
Okay, enough of that sappiness. So today my 3-year-old had her first day of ballet/tap class, and the instructors hand out a piece of candy to each child as a reward at the end. I don’t see why they can’t just give out a sticker or a stamp instead (kids love that stuff too!), but apparently they weren’t too fond of the idea when I suggested it last year when my older daughter was a student. I have learned that I can now pretty much trust my 5-year-old to stick to our rules in my absence, but I am not so sure how much of this my 3-year-old really “gets”. Luckily there is a glass window on the door of the classroom so I could peak through as they were handing out the candy. I held my breath as they got to Sienna feeling worried that either they would forget or she would freak out that she got something different. But, to my surprise all went as planned, and I was honestly perplexed that she didn’t seem to mind that she got a sticker instead of the candy she saw every other child receive.
In the car I couldn’t help but ask her about her special little sticker and if she saw what the other kids were given. She told me candy of course and I said, “Did you wish you had gotten the candy too?” I hate to even ask her that, but while I am of course committed to our rules it would break my heart to think of my girls feeling left out for any reason. Out of nowhere my 3-year-old responds with “No, because I can’t have candy”. Wow, okay so maybe she HAS been paying at least a little bit of attention over the last 81 days. I honestly think most parents (my “old” self included) would have never said, “Don’t give my child the candy” because we would just assume there would be some sort of major melt down as a result…and parents always want to avoid melt downs! Well, I guess you never know what will really happen until you try. And maybe it took us 81 days to get to a good place with our younger (and pickier) child, but I would of course have to say it was worth the effort (especially now that the hardest part is over!)
We can’t have the apple pie larabars? Oops. I had one on the first day (I guess it is technically 6 ingredients but they all looked harmless so I didn’t think anything of it). I’m not a big fan because of the dates I guess, though I think I like it better than PB cookie. I am just going to make my own with your granola recipe. Any ideas of how to make them into chewy bars?
That’s the thing with the rules…we had to come up with a magic number 5 just to make it an easy-to-follow rule (without any complicated exceptions) that lots of different people could follow. On a regular basis something like the apple pie Lara bars are totally fine because you are right – all of the ingredients are harmless! Unfortunately not everyone can easily look at the ingredients and make the right decision which is why we made the rule.
Also, have you seen these recipes (although they do use dates)…you could maybe try dried apricots, but they wouldn’t be nearly as sweet to offset the bitter cocoa: http://thefoodillusion.wordpress.com/2010/06/05/recipe-powerballs-two-versions/
http://thefoodillusion.wordpress.com/2010/07/17/recipe-chocolate-torte-with-whipped-cream-and-chocolate-sauce/
I had luck replacing the white sugar in chocolate chip cookies with honey, but kept the brown sugar (the time I was making them I had already banished white sugar from the house & had some leftover brown sugar still). Congrats on making it this far & good luck with the next 11 days
If I might make a comment to those who are thinking of doing the 10 or 100 days. Please don’t throw out your “junk”, “processed” food but instead donate them to a local food bank, food closet. Sure the food might not be the best choice but to those who have nothing, “bad” food is better than no food.
just my 2 cent
Also Whole Foods is collecting these types of food as well, they are donating it to food banks in the Charlotte area.
good suggestion. Will do!
Your blog is brilliant I will have to read it all, thank you for the diversion from my workload!
Love the blog.
For ketchup – I like the Harris Teeters Traders Organic – it has only 6 ingredients.
Regular Hunts has 7 and no HFCS which is amazing for “regular” ketchup.
I took my Heinz that did have HFCS into work for folks who run out for fries at lunch and dont get ketchup – figured it would get eaten there!
I don’t know if I looked at the HT Organic one before…good to know b/c I will be there on day 101 to buy it!
When you can have Mayo again, if you have a Trader Joe’s, they sell a brand with NO preservatives and no sugar etc…
Keep up the great work.
We do have a TJ’s so thanks for sharing!
When your 100 days is up try the Ojai Cook brand Lemonnaise….it is absolutely delightful! So-I just want to thank you so very much for all your hard work here….so many people are benefitting from it and my family are just some of them. I have been so paralyzed by what to do and what to eat that it makes my head and heart hurt sometimes and I really appreciate your guidance. As it turns out, we are actually eating pretty close to the rules (at home of course not so much out of the house)but I am continually surprised to find sugar (well…primarily evaporated cane juice) in so many items in my home…sometimes I think that I get tired and just rely on “organic” to do the work and I really have to always look hard at every ingredient. Have you seen “Fresh, The Movie” yet? I just read about it in “Eating Well” today….I look forward to seeing it! I am curious when the 100 days is up I assume you will leave your blog and info links up for reference? I sure hope so! Oh – and today was my first day of my 10 day pledge and I actually met with a couple of challenges (accidentally ended up grocery shopping hungry and NOT at the right type of store for that (needed cleaning supplies)) and then went to the movies but I persevered….made my own approved popcorn and super yummy powerballs (mixed it up and kind of combined the peanut butter honey ones with the cocao date ones and it was AMAZING!)and stayed on course! Thank you again and good luck in these final days!
Thank you so much for your comment! I felt the exact same way when we first started making our transition to real food…I was just lost and confused and didn’t know what to cook or eat! Which is exactly why I started the blogs (both this one and foodillusion.com) to help others in the same situation and to also share all that I have learned leading up to where we are today. I will definitely continue to update food illusion regularly when this is all over, and I will absolutely keep the 100 days site up and probably just do a few posts here and there. I hope to keep getting pledges (and graduates!) and I will also update the resources page as I add new recipes to the food illusion site. I have not heard of the movie you mentioned and will definitely look into it. Thanks again for the comment and good luck with the rest of your pledge!
Can I repost this on my blog? I’ll drop you a backlink. Let me know, thanks!
We don’t eat mayo here due to allergies, but I make a mix of spinach, cottage cheese and some spices to mix with eggs for sandwiches….my kids still can’t eat it but it sure is a healthier alternative. I think if you Google clean egg salad you’ll find more info…