Dec. 28 - Good, Bad & Ugly in My Fridge

To all of you who read my Blog: I have ONE PROMISE: I am going to post it all: the good the bad and the ugly. So bearing that in mind, realize this is not a glossy magazine "perfect fridge" - that stuff is staged. This is the fridge of a real person with real kids. It has affordable food that is easy to access. Welcome to my fridge!

2nd shelf: Meat and cheese drawer (detailed below) extra bag of skim milk, whole grain, all natural bread (it goes bad too quickly if I keep it in the bread box - no preservatives!)

3rd shelf: Bowl contains 2 steamer bags of veggies - one with cabbage to steam and add to a stir fry or soup, the second has green beans, carrots, zucchini and Mrs. Dash, family pack of chicken breasts, leftover fruit salad, 2 dozen eggs

The fridge door, or, as I like to call it, "Where the Wild Things Are". Top shelf: real butter (none of this margarine chemical crud!), one last remaining Jello pudding for the little one's lunch box, mustards, liquid smoke (it was so pricey I haven't convinced myself to throw it out - so good in bean soup), an open tin of tomato paste for pita pizzas, hm hot pepper jelly (a Christmas gift - I'll be using it up as an appetizer for our NY Eve party)

2nd shelf: Caesar dressing (going to live with a friend - I won't be eating it!) real Parmesan cheese - all natural, lemon, lemon juice (contains preservatives - it will not be replaced when it is gone), light mayo, all natural salsa

3rd shelf- Raspberry jelly (kids eat it on their toast - it won't get replaced once it's gone), BBQ sauce, (I know, SUGAR!!!) Newman's OV dressing (for me), 2 bottled dressings (for kids - also will not be replaced), Ketchup (will be replaced with all natural no sugar ketchup when it's gone, Tupperware of my homemade salad dressing (CLEAN!)

Fruit drawer - it's all good in here - apples, oranges, a grapefruit that probably will not get eaten (we don't like 'em)

Veggie drawer ( Mixed greens, baby spinach, tomatoes, bell pepper)

Cheese and meat drawer: Feta cheese, all natural New Zealand cheddar, icky orange food coloured cheddar, turkey breast from Christmas dinner

Top shelf of fridge: Big water container, Brita filter, skim milk, yogurt, baby carrots, all-natural peanut butter, leftover broccoli pizza, leftover roasted potatoes.



So there you have it. I didn't go through and do a huge purge like they said in the books. I have two reasons for that:

#1: I can't afford it. I am a single mom, and I just opened a business. I refuse to throw away food. Some things I knew I would never eat again went to the food bank and some things went to a friend. Others, we will replace with healthy alternatives when they are used up (like the ketchup).

#2: I felt like it would be easier to change my kids to EC if it was gradual. I didn't suddenly want all their goodies to disappear at once. That is the surest way I know to have them stage a mutiny and overthrow the kitchen! (Okay, that last part was for dramatic effect!) Anyhow, if they have their raspberry jelly on toast until its gone and then it gets replaced with an all-fruit spread, I think that is a gentler way to introduce this lifestyle to them. A couple more weeks of real jelly after years of consumption is not going to kill them. Little by little I am improving their meals, and they aren't feeling as though they are 'missing out'.

And there you have it, justifications and all. The things I got rid of were the ones that were too hard for me to resist -things like soda pop and chips are simply not things I can have in the house without eating them. I find it easy to resist the icky fatty chemically salad dressings so they get to live here til they're gone. I never really enjoyed jelly that much, so the jelly, too can stay. Chocolate truffles, ice cream, that type of thing, no freakin' way am I strong enough to keep it in my fridge and not eat it - so again - HISTORY!

I'll be back later to post today's food and to confess last night's cookie misdeeds!