Whole for the Holidays

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Can you believe it is Christmas season 2014? I'm still wondering where the 4th of July went... but I welcome the change of the seasons, and we love the celebration and winter reset that Christmas and the new year bring. Maybe you're new to a wellness lifestyle and power pantry habits, and this is a good time to take a positive step for your health and the health of those around you.

Have you taken a good look at your pantry and fridge recently? Maybe you've tried to 'see with new eyes' and challenge your food shopping habits a bit, like Jen and I have done so many times over the last several years. I recently posted that our power pantry journey is really about one positive step at a time, in the direction of better choices toward whole foods. Sure, we can do a pantry purge and throw out every bit of artificial food and processed stuff from our pantries (actually that's not a bad idea) but more likely, we'll choose to say goodbye to high fructose corn syrup and partially hydrogenated oils, and never go back. And next month, in a burst of inspiration, maybe we'll swear off of enriched white flour or white rice...

With all the cooking and celebrating over food, the Christmas season is a tremendous time to make some much-needed edits in our pantries, and our buying and eating habits. This year, we're trying to do better with our cookie baking. I think we've even found a good alternative recipe for 'magic cookie bars' (those gooey, nutty, sweet treats with the graham cracker crust...mmmmm.) We'll definitely be making some great oatmeal cookies (with real butter and turbinado sugar - my favorite) and the kiddos will be rolling and cutting out regular old sugar cookies (which we make with whole wheat flour). As a bonus, check out some of these healthier cookies from www.eatingbirdfood.com .

Can you think of some whole-food additions and edits you can make this holiday season? The other day I made 'homestyle' stewed apples (that is, I left the skins on the apples and just cooked them up with a bit of raw honey... they are delicious.) That's something I wouldn't have done years ago, but it's so simple, and it's a great, natural treat which we can all enjoy (and it makes the house smell wonderful while they're cooking.)

Take a look at your Christmas cooking traditions and maybe pick one or two where you can make a power pantry choice this year, and there's a good chance those whole food edits can stick with you into the future. A tweak here and a better choice there, and we're well on our way to a healthier power pantry.

By the Way

One functional shopping approach I like to live out is to do more of our food shopping around the outer edges of the grocery store. Almost all grocery emporiums are set up with the fresh foods and better choices around the edges: produce, dairy (if you're still into dairy), fresh seafood and meats (skip the deli...) and the bakery (again, skip the refined, processed stuff as much as possible). For our shopping, we fill about half of our shopping cart with fresh fruits and veggies, and there's chicken and fish and seltzer and beans, and we've found several good brands of staples like natural salsas, better, simple potato and corn chips, hummus, etc. Start shopping the outer ring of the grocery store more aggressively than the aisles and it will step up your power pantry.