The Ground Rules

Before I could saddle up & go out into the big, scary world in search of a more pure diet, there had to be ground rules. Fumbling blindly through countless aisles of foods I'd never considered and sorting through bins of produce, wondering if paying an extra $2 per head of lettuce was really worth it for the sake of going organic would never keep my enthusiasm for this new way of living. I spent a few days researching - picking & choosing what I liked from various extreme diets, while trying to keep a level head about it.

By the way, I hate to call what I'm doing a "diet", in the traditional, restricting sense. I wont be depriving myself of anything. If I want a slice of cake, I will make the best cake possible & revel in each moist, sumptuous, and velvety bite. This isn't a low-calorie diet, however I have a feeling that a happy side effect of eating "whole" will be weight loss. I'll be sure to keep you posted.

Back to the ground rules.

Any beef consumed (we're aiming for once a week) will be organic (not to be confused with the term "natural", which is unregulated by the USDA, and essentially meaningless) and grass fed.

Certified organic beef must come from a fully verifiable production system that collects information on the history of every animal in the program, including its breed history, veterinary care, and feed. Further, to be certified as organic, all cattle must meet the following criteria:

• Born and raised on certified organic pasture
• Never receive antibiotics
• Never receive growth-promoting hormones
• Are fed only certified organic grains and grasses
• Must have unrestricted outdoor access

Having been raised on a dairy farm, it's my belief that when cattle are given individual attention & treated with a certain level of respect, they produce a superior product (It's a fact that cows that are given names produce more milk than their unnamed counterparts). Going organic almost certainly guarantees this. Hokey? Perhaps. I've seen both sides of the spectrum & would rather give my money to the farmers that treat their animals with dignity.

Beef will also be grass-fed. While less flavorful, it's leaner. When you hear someone talk about how "flavorful" their beef is, you can take it to the bank that they're talking about marbling, which is, in essence, a high fat content.

On the subject of cows, we come to dairy products. This is where it got a little sticky for me. In a traditional whole foods diet, you wouldn't eat anything processed. 99% of milk you can buy is pasteurized & homogenized.  I don't consider this a bad thing. Pasteurization has saved countless souls from dying of horrible diseases. I'm not about to turn my nose up at such a scientific achievement, only to get my ass kicked by typhoid.

Homoginization is another can of worms. The process breaks down large fat particles in milk, so that the finished product doesn't separate. It isn't necessary, per se... but do you really want to drink milk that has a layer of fat billowing at the surface? I didn't think so.

Clearly, I cannot replicate this process in my humble kitchen. I'm not exactly in the position (nor do I have any desire) to buy Bessie & keep her in the back yard. As long as the milk and cream are organic, I'll allow it.

Organic sour cream & artisanal cheeses are also given the green light. If I can buy from local creameries & farms, all the better.

Poultry must be organic (I'm already getting sick of the word & this is only my third entry) and free range. The thought of thousands of chickens squashed together, never given the freedom to walk outside, and pumped full of hormones that make them produce more eggs than what their bodies would naturally, is enough to make my stomach turn.

We've never really eaten much pig. The smell of bacon has always nauseated me (I actually made my husband cook it outside on the grill when I was pregnant), we both despise ham, and I roast a pork loin maybe once a month. I have yet to really research this, and so I'll wait to share my opinion until I'm more thoroughly informed on the topic.

Seafood will be wild-caught. Remember the chicken visual? Apply this to hundreds of thousands of fish, tightly packed in man-made pools, unable to swim freely. This is a recipe for disease & parasites. The answer? Pump the fish full of antibiotics and the water full of pesticides.

There is one enormous con to eating wild-caught fish, and I'm still not sure if I'm making the right decision on this. Overharvesting has greatly depleated our oceans of fish (namely Atlantic Salmon - always go for Alaskan instead!). While it appears that farm-raised fish are the lesser of the two evils, environmentally speaking, I think we're going to stick with the wild caught. There's a wonderful article here on this topic.

Hot dogs, sausage, and any other processed meat (meat in tube form, meat that comes in loaves at the deli counter, meat that comes in nugget form, or any other unnatural shape) will not be touched. The last time I checked, there is no animal that has a muscle in the shape of a perfect square, or circle, or oval... Think about it.

If I want a turkey sandwich, I will go out, buy a whole turkey (or just a turkey breast), roast it, and slice it.  I could go buy some ominously slimy Hillshire Farms turkey in a reusable plastic container... but in my opinion, the only time a turkey should be wet is if it's standing in a field during a rain storm; Not when it's injected with a saline solution, sealed in a plastic bag, & stuffed in more plastic for human consumption.

I want to stop here for a moment. I know I've been advocating for organic thus far. I wont be doing this for everything. Animals are quite often injected with hormones in order to produce more meat, which are then digested by us when we eat them. While the jury is still out on the long term effects of all this, I can't imagine the outcome being very positive. Individually we need to decide what's worth it, and what isn't. I'm not out to influence anyone, or talk anyone into spending the bulk of their paycheck on organic food - it IS more expensive, and that's something to take into account as well.

Fruits & Vegetables

I will buy seasonal. I will buy local. I will buy from the farmer's market. I will buy frozen (as long as there are no additional ingredients or preservatives). I will not buy anything canned (with the exception of organic tomatoes, when they aren't in season). I will buy organic when possible, and not freak out if I can't.

Complex Carbohydrates

Brown rice, wheat germ, whole wheat flour (and occasionally unbleached AP for baking), barley, corn meal, steel cut oats, whole wheat pasta, dried beans & lentils, and quinoa will be allowed. Eventually I will try my hand at making my own pasta and bread, but for now I will focus on the changes I've already put in place.

Nuts & Seeds

As long as they come in their purest form (the only ingredient should be the nut or seed itself) I welcome them all into my kitchen.


Condiments, Sauces, etc...

Now this is where the purists would come beat me to death with their burlap sacks of whole grain. While I consder myself an intermediate cook, I want to be realistic. Do I have the time to make my own fruit preserves? Probably not. Will I ever feel the urge to bottle my own ketchup? Not really. Am I going to make my own mustard? No chance.

So I decided to make my own rules. I'll allow it if it doesn't have:

partially hydrogenated oils
artificial colors or flavors
preservatives, stabilizers, or fillers
refined sugar
high fructose corn syrup (Sorry, corn refiners of America)
anything more than what I think should be in it


Simply put, I will strive to buy ingredients in their purest form, whether it's a dozen eggs or soy sauce.