Lisa Leake - 100 Days of Real Food

To my mom and dad, for their unwavering love and support. After loads of extensive research and experimentation, I finally started to relearn how to food shop and cook for my family. I n 2010 I was given the wake-up call of my life when I watched an episode of Oprah featuring Michael Pollan, who was talking about where our food comes from, and realized that the Standard American Diet we were eating might actually be a big problem. I went on to read his book In Defense of Food and learned that a lot of what I thought was healthyand was feeding my family!was actually highly processed, or what Pollan called food-like substances. I knew some serious changes were in order, but I struggled with where to begin. I literally lost sleep over what to feed my kids if goldfish and fruit snacks were no longer options.

But I felt compelled to figure it out and dove in headfirst. After loads of extensive research and experimentation, I finally started to relearn how to food shop and cook for my family. It was hard to keep all these big changes to myself, so I started filling in family and friends whenever I had the chancesecretly wishing they would jump on board with us! Then one night I had an idea. What if our family of four took a pledge to go 100 straight days without eating any processed food at all? My hope was that our little experiment (which I documented and is still housed on my blog, 100daysofrealfood.com) would help draw attention to how dependent Americans have become on processed food, show that a typical suburban family could survive (and even thrive!) on real food, and convince as many other people as possible to join us. So, with my husband and kids (thankfully) on board, our journey began. I shared the details of our entire pledge online (and later created a budget version), with plenty of real-food recipes and shopping tips along the way.

And little did I know how life-changing it would be. Slowly but surely my little blog grew from fifty readers (mostly family and friends) to millions around the globe, and in 2014 I released my first cookbook, whichmuch to my surprisequickly became a national bestseller. My wish to spread this important message came true, and Im thrilled youre here to join us no matter where you are on your own real-food journey. WHATS IN THIS BOOK The more I talk with my readersfrom real-food newbies to those who have been on the bandwagon for yearsthe clearer it is that people are looking for fast, easy ways to integrate real food into their lives. And the truth is, it does not have to be complicated. My hope is that the resources in this book will help make this transition doable for you and your family.

Change is hard at first, but simply take the first step and youll likely agree theres no going back! In this book youll find 100 quick and easy recipes75 of them new, never-before publishedcreated with busy families in mind. But first youll find the basics on how to identify real food and avoid the processed stuff, a list of my favorite grocery store finds and the supermarket tricks I no longer fall for, and a new set of seasonal meal plans, along with some helpful food prep and storage charts. Real food is made with five or fewer whole ingredients (or has no ingredient list at all)! E ating real food basically means avoiding anything highly processed. Sounds simple, right? Well, unfortunately the constant stream of buzzwords (thanks, processed food industry) and experts telling you what and what not to eat (thanks, diet trends) are enough to make your head spin. After my huge wake-up call about processed food, I decided to completely overhaul my familys diet and learn how not to fall prey to those influences. In our new way of life, we aim to eat the traditional foods our ancestors survived on for centuries before us.

This isnt a trendy dietits our new normal. So, to help you get to your new normal, here are some cheat sheets that will show you how to identify real food. For a more in-depth explanation behind these choices, as well as the convincing reasons to avoid processed food plus even more wholesome recipes, take a look at my first 100 Days of Real Food book if you havent already. Whats the number one way to know whats in your food and how highly processed it is? Read the ingredient label (not to be confused with the nutrition facts label)! I like to aim for five or fewer whole ingredients, but identifying those whole ingredients isnt always as simple as it should be, so here are some cheat sheets to use as a guide. Take pictures of these charts with your phone so you can reference them the next time youre at the grocery store. OUR REAL-FOOD RULES In case youre new to our story, these are the 100 Days of Real Food rules we followed during our 2010 pledge to avoid all highly processed food, whether we were at home, out to dinner, traveling, or at a friends house: 1.

No refined grains; only 100 percent whole grain 2. No refined or artificial sweeteners; only honey and pure maple syrup in moderation 3. Nothing out of a package that contains more than five ingredients 4. No factory-farmed meat; only locally raised meat products 5. No deep-fried foods 6. No fast food 7.

Beverages to include only water, milk, occasional all-natural juices, naturally sweetened coffee and tea, and (to help the adults keep their sanity) wine and beer in moderation! WHY EAT THIS WAY? Ive always been up front that it takes more time and effort to put a wholesome real-food meal on the table than it does to pop a Hot Pocket in the microwave. But as we quickly learned, its worth the effort for the health of our family. I initially overhauled our diets because I thought it was the right thing to do, but I was delighted when we experienced these unexpected changes in our health as a result: Improvement in asthma symptoms (i.e., less wheezing) Fewer overall illnesses Change in palate/less picky eating Constipation gone For the adults: Weight loss Increase in HDL (good) cholesterol More energy These were only the most obvious changesso I have to wonder what other underlying long-term health benefits have been going on in our bodies. Regardless, it makes sense to know where your food comes from! Its worth the effort for the health of our family.