What I Ate Today – Rayetta G.

Holistic Squid weighs in with a nutrient-dense spin on Rayetta G.'s diet. Rayetta, 29, lives in Salem, Oregon. She is a stay-at-home mom of three, busy with homeschooling, playing, and managing all of her household's duties.

Check out what Rayetta ate today:

Breakfast: One scrambled egg (pasture-raised) and a bowl of homemade granola (oats, almonds, sunflower seeds, coconut oil, honey) with raw milk and banana slices.

Snack: Homemade lara bar (dates, almonds, coconut, cocoa powder).

Lunch: Shake (bananas, strawberries, blueberries, spinach, raw milk, yogurt) a few carrot sticks, piece of Ezekiel bread toasted with almond butter and raspberry jam.

Snack: Organic apple slices.

Dinner: Lentil and rice soup with homemade pita bread.

Bed-time snack: Two almond-raspberry tart cookies (made with almonds, oats, spelt flour, coconut oil, and maple syrup).

Supplements: Multi-vitamin for women; fish-oil (sometimes).

Dietary goals: To incorporate more vegetables, especially raw veggies into my diet. To learn more about sprouting, soaking nuts/seeds/beans and actually start doing it. To create homemade, nutritious and delicious meals for my little family. To teach my children about proper nutrition and how to make wise food choices. I am also nursing my 7 month old and want to make sure I am eating foods that will be beneficial to her growth and development as well. My main goal is to eat as healthy as possible in this unhealthy world and teach my children how to do the same.

Challenges:  Time is probably the biggest challenge. I am a stay-at-home mom but that doesn't always mean I have the time to spend all day in the kitchen preparing meals from scratch. As it is, I struggle balancing the time I do spend in the kitchen, baking and preparing meals, with taking the time to sit, play and spend quality time with the kids. Another challenge is because I am so busy trying to get my “to-do” list done, just sitting down to actually eat and enjoy my food is difficult. With the exception of dinner (our family always eats dinner together at the table) I am almost always doing something else  (folding laundry, cleaning the kitchen, etc.) in between bites of my breakfast and/or lunch. Taking the time to actually prepare a meal for lunch is another challenge. We eat a lot of almond butter and jelly sandwiches simply because I find it hard to take the time to prepare a meal for lunch. I would love to give the kids and myself more variety in our lunch.

 Holistic Squid says:

Hi Rayetta! Sounds like you're already making lots of great choices for you and your family. Here are some suggestions to take your family's nutrition – and your peace of mind – to the next level:

• Two essential supplements – For your kids and especially as a nursing mom, add both fermented cod liver oil and high vitamin butter oil to your daily routine. The combination of these two super food supplements provides us with essential fats and fat soluble vitamins for optimal structural and physiological development of your little ones as well as optimization of your own health. (You can find these in my Real Food Resource Guide). 
  
• Food as Learning – I'm certainly not a homeschooling expert, but I bet there's lots of ways to multi-task to incorporate teaching, cooking, playing, and – depending on the age of your children – take on some of the work load in the kitchen at the same time! From simple math of counting while chopping and measuring for baking to more complex science experiments like sprouting and culturing, you can have your kids so busy that you may even have time to sit down and enjoy a cup of tea. As for teaching them good nutrition, I think our kids learn best from example and explanation. Before you know it, they'll be teaching their friends why homemade soaked granola is more nutritious (and delicious) than conventional breakfast cereal. One word of warning though: Every now and then allow them an exploration into the world of junk food to prevent raising a child who secretly hoards Snickers under his bed.
• The Four NEW Food Groups – Get in the habit of incorporating at least three out of four of these essential food groups in every meal: saturated fat, bone broth, cultured foods, and seasonal local produce. A fist full of chopped dark leafy greens thrown into your scrambled egg or a scoop of cultured sauerkraut will round out your breakfast. Make your lentil soup with homemade chicken or beef stock and serve with a dollop of cultured cream and a simple green salad. Cook grains and beans in homemade bone broth for added minerals, gelatin, and glycosaminoglycans.
• Detoxify your grains – It seems like grains, legumes, and nuts play a big role in your diet, and as such, it's extremely important that you process by either soaking, sprouting or souring to reduce phytic acid and enzyme inhibitors. Soaking and sprouting are both super easy – you can find instructions all over the internet. I learned how from Sally Fallon's book – Nourishing Traditions. Sourdough bread may make an excellent homeschool project!
• Make friends with your crock pot – The slow cooker is a busy mom's best friend. Mine runs five days out of seven with meals that take very little effort to throw in, but taste like I've been slaving over them all day. You can soak your oats in the am, and slow cook them for hot oatmeal at breakfast. Save bones to make stock that can be left simmering and practically forgotten. And double your recipes for extra meals that you can serve at lunch or freeze for quick dinners later.

Would YOU like to have a Holistic Squid, nutrient-dense spin on what YOU ate today? Send me your name, age, home town, and occupation plus your list of breakfast, lunch, snacks, supplements, dietary goals, and challenges to info at holisticsquid dot com. Please include a fun picture too.

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