I've Tried Something New!

Thank you to P&G’s Have You Tried This Yet? program and Kroger for sponsoring my writing about trying new things and breaking out of my everyday routine. Click here to find great savings on high-performing P&G products at a Kroger store near you. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

It's hard to believe the menu of foods I prepared for my family eight or so years ago. I fried foods on a regular basis and made rich cream sauces and meals laden with butter, buttermilk, and sugar. I was new to cooking and I loved choosing rich-looking dishes from my shelves full of Southern cookbooks.

Over time, though, I've slowly but surely become more conscientious about what's going in my family's bodies. The butter has largely been replaced with olive oil. The sugar has been halved or spiked with all-natural sugar substitute. I've become a wizard at making vegetables palatable. We've discovered the joys of salad and homemade dressing. And from spring until fall, we make weekly pilgrimages to our local farmer's market.

I did all of these things so slowly that I didn't realize how much healthier our meals had gotten until I happened across a list of dishes I was making regularly eight years ago. The changes were spectacular, and my health-conscious habits are still very much a work in progress. We're still working on slowly but surely cutting out sweets for the kids and replacing them with healthier baked fruit and vegetable breads. We're reducing trips to fast food restaurants. We have plans to start a garden this spring, and grow our own herbs, fruits and vegetables.

We want to be realistic- My plan right now is to eventually be junk food-free in this house- and then let the kids eat what they want when we're out. That way, they won't feel deprived and they'll hopefully establish a habit of not stocking their own pantries with junk food.

I'm also determined not to sacrifice taste, which has led to much trial and error in finding healthy recipes. We've found some fabulous winners- and some definite losers! Fortunately, my husband is as committed to eating healthy as I am, and takes the odd "bad nights" in stride!

We still enjoy our traditional decadent meals-- but I've made them the exception rather than the rule. I went out on a limb, threw my old ideas about cooking out the window and tried something new and I'm hoping I have a healthier family to show for it!

Image via Brisbane Falling/Flickr