Before we jump into my things loved in May, let me start by sharing my very favorite, best-ever thing loved so far in June—all of my pictures have been recovered! WOO-HOO!! Instead of continuing to wallow in my wine, I will now pour a celebratory glass and toast the computer gods for a job well-done. Such. A. Relief!
Okay, moving on to Things Loved in May…
1. Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution
If you’ve never checked out anything from one of my “Things Loved” lists before, this is the one I most strongly want you to consider. I blogged about Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution TV series last spring when it first aired because I found it to be incredibly eye-opening. The show is about Jamie Oliver, a chef from the UK, and his mission to get unhealthy, unrecognizable processed foods out of America’s schools (and homes, and drive-thrus…) and replaced with healthy meals cooked from fresh ingredients.
Now that its second season has begun, I look back over this past year and realize how instrumental this show has been in shaping the way my family eats. It shined a bright enough light on what goes into popular processed foods that I could no longer ignore the facts, and I could not in good conscience begin feeding this kind of food to my child who would soon be adding solid foods to her diet.
That was a year ago, and today I’m proud to say that my family has almost eliminated processed foods from our diets. I can tell you every ingredient that goes into the meals I prepare for my family and where it came from. It’s been a significant change in my lifestyle, but physically I feel incredible, and emotionally I have a lot of pride in what is put on my daughter’s plate.
The changes I’ve made for my family may sound drastic, but there are simple steps that anyone can take to improve the quality your nutrition…starting with watching this show, and believing that you and your family deserve better. The show airs Friday nights on ABC. You can also view episodes online, and become part of the “food revolution” at ABC.com.
2. Pizzeria Pizza Crusts
In line with eliminating proceed foods from our diet, I’ve been wanting to replace the “just add water” pizza crust mix I buy for Kate’s veggie pizza to a crust with ingredients that I recognize and can pronounce…but I wasn’t quite sold on the idea of making it myself from scratch.
3. Yurbuds
My friend Todd told me about Yurbuds after I complained incessantly about mentioned how much I hate my iPhone earbuds because they frequently fall out when I’m running. Yurbuds
4. Aveda Phomollient
This is one of my favorite hair products, and I’m surprised I haven’t blogged about it yet! Aveda Phomollient
5. CK Fanya wedges
My go-to shoes for this spring and summer are my new Calvin Klein Fanya wedges
Have you seen Food Inc? If you like Jaime Oliver, you will love Food Inc. It completely changed the way my fiance and I eat.
I also used to buy pizza dough from a pizzeria…so good and so cheap. I do make my own pizza dough now, its really not hard with a KitchenAid mixer, and I’ll make a ton at a time to stock my freezer. Here’s the recipe if you are interested: http://cookingwithchrissy.wordpress.com/2011/02/10/pizza-dough/
I am so glad about your pictures, I have been checking each day for your outcome…happy for you!
Hooray for the pictures!
Will you be sharing more recipes with us? I really want to eliminate processed foods from our diet as well, since our little guy will be eating table food before I know it!
@cookingwithchrissy–I started watching Food Inc. last summer but I didn’t have the stomach to finish it. It’s still in my Netflix instant queue so I’m going to try to watch it again. Thanks for the pizza dough recipe. I’ll save it for when I (someday!) get a KitchenAid mixer!
Thanks Arlena!
@Gia–I do plan on sharing more recipes, especially now that my pictures of the finished products have been recovered. Stay tuned!
CUTE Shoes!!
If you are close to Trader Joe’s, they sell pizza dough in regular and wheat.
Love Jamie Oliver and have been watching him since last year. I think everyone should sit down and at least watch a couple. Did you see the garbage in the sundae ingredients?? Unbelievable!
I am very anxious and excited to see you post more recipes. Baby/kid recipes and the stuff you guys eat too. What do you normally eat for lunch at work? I’m kind of over salads right now.
Oh yea… a tremendous YAY to the masive photo recovery. Congrats!
Yeah on the recovery of the pictures… I recently went through the same thing and can’t tell you how relieved I was when they were all back safe and sound on not one but (1) different hard drives. Kate is getting so big… I can’t believe I have been following you since before you were pregnant. Seems like a distant memory. Time flies! Have a great day!
I absolutely love Jamie and what he is doing in our schools! As an elementary education graduate and a mom, it is so disturbing to see what is served in our public school lunches! Hooray for Jamie for making a difference, and hooray for you for the chages you’ve made in what your family eats! Very inspiring!
Thanks for the tip Anne Marie–I’ll have to check that out!
@Amanda M.–YES! I don’t think I’ll ever eat M&Ms (or store-bought ice cream) again! As for work lunches, we typically stick with leftovers, otherwise my current favorite go-to is a sandwich made with sliced roast beef from the deli, fresh mozzarella, pesto, and basil leaves on “sandwich thins” bread, and homemade hummus and sliced carrots for my side. Hope that helps!
At Sam’s Club you can get 20 frozen pizza dough balls for less than $16. The price may be different in other clubs, though.