Every Thursday we have a box of fresh, seasonal fruit and vegies delivered to our back door. Opening it is a treat that the kids look forward to with a bizarre enthusiasm. "We got silverbeet!" (Swiss chard, for those not in Australia) is an exclamation I never expected to hear from an 8 year old, but it has happened.
The produce is always beautiful, ripe and fresh, and I carry the box inside, full of good intentions. Sometimes we do actually use everything in the box. Sometimes we don't come close. Sometime we get a vegetable that baffles us, or a mango that can't be split five ways. And that is where this blog comes in. Each week I plan to list what we get, and come up with a menu plan to use our box of goodies effectively. I find that I do need to supplement the box with my own home grown vegies, or from the store, and that's ok.
We have a few eating challenges top take into consideration. I am trying to lose weight, a lot of weight, hubby is trying to get fitter, my teenaged son would like to gain a little bulk. Middle child, our only daughter, is perfect the way she is. Our youngest, just turned 9, has recently been diagnosed with ADD, and we have been cutting out all kinds of things for him, with significant improvement. He does not eat artificial flavours or colours, preservatives or red foods, following our paediatrician's recommendations.
So what this all boils down to is a need to cook meals from scratch, using healthy ingredients. What we all should be doing already! We are not big red meat eaters, preferring free range "happy" chicken and fish. We are happy to eat vegetarian meals, a habit we have grown into due to youngest's aversion to the texture of most meats. I am not an expert when it comes to nutrition, just a mother who wants the best for her family.
