30 Days of Real Food

After finding these two blogs the other day I thought it was time for me to try out a new way of eating.
http://deliciouslyorganic.net/
http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/

Last year after seeing Alicia Silverstone on Oprah and buying The Kind Diet I tried Vegetarian and Vegan for 30 days. I learned that being a strict vegan is HARD and I'm not really my thing, although I do still make many vegan dishes and sometimes have vegan days. I tend to lean towards vegetarian, so far I have made no decisions to become strictly vegetarian.

So this year I'm doing 30 days of real food, but being me I also threw in a couple other things. Really I'm doing 30 days of real foods that are grain free mostly organic, plus I'm thinking of throwing in doing it on a budget just for kicks.

Here is what I mean by Real Food:
Whole foods that are more a product of nature than a product of industry.
Lots of fruits and vegetables trying to make most of them organic when possible.
100% whole-wheat and whole-grains
Seafood (wild caught is the optimal choice over farm-raised)
Only locally raised meats such as pork, beef, and chicken
Beverages limited to water, milk, all natural juices, naturally sweetened coffee & tea, and, to help the adults keep their sanity, wine and beer!
Snacks like dried fruit, seeds, nuts and popcorn
All natural sweeteners including honey, 100% maple syrup, and fruit juice concentrates are acceptable in moderation

What you not a Real Food:
No refined grains such as white flour or white rice (items containing wheat must say WHOLE wheat…not just “wheat”)
No refined sweeteners such as sugar, any form of corn syrup, cane juice, or the artificial stuff like Splenda
Nothing out of a box, can, bag, bottle or package that has more than 5 ingredients listed on the label
No deep fried foods
No “fast foods”

I have planned my menu for next week and went to the farmer's market, Trader Joe's, Safeway and back to Trader Joe's (I didn't buy enough pecans the first time) I'm ready to start cooking and getting real!