It started with an oven...

Well, sort of.  I've been experimenting with cooking and recipes for years.  And reading about food.  Reading articles about nutrition, cooking techniques, obesity.  Reading everything I can about why Americans (including myself) gain weight and can't seem to lose it.  So, I'm launching an experiment on myself and my family members to eat better food and hopefully be healthier.

I've, personally, always struggled with my weight.  I don't believe in cutting out entire food groups (sorry Atkins/Veganism/Paleo, but you're not for me), and the whole calorie-counting thing is frustrating because when I'm calorie-counting, I have a nasty tendency of eating processed, convenience foods because it is much easier to write down the number of calories off of the label.  It takes so much effort to weigh, measure, and record everything I cook- especially when cooking a recipe from scratch for my family.  So I started reading as much as I could about diet and trying to find a way to lose weight or at least be healthy and not gain any more weight while not torturing myself.

While I was reading, I found this interesting information in a study from the Journal of Economic Perspectives: in 1965 a married woman (who didn't work outside the home) spent two hours a day preparing meals.  Today that number has dropped to 30 minutes (Forbes).  And our weight has soared. But the most interesting part of the article was this- the authors state that prior to WWII, Americans ate "massive amounts of potatoes" but those potatoes were mostly cooked at home.  Now we just eat massive amounts of french fries.  So, that seems to mean that the much maligned potato is not the problem...the problem is how the potato is prepared and how convenient it is to eat a potato.  The authors also point out how much work it takes to make french fries at home.  How many of us go to this effort?  (Here's a link to the article if you'd like to read more:  http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/jesse.shapiro/research/obesity.pdf)

That article was really eye-opening.  So, I read more along the same vein.  I read about other cultures- and found more and more that cultures that don't eat all of our processed foods (I'm looking at you, Oreo) don't have the obesity problems that we do.  They can eat carbs and not gain weight. 

I talked things over with my family, and decided to start cooking everything from scratch.  Yeah, everything.  

Oh- and then my oven broke.

We ordered a new one, and it took months to get here.  But, it is gorgeous...

 

I've set the following "ground rules" for myself.  

1. Cook as much from basic ingredients as possible.
2. If I need to purchase something pre-made, it has to have recognizable ingredients, no preservatives, no artificial sweeteners, no high-fructose corn syrup, and no hydrogenated/partially-hydrogenated oils.  (This rule lets me buy sandwich bread.  I, eventually, want to bake it myself...but baby steps.)
3. Try new things.  Don't get stuck in a rut.

That's enough philosophy.  On to the food!