Menu Monday and October Unprocessed Update

I spent a good chunk of my weekend planning my October menu and reading about the Unprocessed Challenge.  I had a few "ah ha" moments along the way.

First, I don't like the processed/unprocessed words.  My goal is to eat whole foods.  That is easier for me to understand and define.  I don't have to make all my food, grow my own spices, get honey bees, or raise a cow for truly unprocessed beef.  I just want to eat REAL food.  A good help for me was comparing a typical Quaker granola bar's ingredients with that of a Lara bar.

Quaker:  GRANOLA (WHOLE GRAIN ROLLED OATS, BROWNSUGAR, CRISP RICE [RICE FLOUR, SUGAR, SALT, MALTED BARLEY EXTRACT],WHOLE GRAIN ROLLED WHEAT, SOYBEAN OIL, DRIED COCONUT, WHOLE WHEATFLOUR, SODIUM BICARBONATE, SOY LECITHIN, CARAMEL COLOR, NONFAT DRYMILK), SEMISWEET CHOCOLATE CHIPS (SUGAR, CHOCOLATE LIQUOR, COCOABUTTER, SOY LECITHIN, VANILLA EXTRACT), CORN SYRUP, BROWN RICE CRISP(WHOLE GRAIN BROWN RICE, SUGAR, MALTED BARLEY FLOUR, SALT), INVERTSUGAR, SUGAR, CORN SYRUP SOLIDS, GLYCERIN, SOYBEAN OIL. CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF SORBITOL,CALCIUM CARBONATE, SALT, WATER, SOY LECITHIN, MOLASSES, NATURAL ANDARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, BHT (PRESERVATIVE), CITRIC ACID.

Lara bar:  DATES, CHOCOLATE CHIPS, ALMONDS, WALNUTS, COCOA POWDER, SEA SALT

I don't know what soy lecithin is.  I don't know where in the grocery store I could find it.  But I have all the ingredients for that Lara bar in my pantry and I totally recognize them as FOOD!

Second, this is going to be a process (ha, totally unintentional pun, but I love it).  As part of my family's plan for emergencies, we have a nifty food storage supply.  I have several months of food stored and I wasn't as committed to whole foods when I started creating that supply.  We eat from that supply and my grocery shopping fills back in the gaps.  For me, it doesn't make sense to take a month off from that supply.   So while I fully agree that making my own spaghetti sauce would be better (even though my beloved Ragu's ingredients are pretty much acceptable to me), I have 8 jars of sauce in my supply that I'll finish off first.

And, finally, it is my game and I can break my own rules.  I don't do well when I'm told exactly what to do - in anything!  In my sewing, I like to follow the basic pattern, but adjust and make it my own.  I don't copy cat exactly.  I am going to keep working on a whole foods menu for my family, but if we eat junk once in a while, it is totally allowed.  I'm easy like that!

So here is my menu for the week:

MONDAY:  BBQ Chicken sandwiches

TUESDAY:  Spinach Lasagna Rolls (didn't get to them last week)

WEDNESDAY:  Baked Potato bar

THURSDAY:  French Toast

FRIDAY:  Pizza

SATURDAY:  Reception food (my nephew is getting married)

SUNDAY:  Homemade Chili (from the freezer)

Linked up:  OrgJunkie