Day 7

Well there’s no need to retell days 3,4,5, and 6 except that it involved some leftover homemade tzatziki sauce, homemade tahini sauce, pita bread, ramen, and chicken tenders. I did make tuna salad sandwiches last night and the kids had leftovers for lunch today. Other than that, no new recipes or exciting preservative free adventures to tell of.

Now tonight, that’s another story. I have already mapped out and shopped for a week of homemade goodness. Tonight’s experiment was a spicy beef stew with homemade mashed potatoes and gravy. The stew was not as spicy as I would have liked it and the gravy according to David was a bit bland, but lessons learned. So if I plan to make this again, note to self…add more red pepper to the stew and more salt to both. Maybe I can even add a bit more garlic to both the gravy and stew. One thing I didn’t try with the gravy was that it called for brandy. Maybe if I had added the brandy, the flavor would have been stronger. Of course, that would also mean I would have to have some brandy on hand.  That might be good in more way than one.

Tomorrow – Garlic, spinach, and chickpea soup with basmati rice.

Day 2

I have to admit that I have had mixed reviews so far on my journey. I have some saying “way to go” and “go for it” and others who have said “gee, that’s awfully hard to do” and “don’t you think that that’s too big of a change?” Well, who knows? Maybe I will fail. Maybe I will succeed beyond my expectations. I can only give it a try.

I didn’t think I would succumb to the quick meal so fast, but seeing as David and I both had a late lunch and were not hungry…I fell back on the old standards for now for the kids. Besides, l already said that I wasn’t supermom.  And there are the old foods to use up first. So, that being said, dinner went as such – leftovers for David and I (when we eventually got hungry) and ramen and chicken tenders for the kids. I do want to clarify however that the chicken tenders are preservative free (I read the packaging closely) and overall not too bad. Not great mind you, but not really really bad either.

For lunch, well I didn’t go entirely preservative free, but I didn’t go hog wild on the preservatives either. The kids had ham and turkey sandwiches, not on homemade bread however, organic grapes, and steamed veggies (except that Joseph insisted on only raw carrots, organic). I have to admit my doubts about being able to provide a fresh loaf of bread for all of the school lunches I will be packing. We will see as the year gets underway. In fact, I may modify my journal a bit to dinners seeing as once the school year gets underway, the kids and my husband both will be provided packed lunches (filled by myself of course) and I will be lunching alone.

As I continue my journey, there will be modifications made, some good, some bad. We will just have to let the chips fall where they may.

Bon  Appetite Mes Amis!

Day 1 : And so it begins

My Disclaimer

Well, it’s the start of new week and so I begin my venture into a preservative free meal lifestyle. Seeing that I am most likely ADHD and prone to get really excited about things and then fizzle out about halfway in, I am not setting any sort of year deadline or what-not. We will just see how far I go with this. Of course, there will always be some slip-ups, some overlooks, and oops occurrences but that is expected with two children and an ADHD mom. There are just some things that the kids want for lunch and I am willing to make…i.e. Ruth’s favorite ramen mix. Also, sometimes I just like a good fast meal. I will blog all of my mistakes too, just to be honest and also show that I’m human and not super mom.  I will try my best to pre-make things and freeze them just so I can have a fast meal available. I also am fully aware that to go organic is best, and I will when I can, but financially this is not doable for me on a regular basis. I figure that if I am going preservative free, that is a pretty good choice for my family and myself. There are also some things that I can’t, won’t and just truly unable to make that will have to be premade like cheeses, mustard, ketchup, yoghurt, etc.  So those who feel that I haven’t truly gone preservative free are entitled to their own opinions.

So, now that my so called disclaimer is set forth on to the experiment.

Today I will start off with making some homemade bread…if we get back from the zoo with high spirits and gung-ho still intact. And as it is most nights, dinner will be made ala chez Keffer.  Now, not so true to my blog start tonight I will make falafels with a yoghurt-cucumber sauce. The falafels will come from a box mix instead of making fresh from chickpeas and spices yet also in my defense I want to use up what is in the cupboards first so as not to waste what is here. I realize that I am not going entirely preservative free yet, but come on…no need to throw everything away and start fresh. That is just too costly and in my humble opinion too wasteful. If I really feel super mom, I will also make some tahini, but that depends also if the sesame paste is not too hard to mix back into a useable consistency. If not, David will just have to be satisfied with what he gets.  I know that I have left out lunch, but hey…I can’t think of that yet. We have a zoo to go to.