Health

20 Real Food Substitution Recipes to Move Towards a Healthier Lifestyle

Making a big change in your life can be tough, no matter what it is. Old habits die hard, as they say.

Switching from the SAD (Standard American Diet) to a real food lifestyle can be overwhelming and confusing. Where do you start?

Today, I want to highlight 20 real food substitutions that will move your transition forward. You don’t need to do them all the same week.

Maybe even pick one or two a month and start there. Whatever you need to do so that you don’t give up before you see the benefits.

I have a FREE Printable PDF that shows you the original food and its real food counterpart. To get the freebie, click on the box above.

Many of these substitutions aren’t things you make, but things you buy differently at the store. Whole wheat flour, sea salt and better oils to name a few.

Others are things you can raise on your homestead like “grass fed”, pastured meat and farm raised eggs.

But today, I want to share with you the recipes to the other, homemade substitutions. That way you aren’t floundering in the dark. You have a solid foundation to stand on.

These aren’t my recipes, but they are recipes from other bloggers that are interested in the real food lifestyle as well.

20 Real Food Substitution Recipes to Move Towards a Healthier Lifestyle

Home canned fruit

Home canned veggies

For more tomato recipes (it’s a vegetable in my book), check out this blog post —> 25 Easy Tomato Canning Recipes To Preserve Your Summer Harvest.

And for some great pickle recipes, check out this post –> 12 Homemade Pickle Recipes to Preserve Your Cucumbers.

Homemade baking mixes

different types of fruit in wooden spoons

Real fruit treats

Homemade “cream of something” soup

These look really great, and so much better for you than that store bought stuff!

If you are looking at these recipes and feeling overwhelmed, don’t try to do it all at once. Download the substitution list and just add one new thing a week.

Or try one new recipe a month to get you moving in the right direction. Your health is a marathon, not a sprint. And all the little changes add up.

So don’t feel like you have to do it all today. Do what you can and add more as you get more in the flow of eating real food.

The effort is worth it! So don’t give up!

What is your favorite real food recipe to make at home? Let us know in the comments below. And if you found this post helpful, please share. Thanks!

9 Tips to Enjoy the Holidays While Not Sacrificing Your Real Food Lifestyle

by Julie Gropp Leave a Comment

The holidays are coming up, starting this week with Halloween.

I don’t know about you, but I feel like we have just one constant holiday from Halloween to New Years. So much food, parties and fun stuff going on.

I love the holidays, but I don’t love the constant sense of indulgence and excess. We don’t need 2 full months of holidays to show others we care.

So today, I want to talk about how you stay on your real food diet during the holidays. And I don’t mean just hiding out at home.

How do you enjoy the festivities without weight gain, bloat and being just plain miserable? That’s the question and hopefully I have the answer.

9 Tips to Enjoy the Holidays While Not Sacrificing Your Real Food Lifestyle

1. Take your own food

When you are invited to a holiday party, offer to bring food. This gives you a great opportunity to bring something healthy, that you can eat.

Most hosts would love you to bring food. It would help them out a ton.

Then, you know there is atleast one thing that you can eat at the party. Most likely it won’t be the only thing you can eat, but it’s always better to be safe.

2. Look at the menu ahead of time

If you are having a work party or family gathering at a restaurant, check out the menu online ahead of time to see what your options are. This will help you get a game plan together that you can live with and still enjoy the visiting with the people around you.

This goes for anytime you are on a certain diet (gluten free, low carb, etc), but it is especially helpful during the holidays. After all, the people you are seeing and spending time with are more important than the food and drink you consume.

3. Eat before you go

Don’t go to a party or gathering hungry. That is a big no-no!

Make sure you eat something, even if it just a handful of nuts or a bar, before you go. Ideally you should eat a meal before you go so you won’t be tempted to eat a ton while you are there.

4. Take a friend that eats the same way

My husband and I always eat better when we are together. We encourage each other to eat good foods and help each other withstand temptation.

If you have a family member, coworker or friend that lives your same lifestyle the rest of the year, bring them with you to the holiday activity. That way you can support each other and keep each other on track.

5. Wear tight fitted clothing

Have you heard of people wearing their “stretchy pants” to Thanksgiving so they have more room to eat? Don’t do that.

If you wear fitted or tight fitting clothes, you are more likely to feel how full you are sooner. That should help you stop eating before it gets out of control.

6. Eat slow

Holiday parties and gatherings are for visiting and entertainment. Food is not entertainment, it is fuel.

So eat slow and talk more. Don’t shovel in the food. Enjoy it. This will help you eat less and notice faster that you are full.

7. Don’t take food home

If you bring food and the container isn’t empty at the end of the night, don’t take it home. Leave it for your host.

If additional food is offered to take home, politely refuse. You don’t need extra food, especially if it is tempting food you don’t normally eat. Just don’t do it.

8. Drink lots of water

Drinking water is good for you and it will help fill you up. It will help keep you hydrated and not as hungry. So before you eat or drink anything at your holiday party, try drinking some water first. It will help curb your appetite.

9. Fill up on meat, veggies and good fat

If you are eating a meal at your holiday party, fill up on meat, veggies and good fat first. These are items that are healthy, filling, and just good for you.

They will also keep you full longer, so you are less likely to graze all night long.

The holidays are a great time to celebrate our culture, traditions and spend time with family. Many of these things evolve around food.

If you choose to indulge, that’s ok. But know your limits and pay attention to how your body feels later.

What we don’t want to do is pig out 24/7 for two months. That isn’t good for anyone and it isn’t necessary.

With these tips, we can enjoy the holidays and stay healthy. It’s all about limits and moderation. Food is only part of the celebration, not the whole thing!

You can do this! And come January, you will be so happy you did!

What is the food that you want to indulge in the most during the holidays? Let us know in the comments below. And if you found this post helpful, please share. Thanks!

16 Keto Christmas Cookie Recipes for a Healthier Holiday

by Julie Gropp Leave a Comment

The holidays are coming up faster than we realize and I don’t want my diet to go out the door between Halloween and New Years Day.

This year, I am going to learn some new recipes so that I have something to take to potlucks and parties that I can actually eat.

I was searching the Internet (who are we kidding? Pinterest) to find some keto Christmas cookie recipes that I could serve my family or take to a party. The Internet is full of creative people that can make a healthier, keto version of almost everything.

I wanted to share with you what I found so that you can try some new recipes this holiday season as well.

16 Keto Christmas Cookie Recipes for a Healthier Holiday

Easy Low Carb Keto Gingersnap Cookies @ Low Carb Crave

Festive Keto Cranberry Orange Cookies @ Fit To Serve

Keto Cinnamon Star Cookies @ Hungry for Inspiration

Keto Low Carb Christmas Peppermint Patties @ Edible Crafts

Keto Chocolate Crinkle Cookies @ Hungry for Inspiration

Keto Cream Cheese Chocolate Cookies @ Fit to Serve

Almond Joy Cookies @ My Montana Kitchen

Keto “Christmas Crack” Pecan Toffee @ Hip 2 Keto

Peppermint Bark @ All Day I Dream About Food

Holiday Praline No Bake Cookies @ My Montana Kitchen

Low Carb Pistacchio Macrons @ My Sweet Keto

Low Carb Snickerdoodles @ I Breathe I’m Hungry

Keto Gingerbread Cookies @ Fat For Weight loss

No-Bake Coconut Cookies @ Whole New Mom

The Best Almond Flour Sugar Cookies @ Meaningful Eats

Homemade Thin Mints @ All Day I Dream About Food

Don’t these recipes look amazing! I think I can do this!

I hope these keto Christmas cookie recipes will help you enjoy the parties and family gatherings that go along with the holidays without feeling terrible in the morning.

Do you have a favorite keto Christmas cookie recipe? Let us know in the comments below. And if you found this post helpful, please share. Thanks!

5 Ways to Add Real Food to Your Food Storage

by Julie Gropp

When we think of food storage for emergency preparedness, we usually think of prepackaged foods that will last for weeks, months or even 30 years in storage.

Think pop-tarts, ramen noodles and other similar things. Definitely not real food.

Those things have their place in your food storage plans. After all, you can’t put fresh fruit in your 72 hour kit and switch it out every few days. That’s just not realistic.

In this post, I talk about 3 types of food storage and how to make a food storage plan. Long shelf life food is part of that plan.

But the further I get on my real food journey, the more I concerned I am about how all of that prepackaged food would affect my body in an emergency.

Will my body tolerate all of this prepackaged food when I have been eating real food for so long?

Will I get sick, constipated or otherwise not feel well if I had to eat this?

So today, I wanted to talk about adding real food to your food storage so that if the time comes and you need to eat your food storage your body won’t totally freak out and go on strike!

5 Ways to Add Real Food to Your Food Storage

1. Cold storage

An old fashioned (and still effective) way to keep fresh produce edible after a week or two is to keep it in your basement or root cellar. This works well with many root vegetables, beans, apples and pears.

After you harvest this produce from your garden, put it in containers that allow it to breath. Then place it in a cool, humid place in your house. It will stay for several weeks or months and still be good to eat.

This method takes the least amount of preparation to keep food fresh for longer, but doesn’t work with all fruits and vegetables.

To find out more about cold storage, read this blog post —> How to Preserve Fruits and Vegetables with Cold Storage This Winter.

2. Home canned foods

One way to lock in the freshness of real food harvested from your garden (or bought at the farmers market) is to preserve it thru home canning.

Home canning is so much healthier than buying canned food at the store. You can preserve it the same day as the harvest and it will last on your shelf for several years, depending on what you are preserving.

Also, it doesn’t have any chemicals or preservatives like store bought canned food, so you can know exactly what your family is eating.

Home canning can be alot of work in the moment, but when you see all of that fresh from the garden food on your shelves you will be glad you made the effort.

You can can just about any vegetable or fruit you can grow in your garden. Tomatoes and pickles are the most popular, but that is just the tip of the iceberg.

Our family loves homemade applesauce, apple pie filling, salsa, canned peaches and so much more!

To find out more about home canning, read this blog post —> Food Preservation Series #2: Canning Your Food.

3. Dehydrated food

Another way to preserve your garden harvest or farmers market finds is with a dehydrator.

Dehydrating food takes the water out of fruits, vegetables and meat so that they will last longer.

Once your food is dehydrated, you need to keep it in an airtight container and it will last much longer than its fresh counterpart.

To find out more about dehydrating your food, read this blog post —> Food Preservation Series #1: Dehydrating Your Food.

4. Freeze dried food

A fairly new way to preserve your food at home is to freeze dry it. You can buy a home freeze dryer and keep your fresh foods for 20-30 years. That’s amazing.

A home freeze dryer is not cheap, but if you want to store massive amounts of real food, this is the way to go.

You can also buy fruits, vegetables and meat that has been freeze dried at the store. These products are usually real food compatible because they only have 1 ingredient per package. The food is freeze dried right after harvest, so the quality is excellent.

To find out more about home freeze drying, read this blog post —> Food Preservation Series #4: Freeze Drying.

5. Freezing foods

The last way to keep real food in your food storage is to fill your deep freezer with fruits, vegetables and meat your family loves.

Of course, in the event of an emergency, this is probably the food you want to eat first. Especially if you are without power.

You can get a generator to back up your freezer if you are worried about losing power for several days. If you keep the freezer closed, a full freezer should keep its contents frozen for several hours (or even days) before it goes bad.

To find out more about freezing your food, read this blog post —> Food Preservation Series #3: Freezing Your Food.

All of these preservation methods insure that you can have real food in your food storage. Food that was preserved at its freshest, either from your garden or the local farmers market.

This food, along with the prepackaged foods and kitchen staples, should allow you to make meals your family will enjoy and won’t make them sick.

In an emergency, you want to be strong to help your family and others in need. You don’t want to get sick because your body isn’t used to eating only processed food.

So make sure you have real food in your emergency food storage and rotate it out when possible. You will be so glad you did when emergency strikes!

How do you incorporate real food into your food storage? Let us know in the comments below. And if you found this post helpful, please share. Thanks!

10 Last Minute Healthy Meals for Your Real Food Lifestyle

by Julie Gropp

Life is crazy. Especially now that summer is over and the kids are back in school.

I have high school football players, 3 of them. That means my kids are gone about 12 hours a day between school and practice.

And when they get home, they are STARVING!

On game days or other busy days, I don’t always have time to make a big, elaborate meal.

So I have a few “go to” meals that I always keep ingredients for. That way I know I can throw something together quickly, without advanced prep time.

Here are some recipes for my favorite last minute healthy meals. You should be able to make all of these meals in under 30 minutes, from start to finish.

10 Last Minute Healthy Meals To Feed Your Family in Under 30 Minutes

1. Grilled Cheese and Fruit

Grilled cheese is super easy and a kid favorite. Add some fruit such as watermelon or berries on the side and you have a quick and delicious meal, not just for lunch!

Here is a fun take on grilled cheese:

Pepperoni Pizza Grilled Cheese @ Lil Luna

2. Instant Pot Mac and Cheese

My family loves mac and cheese and this real food Instant Pot recipe is way better than the blue box!

The Best Ever Pressure Cooker Mac & Cheese Recipe @ Delishably

3. Spaghetti

Pasta is very easy to make. It is one of the first things my boys could cook for themselves.

I love this recipe below because it simplifies the process even further. If you have precooked ground beef on hand (maybe cook twice as much for a different recipe), it is even faster!

One Pot Spaghetti with Meat Sauce @ Rasamalaysia

4. Quesadillas

Quesadillas are super quick and easy. At it’s core, a quesadilla is just cheese melted between 2 tortillas. We like to dip ours in sour cream, but that’s up to you.

If you have a few more ingredients, you can add other things to your quesadillas (like beef, pepperoni or chicken) to add more heartiness and flavor.

I love this Chili’s copycat recipe:

Chili’s Chicken Bacon Ranch Quesadillas @ Crazy Adventures in Parenting

5. Garlic Steak and Rice

I fell in love with garlic steak on our trip to Hawaii 5 years ago. It is super easy to make and you can pair it with premade rice or throw some rice in the rice cooker (or instant pot) to cook while you are preparing the steak. You could also serve it with potatoes or green beans, as in the recipe below.

Garlic Butter Steak and Lemon Green Beans Skillet @ Eat Well 101

6. Tacos

Tacos is a staple in our house (and not always on Tuesday). If I know we are going to have a busy few days, I will make some taco seasoned ground beef ahead to cut down on time. Either way, it is a quick meal that is a family favorite.

Ground Beef Tacos @ Dinner at the Zoo

7. Instant Pot Baked Potatoes

Baked potatoes are easy and customizable for whatever your family likes. But cooking them an hour in the oven might not be feasible on a busy night. Enter the Instant Pot. It makes baking potatoes (and a bunch of other stuff) quick and easy. Just keep your favorite toppings on hand (like cheese, sour cream, bacon bits, etc) and you’ve got a meal in a jiffy!

Easy Instant Pot “Baked” Potatoes @ Life Made Simple

8. Mini Pizzas

Pizza is always a hit at our house, especially if each person gets to pick their toppings! The quickest way to make mini pizzas is to use garlic naan bread from the store, add toppings and cook for a few minutes in the oven. Popular toppings at our house are: cheese, pepperoni, canadian bacon, bacon and sausage.

Check out the recipe below for another quick alternative:

Easy Skillet Pizzas @ Lauren’s Latest

9. Chicken Fajitas

Can you tell our family likes Mexican food yet? Yes, we do. And chicken (or beef ) fajitas hit the spot every time. Whether you cook them in a skillet or in the oven, they are a easy way to get meat and vegetables on the table on a busy night.

Easy Sheet Pan Fajitas @ Our Best Bites

10. Chicken Fried Rice

This is one meal that if your prepare ahead, it is super quick, but if not it still doesn’t take too long. If you can cook your rice and chicken ahead of time (rice cooker/instant pot), you just throw everything together and cook for a few minutes.

Here is an easy recipe:

Chicken Fried Rice @ Mommy’s Kitchen

So how do you make these last minute healthy meals work for you? Take a few you would like to try and make a grocery list. Stock your pantry or fridge with the ingredients, most of which don’t spoil too quickly.

Then the next time you get rushed or have a last minute schedule change, you can be confident that you have something to make for dinner. So much cheaper and healthier than driving thru your favorite fast food place.

What quick meals does your family love? Let us know in the comments below. And if you found this post helpful, please share. Thanks!

12 Homemade Pickle Recipes to Preserve Your Cucumbers

by Julie Gropp

Some years are better than others in the garden. Weather, personal problems and pests can be a big factor in whether or not your garden thrives from year to year.

If you have an abundant amount of cucumbers in your garden, you can only eat so many raw. You need to do something to preserve the rest for winter.

Here is where a great pickle recipe can come in. It can take that garden fresh cucumber and keep it yummy for much longer.

So today, I want to share with you 12 recipes that will help you preserve the harvest long after summer is over.