Be Weird: Eat Food

My brother cooking up some
weird food on the grill
(corn and asparagus).

I had my family in town this weekend, which was awesome of course. We always have so much fun. And of course the subject of health and wellness comes up a lot because, well, get enough women together and eventually all conversation turns towards dieting. Sad, but true. So my mom and sister are always curious about what  is in my pantry and fridge, and why I buy what I buy and not something else. 


Making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the kids, my sister looks at the side of the jar. "Now, why this kind?" I point to the ingredients, which says "peanuts," and explain that peanut butter should be just ground peanuts, maybe a little salt. The next morning at breakfast, she asks for my oatmeal recipe. I show her my bin of oats. The ingredients say, "rolled oats." Then we get out the raisins. The box simply lists, "raisins." Some ground flax, some cinnamon, some water, done. She is mystified.


Then later I mention to my brother that we're going to grill some burgers for dinner. Our conversation went a little like this:

Me: We're grilling burgers for dinner tonight.

Him: Are these real hamburgers?

Me: Yes.

Him: Not black bean turkey quinoa tofu burgers?

Me: No, just hamburgers made with beef. On real bread, with real cheese if you want it.  

And I wondered why everyone thinks I eat "weird," when I'm the one who eats food! Take a trip into most pantries in our country and you will find all manner of interesting concoctions of science, none of which are actually food. But those of us who eat clean, who eat actual food, are the weird ones.

That's weird.

The burgers were awesome, as were the corn and asparagus we roasted on the grill, the green beans I steamed, and home fries I baked in the oven. Yeah, we also had a can of baked beans on the stove because I waited too long to make them from scratch. I baked some Immaculate Chocolate Chip cookies for dessert. All good, almost all clean, and all FOOD. Not weird.


Clean eating is not about eating weird food in the name of better health. It's about eating FOOD in the name of better health. Eat some food today.


My sister texted this morning that she made my oatmeal recipe for breakfast. Maybe it's not so weird after all. 


Get out there and get healthy today, even if it makes you weird. :)