How to eat healthy when you are not at home

My friend and raw, vegan chef, Sheree Clark, has given me a lot of great ideas on how to eat healthy in an unhealthy world.  When you are trying to eat delicious, pure foods, it becomes quite obvious how much junk we are presented with.  Someone told me, "I'd eat healthy if I could afford it."  It is true, healthy food sometimes comes with a price tag.

Case in point.  My friend and I went to eat at Gateway Cafe in downtown Des Moines.  Delicious!!  Then we crossed over to the grocery store which features beautiful, organic produce.  I picked up a small flat of raspberries and they were $6.58.   Oh, my my.  I could get regular raspberries for $3.99 and I thought that was high because they are out of season.

So we went to Alpha last night.  They always have a free meal before class.  Last week, bagged lettuce and a pasta dish.  Last night, bagged lettuce and tacos.  None of it was very good but I understand.  They were feeding hundreds.  I noticed two couples at our table didn't eat.  Maybe they ate before they came.  I guess that would be a strategy for me.  Eat some healthy thing before I get there.  But eating has always been a social thing - especially at church.  Potlucks here.  Picnics there.  I've always wondered how a very obese Christian can look down their noses at someone who has a glass of wine with dinner?  But that's another discussion.

I find myself morphing.  I was googling vegan mascara the other day.  I won't buy most vitamins unless I go to the health food store.  I consider grocery store vitamins a waste of money.  I think they are pills which pass through your digestive tract and end up in the toilet mostly unabsorbed.

One thing I haven't been able to give up is coffee.  Maybe I'll change it up.  Maybe I will promise myself that if I drink coffee, it has to be a very good coffee.  It has to be a treat.  Because if I end up drinking a cup of Folgers, why even drink it?  Yuck!!  We used to laugh at my dad.  We owned a coffee shop with gourmet beans.  He would still go to the HyVee and bring back Folgers.  And then he would loudly proclaim the virtues of Folgers!!  I think the fact that so many people razzed him about it made it worse.  My dad was LOUD.  For those of him who knew him, can't you just hear him saying, "I DON'T CARE WHAT ANYONE SAYS, FOLGERS IS GREAT COFFEE!"

Another thing I would like to do is cook things that even my husband could love.  Jeff is a meat and potatoes kind of guy.  If I cook for him I usually have to cook twice or I go off my wagon.

So some tricks.  Juice every day even if what you eat is the not the best.  Your body will thank you.  Look at the menu and ask for a variety of vegetables and then order guacamole if they have it.  Most salads are not as healthy as they seem.  Bacon.  Dressings.  Fried Chicken.  Don't be afraid to ask them to leave off and put something else on.

Here's to our health!!  This year I'm growing a garden!!