Healthy Meals...

I feel best and at peace when my family is eating fruits and veggies and not a ton of bread and junk throughout the day.  On the counter, I get crazy-stressed when life isn't cooperating with my high standards of healthy foods and meals.  That usually happens when I've recently birthed another blessing-of-a-child (I tend to do that every 2ish years) and then, once I start to feel sane again, I incorportate the health back into our lives.

Over the past 6 years, I've been researching healthy foods/diets/healthy ways of living.  What I've found pretty much destroys what we've all been taught our whole lives.  So much so, that most people refuse to believe it and that's okay.  All I want to do is take this information and apply it to my family.  When people ask why I do a certain thing, I answer.

I eat healthiest when I'm educated on why certain foods/drinks are not as healthy as we've been told.  Statistics and real stories of people who's lives have been changed drastically is what gets me motivated.  I still love and struggle with sweets...I'm working on that ;)

The kids do really well when I feed them fruits and veggies because I educate them as well!  They know they are helping their body to stay healthy.  They know that "junk food" is okay once in awhile, but not all the time.

Last night I cooked a crazy-healthy vegetable soup.  I LOVED chopping all the veggies up!  Maybe it's because I secretly like to pretend I have my own cooking show ;)  Shhhh!

Here's what the Holt's had for dinner last night!

Celery, carrots, ginger, leek, lentils, peppers, squash.

Here is how to prepare a Leek...SO glad I looked it up, first!!!

You actually cut off ALL the green, healthy-looking stuff!  Crazy!

Cut off the roots and rinse well.  Leeks grow in a sandy soil, so they're pretty dirty!

Cut in half length-wise.

Then cut again up the whole stalk.

1/2 water, 1/2 veggies stock and the veggies are a brewin'.  45 minutes.

I found these sweeties cuddling....

A very healthy side would be Ezekiel bread (a staple at our home)...

But I thought I'd be extra gracious and let Andy get some Italian bread this time ;)

I thought it was a very filling (and fulfilling!) dinner.  The kids did great and so did the hubs ;)  Of course, he wished there was some meet in there which could be easily added, of course. 

A very healthy healthy dinner makes a happy and healthy family. 

Do you feel like you have to fight your kids to eat veggies?  What works for you when incorporating veggies in your meals?