Bread is the Stuff of Life

I know carbs are bad but my children and I will never do without our bread. I even bought a breadmaker a few months ago. I make good healthy bread every day for them to eat. They don't get fat eating my bread because it is not store bought and full of refined sugars and grains.
I am in my early forties so I grew up eating that supermarket bread. My parents baked their own bread because they grew up in that lifestyle where making bread was part of a daily lifestyle. Buying bread only became in style during the post World War II era in the 1950s. This is when as a society we were introduced to the concept of being able to buy anything that we want.
The art of breadmaking was almost lost when I was young. In fact you had to go to a restaurant to get fresh bread – usually an expensive Italian or French one. As I was raised in that supermarket era of white bread eaters I never really knew how great eating fresh homemade bread could be until I got this breadmaker. I was introduced to the concept after tasting some fresh made bread at a friend's house. I was intrigued because she was having us dip it in flavored olive oil rather than smothering it in butter which is why I had been avoiding home baked bread in the first place. The temptation to slather cow fat all over it was just too much.
My homebaked bread is the centerpiece of every meal we have in my home. The kids love it. It is healthy for them and I get to control what goes into the bed. My bed is all natural and there is no preservatives in it. I make a new loaf every day or every second day depending on how much of it we actually gobble up.
I got so enthusiastic about making my own bread that I even bough a Magic Bullet for grinding up my own grains. I make ordinary breads but I also make savory and sweet loafs as well. My olive and sundried tomato bread with coarse salt is to absolutely die for.
Now I also know that my bread is always fresh. The worst thing about buying bread from a store is that you never know how truthful the expiry dates on it are going to be. Remember opening up those bread boxes and seeing loafs of breads covered in green or black mold. Those days are completely over for me. This is why I can now truthfully pray 'Give us our thanks this day for our daily bread!'

Eating in Moderation is the Key

Does your household pig out all the time? I have found that eating in moderation is the key to my own weight and the weight of my children in check.
As far as I am concerned, there are three simple concepts everyone should keep in mind about food: moderation, variety and balance. Moderation means keeping those portion sizes under control. Variety means eating different foods every day. Balance means choosing foods that provide you vitamins from each category.
The ideal of eating healthy is described by the Food Guide Pyramid. Found at https://mypyramid.gov/, The Good Guide Pyramid shows you exactly how to eat in moderation, in balance and also how to choose a variety of foods. This is a great site because it has personalization menu options that can help you create really healthy meals. It has certainly taught me ways to eat healthier both as an individual and as a family.\
In my experience finding balance with a diet is all about taking foods from each of the food groups and then making sure our bodies have adequate nutrients from delicious low crab foods rather than from processed foods.
I always get stuck for ideas on how to eat healthy when my brood and I go out to restaurants. It seems that hidden calories are everywhere -from breads and appetizers to the main course. Try grilled proteins instead of fried, and choose vegetables over starches. Every day, try to incorporate a healthy balance of grains, vegetables, fruits, and a small amount of fats and oils into your diet.
It is really bad news to eat the same thing day after day. Ingesting a variety of foods also ensures that we get all of the required nutrients we need, since there is not a single ‘super food' that has everything we need in it. Eating the same thing over and over also only initiates a desire to stray away from a healthy eating plan. I would never serve my kids salad day after day because they simply would get bored and sneak off to MacDonald's to get a fish filet or something.
Of course if the aim of eating healthy is to lose weight in a short time you might want to cut calories yet at the same time keeps up a variety of foods. Moderation is equally important, since there are no 'bad' foods out there, but 'bad' foods are those that get eaten way too frequently and cause us to gain weight
My family and I have a treat once in a while, but we do so in moderation. We eat meat portions the size of a deck of cards, cheese the size of four dice, grains the size of a tennis ball, vegetables the size of a fist, potatoes the size of a small computer mouse and we make sure we never hiver more than a teaspoon of oil on our salad. That is the quick way to visualize how to stay healthy.