Baby Step Updates for Steps 1-10

1. Soda-While I have one occasionally, the 3-5 can a day soda habit is a thing of the past.  I did buy 2 2-liter bottles for Baby Girl's First Communion party a week ago and dumped about half of one bottle and a third of the other on Sunday.  It seems that if it's out of sight, it's out of mind for my kids too.  We drink water, tea and occasionally juice and milk.
2. Salad upgrades-I am still buying organic lettuce when I can.  There have been a couple weeks when the organic lettuce just looked yucky, but for the most part I've been diligent.  I have found good 1000 Island and Caesar recipes and I make those.  Hubby likes the ranch dressing, but I can't get the girls to eat it and since they had stopped eating salad altogether to avoid it, I'm conceding a bit and I'm buying Marzetti's Simply Dressing Ranch Dressing.  I am reasonably confident there are GMO's in it, but they won't eat any of the organic dressings I've purchased and I'm tired of wasting money.  Normally, I'm not terribly accommodating to my children's food whims, but they have gone along with most of the changes without too much complaint.  I'll indulge them on this one.
3. Crackers-I am still making most of our crackers.  I have a snack type cracker recipe that I need to try.  It has rave reviews, but since we are cutting down on the number of grains we're eating, I haven't had a reason to make them.
4. Sugar-I'm using evaporated cane juice.  I am not buying brown sugar.  If a recipe calls for it, I am using the ECJ and adding a bit of molasses.  I do have some C&H powdered sugar for icings.  When I run out, I will try breaking down the ECJ in the blender to "make my own" powdered sugar.
5. Apples-Still buying those.  I'm really lucky that a local grocery store has been having one type of apple on sale for $1.28/pound every month, so the cost has been reasonable.  I just hope they keep it up through the summer months.
6. Limit MSG and sodium-nitrite foods-We have drastically cut down our consumption of processed meats.  We used to eat 1-2 pounds of deli meat a week and at least 2 pounds of bacon each month.  I would also cook a whole ham and we would eat that throughout the month as well.  Now we each 1-2 pounds of deli meat per month and 1 twelve ounce package of bacon.  I am buying sausage, made in-store, at our local grocery, which claims to be MSG free.  I lost interest in tweaking my homemade version.  I was spending money for a product I didn't really care for.  Maybe I'll come back to it later.  Right now I'm satisfied with what we have.
7. Superfoods-With the exception of soy, I feel like we have been eating the superfoods, albeit not as often as the book recommends.   Also, since we are in the process of cutting back the total amount of grains we eat, we aren't eating as many oats as we were, but for breakfast, I'm still keeping some of those recipes in my rotation.  I feel like whole grains also provide protein, so they have value.  I just don't feel that we need to eat 6-11 servings per day of them.
8. Meal Planning-I have one.  And, I'm really trying to do my best to follow it.  There are always stumbling blocks in the road, but I'm tyring to make sure we have enough easy meals that we can always find something without hitting the drive-thru (even if it means eating fried chicken at 8 pm-sorry kids).
9. Whole Wheat Flour-Yep!  We're using it, although not as often right now.  It's nearly the only flour we have in the house-the exception being a bag of all-purpose flour that I use for making playdough.
10. Farm eggs-I actually haven't had to buy these in a while because my father-in-law is bringing me 2-3 dozen each week.  But, I should have 4 dozen floating around somewhere that my friend was going to pick up for me.  We can never have enough eggs in this house.

So, ladies and gentlemen that's where we're at so far.  There have been some back steps, but overall, I feel good about the changes my family has made (other than the ranch refusal).  There's always room for improvement, and I have a feeling there is going to be a lot more improvement needed.  I just received my copy of Nourishing Traditions today in the mail.  Happy reading to me! :)