Whole Food Challenge- Week 2

  So... I cheated... on my whole food challenge. I bought diet soda. Sad. But what I did do right was everything else!!!! I did cry at one point, but I pushed through! Poor Jeremy came home one day,I was crying. I had kids having friends over, I was cooking all day, I had burnt my hand, and had to swear under my breath because of the friends over, did dishes after dishes... The list goes on and on... But I made it. I have made everything from scratch!!! YES!!! I made ketchup and thousand island this week. I had not made those before. The ketchup was good, but I am going to tweek it next time. The dressing turned out great! I made pickles a few days ago, so I could make this. This is my version. In all honesty, I have not had ketchup, or thousand island in 14 years, do to my extreme food allergies. Maybe they were terrible, but my fam all had seconds and thirds. This is how I made the dressing:

Thousand Island Dressing
1/2 c. canola oil
1/2 c. vinegar
1/3 c. ketchup
1/2 c. chopped sweet pickles
1 t. sugar
1/2 t. salt

Add oil, vinegar and ketchup, sugar and salt to a blender and pulse till emulsified. At the end I added a little more salt and chopped pickles.

  So, the day I made the dressing, my meal plan was a Reuben sandwich, and potato wedges. Do you know how long it takes to make all those ingredients, to make that stupid sandwich???!!!! 6 hours!  6 hours people!!!!! I made pickles the day before. Than, the day I made the sandwich, I made bread, ketchup, dressing,and the potato wedges. I had made, and canned sauerkraut this summer! Because who doesn't want a huge crock of fermenting cabbage in their dining room most of the summer?! :) The Kraut turned out great! My kids eat it as a snack!(I know... we are weird). But in the end it was great! The sandwich was great, the potatoes crisp on the outside! It was worth it! I am  sorry I didn't get pics. I was hungry! ;/ Kinda worked hard that day!

Whole Food Challenge- Week 1

  I have challenged myself to buy nothing from the grocery store, that has more than 1 ingredient. My exceptions are pasta, soymilk and tortillas. We started last week. So far so good! I cook most things completely from scratch anyway, due to my allergies. We raise all our meat, and we get a huge percentage of our veggies all year, from our garden. We eat fresh veggies in spring and summer, and than I can for the rest of the year. I also buy huge bags of dried beans, prepare them, and than can them. I also make and can stock. I actually canned 21 quarts of stock Christmas afternoon! Yea, I know, I have a problem! So my challenge rules are this

1. I can buy only items that are whole food. With the exception of the before mentioned items.

2. I can use items that are already in the house (such as ketchup, mustard...) but when they are gone, they are gone and I will replace them with a homemade version of that item.

3. This challenge is 60 days.

4. I will blog about the challenge, and be completely honest if I cheat. (sigh)

   So Jeremy and I got groceries. I spent $88.
What I bought:
7 lbs. dried beans
cinnamon
coffee
buttercream
dill weed
tortillas
8 lbs.cabbage
3 lbs.carrots
garlic
milk
soy milk
oats
sugar
peas
6 lbs. pasta
tilapia
6 pkg. yeast
cream
plain yogurt
napkins
meat tenderizer
plus a few more items I can't remember.