I’ll show you mine if you’ll show me yours – Part 2

   I showed you my refrigerator the other day, and I spoke of making some changes to my diet for better health.  I also admitted there has been plenty of junk food consumption over the years…we are equal opportunity eaters, if you will.  Slowly I am making changes to my diet and that of my family so that we are eating less processed foods, more whole foods, swapping poor diet choices for healthier alternatives.  Doing this post was not meant to critique what we all have in our refrigerators. It was a fun way to look at our perks and quirks in the fridge.

 I  did not say, we don’t eat any junk ever.  I am not a fanatic.  I am a realist.  I have a teenager and a young adult living in this house and a husband who loves his meat and potatoes, butter, bread, condiments,  etc.  We are not all going to convert to whole-organic-pure food only.  This is a process, steps taken toward better living, better health.

Last night I read a comment from Anonymous.  Why is it  that whenever someone wants to critique, they cloak themselves under Anonymous?  It’s not really a question, I already know the answer.

 Dear Anonymous… I appreciate your comment, actually…  it’s useful information.  Being a critic without putting your name to it, though… is off-putting.   Just saying.

Anonymous said… “Your food choices are bewildering. On the one hand there is organic whole milk, eggs, clementines, and raw probiotics but that’s as far as the real food goes. Then you have chocolate milk, processed juice, cream cheese (which is not real), rolls of some kind under-pressure, and condiments with sugar/salt galore. Your body must be so confused and inflamed. BTW that earth balance isn’t real food either, better to use real butter sparingly. Sorry for the critique but you opened up your frig, brave woman. “

That being said…. I thank you all for participating.  I love this post, you have all braved  exposing what is definitely a personal item in our homes.  I love hearing that you have a two pepsi a day habit, even tho you are a thin, health conscious runner!  And that I see just as many condiments in your fridges as I do mine.  One of you has a frig dedicated to sausage making from various meats and you relish it! (literally!) …. and I like hearing what you are doing to fuel your body with healthy stuff too.  It gives me ideas, and it makes us all realize how much more alike we are than our differences.  Commeradery, there it is.

  This is life, this is us, thanks for sharing.
Since our daughter’s competition was last week, she can eat ‘normally’ for the next two weeks before going back to her training diet. In the fridge, we have a strange blending of our food, her training diet and not-training diet food … so we have everything from milk and coffee creamer, to beer and a couple of half bottles of wine, containers of home-cooked dog food and fresh salsa, lunchmeat, homemade soup, three dozen-and-a-half cartons of eggs (training food), and way more condiments than we use. This is an eye-opening exercise, and I plan to clean out the fridge and get it more organized as soon as I have another cup of coffee.  – Connie
 Me:  (Glad to see I’m not the only one with more than two mustards on the shelf  – I had four. Why? I have no idea.)  
Mary’s Refrigerator

Our new motto is “eat fresh, eat local, eat better, eat less and live longer.” We been trying to shop the local farmers markets whenever possible. We’ve just about eliminated butter and white flour from our diets by opting for olive oil and wheat products as better choices. We are also watching sugar intake. For example, did you know that 10 grams of sugar, which seemed low is actually equal to 2+ teaspoons of sugar? That’s high when you consider the American Heart Association recommends that women have no more than 6 teaspoons a day, for men it’s 9 teaspoons – and I don’t believe those numbers consider diabetics. So it’s making us read our labels – closely!  We’ve recently decided to try to eliminate as many canned goods as possible too by opting for glass, mainly because of the cancer causing seepage from the linings of the cans. Thus, this summer I’ll be a “canning queen,” especially when it comes to tomatoes & peaches!

We have our vices too!! LOL!!!
It usually involves a sweet treat at night or sometimes a glass of wine (for me) LOL!!!
That’s how we’re rolling in 2012!!!

Deb’s Refrigerator –
Me: Deb! we love Maries dressing and A-1 Steak sauce too!  
Sorry, Anonymous.  
Patti’s refrigerator –  Okay, you begged and pleaded, here my 1950ish refrigerator with 50 pounds of venison/pork sausage which will be turned into beautiful smoked sausage. It will be stuffed into casings on Wednesday and smoked for about 8 to 9 hours.  Wish you were here to taste it!!!
Me:  Patti – we’ll all be over on Thursday around 4, ok?
Lisa’s refrigerator –
 Disclaimer: I did not clean or organize my fridge in any way. What you see is….real. Eek!

I eat pretty much whatever I want, but when possible I buy light versions (sour cream, cream cheese, milk). I try to limit the amount of processed foods we use, but I won’t lie – we do use them. You’ll note that the veggie drawer has celery, carrots, grapes and broccoli which are all staples in our house. A large assortment of cheeses in the cheese/meat drawer. We only buy organic milk (it’s the only food I’m a real stickler about for organic). The eggs are actually all from our hens – they have started laying again so we have a surplus! In fact, the big bowl you see on the top shelf is full of hard boiled eggs, which we eat as snacks a lot. The boys love them. You’ll see lots of tupperwares in our fridge at all times, because I cook full dinners. One of the tupperwares is full of barbecue chicken – from one of our chickens that I cooked last week. The other is full of homemade mac and cheese. And Pierce’s lunch is prepped and in his lunch box to the left (behind which are some of our home canned pickles and salsa). And to the bottom right – our grass fed organic beef cow arrived yesterday – we got 56 pounds! So I’m defrosting the first batch and toying with the idea of a casserole involving tomatoes, beef, cheese, green peppers and corn chips crumbled on top. The blue pitcher in the back just has ice cold water.
We also have a Soda Stream and make some of our own sodas – lately I’ve been liking their green tea.
You may also note my vice…..Diet Pepsi/Diet Coke. I can’t quite break the habit of 2 a day. Nobody’s perfect! Especially not me!
 

Me:  Lisa, I like you even more now that I know of your diet soda habit.
and oooh, how I’d love that casserole recipe!
 

 
 
 
 
 

Jeanne’s refrigerator…
Me: LOVE THE COKE, JEANNE!   My favorite!!  Reminds me of my grandmother’s house many years ago, and is great for a yucky tummy.
 
 

Ok, so what I’ve noticed….  We all seem to try to balance the good with the mediocre food stuff with the evil. I see lots of fruits and veggies, we all have condiment issues, I’d say we’re all doing a decent job with the balancing act.  Are we fanatics? Hell no.  Is that necessary?  Everything in moderation sounds reasonable.  We each have individual needs, deficiencies, health concerns and goals.  Our refrigerators reflect that, don’t ya think?  
 

Thank you for getting naked here at This Old House.
  I always appreciate the effort 🙂

25 thoughts on “I’ll show you mine if you’ll show me yours – Part 2”

  1. It's interesting to see what everyone has in common- condiments! I think we should buy stock in French's mustard… and Kraft products : )

  3. I agree! The new header is fabulous. What do y'all do with the old headers? Is there a header-party where we header-challenged can purchase outdated headers? Kinda like an outlet mall? Ignore me, I'm in a mood! lol!

    Did you notice all the WINE in my fridge? lolol

    Anonymous is a judgmental arse btw. Get your anonymous-butt over to paleo hackers you hack. Show your anonypuss!

  4. Anonymous obviously lives alone. Those of us who have spouses or children also accommodate their 'dietary wants'. I am trying to eat healthier, but if I didn't allow my husband to have his foods in the fridge he would be impossible to live with. Identify yourself you stinking wimp.

  5. Darn it, I was gonna send you a pic of my fridge, which has nothing in it except Diet Coke, Milk, dog food and some yogurt. I'm a bachelorette and therefore I don't have much in there. I pretty much live on cereal and whatever my kids feed me. Your critic would have had a ball over mine. Fun posts! I love looking in others fridges.

  6. What a fun post!

    It is definitely a balancing act and no one is perfect. There are just far too many temptations these days. But, I think if we all strive to eat real food and limit our intake of processed foods then we will all be much healthier.

    I read an article this morning about the dangers of Splenda which didn't really surprise me in the least. I think if we consume real sugar, butter, milk, cheese, etc. in moderation that we will be much better off health-wise than consuming their processed cousins. Our bodies know how to process and eliminate real food. It doesn't know what to do with processed foods therefore resulting in numerous health issues for many people.

    Keep striving to eat better. It's definitely an on-going process!

    And, Anonymous… give a girl credit for making changes and encourage her to continue for crying out loud!

  7. That was fun to see! When you read Susan's comment, you pretty much know what's in my fridge. Lots of Coca Cola, both real and diet (that being for the girls as I can't drink diet anything; gives me a headache.) I limit cokes to two a day, however in my heyday I'd have 5-6 a day! I know, anonymous I was a very bad girl. So okay, anonymous, where's the pic of your fridge? And, while I'm at it, leave my friend Karen alone! I'm a private detective, and I can find you!!!

  8. A fun idea. Obviously, I was a day late (it's the ocean between us) so I've posted my fridge over on my blog 😉
    I've disabled anonymous comments since I got a couple of really nasty ones. Anonymous equals coward.

  9. OK I wasn't going to comment but I cant stand it when its directed to someone as nice as Karen !!Anonymous If you don't have anything positive or nice to say than don't. I don't get leaving a comment if its not in a good way. Then to top it off they hide behind anonymous! Have a great day!!

  11. Really, what is up with anonymous commenters? They don't get to publish in my book. I see you have Amino acids in your fridge. I eat brown rice with Amino's almost every day, it's my favorite thing in my fridge. Yours looks full and inviting. I may just come over for dinner!

  14. It is kind of amazing what we put into our bodies and call it food! I'm as guilty as everyone but this is a subject that is fascinating to me nowadays…the more you know the easier it is. If you haven't seen it yet a good eye opener is the documentary…Food, Inc. Super good information. The best advice I was ever given was "Don't bring the enemy home"! which is what I try to do…I buy most things at Trader Joes now…including my mustard! lol..

  15. Very clever idea! Even I have all my organics and veggies for my smoothies mixed in with condiments, gasp, and oh I see a piece of chocolate cake 🙂 Hmm, the fridge is calling… that cake looks lonely to me, and I am on steroids so I stand zero chance over that cake! Ha!

  17. Rolling my eyes at anonymous. Get real.

    LOL that my fridge looks the messiest. I am not surprised. The casserole turned out great! I did 1 1/2 lbs. beef cooked w/ onions and garlic. Layered in dish w/ 1 can drained corn, 1 package frozen spinach (thawed and drained), 1 1/2 cup salsa, and a cup of mozzarella and about 1/2 cup crumbled corn chips on top. Even the boys loved it (muah ha ha, I got them to eat spinach!!)

  19. Although I didn't participate, I think you should cook and eat what you feel is best for your family. Like you, I have made some changes for the better but there are some things in my fridge that would make a clean food eater cringe. I try not to judge. Anonymous really studied the contents of your fridge,WOW!!!

  20. oh how a little miss anonymous can show up and ruin the fun for everybody, huh ?

    well not really ruin the fun, but sheesh, tell us who you are, show us your fridge and then maybe talk about the rest of us….just saying.

    i eat veggies and fruit and wash them down with twix bars and a soda. is that bad?

    i eat meat and eggs and wash them down with cookies and a few skittles. is that bad?

    i bet miss anonymous, who is probably reading these comments just read mine and shook her head and walked away with a disgusted look on her face.

    all i know is that we all try. i know we do. we are smart women and we know good from bad. but i just can't call a twix bar evil. i just can't.
    and i can't survive on nuts and lettuce like our hamster can.
    so like everyone else who commented here….i keep on trying. i try to love bananas more then chocolate. i try to love eggplant more then a juicy hamburger….but it doesn't work.

    am i the only one on vitamin supplements to help make up the difference ? well at least in my mind they do 🙂
    xoxo

  21. I looked in my fridge today and there is hardly any food in there:)
    Hubby does 90% of the shopping. I think it's great that we are all trying to eat healthier. We've been working on it for a long time so it's not a big deal anymore. We also don't have kids and it would be hard to not cave.
    I admire all you are doing and anonymous is an idiot!

  22. Seeing the other fridges doesn't make me feel any less lacking. My fridge is pathetic. The one with the sausage makings had my interest, since it said chocolate flavored donut icing… then I found out what it really is. I liked the sound of chocolate, much better than sausage. LOL!

  23. Loved this post. Was out of touch (sea) or I definitely would have played along. And I spent waayyy too much time studying everyones refrigerator. Very interesting.
    And anonymous….not worth commenting on.

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