I thought you guys might like to see the presentation I gave the other night at Girls Night Out (a new ladies event at our camp)!! You'll be able to read through my notes below, which correspond with each slide. They'll give you a general idea of what I said that night, although I'm sure I didn't stick to this word-for-word. Get ready, because this is going to be a lonnnnng one. (It was a 20-30 minute speech!)
So grab your mug and pull up a chair.
And pretend like I'm standing at a podium at the front of the room...
lights are low, except for the spotlights on me and my slides...
feeling excited, not sure how close to hold the microphone...
deep breath...
INTRO: Hi, I'm Summer, and tonight I get to talk to you about food! which I'm really excited about because I just love food and it's a topic that the Lord has really laid on my heart during the past several years. I'm at a point in my life right now where I spend a lot of time in the kitchen and one of my main jobs is providing healthy meals for my family- so it's a ministry that's near and dear to my heart. I've made a handout for you guys to read along while I'm talking because each slide has a lot of stuff on it. So, let's get started- Real Food. Eating better begins with eating real food.
SO. What is "real food"? (read from slide) A lot of our food today has been modified with chemicals and sometimes hormones-- it's been colored, softened, lightened, preserved, sweetened, and when all is said and done: completely changed.
Why do we care about eating real food? Today we see more and more people suffering from chronic disease, digestive problems, food allergies- some may even need to be on a special diet- all of these issues stemming from an overload of harmful things in our bodies and a damaged gut. Like almost everyone here, I grew up eating packaged food. But a few years ago I started noticing the effects of it and making small changes. This really became a reality when I got married and had my own kitchen and I had to start doing my own shopping. I started reading labels carefully and doing a lot more cooking. (Happily, I was already in love with idea of doing things homemade.)
Pretty quickly, food became my favorite subject. I was so fascinated! I started learning and cooking, and learning while I cooked. I found I was starting to identify individual ingredients in the food that I ate and discovering new flavors that I loved- things that I used to politely refuse were now the things that I wanted seconds on. And I didn't crave things the way I used to, like salty or sweet snacks. I wanted to eat the "healthy" things. I learned that food is just really powerful! It can affect so much more than I realized. When I became a mom, I saw how things I ate affected my baby and her body- it was just amazing. Now, years later, I can truly say that I enjoy food more. I feel a difference when I eat certain things and I'm constantly finding new things that I love. Things that I never would've thought I could like... so many vegetables! Everything tastes better now and I simply feel better.
Read Slide. As we’ve been steered further and further away from these traditional foods, we’ve become afraid of them or simply forgotten them. They sound foreign to us now, or perhaps they sound like too much work. Although progress is amazing, looking back to what kept our great, great grandparents healthy can do our bodies a lot of good!
(Read through list- elaborate and explain each one.) i.e. #7 Healthy Fats! Like butter, olive oil, and coconut oil. They're rich in fat-soluble vitamins (A & K2), which are critical to reproductive and cognitive health, while margarine lacks them entirely. For the most nutrition, you could pick a butter made from the cream of grass-fed cows, which is rich in beta-carotene and Vitamin D and omega 3. / #8 We are always on the lookout for a local farmer to buy from because food is best when it's the closest and the freshest! Plus it's much easier to find clean milk and meat (free of hormones and antibiotics) if you buy through a farmer. It's also a great way to support our local family farms. / #11 I go through phases when I don't have supper planned for every night of the week, but right now I'm in a phase where I do. And I have to tell you, it makes ALL the difference. Planning ahead saves me from that all-too-familiar situation when everybody's hungry, you're scoping out the fridge to see what you can throw together.. who knows what you might end up scarfing down at that point. It would be a lot easier to just have a simple meal lined up and when you find a meal that your family likes, make it often! / #12 Don't feel pressured into changing everything at once. Don't try to be perfect. It shouldn't feel like a diet where you're always restricted or something that you just have to "get through". If you want it to be a real change, you have to let it grow on you.
(Read through and explain again.) i.e. #1 For us, there's a lentil soup with chicken and peppers that we really like so we have it every week, at least once a week. And I never get tired of my cilantro rice salad, so that's another staple in my fridge. Between those two, and fried eggs or a bowl of quinoa, lunch is always covered. We love to make big batches of things so that there are plenty of leftovers- if you're going to make soup, make a BIG pot of soup so that your work goes a long way.
(Read through these meal ideas on their handouts.) Note: Anything stir fried or roasted with fresh garlic will taste fantastic. I guarantee it. I've learned to always keep onions and garlic on hand, because then you'll always have the building blocks for a delicious meal.
To sum it up: food is a need, a gift, and an opportunity to glorify the Lord. He created us with hunger, he gave us good things to eat and designed us to enjoy food. I was made with a desire to nurture and nourish my family, which is a ministry in and of itself.
If you guys would like more information, recipes, other fun stuff I'd invite you to come visit my blog. I post recipes regularly and all the photos in this presentation were from my blog. I'd love to talk to you-- this is something I'm really passionate about! Thanks so much for listening!
THE END!!!!
sigh of relief. and instantly ready to go do it again. and talk to everybody!
