Your mission, if you choose to accept, is to focus on what you CAN eat this week instead of what you CAN’T.

Impact Ratings:

Level of Commitment: Baby Steps

Many KS readers were not around last year when I ran a 15-week series on Super Foods, those foods that pack a nutritional punch and bring lots of good health benefits when you include them in your meals.

I like to start people on the road to good nutrition with things like Super Foods, because there are enough sources out there (myself included, to be honest) who go on about what not to eat so often that sitting down to the table can induce a fearful stress attack. I like to battle that mentality whenever possible.

Although I’ll tell you at the drop of a hat that no one should be eating trans fats and that we need to reduce our sugar intake and cut down the industrial oils, I would be lying if I said I avoided those foods at all costs, all the time. Someday, someone will catch me with a donut at church and think they’ve busted the Kitchen Stewardship lady. Not so.

I’m no food elitist. It’s all about balance here at KS.

Rather than get all worked up about everything we probably shouldn’t be eating, during these relaxed days of summer, it’s nice to simply pat ourselves on the back for all the lovely foods we do eat that are, quite simply, good and nourishing for our bodies, without any special preparation or modification. Let us seek out things like bell peppers, garlic, blueberries, and eggs.

This week I challenge you to browse through the Super Foods series. Grab a new recipe. Shop the in-season fruits and veggies. Set a meal with an array of gorgeous colors that speak good health to your family and great flavor to their tastebuds. If you haven’t gotten to find any local produce for last week’s Go Local! Challenge resolution, this week is an opportunity for a “two-fer” that will get both goals covered.

If you’re lucky enough to have a Farmer’s Market nearby, be sure to refer to my 10 Questions to Ask Your Farmer to find the best quality meat, milk, eggs and produce they have to offer. You can also see my Grand Rapids Local Real Food Resources Page for some examples of conversations I’ve had with farmers and producers (updated already since publishing Friday, and I’m adding email addresses soon).

Also don’t miss this week’s giveaway, a $96 registration for the Natural Fertility eCourse for one lucky reader, coming tonight!

Tomorrow: Kitchen Stewardship’s best in-season summer recipes

———————————————

I’d love to see more of you!  Sign up for a free email subscription or grab my reader feed. You can also follow me on Twitter, get KS for Kindle, or see my Facebook Fan Page.

If you missed the last Monday Mission, click here.

Kitchen Stewardship is dedicated to balancing God’s gifts of time, health, earth and money.  If you feel called to such a mission, read more at Mission, Method, and Mary and Martha Moments.