A Grace-Filled Look at Real Food

What does it look like to be intentional with our food choices? Why does it matter if we eat real food or not? What exactly is real food anyway?

I haven’t traditionally talked about real food on a regular basis here at Intentional By Grace.

Well, I take that back.

I certainly did a lot of talking about it back in 2011 when I first started this site. At the time, I was neck deep in learning all about natural living and real food (you can read my journey into natural living here), and I wanted to share what I was learning with anyone who would listen.

That was all of 24 people at the time.

I’ve come a long way since those days.

I’ve been humbled deeply in the years since starting this site.

What started as a desire to teach others to “do better” and “get right” has turned into (by God’s grace alone) a site that teaches you to seek God in all you do and glorify Him in all you do.

Period.

Living intentionally isn’t about being better people. It’s not about being able to do more with your life.

It’s about being still. It’s about slowing down. It’s about seeking Him. It’s about glorifying Him.

It’s about saying, “Yes, Lord” with courage and boldness to whatever He asks of you even if it goes against everything you’ve ever known. Even if it’s uncomfortable.

It’s about taking yourself off the throne and putting Him in His rightful place as Lord and King of your life.

I want to talk about real food.

I want to take a grace-filled look at real food because I think real food is an area that God wants to redeem in your life and in mine.

I like pressing the easy button as much as the next person. I don’t like spending all day in the kitchen on a regular basis, and I much prefer eating out when life gets busy than trying to make everything from scratch.

I eat an Oreo (or ten) from time to time and occasionally my family eats a frozen pizza that’s not homemade.

We don’t always buy organic, and sometimes we eat meat that’s less than stellar because it’s what is available to us.

However, I don’t make these choices blindly, trusting a system that’s obviously broken. And our food system is broken, y’all.

I make a conscious decision to eat these fake foods, knowing they are fake foods, and not nourishing, wholesome foods, and I don’t pretend otherwise.

I want to say at the outset, this new series, A Grace-Filled Look at Real Food, isn’t here to steal your convenience foods or your joy.

It’s not going to tell you that it’s all or nothing with health and nutrition.

It’s not going to condemn you for liking cupcakes and cookies from a box.

I want to take a grace-filled look at real food to help you make intentional choices about what you eat, and possibly remove some blinders previously in place because you didn’t even know to think about what goes into the bread you buy. It’s just the bread your mama bought for you growing up.

You see, we tend to just do what’s been done before us.

We don’t breastfeed because our moms didn’t do it, or we use Tide detergent because that’s what Mama used growing up.

We open our canned goods from the bottom and not the top because that’s what grandma did, but we’re not sure why we do it this way.

We all have our “thing” and we all have “things” we don’t need to let go of – it’s been family tradition for years, and that’s okay.

But what’s also been “family tradition” is killing our nation through obesity and overwork. We’re continually consuming boxed goods and processed foods thinking they are food, when they aren’t.

They’re fakes.

Phonies.

Covered up with loads of sugar.

Fake sugar at that.

You know the stats. You know our nation is increasingly growing around the waistline, and we all want to lose a pound or two or three or twenty. We’re in this together.

So I’m not here condemning.

I’m here in the trenches of this battle with you trying to make intentional food choices for my family through the lens of grace.

There are a lot of fake foods out there, and I want to help you decode some of it. I want you to make a conscious decision, and perhaps choose to slow your life down a bit so you can make better food choices for your family.

I’m convinced that many of our problems with food don’t involve money, and that we can’t afford better food, it’s time.

We’re too busy.

We’re too busy to enjoy good food. We’re too busy to linger over a meal, let alone prepare the meal as a family. We’re too busy to make more foods from scratch or even grow our own food.

We’re just too busy. (I suggest reading this post to understand better what I mean.)

Eating is a necessity, but it’s not a burden – at least it shouldn’t be. I think God meant for us to enjoy it!

Yet we choose convenience far too often and really? I’m not convinced that it’s that much faster to grab the pre-mix box of cornbread than it is to whip up your own batch from scratch. But that’s neither here nor there right now. We’ll get to that later in the series.

For now, let’s commit to educating ourselves on what we are choosing when we choose convenience. Let’s not be an ostrich with our heads in the sand any longer.

The truth is that this information is just flat out overwhelming, especially for those of us who didn’t grow up in the culture of real food.

We’re all at different points in our real food journey. There is grace for your chapter one. There is grace for my chapter five. There is grace for my neighbor up the street who is on chapter 20.

Starting today and running throughout the entire month, I will be taking a grace-filled look at real food.

What we’ll cover in A Grace-Filled Look at Real Food:

• Food Additive to Be Aware of When Choosing “Convenience”
• 12 Ways to Slash Your Real Food Grocery Budget
• My Top 10 Favorite Kitchen Tools
• Real Food Breakfast Ideas
• Real Food Lunch Ideas
• Real Food Dinner Ideas
• Why My Kids Don’t Drink Juice Everyday {and what we drink instead}
• Easy Homemade Condiment Recipes
• Easy Homemade Mixes
• Healthy Fast Food Meals from the Grocery Store

These posts have been in my drafts for years now. They’ve been marinating in my heart, and I’ve been prayerfully considering this series for months.

I’m passionate about real food, and I’ve been canning my thoughts for years because I’ve sensed the Lord’s silence. I’m so grateful to share with you anew what I’ve been learning on my real food journey these last seven years. I remember all too well the feeling of being overwhelmed when I started my journey. I pray this series is a blessing to those of you looking to steward your health for the glory of God.

Other posts you might be interested in from the archives:

• 3 Pitfalls of a Productivity-Driven Society
• My Journey into Natural Living and Better Health
• Why Our Family Eats, Prepares, and Cleans Up Meals Together
• A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Healthy Meals for Your Family
• 55+ Snacks You (and Your Toddler) Will Love
• 40 Real Food Meals You Can Make in 20 Minutes or Less

What do you think? Are you with me? Do you want to learn more about healthy, real food through the lens of grace?