Week 24

Clean out your pantry.

This cleaning project will be just a bit different than normal.  It is not about how neat your pantry looks or how clean it is, but about what foods you have in it.  If you have been doing the weekly challenges, you are now half way through the year  and it is time to commit or recommit to eating foods as created by God for our bodies.  Are you ready to go to 100% God-made foods at home?  If you are just starting on this journey, then start at the beginning and work through the weekly challenges.  You will be here to this point before you know it.

Did you start off the year well, but have now slipped back into bad eating habits?  Perhaps you haven't completely embraced the concept of eating only God's foods yet.  It all sounds great but you still have your bag of Doritos in the pantry, your liter of Coke in the refrigerator, or some Blue Bell ice cream in the freezer (or whatever brand is popular where you live that is loaded with sugar, artificial or man-altered ingredients).

It is extremely hard to make permanent changes when you have these man-made addictive foods within reach.  So this week, get serious and start tossing!  Get rid of anything that contains foods/ingredients on the foods to avoid list.  (Items which are unopened and not expired can be donated to your local food bank.)

And more importantly, don't buy more.  This is a great time of year to do this since so many delicious, fresh produce items are available at the stores.  Replace all that junk food with good quality fruits, vegetables, nuts, cheeses, etc.  I have now given you many recipes so that you can make your on treats and have shown you what I keep in my pantry.

So what happens if your family is not on-board with your plan.  Let me tell you how Fred broke his habit of drinking a soda every day about 15 years ago.  His favorite was Dr. Pepper, but I sometimes bought other things like Coke, if it was on sale.  Food prices had been going up drastically (like now), and thus soda prices too.  One week, nothing was on sale so I didn't buy anything.  Then, having two small sons, I was quickly distracted and forgot about it.  About two weeks later I realized the soda had been long gone and nothing had been said.  I waited about a month and asked one morning, "Have you noticed there is no soda in the house?".  Fred answered, "Yes, so I've switched to drinking water with my lunch."  Wow!   That was it.  I was shocked.  Who knew it would be so simple! 

Each situation is different, but if you have good alternatives available, don't assume anything.  Also, don't say anything or harp about it.  Buy the best quality and have only that available.  I think you might be amazed with what happens.

Don't forget, eating 100% God-made good quality foods is a blessing!  It is not a matter of what you don't get to eat, but what you DO get to eat.  Enjoy, have fun, and feel good for doing so.

This week's challenge is to clean out your pantry of man-made foods.  You guessed right - next week we will focus on the refrigerator and then our focus will be on the freezer the following week.  So don't buy anything at your next trip to the grocery store that you will need to toss out!

Advanced challenge for those already eating 100% God-made foods:

Many people who eat well still include a lot of processed sugar in their diet.  My challenge to you this week is to get rid of the sugar in your pantry, including raw sugar.  Replace it with raw unfiltered honey, pure maple syrup, dates, figs and/or molasses. 

"No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."  Hebrews 12:11