Based on your (awesome) comments in Part 1…and based on all of the (awesome) emails I’ve received with questions…I believe we’ll begin today by taking a little peek into my pantry. And my freezer. Uh, freezers. And my fridge. Oh, and my cool trunk! You should see my cool trunk!

So come on in to my kitchen with me…and I’ll show you all of the food I typically keep on hand. (And while you’re here…would you mind lending me a hand with the dishes? Thanks.)

Let’s see, what do we have here in the pantry? Canned peaches, pears and tomato sauce that I put up last fall. And also tomato juice. And tomato soup. (I’m slightly embarassed to tell you that I planted 40 tomato plants last year…so that I’d have  plenty. And I did. Have plenty.)

( This year I’m planting fewer tomatoes…like maybe only 10-15 plants.)  (Because yes…I am crazy.)

Okay, what else is here in the pantry (to eat with the tomato products)?

A few varieties of whole wheat pasta, organic dried beans, organic brown rice, a bottle of Muir Glen Organic Ketchup…

(Do I need to keep saying “organic”? Most of my food is organic…but not all. Just most.)

Olive oil, red wine vinegar, molasses, honey, wheat germ, tuna, peanuts, coconut flakes, sesame seeds, popcorn, raisins, banana chips, dried cranberries…

That’s just the front shelves of the pantry. My very awesome pantry has hinges on the first shelves…that open up to reveal another layer of shelves in the back! (This is DEFINITELY my favorite feature of the entire house!)

So, in the back of the pantry, the shelves are bigger and deeper, so this is where I keep my big buckets of stuff. (And my mop….which is not organic.)

Palm kernel oil, coconut oil, jar of rolled oats, containers of rapadura, wheat berries, wheat that has been ground into flour, container of sea salt, and extra jars of tomato products… ahem.

 Now…moving on to my cool trunk. 

I order MANY of my dry goods in bulk, so the big opened 25 pound bags of oats, rice, wheat berries and popcorn live in this trunk. Then, to make my life easier (or, so that I don’t have to lift out a 25 pound bag of rice every time I need two cups of rice) I pour or scoop some into big jars…which is what you saw in my pantry.

Hang around here long enough, and you’ll see how much I LOVE jars. Yes, I’ll probably do a complete series here some day about the beauty and delight of jars. Big jars, little jars, tall jars…

(You are really starting to learn more about what a nerd I am, aren’t you? Yeah, well…)

Also in my trunk, you will see a couple boxes of cereal and a bag of potato chips. (gasp!)  I found this brand of cereal a couple of months ago, “Mom’s Best Naturals”. It’s not organic, but it’s better than the really bad stuff…it doesn’t have high fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated oils, artificial colors or flavors. I don’t consider it a health food by any means…but it does save my sanity on occasional crazy mornings. We maybe eat it once every two weeks.

And the chips? I can’t remember why I bought those…but the bigger bag was cheaper…and sometimes we all just need something crispy, greasy and horrible. (Although I feel pretty strongly that if I’m going to have a chip…it needs to be a Nacho Cheese Dorito…cause if I’m gonna eat garbage…I’m going to really enjoy it.)

Okay…I believe we should probably talk about my freezers and fridge next time…so that this post doesn’t go on forever. I would hate to leave you glassy eyed and disoriented. 

I’m sure you now have even more questions…and if this series lasts until “Getting Real With Food, Pt. 3,457…then so be it! Just so you know, I don’t plan to leave you hanging on where I buy all of my food, and how we afford it and all of that. I just wanted to give you a run down to start off with!

Come back for Part 3…in which I open my freezer to show you my cow, lamb and chickens. And frozen fruits and veggies…

And all the JARS of food in my fridge. (You KNOW you want to see my jars, don’t you now?)

As I begin to write this series about eating real food and about what I feel about nutrition…first I must say that…

I don’t know everything. 

Not even close. I only know what I’ve read (mostly from the book, Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon…and from the website mercola.com).

 But this is what I know:

1. This series is really hard to write. (Because there are so many things I want to say, and I’m not quite sure how to go about sharing it all.)

2. I don’t know everything. (I know I already said that…but I want to make sure you know that I know that I don’t know everything…you know?)

3. No matter WHAT we eat…if we over-eat…we will be overweight and have other health issues. (So just because I recommend that butter is good for you…doesn’t mean I think you should peal yourself a stick and have it for an afternoon snack.)  ;)

4. Not all food is created equally. (Milk is not milk is not milk.)(More on that later.)

5. There are a lot of ways of thinking out there…and many, many of them are conflicting. (Which is a really, really frustrating thing about learning about nutrition.)

6. Some of the time when you are reading this…you might not agree with me. (Thanks for coming back to visit anyway!)

7. You won’t always like what I have to say. (Like when I tell you that chocolate is not a food group…don’t get mad at me.)

8. One of the reasons I think that this series is hard to write is because I don’t want to overwhelm you…and because I never, ever, NEVER want any of you to feel burdened by the information I share or to feel like I’m judging you in any way if you don’t eat like I do. I ONLY JUST want to share some of the things I’ve learned and am learning. Okay? (Oh, and maybe I should let you know that sometimes I get hungry for a hotdog…and I buy some and we eat them. With chips. And we enjoy it.) 

Okay…so maybe you could let me know some of the specifics you’d like me to share? 

And I’ll continue to work on how to share it!

If you haven’t already…be sure to sign up to win my two new e-books full of healthy recipes!