The other day I made a pound cake.
With white flour and sugar.
Does this shock you? Have I completely lost my credibility as a real food blogger?
I hope not, because I have a really important point to make in this story.
We were living in the bus at that month. I was making a pound cake for my son’s birthday because it only required very basic ingredients, and would be yummy enough without frosting (it’s all about simplicity on the bus, dontchaknow).
Problem: half of our family and Seth’s aunts and uncles love chocolate. The other half don’t (I know, I don’t get it, either). Personally, I was craving chocolate, but didn’t want to make a dessert that only half the party would enjoy. So, I compromised.
I mixed up a lovely vanilla pound cake, and poured half of the rather thick batter into the pan. Then I stirred in a heaping measure of cocoa powder into the remaining batter, and poured that into the other half of the pan. It was a beautiful marriage of delectable batters, and it baked up beautifully. I wish you could have smelled it, let alone tasted it. Everyone was delighted (including Seth).
What does this cake have to do with your real food journey?
There will be days when you will struggle to please both parties–the voice in your head that is full of your accumulated real food knowledge, and the voice of reality that says you only have so much time or money or energy–will be at odds with each other. You will have to make a choice that is a nod to both your ideals and your reality. You will have to compromise.
And you know what? It will be OK. You will live. You will not die from one white flour/white sugar pound cake. And life will be full and rich and sweet. And stress need not flavor every meal you make.
So, as we close this month-long series, my final piece of advice to you is this: Be intentional in your food choices for your family, realizing that compromise will be a regular part of the process. The fact that you are making the effort to become more conscious of healthy eating habits is key, even if it doesn’t show up in ever meal from this moment on. Real food is a process–let your goal be to embrace the journey.
It’s been absolutetudenly delightful to have you join me this month on our Real Food Journey. If you have further questions, or topics you’d like me to cover in future posts, don’t hesitate to join the conversation on my Q&A post, or contact me.
Ready for your next step? It’s time to get cooking!
This post made me smile, big time! “Poundcake Won’t Kill You”! AMEN. Blessings to that little birthday guy!
I always say relationships come before food. 🙂
absolutely!
Thank you! While I know this, I needed the reminder today that compromise is okay, even if it happens more frequently than I would like right now. I can’t stress myself out over it, especially since I’m 7 months pregnant and just need to eat sometimes. As long as I keep making the healthier choices as often as possible, I just have to relax on the other stuff right now.
exactly, Kelley dear! I had to make more compromises than I cared to count during my last pregnancy with how much we were on the road, but I still ended up with a strong healthy baby, Praise God! Rest and rejoice, friend!
Thank you! Yes, God has freed my mind that it’s okay if I can’t eat as “perfectly” as I’d like, and it’s even okay if I gain 40lbs again. I just need to make sure I’m eating as healthy as I can at each moment and relax a little. The stress of eating well would probably make me gain extra weight anyway! 🙂
Kelley, FYI–I gained at least 50 Lbs…more than I ever had in pregnancy, and still ended up with a healthy, 8 Lb. baby (I was afraid baby would be huge!) So, yeah, trust God. He is the biggest factor in your health! 😉 Excited for you!!
I AGREE …WHole HEartley….if thats how you spell that word hahaha. Anyway, I have realized this concept of compromise throughout my Journey as well. LIke you said, it wont kill you!!
Wonderful! I have to remind myself that God is so much bigger than the food we eat {and everything else}, otherwise I might go a touch crazy about what my kids eat {I say this as white flour and granulated sugar cupcakes are in the oven for someone’s 4th birthday party, because I did not want to spend the money on GF, Sugar Alternative, etc cupcakes}.
This was an awesome series! Now I’m going to have to go back and
revisit the articles I only glanced over during vacation! 😉
The cake looks lovely and what a precious picture of Seth! I’ve enjoyed your posts and this one is really good advice. I can identify with this “…..you will struggle to please both parties–the voice in your head that is full of your accumulated real food knowledge, and the voice of reality that says you only have so much time or money or energy….” For a long time I struggled a lot with that and would have a hard time deciding what to eat. But like you said we do have to compromise and realize that we only need to do our best and trust God for wisdom in making those decisions!