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Practical tips and guides that make shopping for real food a simple, easy task.

where to find local food

Where to Find Food When the Grocery Store Runs Out

by Kristin Marr

Healthy Food Swaps

9 Healthy Food Swaps to Help You Ditch Processed Food

by Kristin Marr

How to Read Ingredients Lists

How to Read Ingredient Lists (and Find Real Food)

by Kristin Marr

Simplify Real Food with a Capsule Pantry

Simplify Real Food with a Capsule Pantry

by Kristin Marr

Community Supported Agriculture 101

Community Supported Agriculture 101: The Local Way to Source Real Food

by Kristin Marr

Real Food Dairy 101

Real Food Dairy 101: My Guide to Healthier Dairy

by Kristin Marr

Real Food Oils And Cooking Fats 101

Real Food Oils And Cooking Fats 101: My Guide to Healthier Fat

by Kristin Marr

Real Food (Gluten-Free) Flour 101

Real Food Gluten-Free Flour 101: My Guide To Gluten-Free Baking

by Kristin Marr

Real Food Flour 101: An in-depth look at healthy, real food flour

Real Food Flour 101: My Guide to Healthier Baking

by Kristin Marr

A Week of Real Food Shopping

A Week of Real Food Shopping: Video Guide

by Kristin Marr

16 Food Products and Labels to Avoid Eating

16 Food Products and Labels to Avoid Eating

by Kristin Marr

Shopping for real food at ALDI

Shopping for Real Food at Aldi: My Top Picks + Printable Shopping Guide

by Kristin Marr

livesimplymom

All ultra-processed food comes in a box, can, or p

All ultra-processed food comes in a box, can, or package. But not all food that comes in a box, can, or package is ultra-processed.
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Companies spend billions of dollars every year on marketing food, making it difficult to navigate through all the food choices in the grocery store.
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3 rules that make finding and eating real food much easier…
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⭐️ Prepare your own food.
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If you buy ingredients and prepare your food at home, you’re naturally going to avoid a ton of ultra-processed food. That said, eating real doesn’t mean you have to make everything from scratch. You can certainly buy food in a package. You just have to know what to look for.
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⭐️ When buying food in a package (box, jar, can, bag, etc.), read the ingredient list.
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The key to avoid processed food is to ignore the marketing labels on the front of the package (i.e. natural, vegan, heart healthy, made with fiber, made with ancient grains, gluten-free, made with real fruit, etc.) and find the ingredient list, then read it. That’s the only way to find out what’s actually inside that food package (whether it’s actually food or a nutrient-less substance).
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⭐️ Ask yourself 4 questions before buying any food that comes in a package.
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1️⃣ Are the ingredients real foods?
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2️⃣ Could I purchase the ingredients from the store and make this food at home? Have you ever seen "natural flavor" at the store or a market? NOPE!
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3️⃣ Are the ingredients necessary? This is one reason why learning to cook is important. When you know how to make salad dressing, you know that many of the extra fillers (like natural flavor or maltodextrin) are not necessary. The same goes for yogurt, bread, granola bars, mayo, etc.
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4️⃣ Are the ingredients as nutrient-dense as possible (for a packaged food option)?

Food prepping for the week. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Food prepping for the week.
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I've been loving salads in a jar lately as they keep salads fresh all week. There are so many ways to make salads in a jar, the key is the layering.
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Make sure the least delicate ingredients go on the bottom along with the dressing, then build up from there, adding delicate greens last.
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Did you catch this Fall Salad in a Jar recipe that I shared the other day on Instagram in partnership with @cypressgrovers. It's perfect combo of all-things fall: roasted fall veggies, apples, quinoa, goat cheese crumbles, and cool-weather greens.

Green beauty hack/tip.... Weekend project: clean m

Green beauty hack/tip.... Weekend project: clean my makeup brushes!
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Mine desperately need it. Here's how I wash my brushes:
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1/4 up water
2 tablespoons witch hazel
generously squirt of castile soap
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Mix the ingredients together in a glass or bowl, then add the brushes.
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Combine as much of the mixture needed in a bowl.
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Add the makeup brushes to the mixture. I like to swish the brushes back in forth in the mixture and then let them soak for a few minutes.
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The mixture will go from clear to a dirty makeup mixture quickly. After a few minutes, remove the brushes, dump the solution, and rinse the brushes under the water.
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Let the brushes rest on a towel to dry. Repeat weekly or twice a month to keep your brushes clean.

Farmer’s market week 3. I’m going to try and t

Farmer’s market week 3. I’m going to try and take a photo each week to show how the variety changes with the seasons #livesimplyfarmersmarket. I thought this would be a fun way to document the beauty of real food and its seasonality.

Ultra-processed food is engineered to always taste the same. For example: A Big Mac is specifically formulated to always taste the exact same, with no variation.

Real food, on the other hand, tastes different depending on the variety, the season, and how it’s grown or where it’s grown. All beef doesn’t taste the same, neither does milk (it actually changes with the seasons, as the diet of a grazing cow changes), cheese changes based on how it’s cultured (a beautiful fermentation process that transforms milk into a beneficial, bacteria-rich food), and tomatoes and lettuce vary in flavor. Broccoli and peaches aren’t grown year-round, instead there’s a specific season for these foods which makes us savor each food and that particular season. This is true for all real food. And this is a beautiful thing, because it means that we were intended to eat variety. Our body needs a variety of nutrients, and the seasonal shift in food provides us with this variety in a very natural way.

(Swipe to build this salad —>) Can you feel it? 🍁
Fall is in the air--even in Florida where our first cold front just arrived, early.
This time of year is busy, which means it’s way too easy to let healthy, nourishing meals slip.
Today, I’ve teamed up with @cypressgrovers to share a simple & nutrient-rich, make-ahead lunch for the fall months. #sponsored
This recipe can be prepped on a Sunday and then stored in the fridge for up to 3 days. To keep everything crisp and fresh, the ingredients are layered in a jar, keeping the greens, dressing, apples, veggies, & @cypressgrovers Purple Haze goat cheese separated until meal time.
Before sharing the recipe, let’s talk about the Purple Haze goat cheese. This ingredient adds protein & healthy fats to the salad (keeping you satisfied and sustained). Purple Haze is made with the highest quality goat’s milk, the building block for every Cypress Grove cheese, along with lavender and hand-harvested fennel pollen. It adds an unforgettable and unique flavor to this salad.

RECIPE:
Dressing
1/8 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

2 large beets, chopped
1 medium butternut squash, chopped
2 TB extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 large apple of choice, chopped
1 cup quinoa
4-ounces @cypressgrovers Purple Haze goat cheese
3 cups arugula

1. Combine the dressing ingredients in a bowl.  
2. Preheat the oven to 425F.  
3. On a parchment-lined sheet pan, combine beets and butternut squash. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt & pepper. Roast for 25-30 minutes.  
4. Cook the quinoa according to the directions on the package.  
5. Crumble the goat cheese using a fork. Squeeze the juice from half a lemon over the apples.  
6. Allow the quinoa and veggies to cool before the next step.  
7. Evenly add the ingredients among 3 quart-size mason jars: dressing, apples, roasted veggies, quinoa, goat cheese, then arugula. Top with a lid. Store in the fridge.  

To serve, empty the salad into a bowl or shake the jar gently to combine ingredients. Serve at room temperature.

#CypressGrove #purplehaze

Swipe for all the lunch examples —>We could all

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