Real Food Wednesday - Happy Birthday, Mom!

First, my part II on our nutrition journey is going to have to wait until this Friday, since my business trip last week took me to a place where (unexpectedly) our hotel did not have free wi-fi! Jeff and I enjoyed our trip to the desert, where we got to catch up with some family I haven't seen in a while, and enjoyed a cute (predominantly shark-themed) aquarium at the Mandalay Bay Hotel. The tradeshow for work (the reason for our trip) went very well, as well. Vegas is not really a city I would recommend for a vacation, though, unless you're wanting to spend most/all of your time outside the city at sites like th Grand Canyon and Lake Mead, especially if you have kids - largely due to the large quantity of nearly nude billboards and such the like.

Anyway...onto today's topic.

In the spirit of Real Food Wednesday, and in honor of my mom's birthday I wanted to share a little bit about why Real Food is worth the time and effort (at least to me).

My mother has never been one of those women who was always looking for something faster when it came to time in the kitchen. As a teen it sometimes frustrated me, because there were not a lot of ready-made snacking materials in our kitchen. Our kitchen was full of ingredients, not (what I now consider disgusting) processed food products. But come meal time, I was certainly not disappointed. My mom made the most incredible foods from scratch - something many of my friends were a bit jealous of.

And of course, the best part about all of that was the opportunity I had to grow up on a chair that was pulled up to the counter. I can entirely attribute my love of cooking to the quality time I spent watching my mom invest her time and her talents into our family. Fast food is, well, fast; but it can never make you feel more loved. Looking at all the time and energy my mom poured into making balanced, creative, and home-cooked meals for us - it is impossible to feel anything but loved!

I'm going to admit something here to make a point - I watched an infomercial the other day (it doesn't happen often, I swear). It was for the Bullet Express, and they were touting that all these meals could be made in minutes, instead of the long amount of time it usually takes. I was immediately grateful that my mom did not opt for such quick fixes. I learned so much from her. I learned that feeding your family is worth time and effort, especially since you get so much more than just a well-fed family. You get a family who knows they are worth your time, knows that they are loved. You give little girls a chance to feel grown up, and to learn how to invest time into the families they will have one day. You get a family who knows that really good things are worth the wait.

Now we both share tips for healthier, more whole foods. Anytime I learn anything knew in the kitchen, she's the first person I call, and she's always telling me new things she's picked up. I'm so grateful for my relationship with my mom, and definitely for all the bonding time I got with her while I was growing up, standing on that chair in the kitchen.

This post is a part of Real Food Wednesday, hosted by Kelly the Kitchen Kop. Visit for more great links :)