Ok,  so I have decided to start a chemical free diet for my family in hopes that it will improve Michael’s behavior, attention span, and focus. He is behind in some areas of understanding and he seems to be hyperactive, oversensitive, and has a difficult time sitting still for any period of time. He basically can’t seem to stop talking (very loudly), moving, or whining. He also has had dark circles under his eyes for basically as long as I can remember. The doctor thought it might be allergy related and lately I have read several blogs and articles regarding added dyes, chemicals, and preservatives in our food having a huge affect on some children’s behavior. In other words, some children have a sensitivity or allergy to some of these additives. In order to assess whether it is an additive or dye sensitivity  I have decided to completely remove as many of the chemicals and dyes in our food as possible. I am not going completely organic so there will probably still be a small amount of chemicals in our food due to pesticides and fertilizers used in the growth of our foods. I will buy about half of our fruits and veggies from organic sources but all other food will be conventional but without additives. I am going to keep track of what we eat and which brands I have found to have the least additives.

Sunday was our first day on the diet.

Day 1

Breakfast

Homemade whole wheat pancakes

Homemade syrup

Milk

Snack

Dannon plain yogurt with strawberries, bananas, and sugar

Lunch

Grilled cheese sandwiches (homemade multigrain bread with Tillamook white cheddar cheese)

Grape juice

Snack

Mozzarella Cheese stick

Kirkland Organic tortilla chips

Dinner (which they didn’t eat )

Pot Roast- Beef Roast, red potatoes, baby carrots, onions, celery, garlic salt, and pepper

milk

Day 2

Breakfast

Oatmeal with homemade syrup and bananas

Orange juice

Snack

Dannon Plain Yogurt with peaches and sugar (Kroger canned peaches also had corn syrup)

Mozzerella Cheese stick

Grapes

Triscuits

Lunch

Peanut butter (Jiff all natural) and honey sandwiches

Organic nectarines

Milk

Snack

Homemade granola bars

Blue Bunny Natural Vanilla Ice-cream

Dinner (they didn’t actually eat)

Whole wheat pasta with a creamy cheese sauce, chicken and broccoli

*Then we went to McDonalds to let the kids play and they had some of their Wild Berry Smoothie which is not all natural/ chemical free so tomorrow may be our new day one.

New Day 1 -Aug 16, 2011

Breakfast

Granola Bars

Apple juice

Lunch

banana and strawberry slices

peanut butter and honey sandwiches

mozzarella cheese sticks

water

Snack

baby carrots

herb dip

Dinner

The kids had their leftovers from last night and they actually ate 🙂

Dessert

Blue Bunny All natural vanilla Ice-cream with homemade chocolate syrup

New Day 2

Breakfast

French toast (using leftover bread from last 2-3 days)

Homemade syrup

Milk

Snack

granola bars

Lunch

leftover pasta

baby carrots

chocolate milk

Dinner

Brown rice meatloaf

mashed potatoes

steamed veggies

chocolate milk

Day 3

Breakfast

Banana Oat muffins

milk

Snack

Fresh fruits

Lunch

Peanut Butter and Honey Sandwiches

cheese  sticks

milk

Snack

banana oat muffins (the kids love them so they beg for them all day)

Dinner

Leftover night (everyone ate bits and pieces of the meals we’ve had for last couple of days)

I am still undecided how I feel about added vitamins. Do they count as chemicals or not. I don’t know what my current opinion is. So far I have been cutting them but not sure if that will stick or not.