Just as there were many causes of society being thrown into the Dark Ages in civilization, there were many factors that threw us into the Mid-Evil Times of our Nutritional Life. My husband got a "real job" and we had a disposable income. We had another baby and I was exhausted. We moved across the country, and we were beginning a new business.

Fast food, Take Out, and all the calories and preservatives that go with it became regular habits. Whatever was quick and easy filled our pantry shelves and refrigerator. We were exhausted and stressed as we faced the new challenges of life, and we let food be whatever came to hand.

We suffered for that line of thinking. I couldn't get the baby weight off. We began having strange health issues. We felt tired and weak all the time, and just couldn't seem to find the energy we used to have. Then, we got several wake up calls that forced our hands to action.

Our angelic first grader began having strange mood swings and bursts of rage. He, who never really raised his voice in frustration, began screaming things like, "I hate you!" I thought he was having a breakdown. Every day he had these fits of extreme anger and crying. After questioning him about every aspect of his life, we realized that he had formed two new habits.

1. He was eating peanut butter crackers from the pantry every day.
2. He was getting a chocolate kiss from his teacher at the end of each day.

After researching it, we discovered our precious little guy was not needing counseling, he was having silent migraine headaches. He had no head pain, but had mood issues and extreme dizziness from a food sensitivity to chocolate and the preservatives in peanut butter. After eliminating those foods, he became his sweet self again.

I wish I could say that turned our eating habits back to the old ways, but sadly, we went through several more years of eating processed junk before the ultimate wake up call happened to me one day...

  Evolution of Dinner: Part 5 - The Renaissance of Mealtime