Clean Eating?

I've noticed a trend in eating lately... well, things I see online about eating. It's called 'Clean Eating' and it seems to be popping up everything.

So what is it?

Well, if you ask me, it's just called home cooking - getting back to basics and making things from scratch! All it really is meant to convey is taking processed foods and chemicals out of your diet. In other words, home cooking.

Apparently, this concept is so foreign to some people, they call it 'clean eating' because, I guess, they never saw it done growing up? Am I that much of a rarity, that I actually saw my Mom cook some things from scratch? Sure, there were some short cuts used, but in general, she bought ingredients and made things for dinner, or whatever the meal was. It wasn't 100% pure all the time (Hamburger Helper was a common occurrence), but I got that you didn't just go to a drive-thru to eat or buy something out of the freezer case. I got enough influence in my eating habits that I try to cook things myself - I made some soup from scratch this past weekend that totally kicked butt.

So why is this 'clean eating' being thrown around the internet like it's a new idea? Has our society really become that dumb about food? I guess if you look at obesity rates, then maybe there is something to that thought process...

But this thought process just bugs me. I feel like that it's common sense eating, not clean eating. It's how you should be eating, no matter what. You shouldn't need a blog or a book to tell you not to eat a bunch of chemically processed foods. You should know that if you buy fresh veggies, that's the best way to eat and if you can not fry everything in butter, it's even better. Is this stuff really not common sense?? Convenience and fast is not always good...

I find myself surfing around Pinterest for recipes a lot lately. I've found some good stuff! And then I see some stuff that should be illegal... I'm sure a bite tastes absolutely fabulous, but if you eat the whole thing, you've got your fat and calories covered for the entire day! Who comes up with this stuff?? It's scary. And the fact that people are repinning this stuff, practically drooling about it in the comments, and possibly making it themselves... scary.

So yeah... clean eating? No. It's common sense eating, people. At least it should be. Generations ago, they had no idea what preservatives were and they'd be shaking their head at our 'clean eating' thought process, wondering where the heck it all went wrong. One word. McDonald's.