What does that really mean? We buy our flour from Costco, and as my husband was carrying the big 25lb bag into our house he read “bleached flour.” What’s the mean, he asked as I was helping carry in the other boxes of Costco goodies. I told him it didn’t sound good but was actually pretty surprised to see that word on Costco’s bag of flour. Normally Costco is really good about being healthy, chemical and preservative free.

I know I’ve read many recipes that call for “unbleached flour” thinking “duh” who would buy the other. Well I’m that person; we all make simple mistakes or get into such routines that we don’t truly pay attention to what we are doing in life. This goes for everything, our marriage, children, friends, and even food. I took the time to look this up and realized it’s a chemical process they do to flour to make it whiter. Wow! I can’t believe the little things that are so toxic to our bodies that we simply ignore or don’t pay attention to. I’ve been in a good routine for awhile with the items I purchase without giving much thought to it. Clearly, I had overlooked this bag of chemical flour for quite some time. To my dismay, I realized routine isn’t always best.

Same goes for life, we get stuck in routines of marriage, kids, school, sports and much more that we lose sight of reality. Don’t get stuck in the mundane routine of life and let busyness take over. We were made to be still and listen yet we get out of this habit instantaneously. I was realizing this morning how our weekends have become filled with entertaining in the evenings and household chores during the day. This isn’t always bad, especially since we just moved and all, but when it becomes a weekly chore week in and week out, we need to refocus again. Weekends were created for relaxation and enjoyment. It’s good to spend that quality time as a family going to the park, enjoying dinner together, watching a football game, and just being. So when you buy the same bag of flour week in and week out and years later finally, your eyes are open to the harm that you have neglected unintentionally for years. Take a step back and reevaluate your “routine.”