Nourishing Traditions Support Thread - March

[sweetgrace]

This is a thread to support people that are either changing or have changed to the ideas that Weston A Price pioneered. They are most noticeably found in Nourishing Traditions.

Please join at anytime. New threads will be started on Sunday unless otherwise stated.

Links!!
Quick start principles - http://www.westonaprice.org/abcs-of-...thy-diets.html
Oiling of America - The case for eating saturated fats and unprocessed foods (this is a 2 hour video and an absolute must see!!!)
Another video about this diet

Events:
Raw milk event in Bloomington, MN on May 7th
Weston A Price Conference November 11-13 Dallas, TX

General recipes
http://thenourishingcook.com/
http://nourishedkitchen.com/ (also has cooking classes and meal planning)
http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/
http://www.cookinggodsway.com/ (also has cooking classes)
http://www.foodrenegade.com/
http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/
http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/
Rye sourdough recipe and starter recipe http://www.diaperswappers.com/forum/...2&postcount=49
http://www.culturesforhealth.com/ (also supplies)
http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/
http://www.katheats.com/
http://ohsheglows.com/
http://wholefoodforthewholefamily.blogspot.com/
http://www.cookingtf.com/ (menu planning as well)
http://gnowfglins.com/ (Menu planning and lessons as well)
http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/ (Video lessons for techniques)

Recommendations
Celtic Sea Salt
Coconut oil - http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/re...uct/B001EO5Q64
http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/
Organic honey - http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/re...uct/B00014JNI0
Aluminum free baking powder
Organic cane sugar
Brown sugar
Sucanat
Fermented cod liver oil
General supplies

Misc.
Dangers of statins
Blog about sweeteners
http://180degreehealth.blogspot.com/
http://undergroundwellness.com/blog/
http://www.livinlavidalowcarb.com/
Where to get raw milk
Facebook group to improve eating
Water kefir tutorial
Milk kefir tutorial
http://www.cheeseslave.com/2008/09/0...to-make-kefir/
Crock pot apple butter
Fertility help
Homemade tortillas
Homemade ginger ale
Homemade crackers
How to make a recipe healthier
Soaked oatmeal recipe
Sourdough frosted chocolate cake
Honey Whole Wheat Sourdough bread
Breakfast cereal and Coconut Granola recipe
How to make whey
Affordable crock for ferments
Sandwich wraps recommendation

Books
Coconut Oil Miracle

Denver area sources:
http://www.vitacost.com/
http://www.chaffinfamilyorchards.com/
http://www.purityfarms.com/

Let me know if I forgot something.

[sweetgrace]

I didn't see a thread started yet for March and was wondering if anyone is still out there? I'm finding the longer I cook tradtional foods the easier it is becoming second nature. Now it is fun instead of a chore. With a little bit of menu planning my weeks go so smoothly and it saves us money. How is everyone else doing?

[Shalom]

I'm having a tough time finding time for everything. But your comment is very encouraging to me. We are just starting slowly. I started sprouting my beans/lentils/wheat recently and just freeze or refrigerate until needed. I was wondering what everyone else is doing as far as how they sprout their beans and how quickly they cook/use them....and in what? The little tails are bothering me :-)

BTW: thanks for starting this. I hope 3 ladybugs isn't sick :-(

[sweetgrace]

Originally Posted by Shalom I'm having a tough time finding time for everything. But your comment is very encouraging to me. We are just starting slowly. I started sprouting my beans/lentils/wheat recently and just freeze or refrigerate until needed. I was wondering what everyone else is doing as far as how they sprout their beans and how quickly they cook/use them....and in what? The little tails are bothering me :-) BTW: thanks for starting this. I hope 3 ladybugs isn't sick :-(

I have a tough time finding time too! As the months go by and I'm adding in new things to try/do, I'm also finding that the things I started with are easy peasy now. Making a menu plan is essential for me. I have the Momagenda menu planner and its great for this. I plan my meals up on the top and then on the bottom they have a space of things to do in the AM/NOON/PM and thats were I remember to do things several days ahead for meals. I don't sprout my own wheat because I don't have a grinder (hopefully in the future) but I do sprout lentils sometimes and I always soak beans/lentils/flour etc. I haven't really tried sprouting beans yet. The lentils we just toss on our salads for a tasty treat for now, although they would be just fine tossed into soups as well. I think I read where sprouted lentils can last a couple of weeks in the fridge. So, I just make enough to last the couple of weeks.

[3 ladybugs]

Thank you for starting the new thread. I have a sinus infection but I would hardly call me "ill". I just need to get over this in the next month because I have a PET scan then that I am terrified of. DS is also battling something that I am fearing may be a food allergy. He has had bouts of diarrhea on and off for the last 2 weeks. It is so sporadic that it could happen one moment and he would be fine the next! Then I thought he had acne on his face (he is 3.5) and today I went to pop the white head and it didn't pop! Got a needle and it is clear that it isn't a pimple! So I have no idea what is happening with him. I also became a leader of the local Holistic Moms Network recently so that has taken much of my time.

However on the food front, with exception of DS we are doing well on our diet. I love the meal plans because it takes much of the guess work out for me. We have church potlucks on Wednesdays and I have been bringing food we would eat there. So that is good. This week I am making Sourdough bread so that should be easy. We are noticing that we are going grocery shopping about every 1.5 weeks. Seeing that we spend about $150 every time this makes it a bit easier on us. I JUST ordered the Fermented Cod liver oil. I want to be on it before I see my RE next month. I also want to have it in my hand when I see my Peri the day before the RE next month. He (the peri) may make me go on low pasteurized milk. I found one that isn't homogenized so I think I might just go with that should he make me. At least then I don't have to lie to him through the pregnancy. However as soon as that kid comes out, back to raw I will go!

Oh and I have been using Whole Foods as my big box mart! I purchase things in bulk that I know we will use that are on sale. They give 10% the sale price for bulk purchases so it is fairly good, and seeing that we don't have Azure Standard out here it helps a bit. Next month I will be placing another Frontier Co-op order and will be getting some spices and such. Did you all see that article yesterday that said Paperika and Tumernic is good for more then just adding flavor? It was a study out of Penn State or U Penn, forget which.

I sprout things as I need them. I use soaked flour most of the time since I don't have a grinder. We don't use much beans and rice though.

Oh I am making Corned beef this week. I have been saving my brisket for this very reason. I will be making a photo log of it on my blog starting tomorrow if you want to see.

[sweetgrace]

Originally Posted by 3 ladybugs Thank you for starting the new thread. I have a sinus infection but I would hardly call me "ill". I just need to get over this in the next month because I have a PET scan then that I am terrified of. DS is also battling something that I am fearing may be a food allergy. He has had bouts of diarrhea on and off for the last 2 weeks. It is so sporadic that it could happen one moment and he would be fine the next! Then I thought he had acne on his face (he is 3.5) and today I went to pop the white head and it didn't pop! Got a needle and it is clear that it isn't a pimple! So I have no idea what is happening with him. I also became a leader of the local Holistic Moms Network recently so that has taken much of my time. However on the food front, with exception of DS we are doing well on our diet. I love the meal plans because it takes much of the guess work out for me. We have church potlucks on Wednesdays and I have been bringing food we would eat there. So that is good. This week I am making Sourdough bread so that should be easy. We are noticing that we are going grocery shopping about every 1.5 weeks. Seeing that we spend about $150 every time this makes it a bit easier on us. I JUST ordered the Fermented Cod liver oil. I want to be on it before I see my RE next month. I also want to have it in my hand when I see my Peri the day before the RE next month. He (the peri) may make me go on low pasteurized milk. I found one that isn't homogenized so I think I might just go with that should he make me. At least then I don't have to lie to him through the pregnancy. However as soon as that kid comes out, back to raw I will go! Oh and I have been using Whole Foods as my big box mart! I purchase things in bulk that I know we will use that are on sale. They give 10% the sale price for bulk purchases so it is fairly good, and seeing that we don't have Azure Standard out here it helps a bit. Next month I will be placing another Frontier Co-op order and will be getting some spices and such. Did you all see that article yesterday that said Paperika and Tumernic is good for more then just adding flavor? It was a study out of Penn State or U Penn, forget which. I sprout things as I need them. I use soaked flour most of the time since I don't have a grinder. We don't use much beans and rice though. Oh I am making Corned beef this week. I have been saving my brisket for this very reason. I will be making a photo log of it on my blog starting tomorrow if you want to see.

OH I'm so praying your PET scan goes as planned! Wow, $150 every week and a half is good! Do you buy all organic? We are paying at least that every week right now and the only thing right now I'm not buying organic is cheese! I am trying to talk hubby into buying bulk beef/pork and also trying to find the best deals on flour etc in bulk to save some cash. Corned beef sounds so good! I will be checking out your blog tomorrow

[3 ladybugs]

Originally Posted by sweetgrace OH I'm so praying your PET scan goes as planned! Wow, $150 every week and a half is good! Do you buy all organic? We are paying at least that every week right now and the only thing right now I'm not buying organic is cheese! I am trying to talk hubby into buying bulk beef/pork and also trying to find the best deals on flour etc in bulk to save some cash. Corned beef sounds so good! I will be checking out your blog tomorrow

Thanks about the PET scan. I imagine it will go well but there is always a part of you that freaks out whenever you have to do one. However my oncologist is great and sees A LOT so she tells me when I need to freak out and when I shouldn't.

We have purchased in bulk chicken, beef and pork. We even got a bit in Salmon and some lobster tails. So most of our meat is not included in our plan. We also joined the CSA in our area so come June I hope to have our grocery budget go down even more. Good too because I think we will need another side of beef this fall (so about 18 months is how long the side lasted us). I get our wheat, coconut oil and maple syrup in the mail. Obviously that will also include our FCO soon too. We also get our milk, and spreading butter, and eggs from our farmer, so that balances me out since he isn't in that $150 total either.

I try to get everything else organic but sometimes it just isn't possible. We purchased the movie Food, Inc. and now DH isn't minding the higher cost of Organic but you can only do so much.

[catilina]

Shalom, are you sprouting your wheat berries and then dehydrating them before freezing them, or are you freezing them without dehydrating them? Do you just take them out of the freezer and grind them when you need them, or how does that work? I have been soaking my flour but honestly I am having a tough time with it! I have some favorite recipes that I would love to be able to just sub straight up with sprouted wheat flour, instead of taking the time to try to find recipes using soaked flour, but the whole sprouting and dehydrating process is intimidating.

We kind of switched to a more traditional diet and moved all at the same time, so in addition to trying to figure all this out I've been trying to source all my foods with no local connections. I think I am finally starting to figure things out. I'm not on a total WAP diet (I can't do organ meats yet and I haven't yet forayed much into fermenting), but we do eat real foods and we have been cutting out all processed and refined stuff and, the big one for me, sugar! I feel so much better when I eat soaked/sprouted grains and legumes, grass-fed & local meats and eggs, raw milk, and very limited natural sugars (local raw honey is what we use). I've been amazed at how quickly my body has adjusted to eating this way and how just a minor detour from my current diet has major, major negative repercussions - for me and my kids (and husband).

I'm getting ready to take an 800-mile road trip this weekend with my kids, and preparing for that has been an adventure! I've been making healthy snacks for the drive since Friday. So far I have/have made: lightly sweetened vanilla yogurt, frozen into snack baggie "gogurts;" applesauce/cinnamon applesauce/strawberry applesauce; cinnamon apple fruit leather & apple strawberry fruit leather; sprouted lentils; honey sticks from our bee farmer; clementines; strawberries; raisins/dates; sunflower seeds; cheese cubes; homemade "Larabars" - chocolate coconut date bars & oatmeal raisin bars. I'm dehydrating my soaked almonds right now to make almond butter (for sandwiches) and also trail mix and just to snack on, and plan to also make some soaked muffins and/or pancakes, soaked bread, sweet potato "fries" in the oven, hard-boiled eggs, strawberry fruit leather, hummus and veggies, and roasted chickpeas. I'm not looking forward to trying to figure out meals on the road (hoping to eat what we've packed for breakfasts and lunches, at least), or even trying to deal with my family and food when we get to our destination. What do you guys do when you are traveling?

[Shalom]

Catilina- I actually found sprouting and dehydrating wheat berries to be very therapeutic (kind of like stuffing cloth diapers :-) It takes work, but it really wasn't as bad as I thought. The wheat berries sprout in half the time as the beans and so the sprouting was super quick and they dehydrated in the dehydrator in a few hours....faster than ANYTHING I've ever dehydrated before. Taking them out of the dehydrator was a little more work, only because I didn't follow directions and they went spilling everywhere. But like you said, I REALLY like having the ability to make something relatively quickly and not having to think and prepare a soak beforehand. Plus, most soaked grain recipes I've tried were not very good IMO. I was able to use the sprouted wheat in a whole wheat bread recipe that had like only 5 ingredients, and it is the BEST bread recipe. Even my husband confessed to me that he doesn't like homemade whole wheat bread, but ended up eating almost a whole loaf by himself because it is THAT good.

I used the bread recipe someone shared in the "cracker recipes by scratch" thread I posted in the kitchen section. And I used the sprouted/dehydrating wheat directions someone shared awhile ago...I think it was on kitchenstewardship??? Google "sprouting and dehydrating wheat berries with an excalibur dehydrator" and it should come up. The woman had 9 kids and sprouted/dehydrated wheat enough to fill nine excalibur trays so she has one kid help with each tray, which I thought was kind of neat. As far as storing it, I heard it can last a little bit in the fridge. I dehydrated mine 2 weeks ago and didn't have any fridge space, so mine sat on the counter all this time and it seemed to be fine. I figure dried fruit is ok to sit on the shelf a little while, so dried wheat might be too??? Either way, I'll probably try to use it faster in the future or put it in the fridge. I've put my sprouted beans and lentils in the freezer, though. I just haven't used them, yet. I thawed and cooked some sprouted pintos from the freezer today, so I'll have to report back how they turned out (DH decided to make pizza tonight, so we ended up not doing chile with the beans as I was planning). If you have questions or can't find the directions, Pm me your email address and I'll email you the stuff :-)

[dublinup]

I'm pretty new to NT and have a ton to learn and change still. The biggest change I made in my conversion was to get a Jersey cow so we had access to raw milk, thus our own milk products. Today I'm making my third batch of mayo from the recipe book. I'm going to try to take some time this week to read more about sprouting.