Archive for Eating Healthy
Why You Shouldn’t Use Imitation Vanilla!
Posted by: | CommentsMaybe you knew this already, but just in case…check out this email from Lindsy:
Hi Laura! I was just telling some friends today about my adventures in making vanilla extract. I live near Appleton, WI and this area is sometimes referred to as the Paper Valley because there are so many paper mills in the area. Anyway, one of my friends was saying that her husband works at a paper mill and part of his job is to collect the “run-off” from paper pulp. They then sell this by-product to companies that make it into imitation vanilla extract. How disgusting is that!?! I did a little Googling to see if this is for real, and found this on Wiki Answers:
“Imitation vanilla is manufactured either from clove oil (eugenol) or as a breakdown product of lignin from a conifer (e.g., spruce, Picea).”
I really don’t want to flavor my food with the run off from paper pulp, so I’ll stick to making homemade vanilla… :)
A Peasant’s Feast eCourse (+ a Giveaway!)
Posted by: | CommentsInterested in learning more about healthy eating, healthy cooking and doing it all on a limited budget?
![friedrice[1]](http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/friedrice1.jpg "friedrice[1]")
Kimi at The Nourishing Gourmet is offering a 13 week eCourse called A Peasants Feast: Nourishing Food on a Budget. In this course, you will learn:
- what to shop for
- how to save
- how to cook
- what to buy
- how to save on poultry, beef, and seafood
- how to sprout
- how to soak grains
- how to make sourdough bread
- how to make homemade yogurt
- how to stretch one pound of beef into a meal for many
- how to stretch one single chicken into several meals
- how to stretch high quality seafood
- how to make your own salad dressings
- how to lacto-ferment vegetables
- the benefits of making your own chicken broth
- how to menu plan
- more!
By the end of the 13 week eCourse, students should have a firm foundation of what to shop for, where to find good local food, and how to prepare it!
If you’re interested in participating in this wonderful 13 week eCourse, you’ll find more details here. Hurry though because you need to sign up by June 27!!
If you’d like to WIN a free chance at participating in the eCourse, click here to sign up!!!
Psst…I have signed up as an affiliate for A Peasants Feast: Nourishing Food on a Budget, so if you sign up, I will be compensated a small amount. However, I feel like Kimi’s work is wonderful and compensation or not, I would have told you about the eCourse anyway. :)
This giveaway is now closed. Read about how you can purchase the eCourse at a discounted rate here.
Local Food is THE Best!
Posted by: | CommentsI love this time of year best!! All winter long I have lived without sunshine and fresh, local produce. Parden the whine, but I neeeeed the sun. I neeeed a fresh tomato. That’s all there is to it.
This week, our local farmer’s market had its opening night! Selection is limited at this point, because the growing season in Nebraska is just beginning. But lookie what I got…
Cost for everything…$7.
Value to me right now to fulfill my desparate need to eat fresh food…priceless.
Right out of our garden (for free), we’re enjoying all kinds of salads!
Joy of joys…my friends with a huge strawberry patch
invited me over for some strawberry picking fun!!!!
Oh yes…I did have fun.
I then proceeded to trade my friend some strawberries for some fresh eggs. What a deal!
And well…while he isn’t produce or eggs…this little fella does happen to be locally grown too. After our travels over the weekend and a busy day playing hard in the sun yesterday, he just laid down on the floor and fell asleep. On the floor. Now that’s one tired kid.
Great food…cute kids. Isn’t summertime the best?
Have you scored any great deals on local food lately?
What’s in season where you live?
Just in Case You Want to Stare at My Groceries With Me
Posted by: | CommentsJust a little reminder (and warning) for you about what a nerd I am: I really like looking at my groceries after I bring them home and before I put them away.
I also like looking at pictures of other people’s groceries. What is it with me and food?
It’s been a while since I took a picture of my Azure Standard food co-op order and shared it with you. Some of you have even written me and asked why I don’t do that anymore.
I don’t know. Sometimes I guess I just get busy putting away my frozen peas and forget to get out the camera. But far be it from me to forget my weird bloggy-ness by NOT taking a picture of all of my daily activities. (Check out this post for a reminder of what bizarre kinds of pictures are in my picture file.)
And now what you’ve all been waiting to hear. All SIXTY pounds of the apples I ordered from Azure Standard arrived on the delivery truck today. Check out these beauties:
I got twenty pounds each of organic golden delicious, gala and spartan apples. The total cost for these apples? $47!!! For sixty pounds of organic apples!!!! I love Azure Standard!
Here’s the rest of my order:
Fifty pounds of hard white wheat, three pounds of yams, two cans of black olives, six pounds of fresh pears, five pounds of cocoa powder, five pounds of white cheddar cheese, ten pounds of carrots, two avocados, one big cabbage, a huge head of cauliflower, five pounds of frozen peas and one tub of whole milk maple yogurt (special treat!).
The wheat will last us about two months and the cocoa will last longer than that. Everything else will be gone within the month (or by tomorrow).
Total cost with the apples and everything else (including delivery charges): $188.54
Ooh, and guess what else? Our friends shared a deer with us this week. Matt even got to go help process it! They were so generous to share it with us! Cost? A few freezer bags. Wow.
Not pictured: Red, raw deer meat.
You’re welcome.
Grain Mills Pt. 2: Which Ones Do I Recommend? Where Should You Buy One?
Posted by: | CommentsIf you missed the first post of this series where I try to convince you that you SHOULD buy a grain mill because it saves a lot of money and is more nutritious and all of your baked foods taste better, go here. For fewer run-on sentences…keep reading. :)
Now…IF you decide to invest in a grain mill…which one should you buy? There are all kinds of varieties out there. Here are a few that I know something about:
I have a Nutrimill.
I’ve never had a different kind of grain mill, so I don’t have much to compare it to…but I LOVE my Nutrimill. Everyone I’ve talked to that has one LOVES them. The only complaint I’ve ever heard about Nutrimills is that it is a bit hard to clean them. My answer to that is: Clean them?
While I do clean mine occasionally…I find it hardly worth the effort. I use mine almost daily and while I sort of wipe off the outside a bit after each use…I don’t find it necessary to thoroughly clean it very often. (Also, if you run rice through them occasionally, that will clean the inside!)
While the Nutrimill grinds the flour it does not heat the grain in the process, preserving all of the nutrients in the grain. I’ve ground wheat (hard and soft), spelt, kamut, buckwheat, rye, corn and rice with my Nutrimill. It does give the option of grinding at a finer or coarser setting…although I’ve never found that changing the setting makes much difference. My flour is usually quite fine and I love it.
A friend of mine has a Whisper Mill.
If you own a Whisper Mill maybe you can offer a different opinion about it, BUT my friend really DOESN’T like it. She says, “It takes up a LOT of space. The two pieces make it hard to store… you have to hook up the ‘bucket’ with a plastic arm that breaks easily. Mine has never ground anything bigger than wheat very well.” Anyone else have an opinion on the Whisper Mill?
If you have a Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer, you can purchase this attachment for it.
Any of you grind your flour this way?
I’m also very interested in investing in a hand grinder…just in case we would ever need to grind grain without electricity. Here’s one I’m looking at. Do any of you have experience with hand grinders and want to recommend one?
Several of you mentioned a Vitamix on this post.
Sounds like there are mixed reviews on this one. It seems that if you grind a large amount of flour, it takes too long in the Vitamix. On the other hand, you can do other things with the Vitamix, making it a more multi-purpose investment. Read the comments here if you’re interested in learning more about the Vitamix.
Where should I buy my Grain Mill?
I would recommend looking at your options of grain mills at Amazon
Paula’s Bread has ALL kinds of great kitchen products and several varieties of grain mills. Read about Paula’s family here and consider supporting her business if you’re looking to purchase a grain mill! Her prices are very reasonable. I’m very impressed with all of the products she carries. (Side note: Paula’s Bread is a sponsor of mine, but she did not pay me anything extra to write this. I just really love her site and wanted to point you there in case you hadn’t seen her ad on my sidebar!)
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If you have a grain mill, please share what kind you have and why you like it or dislike it!!!
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This post is linked to Frugal Fridays.
Grain Mills Pt. 1: Should You Buy One? Does it Save Money?
Posted by: | CommentsI’ve been grinding my own flour for about four years now and I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!! I can’t say enough good about freshly ground whole grain flour. The taste is NOTHING like store bought whole wheat flour. The freshness is unbeatable. Because it is fresh, the nutritional value is much higher. I love my grain mill!
If you do a lot of baking and you want to bake with whole grains…I very much recommend saving up for a grain mill. (I sold baked goods at our farmer’s market one year to pay for mine!)
Here’s the investment payoff I calculated:
I have a Nutrimill, which cost me about $250…
I buy organic hard white wheat berries, 50 pounds for about $33.00, which lasts me about two months. I make all of our bread, tortillas, muffins, rolls, pretzels, crackers, cookies, cakes…everything that requires flour.
If I were to go to the store and buy the amount of bread and tortillas our family of six needs in two months, my rough calculating tells me that I would spend about $56.00. JUST ON BREAD AND TORTILLAS. That doesn’t include all the muffins and other grain products I make with my $33.00 bag of grain in two months.
AND…the products I bake are a bajillion (scientifically proven :) ) times healthier than what I can buy at the store.
Looking at those figures…it would seem that my grain mill paid for itself in about 10 months…although it’s really much less than that because again, my figures only included the cost of bread and tortillas and I get MANY MORE baked goods out of my bag of grain than just those (plus I was being conservative in my calculations).
So, I would say my grain mill paid for itself in about six months…and the savings just keep on keeping on! In fact, while I had my calculator out I figured out that I’ve saved approximately $552 in four years by grinding my own flour and baking whole grain food from scratch for my family. THAT was exciting to calculate!
There now. Would you like me to write a letter to your husbands, convincing them to buy you a grain mill for Christmas? I’d do it. :)
This post begins a short little series on Grain Mills and grinding and baking with whole grain flour. Coming up I’ll share about:
- Different kinds of grain mills, which ones I recommend and where to purchase them
- Where to buy grain and what kind to buy
- Tips on baking with whole grains
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This post is linked to Frugal Fridays.
Feeding the Family: More Organic Food Resources
Posted by: | CommentsIt’s been quite a while since I wrote a “Feeding the Family” post. Apparently I’ve been too busy feeding my family to write about it. You can catch up on the rest of this series here.
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Way back when (give or take) I talked about some of my favorite online or co-op resources for organic whole foods. I’ve been doing a little more research to see what other options are available. I love that it IS possible to feed our families good, whole foods without breaking the bank (or travelling 400 miles)!
Here are a few whole foods sources I’d like to highlight today…
Azure Standard
I know I mention them often, but Azure Standard is my favorite source for ordering food. This link will tell you if Azure Standard delivers to your area. And guess what?! This fall they are working to expand to parts of Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Kansas. I’d recommend looking into this more if you live in any of these states!
Quail Cove Farms
Quail Cove Farms is a family owned farm specializing in natural and organic foods. They supply free-range meats and eggs, hormone-free cheeses and butters, and organic produce. If you live in Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, Ohio, and North Carolina you should check them out!
Country Life Natural Foods
Country Life Natural Foods is a wholesale and retail distributor of natural, organic and vegetarian foods. They are located in Pullman, MI. It seems that you don’t have to be a part of their food co-op to order, but that you can just have your items sent to you through UPS.
Peapod
Peapod is an online grocery store for those of you who live in: Chicagoland, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Washington DC, Maryland, Virginia…and I think they have expanded to Wisconsin! I love that you simply place your Peapod order and they deliver your food right to your door! They do charge a small delivery fee but it is very reasonable (it’s less than what I pay for Azure to deliver).
Peapod has a whole line of organic products. I looked through their fresh organic produce and couldn’t believe all the great selection!!! I would LOVE to have that kind of variety of organic fruits and veggies at my fingertips. They also have quite a few choices of frozen fruits and vegetables…some natural sweeteners…and several other things that I would definitely buy if indeed they would be willing to drive to my doorstep in Nebraska. You’ll receive free delivery for the first 60 days after placing your first order. Plus…get $10 off your first order at Peapod. Click Here!
Amazon
Amazon is a great place to shop for organic groceries. Yesterday I spent some time looking through their grocery section and couldn’t believe all the pages and pages of organic foods. Most of their food items qualify for “super saver shipping” (which is free) because the cases of food are over $25. (And because the food is new, not used. I’m always much more inclined to eat food that isn’t used, aren’t you?) Spend some time looking through all the Amazon grocery options.
Frontier Co-op
Frontier offers many varieties of spices, herbs and teas, plus quite a few toiletry items. You can order directly from Frontier, but I recommend starting a food co-op with your friends so that you can receive their products at wholesale prices and receive free shipping. As far as I understand it, Frontier will deliver anywhere in the US.
Okay everyone. Help us all out with more great online and/or co-op resources. I know we all live in different places so please leave comments telling us all what resources you have in YOUR area so that we’ll all know what is available to us wherever we are.
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This post is linked to Frugal Fridays.
More About Soaking Grains (or not)
Posted by: | CommentsThank you all for a wonderful discussion on this post and through emails about whether or not soaking our grains is necessary.
Talk about confusing. :)
After reading all of the comments, did any of you reach any conclusions?
I’m not sure if I’ve reached any definite conclusions, but I’ve been researching it more and talking with my husband about it.
I also decided to try emailing Sally Fallon, author of Nourishing Traditions. Guess what? She wrote me back!
Here’s the main part of my email to her:
Recently on my blog I posted about whether or not it is necessary to soak grains in order to break down the phytic acid and aid in digestion. There are differing ideas out there and I’d love to help my readers be well informed.
This is the post I wrote. Because of reading Nourishing Traditions, I’ve believe that it is important to soak my whole grain before cooking. However, I’ve never found any other
information that recommends soaking grains (aside from Dr. Mercola who simply recommends not eating them at all!). I even found an article suggesting that soaking is completely unnecessary.
And here is Sally’s reply:
Before yeast became available, the only way to make bread was by fermentation–sourdough fermentation. Also, if you look at Handbook of Indigenous Fermented Foods, you will see that the practice of fermenting grains–for breads, porridges and beverages–is practically universal.
Fermentation/Soaking not only neutralizes phytates (which DO block mineral uptake), but also tannins, enzyme inhibitors, etc, all things very irritating to the digestion. Also, there is recent research on gluten intolerance, showing that sourdough fermentation makes bread tolerable to those with celiac disease.
Personally, I get very sick if I consume unsoaked/unfermented whole grains, but do fine when they are properly prepared.
Best, Sally
I felt it interesting to note that some of you mentioned that healthier or not, soaking whole grains can help breads to have a nicer texture.
Here’s where I think I’ve landed on this issue:
As much as I can, I will soak my grains. I truly can tell a difference in the way my stomach responds. I love my soaked pancakes and waffles and biscuits. Soaking homemade tortillas is easy. Soaking my breakfast cookies and breakfast cake adds great flavor and isn’t any trouble. I’m working on perfecting my sourdough bread which is the most traditional way of baking bread.
But, if I don’t get around to soaking every single muffin or cookie, I’m not going to sweat it. It’s still whole grain (since I use freshly ground whole wheat flour) and it’s still better than white flour.
One thing I’m going to work on is simply not eating as many grains in the first place. Fruits, vegetables, grass fed meats and raw dairy give us more nutrition and should be more of a focus than grains in our diets.
I’d love to hear where you landed on this issue. What do you think will be best for your family?
Now, regarding all of this talk about grains, I’ve received TONS of emails asking me to recommend a grain mill. That post…coming up soon.
Guest Post: Healthy Eating for Wimps
Posted by: | CommentsI’m so grateful for this guest post from Amy at Finer Things. Not only can I now go spend time finding a shovel so that I can dig out my kitchen and once again have a clean dish to cook with….this post is just so well written and helpful. Thank you Amy! And just so you know…I don’t think you are a wimp. :)
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I’ve learned a lot about healthy eating over the past few years. Mainly, that healthy eating isn’t what I thought it was! While soaking my grains and making my own yogurt and buying everything organic still seems a bit out of reach for me, I am making strides.
You can, too! Feeling wimpy about your healthy choices? Overwhelmed about a 180° turn in your eating habits? Here are some of the things I’ve done; painless baby steps if you will.
- I make all of our own bread in the bread machine. The machine does the work, then I shape and bake the loaves.
- I’m gradually increasing the amount of whole wheat in my recipes, rarely making anything with just white flour. We are all adjusting beautifully to the heartier taste and texture of whole wheat, and find it very difficult to eat plain white.
- We only eat natural peanut butter. That’s an easy fix. It doesn’t cost much more than the partially hydrogenated scary stuff, and it tastes great!
- I work constantly to reduce the amount of sugar in recipes, especially muffins and sweet breads. Substituting applesauce or mashed bananas for some of the sugar (and oil) works nicely. I also add other fruits to the mix, cutting the sugar nearly in half. We don’t miss it!
- No more margarine or shortening in my house. It’s all butter here. After I got over the price shock, it was an easy switch. I’ve learned to stock up and freeze butter when it’s on sale.
- We recently found a farm for our eggs and milk. It completely blechs me out to eat a pale yellow store-bought egg now, and the milk? No more infertility-causing skim milk for us. I had no idea! Did you?!
- While I still buy the occasional granola bar or box of cereal, those items are stored in our basement “out of site, out of mind.” They are saved for our ballgame bag (can’t be any less healthy than concession stand food!) or spur-of-the-moment road trips.
See? Small changes can lead to healthy strides in your wimpy eating!
What changes are you ready to make?
Is Agave Nectar Good For You? Should I Soak my Grains? A Bit of Controversy
Posted by: | CommentsWe all just want to be healthy and eat healthy, right? (Except for those times we just want to be healthy but eat Cheetos, that is.)
I do quite a bit of research each time I tell you that a certain food is or isn’t good for you. The trouble is that there’s a lot of controversial information out there.
I know there will always be absolute opposite information about eating butter vs. not eating butter. People creating high fructose corn syrup will try to convince me that their product is “natural” and I will big fat never believe it. But I get SO frustrated about differing information about what I’ve read from sources I’ve believed to be true. (Remember my rapadura vs. sucanat mystery here? I now see that organic sucanat is the same as rapadura even though I originally read and understood that rapadura was better. And sucanat costs less.)
So here are the latest question marks. I bring these up for several reasons:
I think we should all be well informed. I think we all need to eat as healthy as we possibly can. I want to know the truth. I want you to read it for yourselves. And also I want you to know that I don’t know everything (but you already knew that, right?).
- Is agave nectar used as an alternative to sugar good for you? I thought it was. Because I’d read that it was. And then I read this article from Dr. Mercola. And this article by John Kohler. Shucks. I think I’ll just stick with pure maple syrup instead.
- Is it necessary to soak my grains before making them into bread, pancakes, muffins, etc? According to my Nourishing Traditions cookbook, soaking grains is a wonderful step to take to break down the phytic acid in grains and make them more digestible. I’ve written a whole post about it encouraging you to do this. BUT according to this article from Bread Beckers, taking this step isn’t necessary. REALLY? I’ve never read any information telling me that it wasn’t necessary!! It’s a long article, but I encourage you to read it. I really don’t know what to think. I have such a hard time wrapping my brain around not soaking my grains. (Thanks Dawn for the emails and links!)
I don’t always take the time to soak my grains, so part of me would love to not feel so bad each time I feed my family “straight” whole wheat. Not to mention the time it would save. On the other hand…I know from experience what my tummy feels like when I eat oats that have not been soaked vs. how my tummy feels when I’ve soaked them. I can tell a digestive difference.
The agave nectar issue isn’t such a dilemma for me. I could take that or leave it since there are so many other healthy and natural sweeteners out there (raw honey, maple syrup, sucanat, stevia). But the soaking grains things has really got me stumped.
I’d love to hear your thoughts and knowledge on these subjects. From your research and learning…What do you know about Agave Nectar? and What’s your take on soaking grains?
While you’re answering…I think I’ll just go eat a peach. It’s from my own tree and I KNOW it’s good for me.
