Our Healthy Eating Journey Pt. 1
By
I hear from so many of you about where you are in your healthy eating journey and about how so many of you want to begin eating (and feeding your families) a healthier diet.
Some of you are in the “Dorito…Hamburger Helper…Twinkie…Jelly Beans are the only vegetable I eat…Please help me I have no idea where to start”…phase.
Some of you are in the “Okay, I pitched all my processed foods in the trash…My pantry now holds a couple of shriveled potatoes and a half a peanut…What should I do now?”…phase.
Some of you are in the “I just came home from the store with a package of brown rice, some bananas, a bag of whole wheat flour and a pound of butter…What in the world am I supposed to do I do with it?”…phase.
Some of you are in the “We’re getting there…I’m just trying to convince my family that eating vegetables and whole wheat bread is cool”…phase.
Some of you are in the “I’ve been feeding my family healthy food forever and I just need new recipes”…phase.
Some of you have been working to eat healthy for years longer than I have and are in the “Here Laura, let me teach you a thing or two about fermenting your pickles”…phase.
We’re all on our own journey to healthy eating. No two family situations are the same.
Many of you may assume that our family has been eating a healthy diet forever. When I receive your emails or read your comments that say, “I have no idea where to start when it comes to eating healthy - I didn’t grow up eating healthy the way you did”….it makes me realize that I haven’t told you enough about our healthy eating journey.
We actually only started caring about eating healthy just a very few years ago. Before that time, my pantry was full of boxed cereal and spaghettios and whatever else I could get for cheap or free with coupons.
And oh my goodness…did you know that I am absolutely and very much a recovering Pepsi addict?
Over the next few weeks, I plan to share our family’s healthy eating journey with you. I’ll tell you what my husband and I grew up eating and I’ll share how we ate when we were first married and as our children started coming along.
I’ll share what made us want to make changes in our diets…how we went about making the changes…how we could afford it…how we convinced our kids that eating healthy was delicious…I’ll even share about how I was able once and for all give up Pepsi.
Then, after I finish those posts, I’ll launch into a new series on the basics of Making Foods from Scratch…so that EVERYONE can see that it IS possible to eat a healthy diet without breaking the bank or breaking your back or breaking a nail. (Though I do sometimes have bread dough or garden soil under my nails.)
I would love for you to leave a comment to let us know where you are in your healthy eating journey. Knowing where you are will help me know exactly where I need to go with some of my future posts. Plus, I think it will be great for all of us to see that we are on this journey together, even if we’re in different places. I think we can all use encouragement, no matter where we are in the journey! Thanks!
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This post is linked to Frugal Fridays.
So excited about this series!
I just got a grain mill for xmas! whoo hoo! So we are finally able to grind our own wheat. :) We have been eating an organic whole foods diet for about 5 years. We still need to get more veggies in our diet. And we eat out too much. We have 4 littles under the age of 7 so I think perhaps this will just get better with time as I will eventually have more time to spend making food. I would like to know more about growing and canning enough to survive through our long winter (we always seem to run out by january) and about how to soak grains. And also how to find a raw milk source here in Wisconsin where it is illegal to sell it? (i don’t get that) Anyway…thanks for all you do Laura!
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Deanna Reply:
January 9th, 2010 at 1:08 pm
I have a relative who is trying to get raw milk where it is illegal to sell it. I believe he is going to buy “stock” in the cow. Therefore, as part owner he may do with whatever he wants with his share of milk. Not sure as to the specifics of his agreement.
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I reallllllllllllllly am opposed to drinking raw milk, or giving it to my family. What would be the 2nd best thing?
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Andrea Reply:
January 14th, 2010 at 6:57 pm
Probably it would be getting raw milk and pasturizing it yourself so that it isn’t “ultra” pasturized or homogonized. I suppose next to that would be buying organic milk in the grocery store.
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I definately want to eat more heathly! I do not drink soda or eat anything with sugar. I eat only wheat bread. My struggles come with cooking and stocking my house with healthy food and not so much processed food. I am single and it seems so much easier to pick up something on the way home from work than go home and cook! I’d like to cook more healthy food at home.
Thanks for doing this!
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I think we overlap in the phases that you mentioned. . . We started this journey about 4 years ago – - I cook mostly from scratch using natural and organic ingredients when available, grind my wheat, drink filtered water, can foods grown in my garden (organic seeds, no pestisides), love raw milk and free range eggs when I can afford them, use only organic meat and poultry. Stopped eating french fries if and when we eat out, stopped drinking diet pop, but now hooked on regular (aaarrggghhh!). We’re trying to move away from conventional meds and use homeopathic and essential oils, but they don’t work fast enough to satisfy my husband and children. My husband loves that I’m trying to cook healthy and do the right things to make and keep us healthy, but he thinks the kids need Doritos, sugar-laden cereals and Twinkies occassionally so he stocks up when he stops at the store! The other problem we have is that my husband is a very picky eater – no veggies except corn and lettuce! I make the kids eat what they are served, but it’s getting harder now that they are old enough to realize that Daddy doesn’t eat green beans and broccoli.
I am looking forward to this series!!
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We are somewhere in the middle I guess. I don’t buy a lot of junk food, but at the same time I know that I could be doing more. I currently have a Dr. Pepper addiction, probably the worst thing to have while pregnant!! I really would like to cook more from scratch and maybe someday have a garden and grow my own produce. I don’t know how you do it because it seems like I don’t have enough hours in the day.
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Well, I’m a water drinker. I try to make everything from scratch. We have a huge garden and my husband does lots of canning. My downfall is chocolate! When we had our son a year ago we decided to make homemade baby food (so easy). From there I started looking on the internet and found this blog and started making your recipes. Thanks for the inspiration. Look forward to hearing more.
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We are somewhere in the middle too. A couple of years ago, my new years resolution was to be more “green”. In researching what that means I really started to examine our food choices. My family has never been good at eating vegetables anyway, and that has still not changed, but we are eating far less processed food. I do all of our baking, we have very few canned and boxed foods in the house now. And the ones that are here are left from before (I should probably check expiration dates today!). But I am really looking forward to new ideas and new recipes.
My big concern with eating healthy is the huge cost increase for my foods that are more healthy. We are on a very, very limited budget. The increased cost of some foods definitely restricts us in many ways.
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I forgot to post on our eating habits lol.
let’s just say they are close to the doritos/jelly bean category lol. Altho, we do eat veggies w/lunch meals. (we eat our big meals at lunch time too)
Convenience/fast food/processed junk pretty much sums it up for us. Eating a wheat wrap yesterday was a big deal for me. I was afraid I’d hate it.
We rarely eat organically, after reading recently, it doesn’t really matter, I’m not really sold on it yet. we don’t eat red meat, or pork, or anything “gamey” (ex deer). so it leaves, poultry and fish.
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I’m in the “pitched the boxed food” (for the most part- sometimes use it on busy days when it was on sale). My family thinks it’s cool because my hubby has terrible knees, and eating better has helped that, my boys are too young to know better, candy is a Christmas treat at our house, and my youngest has never known anything other than wheat flour. He doesn’t even like cake and cookies. I’m also in the “it’s just my second year gardening and I’m eating up all the info I can get” stage. And in the “I have NO CLUE what to do next” stage. I have a $200/mo budget to feed my family of five. Have no IDEA how to make that stretch, or where to go to get the healthier things when in the middle of nowhere.. not so much, but way out of the way from anything that’s health oriented. Near a military base, no co-ops nearby.
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I really want to start eating healthier. I use half whole wheat in my recipies, brown rice, and try to homemake whenever possible. My husband thinks I’m going overboard. He sees no reason to go healthy, thinks all the foods he’s eating are fine and there’s no reason to change our diet. I’m trying to convince him otherwise. Help!
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We have been grinding our own wheat for two years now. My husband got me a Bosch Kitchen Machine mixer for Christmas because of your ‘why husbands should buy their wives grain mills’ post. So, THANK YOU IT IS AWESOME! We drink raw milk, mostly. But buy mostly regular vegetables and cheeses and eggs at the store because we can’t afford the organic stuff. I make most of our food from scratch, but I splurge on Annie’s box macaroni and cheese and Multi Grain Cheerios once in awhile! (Especially because I crave them when I am pregnant!) Oh, and we just started a compost bin this year, and hope to have a garden (in our new backyard!) this summer! Yay!
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When I was growing up my mom taught me to cook “from scratch” but I wouldn’t say that we ate healthfully. Three years ago when I was a new bride and faced with having to plan my own dinners I was terrified! We ate a lot of jarred pasta sauce and frozen ravioli and takeout on the many evenings I was too tired from work to figure out what to cook. My poor hubby! Then I had my dear son in late 2008 and started staying home. My hubby finally had a good job and after I got used to having a baby to take care of, I was bored stiff! I watched a lot of cooking shows while nursing, then I started trying the recipes. Then I started reading cookbooks (remember how HUNGRY nursing makes you?) and when I had exhausted almost every book I picked up the one I had saved for last, The Moosewood Cookbook, my MiL had given me. It’s a vegetarian cookbook that has some wonderful recipes for fresh veggies. We ate all our meals from that book for almost the whole month of July 2009. Then when at my MiL’s, I found Nourishing Traditions. So now we’re in the process of finding local sources for our veggies and meat and dairy, and eating soaked, whole grains. I made yoghurt for the first time last week! It was soooo yummy!
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It is interesting to see people’s posts. We were forced to eat healthy when diagnosed with celiac disease and therefore unable to eat anything with wheat, rye, barley or oats in it. At the time, very few convenience items were available and I began making everything from scratch. Now, it is just what I do. It is an expensive diet to maintain. I almost cry when I see regular wheat flour on sale for $2.50 for a 10 pound bag or so. I make my bread and it costs between $3 and $5 per loaf to make, but I have so few other options. Sometimes we are put in situations where you just make do and the Lord provides the means. I am not really sure how it works out, but it does. Luckily, we CAN eat fruits and veggies and do so with abandon. Who would have thought my kids would be so excited about a case of grapefruit or the pomegranates we got for CHristmas? Had we not been diagnosed, I suspect we would be a Hamburger Helper and fast food family. So, thank you Lord for celiac disease…I think.
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Thank you, thank you, thank you for this series, I am so excited about it!! We are in the phase of sometimes we have a salad with dinner, I make things from scratch here and there, and would love to eat healthier because we have some definitely poor eating induced medical issues, not to mention clothes not fitting well phase. (Hopefully that phase doesn’t last as long as it looks, lol!)
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We are new to this journey. My 4 year old daughter has a low-grade brain tumor. After some research (and a lot of prayer), we decided to completely change our diet. We used to be a Hamburger Helper, fast food loving family. One day I threw it all out and looked at empty cabinets wondering what to do next. It’s been 3 months since then and I am starting to find my groove in the kitchen. Some things have flopped but we have had some real successes. I know it must bring honor and glory to God to prepare food in a way that nourishes your body from foods that He created for us (instead of a lab somewhere). We still have our fast food moments and somedays I feeled overwhelmed with the amount of items I need to prepare. I have lost weight eating this way (yea!) and my precious daughter is doing great. It feels good to see her munching on broccoli and nuts instead of candy and spaghetti o’s. I still feel like we have a long way to go but I am so grateful for sites like this that provide encouragement!
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We drink raw milk, farm raised eggs, and try to avoid MSG and (usually) high fructose corn syrup. I just bought a Vitamix to grind wheat and make things and absolutely love it!
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I’ve been on this journey a while. Thankfully, my children love and crave veggies (and sugar, too, but at least they get their veggies). I just got a grain mill and I’m waiting on the grain to arrive. I’d love ideas on storing the grain – I’d like to get “food safe” plastic containers, but I don’t know what or where. Any ideas?
Thanks for the time and effort that you put into your blog!!
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I am so excited to see you posting about this topic! I felt like such a loser when I saw the video of your pantry! Nutritious eating has been an area of guilt for me as a mom. I am trying to wean out most processed foods and cook more from scratch, but am still lacking in a lot of areas. I have tried several of your recipes and loved them. I am looking forward to this series. Thanks!
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My journey started when I was told the my chance of every having children was slim. I was healthy before that but hearing the news woke me up. I knew from that moment on I wanted to know that I was doing everything possible to make my body as healthy as it could be. My hope was that by doing that I would create the best possible body to hold a baby. Well, my son is now 2 and a half. Thanks to food allergies I’m at the ” looking for new recipes to adjust” stage..and so I’ve landed here. I still have a soda and sweet from time to time but I figure that makes me human.
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Can’t wait to dig in and learn. I am so at the beginning of all of this. Thanks for taking the time to lead some of us by the hand.
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Ok, so I spend way TOO much on Organic Milk and Real OJ, but can’t give up our Pop-Tarts! HA! We still have cereal in the cabinets b/c I’m not a morning cook! I cook with honey and my 5 pound bag of sugar lasted about a year last time. I love sweets (while I lick the chocolate from my fingers from my batch of “Giant Morning Cookies”) and that is my weakness. A garden would be a lovely thing but I’m a fair weather gardner and hate the heat of the summer. Can’t wait to see how you got started on this and get more pointers on continuing my family’s journey!
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We’re somewhere in the middle, I guess! I made the switch to butter; we make a lot from scratch; I try to use whole wheat flour…sometimes. I can and freeze when I get the opportunity We eat fast food once a month or so. :) We still really like good deals, donuts, cereal, and pop tarts.
Thanks for starting at the beginning for us, I’m looking forward to it!
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We have been in the process for several years now. We drink organic milk, buy organic produce and free range eggs and purchase our beef and chicken ( except boneless,skinless chicken breasts) from a local farmer who’s animals are completely grass-fed. I do grind grain but not nearly enough! I make a mean whole wheat cinnamon roll but can’t get bread right. We do eat out too much and I also have a serious soft drink addiction! We also eat too much sugar. For me, I’d like to learn more about gardening ( especially gardening for people with brown thumbs!). I do like to can and make our own jam and green beans. Time sometimes gets away and it seems daunting to cook everything from scratch every day, 3 times a day. Laura, you are such an inspiration and make it look so easy. We need to learn to incorporate many more veggies into our diet. Any tips for hiding them?
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I don’t know where we are at! I think I was always a healthy eater, but it was more for cheaper than convenience. I cook from scratch, but I’m not too concerned with whether it was organic. I’ve baked bread forever, but got my grain mill about 10 years ago. I have an “eat, drink, and be thankful” outlook. I made babyfood, and used powdered milk for everything, including drinking, but now that my kids have an opinion, and when my husband comes home from the store with litre soda bottles, real milk and chips, then I have to admit our family seems to be falling back into naughty habits. If any of us had serious food allergies, then we’d have to be more diligent. I prefer meatless meals, but then all these super diet trends about low-carb/high protein came out, and I feel like a heathen if I don’t do something. And Laura, will you address the soybean controversy? I always considered soybeans to be our friend, and now there’s a strong anti-soy cult out there. I’d like your opinion on it. Thanks.
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Thanks in advance for the posts you are going to do about your family. I like reading about how families eat and things like that (maybe I am just a bit nosy). As for my family, we have always tried to eat healthy. Now I am just trying to incorporate more organic items in our diet. I am also saving up money to buy a grain mill so that I can use healthier flours for baking. I have recently started ordering from Azure Standard (thanks for introducing me =)) and am being even more conscious about what I bring home from the store. I really, really enjoy reading and learning from your blog. I have been reading it for a little over a year and have learned so much. I don’t comment very much but I do appreciate all that I have learned and hope that I can continue to learn and incorporate it into my family’s diet.
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I’m in the “I want to eat and cook healthy meals, but how in the world do I do it?” phase.
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I think we’re like you, kinda. Maybe. We’ll figure it out when you start posting. :) A decade ago or so I did the coupon thing, hamburger helper, things like that (ack!). AND there was a season when I subsisted on Mtn Dew and Top Ramen.
We’ve come a long way baby. :D
When the black-market cow is freshened, we’ll be back on the raw milk. I buy organic wheat, grind it, make our own bread, yadda yaddah. I use a lot of Nourishing Traditions ideas (or try to), soaking rice and beans before cooking, (sometimes) soaking flour before making bread. We do a lot of organic stuff – still too much in the sugar dept (org. evap cane juice, maple syrup, etc) though. I’ve got several jars of bell peppers doing the lactic-acid-fermentation thing (a refr truck crashed and my bro-in-law tow-truck man gave us free reign!), I’ve made (in the past) sourdough, kefir, kombucha. We DON’T do artificial sweeteners, white rice/flour/pasta/whatever, soy, crummy oils, margarine, HFCS, MSG, or other suspicious acronyms (well, Hubby is a little less selective). :) I’d LIKE to have a little more self-discipline when it comes to potlucks and holidays and places where I’m not privy to the ingredients (um, and even when I am, like when they’re posted on the side of the bag of doritos?).
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I am really looking forward to this series! I have been studying & reading nutrition & different life style programs for YEARS but have not made any real changes…don’t know which way I should go. I really enjoy reading about people that eat mostly raw, vegan foods but don’t know if I can completely give up meat. My youngest daughter is a vegetarian & we have an acre garden every year & fresh eggs from chickens & turkeys so I know we are truly blessed to have fresh organic food in the summer & fall. What do I do in the winter & spring? What I really want to do is:
Eat Local
Eat organic
Drink more water (want to enjoy drinking water)
Give up Pepsi/sweet tea/beer
Not eat dairy (but LOVE sour cream & cheese)
reduce/give up some meats
I am usually gung-ho in the morning but then I come home from work or out running errands & fast foods just calls my name…
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Thank you for this posting series! It comes at a great time for us!
When we first got married, I worked, and got pregnant and was super tired all the time- so i cooked convenience foods. Then we moved into a place where, in exchange for my working, all meals were provided! Talk about convenience food! (but not very healthy). We lived there for two years- I barely cooked a meal. I thought I was spoiled, but new our health was suffering.
God has provided a new phase for our life- and I have been thrown into cooking every meal on a very limited budget, and being a mom of two all of a sudden. I LOVE cooking and have SO much fun doing it with my toddler, but could definitely use some help and advice from you:-)
My husband is a naturopathic doctor- so he embraces an organic, “from scratch” diet, and cheers on my enthusiasm for cooking! I am so blessed in that regard. I cook almost completely from scratch, so our treats are packaged granola bars and ready-made cocoa and breakfast cereal. No junk food or eating out (it is too expensive!) I miss my breadmaker, and am slowly learning how to make bread w/o it, I sprout in the winter, eat local and seasonal as much as possible, organic as much as we can afford it, always use whole wheat (but haven’t made the jump to grinding my own yet), drink raw milk, make kefir, and yugurt, am planning on having a garden and preserving as much as possible next summer (NOTE to anti-gardeners- a CSA is the next best thing!), and am enjoying home-made fermented foods (HINT- try kefir-fermented sauerkraut- you need no salt and it only takes 3-5 days! :-) However, my serious (and I mean serious) downfall is sweets. I have a terrible sugar addiction, and am always making cookies, fudge, pies, etc… Especially anything chocolate.
1) How did you start your meal planning, and find the diligence and perserverence to keep it up?
2) When you find something you KNOW is healthy, but tastes “weird”- like fermented foods- how do you incorporate it into your family’s meals while respecting your husband if he refuses to eat it?
3) However, my number ONE question is- could you teach us the “gist” of cooking: what is the difference between cookies, brownies, breads, and crusts? What are the basic casserole, broth soup, cream soup, rice’n'beans ingredients? How to substitute? I can make up a meal, and follow a recipe easily enough, but I would LOVE some tips on how to create meals from what I already have in my cupboards, and how to create recipes to bake with…..
THANK YOU so much for the time and effort you put into you blog. Truly, you will be blessed for all of the blessings you give us!
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I am at the “please just tell me what to buy, how to use it, and what to make, stage”. When I look at all the soaking, and homemade bread, and healthy things, I want that lifestyle so bad, but I dont know where to start at all.
I have cleaned out the pantry and fridge so many times and bought oodles of veggies only to throw them out and run to starbucks in defeat.
I have three little boys and I dont want them to feel like I do. I want eating healthy to be part of their lives, not just a fad mommy does every couple of months.
I am really looking forward to this! Thank you!
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Becky C Reply:
January 9th, 2010 at 8:06 am
Don’t get overwhelmed. I was there just a year ago. Totally know what you’re talking about. Just give yourself time to figure it all out. It will happen. I still by the “fast” foods when they’re on sale. I know it’s not good for you, but those nights that I’m not up to doing the whole nutritious thing, or need something fast and easy because we’re on the run, I have Hamburger Helper or such like. I know it’s not good for my family, but I’ve made it down to where we only have it once a month or so, so I feel better about myself. I started off telling myself I could only have it once a week. As I weaned my family (and myself) off of the convience foods, I began to find “from scratch” things that we liked better. It will happen. Don’t get discouraged, and keep the “outs” until you’re ready to go “full throttle”. :)
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I am so excited about this series! I can’t wait to read your future posts!
We raise chickens and get our eggs from them. All of our meat comes from a local organic farmer. I get milk from a local dairy. We still have a ways to go yet. We have cut back tremendously on processed, convenience foods, but still need to go further in that regards. One of my goals for the new year is to cook more from scratch.
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I’m in the middle of the “what do I do with these food now?” and “how do I convince my husband that wheat bread isn’t evil?”. I’m also firmly in the ‘Addicted to Pepsi’ category and can’t wait to hear any tips whatsover you might have!
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I grew up with 2 active duty military parents and in a “what can cook fast in the microwave” era. Once first married, my husband cooked more then me! We discovered my eldest daughter (2 1/2) had severe food allergies while nursing her. That really opened my eyes as I went on a strict elimination diet and “realized” what was really in some foods. My youngest daughter (8mo) also has food allergies. I have tried to get rid of most processed food, but do allow for all-natural cereal and granola bars. We also have mac n cheese and hot dogs (gasp). When not nursing, I also love me some Sonic diet vanilla coke. I am VERY much looking forward to your posts to come, including the “making things from scratch”. THANK YOU so much for passing along your knowledge and experience.
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Wow, what a great discussion – love reading where everyone is! We’re better than we were many years ago, but still have a ways to go :) The biggest hurdle, unfortunately, is the price of eating healthy/organic. I try to buy natural/healthy snacks and things the kids will eat. We do have a small garden, but I don’t seem to get the time to can :( We’re not organic yet in meat/veggies/dairy…do hormone/antibiotic free milk (esp w/pre-teen kids), cook almost entirely from scratch (I have health issues that prevent me from eating almost anything processed, so have cooked from scratch for years. Am really appreciating all the recipes here to expand our menus! Can’t wait to read more about how to afford eating healthier!
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We are pretty good, most of the time. We have only eaten whole grains for years, we buy organic whenever possible and we try to eat as little processed food as possible (which is easier at some times that at others). We don’t do raw milk (it’s illegal here in Canada) and I don’t know that I would confident enough to make that leap. Generally, we are really good with sugars, too, although I do have a sweet tooth and when I fall off the wagon, I fall hard! I debate whether to start soaking grains – I have tried it a few times but I am not convinced yet. I just with that healthy food wasn’t quite so pricey!
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Laura
I am really looking forward to this series. We eat fairly healthy (lots of fruit and veggies – though not much variety with my picky eaters- whole grains, we are vegetarians-debateable I know-, lot of food from scratch) but I have a few struggles. One is my picky eaters and that I try new recipes and they take a tiny bite and then eat the side dishes. Also I feel like we eat too much sugar – I should say I eat too much sugar and also diet pepsi. SO looking forward to hearing how you stopped. I have quit before , only to get into it again. And it is not caffeinated so I can’t blame that! My goal is to stop drinking soda, make my own yogurt (we eat tons of Stonyfield and it is expensive!), and grind my own grains using various grains- decreasing gluten also. I feel very discouraged when every time I turn around, something else, that was good for me – is found to be bad for me. UGH!
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I’ve always been interested in health and nutrition, but my idea of what’s healthy has changed a lot over the last few years. I am currently grinding my own grain and baking most of our bread products. I tried soaking a few times, but I haven’t built that habit yet. I do soak my oatmeal, though. I try to buy organic whenever possible. And now after watching Food, Inc., my husband is fully on board with buying a whole grass-fed cow and getting raw milk. I would be really interested in hearing how you kicked the soda habit. That’s always been tough for me. I know its horrible for me, and I’m down to maybe once a week or so, but I find it so hard to resist the temptation when it presents itself.
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Andrea Smith Reply:
January 14th, 2010 at 7:08 pm
Yay, Miracle. Raw milk is wonderful. Love you!
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My question is how long are you in the kitchen during the day? I don’t really like to cook because I don’t feel successful at it. It’s disheartening to cook a meal and no-one like it. I do enjoy baking.You have inspired me to try to ditch the cereal in the mornings and since breakfasts are mostly baked goods that has been an easy switch. Kids do miss cereal though. I find it daunting to try to cook a separate meal for lunch. Ours are usually a sandwich or I try to get the kids to eat leftovers. The things holding me back from a better diet are hubby’s attitude toward food, my dislike for cooking, having young children who just seem to know when you need to concentrate on something other than them and homeschooling(which takes up a lot of my time)!!Any tips in these areas would be helpful.
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For those of you wanting to kick the soda habit. I did many years ago. After having a bad gall bladder attack and then having it out. I had lots of motivation. You can think of it as pain in a bottle! I would also tell myself I was drinking terrible chemicals. After not drinking it for so long if I ever try it now – it just tastes like chemicals. If you like ice tea that would be a good switch. Or, buying a special water bottle to have with you all the time.
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Thank you Laura, you are so funny, real, and encouraging! We all need to be real in our journey. I grew up in a house full of junk! Literally white bread, twinkies, Doritos, you name it.
I had a roomate in college who grew up really natural. It was amazing the influence she had and the wonderful ways I started to feel when I ate better. I’ve been married to my best friend for 13 years and we have 2 wonderful homeschooled kids! Our grain mill has been part of our lives for 3 years now. After implementing it into our life (and I think for everyone that “groove” will be a little different), I can honestly say I don’t know how I’d ever go back to the other stuff.
I am in the want more new recipes phase. We raise our own garden, do canning/freezing, and have our own flock of free range chickens that my daughter adores. I truly love cooking and it makes me feel so good knowing my family is eating healthy. I really love the recipes that can be made ahead of time and frozen or cooked on time bake. For busy schedules it really helps.
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I am in the “I know how to cook from scratch/can my garden veggies/grind my own wheat, but can’t find time to do any of it so I cook from a box/can” stage. I have a pantry full of wheat, rice, beans, etc., but when it comes time for dinner everything takes to long. One of my challenges is we live in a small town with only 1 grocery store that doesn’t have a great stock and can price things high because they are the only ones. The closest large town is 1-1/2 hours away, so I have to factor in gas. Working on getting Azure into our state (or maybe we’ll move to one that they already deliver to). Another challenge is “weaning” my family off junk food. I can make a loaf of whole wheat bread and they love it, then several loaves down the road they want store bought fluff. Looking forward to your great recipes and advice.
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Laura,
I was prayerfully considering staring a new carnival on Saturdays called “From Scratch Saturdays”. As you know, my family is trying to take what we used to buy and make it from scratch. I thought it would be a good way to share my success and failures and others could link up also. Would you consider “partnering” up and doing it with me? I would do all the work but it could be part of your healthy eating series and you could link up your adventues. What do you think?
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Jodi Reply:
January 10th, 2010 at 1:53 pm
Opps sorry.. It said it ddin’t work so I retyped it and now it’s here twice! I’m really excited about it can you tell?!? :)
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Laura,
I was prayerfully considering staring a new carnival on Saturdays called “From Scratch Saturdays”. As you know, my family is trying to take what we used to buy and make it from scratch. I thought it would be a good way to share my success and failures and others could link up also. Would you consider “partnering” up and doing it with me? I would do all the work but it could be part of your healthy eating series and you could link up your adventues. You have the audience and readership and I have the newbie and I wanna learn personality. Could we make it work? What do you think?
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Laura,
First off, I just want to say thank you for the godly influence you have as a wife and mother and also for the huge influence you have made on my family’s eating habits. I usually try to keep comments really short but there’s just a lot I have to tell you this time so here goes! Sometime a little over a year ago I ended up on your site but I honestly don’t even remember what brought me here. I found all of the information so intriguing and it has helped me SO much. I have always cooked a lot, I started when I was about 10 or 11 and I always enjoyed seeing just how “from scratch” I could make things. Fast forward a number of years to being a working newlywed and the time it took to cook from scratch just wasn’t worth it when the ingredients I was using weren’t necessarily that much healthier anyway. I have always been slim and wanted to eat healthier but like most of America didn’t really know how exactly to do that. I ate a lot of low-fat yogurt and was hungry a lot. It was after I had our first baby and transitioned to staying home full time that I found your site and it has been so wonderful to really feel like I understand now how to feed my family in a healthy way that we still all enjoy very much. AND, a huge added bonus for me is that it has never been easier to control my weight than now because I finally understand that fat is not evil and I don’t have to cook a meal for my husband and then watch him eat it while I eat a bowl of Special K to avoid all that fat. Because of what your site got me started on (I can’t even count now the hours I’ve spent reading about health and nutrition) we now raise our own beef to butcher, have our very own milk cow (this is so exciting for me because it’s the only possible way we could afford all that good milk, grass-fed butter, raw cream, etc!), make everything whole-grain (from my own flour I grind), buy local free-range poultry, have laying hens for eggs, garden, and try to buy organic produce but a good part of it’s conventional because of price and availability. We’re now expecting again and I feel so much better about what I’m eating this pregnancy. I have to say that you’re site is probably my favorite one I visit because while you do focus a lot on food you seem to keep things in proper perspective. At the end of the day, it’s what we’re doing for God’s kingdom that matters most, not food and you seem to have such a heart for ministering to people for the Lord. Also, my husband and I would love to have a large family and I feel so much better equipped to feed a big family on a tight budget now because I’m learning to do more with less, use everything (like bones to make my own chicken stock, render my own beef tallow, etc), produce more of our own food, and so on. I would say that we spend less on food now than we ever have (and we never spent a lot). Sorry this is so long, I just have so much I could tell you and I want you to know how appreciated your are! :)
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I just found your blog today and this series really intrigues me. I grew up eating healthy in many respects, but I’m constantly learning new things. I’ve even taught my mom a few things! We avoid high fructose corn syrup, eat more and more locally, responsibly produced food (including venison harvested from our own backyard), and savor sweets as an occasional treat. This year I’d like to learn about baking with home-ground wheat, raw milk, and canning. My husband would love for me to figure out Indian cuisine. (Maybe this is all a bit ambitious with our second child due around Easter!)
P.S. My husband is from Nebraska, and the oldest of 4 boys. It’s always fun to read about people who live “back home.”
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I’m a 25 year old single girl living on my own. I’m slowly getting into the healthy eating thing. Even though I live on my own, I still spend a lot of time talking to my parents, and it gets discouraging when they think it’s silly I’d want to bake my own bread, etc. They are on the no carb bandwagon, along with all those ideas that come along with the low-fat craze. I just want to cook clean, healthy foods and make my own bread. I know I shouldn’t be bothered by what they say because they don’t dictate what I buy for food or choose to make for myself. It’s nice to come to a place that encourages healthful eating habits!
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I am in the sometimes healthy,from scratch, organic, freerange category and the sometimes doritos. mac and cheese, storebought stage. My kids say I am a little bit bipolar when it comes to food. I guess I am happy where we are at – much much healthier than even a year ago – and I know that it is a slow process – a journey we are on and when I get discouraged I look back and see how far we have come. Looking forward to both series.
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I first read Nourishing Traditions about 3 yrs ago and was amazed to learn that FAT is good for me?!!! But I was totally overwhelmed at the thought of changing everything about the way I cooked (I thought I made everything from scratch then!). I got rid of processed cereals, but didn’t change much else. About a year and a half ago, I got serious about learning to cook this way and have changed nearly everything. I buy raw milk, a CSA share, and raw honey from a local farmer. I got a grain mill and learned to make sourdough bread. I started making stock and fermenting salsa and pickles. I recently started to sprout grains and make kombucha. I’m a novice gardener (I can grow lettuce, but can’t seem to grow more than a few tomatoes) and a goal is to grow and preserve more food. I love blogs like yours because I get so many great ideas–Thanks!
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I am so excited you are doing this. My goal this year is to cook dinner 4 nights a week (up from 1 last year!) and to cook healthy. Both my husband and I need to lose weight, and we want to set a good example for our two daughters (3 years old and 11 weeks). I need easy, budget-conscious recipes to try.
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We’re a middle of the road bunch. I consider us a rather healthy family, eating whole grains, grass fed meat, lots of fruits and veggies, and avoiding MSG and HFCS. I make most everything from scratch, however I don’t always buy organic and we don’t have a source for reasonably priced farm eggs or raw milk. We have refused to buy into any one health guru’s ideas and instead stick with the “as close to how God made it” rule of thumb. Most of all we don’t want our lives to be ruled by fear, which seems to be a big factor in a lot of the information out there.
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