Are you looking into trying to eat more healthy foods? Are you a bit overwhelmed by all of the information out there on the topic? Organic…natural…GMO-free…cage-free vs. vegetarian-fed…grassfed…?
I recently came across a wonderful resource for you!
The author of the blog, Passionate Homemaking, has put together a compilation of articles, books, other blogs, and resources to help you get started on the sometimes overwhelming task of trying to overhaul your food system.
This is an awesome resource! It contains all of the information that I would give you if you asked me about how we try to eat in our family, but she has done a much better job of putting it all together than I would have.
She starts with the premise that you don’t know anything about healthy eating and goes from there, so it’s not overwhelming at all.
The course’s author, Lindsay, has also written a thought-provoking article that I think everyone who has decided to pursue an healthy eating lifestyle should read:
I hope that these resources will be helpful to you!
P.S. Her Natural Living 101 page isn’t only for people just starting out. It is a wealth of information for anyone interested in eating healthy, real food.
When I mentioned to my midwife that I was overwhelmed by the thought of getting into herbal remedies and uses, she gave me some good advice. A mentor of hers had once told her that in order to use herbs for health, you don’t have to be an expert in every herb before you get started. She said that you just learn about one herb at a time and make sure you know the proper use of it. Gradually, over time, you will acquire the large base of knowledge and skill set that you need to be fully equipped to help your family with the aid of herbs.
After her encouraging words, I was inspired to acquire some of the herbs that I would need for homemade cold and flu preparations for my family this winter as well as some pregnancy aids.
One thing that has stopped me from getting into making my own remedies was where do I get the ingredients? Neither the local health food stores or my food co-op carried many of the ones I was looking for. I finally heard about an online herb company called Mountain Rose Herbs. The prices are reasonable and I’ve been happy with the quality of the herbs so far.
I first began by making elderberry syrup, which is to be used at the first sign of the flu or cold. I got my recipe from my online mentor, Crystal Miller. Her recipe calls for honey instead of sugar and this makes more sense to me, as raw honey is an anti-microbial agent that is healthy on its own.
Elderberry Syrup
1 cup dried elderberries (If you have a source of fresh elderberries you can also use about 3 cups fresh to equal the 1 cup dried)
3 cups water
1 ½ cups honey
Optional, but not necessary is a tablespoon of brandy. This helps preserve the syrup.
In a large pot combine the elderberries and water. Bring this to a boil and reduce heat. Let simmer for about 1 hour, uncovered. Strain out the elderberries. You can use an old clean dishcloth to strain your berries (but it will get stained so make sure it is an old one).
Add the honey and optional brandy and stir till dissolved.
Store this syrup in the refrigerator in a glass canning jar or if you did not add the brandy then store in smaller bottles in the freezer. This way you can take a small bottle out as needed.
When you or someone in your family shows the first symptoms of a cold or the flu begin taking spoonful two to three times daily. An adult spoonful would equal about a tablespoon and a child’s spoonful would be a teaspoon or so.
We’ve only gone through one illness since I made up this syrup and I alternated it with high doses of Vitamin C every couple of hours for the entire family. Our illness seemed to be shortened compared to the usual course that illness takes in our home. It remains to be seen if the elderberry was actually a factor in that or not. We’ll see as we get more illnesses through the winter.
To read more about the medicinal use of elderberry, clickHERE.
My stash of herbs for this winter
In addition to the elderberry syrup, I’ve acquired the following herbs needed to make some of the other cold/flu recipes found on Crystal’s website: ginger, horehound, licorice root and slippery elm. I encourage you to hop over and read her recipes HERE.
I’ve also decided to try some herbal teas for this pregnancy. I’ve read that red raspberry leaf tea and nettle tea are supposed to be good for toning the uterus for an easier labor and delivery. I’ve also read that an infusion is an even more potent type of tea and so that’s what I tried first. The recipe for the infusion was:
1 oz. dried red raspberry leaf
1 oz. dried stinging nettle leaf
1 1/2 quarts boiling water poured over the herbs
Steep for at least 4 hours (I do it overnight) and then strain out the herbs
We still had some dried nettle that we collected at our old home that I could use. It turned out really good and I’ve been enjoying drinking it. We’ll see if it makes a difference in my labor this time!
If the subject of herbal remedies is of interest to you, let me know. I’d be happy to share more of what I’m learning as time goes by, but only if it would be beneficial to anyone else.
Few things revive me like a walk outdoors in any type of weather. I asked Dan about this the other day – Why is it that I can go out for a walk in a grumpy, sullen, depressed, gloomy, stressed or otherwise negative mood and without fail, be in better spirits when I return inside? What is about walking outdoors that changes my mood? Why do I never return the same way as when I went out?
To me, his answer sounded overly simplistic: Because God is there.
After thinking about that for awhile, I tend to agree. When you’re inside, he said, you are surrounded by things that man has made. Now granted, man can make some pretty impressive and beautiful things. But when you are outside, you are surrounded by intricate creations of all kinds, whether you look up above, around, or down on the ground. The depths of the creation will keep you in awe throughout your entire life.
When we are outdoors, the evidence of God is ever-present.
“But ask the animals, and they will teach you; the birds of the air, and they will tell you;
Ask the plants of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you.
Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this?
In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of every human being.”
Job 12:7-10
Even in the city, we can look above us and see the awesome heavens, night or day and we can see and hear birds flying above. I remember taking many walks when we were first married and living in a subdivision. It wouldn’t seem that we could find much to inspire us within those cramped living quarters, but we enjoyed walking at sunrise orsunset during the temperature changes, out in the beautiful fresh snow, or in a light rain. (I love the smell of rain, don’t you?)
“How many are your works, LORD! In wisdom you made them all…”
(Psalm 104:24)
Adding to the wonder of the presence of God outdoors is the good that the exercise does to pump fresh blood through our bodies, the fresh air that is so welcome to our lungs, and the peace that comes from getting away from the noises of modern technology. It’s no wonder that a simple walk has the power to elevate our mood and refresh our spirits.
Although I may never actually be able to pinpoint all of the benefits of walking outdoors (like I’m sure the health experts have), I know that it’s beneficial and I will continue doing it as long as my spirits need refreshing.
This past week, we finally purchased a brush hog to help keep our “Old Paths” groomed enough for us to enjoy them. Dan spent the weekend clearing path after path and we thoroughly enjoyed walking, biking and running (the kids, not me) along them until the sun went down each day.
These pictures were taken one evening as I meandered by myself at the setting of the sun:
I wanted to pass along this along to those of you who may have an interest in the foods we eat and how they affect our health:
For this week only (October 2-8, 2011), you can watch the documentary “Food Matters” in its entirety for free online!
Follow THIS LINK to their website and once you register there, you can access the movie for free. The documentary is about 1 hr. and 15 minutes long. Dan and I watched it together and found it to be very insightful. Granted, at least one of the people who was interviewed came across to me as extreme in his views, but overall, I found it to be informative and encouraging, especially the second half.
Unlike the documentaries I’ve recommended on my blog previously (Food, Inc. and The Future of Food), this one does not focus on the food industry and agribusiness. Instead it focuses on how food can be used to heal the body rather than pharmaceuticals.
I tend to be cynical of many of the various claims out there for “easy solutions” to health problems. We all know that there are people out there trying to sell snake oil-type products in the name of “health”. However, this video isn’t trying to sell a product. The panel of people that are interviewed give plenty of practical and sensible thoughts on how your diet can significantly improve or even reverse chronic health conditions. I watched with a questioning mind and in the end, thought that many of the points that were brought out were helpful.
If any of you watch it, please stop back by here and let me know what you thought about it.
Did you learn anything?
Do you think the information that the natural doctors and nutritionists are sharing is actually true?
Have you made changes to your diet that have directly impacted your health?
In some respects, I feel as though we’ve pushed the restart button on our lives with our new home. There are things that I’ve procrastinated on for months (and even years) that I now feel like I’m ready to tackle.
One of the things I’ve wanted to delve into for quite some time now is to start assembling my “Home Health Chest”, which I’ve been learning about from Shonda Parker in her book Mommy Diagnostics.
I know that I’ve mentioned my interest in this topic on this blog before, but I haven’t made too much headway until recently. So, I thought that it would be a good idea to share with you the small steps I’ve been taking in regards to my family’s health in hopes that you might learn something that might help your family as well! (And if you already know all of this stuff, you can just shake your head and cluck your tongue at me in pity.)
In Mommy Diagnostics, Shonda begins by discussing the building blocks of good health for children. She says that good health for children (and adults) begins with building healthy cells and that the three keys to cell health are:
1. Vitamin C (buffered)
2. Bioflavonoids
3. Omega-3 oils (cod liver oil, flax seed oil)
I’ve decided to use this short list as a starting point as I try and get my children’s health back in order after several months of stress and hit-and-miss healthy eating.
Vitamin C:
Vitamin C isn’t just for colds. It is an anti-oxidant that fights off free radicals in the body, among other things. Why buffered Vitamin C? Buffered Vitamin C is simply vitamin C that is easier on the stomach, allowing you to give higher doses. I mix Ester-C vitamin C powder into my children’s fruit smoothies, shakes or yogurt. Shonda recommends that children have a minimum of 500 mg of vitamin C daily.
Bioflavonoids:
What are bioflavonoids and what do they do?
Bioflavonoids are antioxidants found in plants that give the flowers and fruit their colors. They also help protect plants from microbe and insect attacks. Bioflavonoids have been found to give humans numerous health benefits, such as:
Helping to protect blood vessels from rupture or leakage
Enhancing the power of vitamin C
Protecting cells from oxygen damage
Preventing excessive inflammation throughout the body
One way to incorporate bioflavonoids is by consuming rose hips. Rose hips are the fruit of the rose bush that appears after the flowers have gone. Rose hip syrup is the preferred method for dosing to children, and a maintenance dose for a child is 1 tsp. daily. You can either purchase rose hip syrup or make your own. Before we moved, I had my eye on some wild rose bushes along the bike trail that I was going to return to in the fall and gather the hips from. We moved, however, before I had the chance to! Until I find out if I have any wild (or other) roses growing on our new property, I’ll be ordering dried rose hips from my health food buying club.
Cod liver oil/flax seed oil:
I’ve read that cod liver oil is one of the most reliable and concentrated food sources of four nutrients that are essential to human health: DHA, EPA, vitamin A, and vitamin D. Vitamin D has been in the spotlight recently as people have been realizing how much it enhances the strength and efficiency of our immune system, and decreases our risk of developing autoimmune conditions.
For many of us, the words “cod liver oil” evoke scary memories of Mom opening the dreaded bottle and measuring out what seemed to be close to a 1/2 cup of the nasty-tasting stuff each morning. I’ve since learned that the quality of the cod liver oil is what determines the flavor. High-quality cod liver oil doesn’t have a bad taste and it doesn’t give you the “fish burps”. High-quality cod liver oil is processed fresh daily and retains the nutrients much better I purchase Carlson’s lemon flavored cod liver oil from Swanson’s Vitamins website and the children get a teaspoon daily in a bowl of yogurt, sweetened with honey. By mixing it with the yogurt, we avoid the “oily-ness” of it altogether.
As far as flax seed oil, the only way I’ve found to incorporate it into my children’s diet is to grind flax seeds fresh and use them in Elise’s peanut butter bites. You can purchase whole flax seeds at any health food store, but I purchase mine from my health food buying club.
With these three baby steps, I’ll begin my journey toward assembling my home health tool chest. I look forward to sharing more with you as I learn!
In our study of wildflowers this summer, we came across this pretty lavender flower near our back pasture. We positively identified it as the wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) that blooms in June and July. Its garden counterpart is the Bee Balm (Monarda didyma) and looks just like the Bergamot only with red flowers. The Bee Balm is often grown to attract hummingbirds. Both the Bee Balm and the Wild Bergamot are part of the mint family, so their leaves have a wonderful aroma when crushed.
In our research to identify the plant, we found out that it has many different uses, so I decided that we should grab it while it was still in bloom. We went as a family one Sunday morning to gather some that grow along the edge of our property.
Abigail holding our first harvest
First, we read that the flowers themselves make a beautiful edible garnish for salads, so we tried it. The children were a bit skeptical about eating flowers in their salad, but they really enjoyed the bursts of minty taste in their mouths as they ate their vegetables. So did I.
Wild Bergamot leaves have had many uses over the course of history, from a culinary herb to accompany meats, to a medicinal herb for colds, eruptions on the face (acne), headache and abdominal pains. Bergamot contains thymol, which was used to relieve a “gassy” stomach/colic and nausea. Fresh, crushed leaves were used to relieve insect bites.
I decided to dry the leaves and flowers to use for medicinal tea, which is supposed to be good for bronchial problems and colds. To make wild bergamot tea, add 1 cup boiling water to 1 tsp. dried herb and steep 10 minutes. Sweeten to taste and take at bedtime.
Drying the leaves on top of our cold frame
If you want to read more about how to identify bergamot and about its various uses, click on the links below…
I’ve started a 3-ring binder to place all of the information I’ve gathered for each plant/flower as I learn about them. That way, I can read through them again during the slower winter months and really learn them well. I then plan to make a list of what plants to try for what ailments or preventions so I can look over it quickly to see if I have a fresh or dried plant to match the need. I realize that books have already been written about this subject, but it seems overwhelming to me to learn it all without actually doing it myself. So, my binder will grow as I learn!
Dan and I are definitely closer to one end of the healthy eating spectrum, but we are not even close to the end. We still have a lot to learn. We believe that while our eating habits should not consume our every thought, they are definitely worthy of careful evaluation.
Everyone knows that it’s important to eat healthy. It’s driven into our heads starting in elementary school and screamed at us from billboards and grocery store signs. However, eating healthy REAL food does take more time and time is something that many people claim they don’t have enough of. But if you decide to make healthy food a priority, there are many ways to incorporate it into your life.
“Buying everything organic is so expensive!” people always tell me. I agree with that statement. However, simply going to the grocery store and buying everything organic is only one solution to eating healthier. As the old saying goes:
“Where there’s a will, there’s a way”
The books that I’ve mentioned in my last few posts give many ideas of how to begin to change your way of eating. Here are a few more ideas and resources that we’ve found helpful for our family.
Visit Eatwild.com This website is the source for locally grown pastured-based foods from beef to chicken to raw milk. We utilized this website to find our source of grass-fed beef that now fills our freezer. We get our beef for just over $4.00 per pound. This is a straight price that includes everything from ground hamburger to sirloin steak and prime rib.
Become involved in a local CSA. Community supported agriculture (CSA) is a newer concept that has been spreading across the country recently. You can read more about CSAs here. There are also farm co-ops where you pay into your “share” of a cow or goat so that you can get raw milk legally. My sister has been very happy with the farm close to her that she co-ops with. (Maybe she can tell us more about it in the comments section!)
Join a natural food co-op. We belong to a UNFI food co-op in our local city. If you visit UNFI’s website, you can find out if there is a co-op in your local area. If there isn’t one within 50 miles of where you live, you can start up your own. There is a minimum amount required for UNFI to ship to your drop-off location, but by combining with several other families, you can easily reach that minimum. A natural food co-op is a wonderful resource for every type of health food imaginable for a much lower cost than a health-food store if you buy in bulk.
Cut out the convenience foods and use that money to buy real food. Several years ago I wrote a couple of posts on how to cut the grocery budget while still purchasing healthy food. Perhaps you may find some of the information helpful if you’re just starting out in this area.
Learn how to cook it! One of my favorite websites is The Family Homestead, run by Crystal Miller. She has so many delicious recipes that are easy to make and use healthy ingredients, plus she has great photograph tutorials for beginning bread-makers, cheese-makers and cooks. She recently had a series on her blog called Trim the Budget where she introduced delicious meals that can be made inexpensively from scratch for even a large family like her own.
I shared some of my favorite healthy cookbooks in a past blog post. You can check them out HERE. (I’ve since discovered a new favorite cookbook for simple, healthy meals called More-With-Less Cookbook.)
Grow your own. Yes, it is possible to grow some of your own food even if you live in an apartment ! If you are interesting in starting to grow your own food, I highly recommend that you pick up a copy of Rodale’s Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening and just read through it. It tells you everything you need to know about how to grow just about everything. We return to this book often even though we’ve been gardening for years now.
Changing the way we eat can be overwhelming at first, especially if we try to do everything at once. However, with each step we take toward eating real food – no matter how small – we will reap the benefits.
Thanks for joining me on part of the food journey that my family has been on through this past year. I hope that you learned something along with me! There is so much that we have yet to learn about our food system and better ways to do things regarding food. We’ve really taken something simple – acquiring the food that God created and putting it into our human bodies – and made it into something so complex that it takes volumes to even explain it!
It has to be more simple than that.
And it is…if we step back and take a good look at it.
Is there anything that we do on our little homestead that you’d like to know more about? Let me know in the comments section below and I’ll be happy to share with you what we’ve learned in an email or a blog post. I am definitely NOT an expert in anything “homestead”-related, but we have made quite a few mistakes and I’ve learned something from each of them.
Fast Food Nationwas a very revealing book to me and I recommend it heartily – even if you don’t eat at fast food restaurants. Because in reality, much of the food we get from the grocery store is really “fast food”, too. I’m not going to try to explain everything in the book, because that’s Mr. Schlosser’s job.
At the back of the book was an essay by a Michael Pollan and an advertisement for a book by him on the same topic. His essay intrigued me, so I put 2 of his books on hold at the library, In Defense of Foodand The Omnivore’s Dilemma. In the first book, Mr. Pollan talks about how we can solve many of the health problems in our country by what kinds of food we eat. The book’s manifesto: “Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly plants” sounded silly to me at first glance. By the end of the book, however, I realized Mr. Pollen’s point- in many instances, what we eat is very far removed from real food.
His 2nd book – The Omnivore’s Dilemma – is subtitled A Natural History of Four Meals. In it, Mr. Pollan discusses the different types of food systems we have to choose from:
corn-based (which is what most people eat)
grass-based (what fewer people eat)
hunter and gatherer (what barely anyone in our country eats)
He discusses all of the various implications of eating from each type of system. Mr. Pollan is such an interesting writer that he pulls you right into his subject matter. Although I don’t really share his worldview, his thoughts on our food system are not to be missed! I definitely recommend his books.
Sometime during this period, I learned that both Eric Schlosser and Michael Pollan were involved in the making of a documentary entitled Food, Inc. that features both of their writings. I put it on hold with my interlibrary loan system and waited to receive it.
While reading the chapter on grass in The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Dan and I were introduced to a farmer named Joel Salatin, who is owner of Polyface Farm in Virginia. His farming practices intrigued us as we read the description of Mr. Pollan’s visit to Polyface. Wanting to know more, we got our hands on several of Joel’s books and watched this episode of Meet the Farmer in three parts wherein he explains the state of agriculture in America and what we can do about it. Even if you have no desire whatsoever to be a farmer, I guarantee that you will be inspired after watching Joel’s vision for sustainable agriculture! Here is Part 1:
(Remember to pause the music on the sidebar before trying to watch these videos.)
Joel Salatin’s innovative ideas about rotating livestock through a pasture system and putting the animals natural strengths to good use is fascinating. And what’s more, it just makes sense!
Joel’s books Pastured Poultry Profit$and You Can Farmhave given Dan and I a fresh new vision on how we can best use our 7 1/2 acre piece of land most efficiently. We have learned so much from Mr. Salatin and we’ll be making big changes this year to our livestock system. Throughout this past winter, Dan studied deeper into grass and pasture management. We decided that the best use of the back portion of our property was to raise sheep for meat this year. Hence, our new additions this spring.
After reading all of these books, I heard from a friend about how “everyone” was talking about the documentary Food, Inc. It had already been 5 months since I put my name on the waiting list at the library. No wonder I hadn’t received it yet!
In the meanwhile, we watched another excellent documentary called The Future of Food. Here is the opening segment from the film:
You can watch the entire documentary online in on a bigger screen for free HERE. It focuses mainly on genetically modified food, especially corn, and the corporations that manufacture it. I highly recommend it if you care at all about what you’re eating!
When I finally received my library copy of Food, Inc. I found that it covered pretty much all the information we had already read. However, it was very insightful to see the actual interior of the meat-packing and poultry operating facilities that I had read so much about. Food, Inc. is not so much a documentary about what’s in the food we’re eating, but more about what the food IS that we’re eating. It’s also about why certain companies don’t really want us to have much choice when it comes to our food.
It’s easy for us to jump on a bandwagon when we see or hear something disturbing, isn’t it? After a while, however, what we see or hear slips quietly into the recesses of our conscience as it is trumped by our busy lives. Convenience foods often seem to be better today.
But how will our food choices affect tomorrow?
And if you aren’t able to have your own farm, what are you supposed to do about it?
