Nourishing Traditions Book Review

Nourishing Traditions is a cookbook with a mission to educate modern man about the way we were created to eat, the way man has been eating for thousands of years. Before science started creating food in a laboratory God created food that would nourish our bodies, not just feed us. He also provided us ways to prepare it that would even further nourish us. But when man thought he could find a better way of providing food he lost his way to his own good health and the health of his progeny.

Nourishing Traditions is a guide to eating the old way. Based on the research of Dr. Weston A. Price, a dentist who traveled the world studying “primitive” tribes in search of healthy people and what they ate, Sally Fallon seeks to bring his discoveries and those of many other researchers to your dinner table. The way in which we provide our food today is radically different from our forefathers; dairy, meat, eggs, produce, bread, fats, and processed foods are all produced in new ways that are robbing us of the nourishment our bodies need to sustain ourselves. This book brings us back to food and educates us in the foundations of good nutrition. Fats, carbohydrates, proteins, dairy, vitamins, minerals, and enzymes each are explained and expounded on to equip us with the truth about nutrition so we can make wise decisions in our diet. After giving us the preliminary information for good nutrition she goes on to give many recipes for old favorites and new cuisine prepared in traditional ways that retain and release important nutrients, and aid in digestion. At the beginning of each section there is a commentary to further explain the concepts behind the recipes, then on the side margins of all the recipes there are quotes from many sources on proper nutrition.

I have put off writing this review for some time because I am still studying the book and rereading important parts. If is full of valuable information that you aren’t going to hear many other places. I am convinced that much of what taught in this book is just the way we were created to eat and prepare our food. Of course I do not agree with everything (especially the raw meat eating) but I have learned so much about how to nourish my family from this book. As I have done further research on the traditional ways of eating it has led me to realize that the main reason we are where we are in our food production is not because big corporations were greedy for our money, but because women left home (and consequently the food preparation of the family) for “higher work”. This is what has led us to seek for someone else to prepare our food and the large corporations were just all to willing to bring the industrial revolution to food preparation. Our health crisis is not the fault of big business; it is the fault of woman who thought their work could be done by anybody. Well, now we know it can’t, and that is why it has mainly been the wives and mothers returning from the workforce who are rethinking their family’s diets. Out of love they are preparing foods that don’t just keep their family from being hungry, but nourishes and strengthens them for the task that are before them.I truly hope that you will obtain your own copy of this wonderful book and start taking the steps necessary to nourishing your families. At first it may seem overwhelming to implement everything you learn, but you have to see it as a journey to good nutrition that you can begin today by taking one step at a time. In the future I hope to share more with you about what I have been doing to change our diet. In many ways we are restricted because of budgetary reason but I have been able to implement many of the principles presented in this book nonetheless. In fact I found many to be cheaper than what we have been doing. So don’t give up hope; catch the vision for better health for you and your family!



For more information and lots of online reading visit the Weston A. Price Foundation.


To purchase for $16.50 click here.

Good websites with information on eating the "Nourishing way":

Traditional Bread

Fermenting

Dairy

Finding Food

Sustainable Food

Frugal Cleaning Tips

One place to cut down on waste and expense may be your cleaning closet. Over the past year I have started to implement easy ways to save and simplify the way we clean our home. Not only have I saved myself some money but, literally, the headache that comes with using powerful chemical cleaners. Now I find that when I have to clean with regular cleaners it really affects me. I used to just take it for granted that a headache came with cleaning, but thankfully no longer. So here are some tips that have helped me:

1. Make your own cleaners.

This may sound complicated but it is actually really simple. If you can follow a recipe you can make a cleaner. Often they only include a few household items that are poured into a bottle and shook up. For some great recipes I found online visit Clean and Green.

2. Use old rags instead of paper towels and cleaning wipes.

If you are like us you probably have many old wash cloths and dish rags that have seen their better days. Instead of throwing them out, give them a new life in your cleaning closet. To make sure they don't end up in the linen closet after they are washed I snip one corner off to identify them from any others. I normally can clean my bathroom with one rag by starting with the mirror, then the counter and sink, and last of all the commode. Then it gets thrown in the wash, not the trash basket. This has cut our paper towel usage in half. If you usually use a wad of paper towels to protect your hands, like my brothers (it is amazing how wimpy my brothers become when it comes to cleaning the bathroom), you can always buy a cheap pair of latex gloves to keep in the bathroom.

3. Buy supplies in bulk

When you make your own cleaners the supplies are pretty cheap to begin with, but you can save even more by buying in bulk. I can get two gallons of vinegar at our Sam's Club for $3.18 and 12 lbs of baking soda for $5.36. If you don't want to use a membership store you may be able to find the same things at any bulk store such as GFS. If you prefer to use ready-made cleaners you can often find concentrates for these at bulk stores that come out to be very inexpensive per batch.


For more advice and tips to save money visit Frugal Friday at Biblical Womanhood.

5 Keys to Successful Dinners

1. Plan Ahead
Every time you go shopping have a menu and a list for the amount of dinners until next shopping trip. It doesn’t have to be anything elaborate just a few things jotted down for each night (like: Mon.~ chili, corn muffins, toppings). Then, each night after dinner, choose which meal you are having tomorrow night and do any necessary preparations ( i.e. soak beans, put frozen meat in fridge, etc.). It is also nice to write yourself a note of what needs done in morning or just make a mental note.


2. Prepare Early
Do as much preparation as possible early in the day when you are bright and fresh. This will go a long way to having a peaceful afternoon. Employ your slow cooker when practical, this is especially nice in the summer when you don’t want to heat the kitchen up and slave over a stove top. ( At the end of this I will share one of my favorite slow cooker meals.)


3. Allow Plenty of Time
Dinner preparation always take longer than I think. Even if most of it is done before noon, I still need to set the table, make the beverage (that is tea around here), prepare the vegetables and do any last minute sides. If you have little helpers-in-training (younger siblings or children) be sure to plan time so they can be a part of the preparations, this will save you time in the future as my mom daily attest.☺


4. Clean as You Go
When you finish with a dish rinse it and put in the dishwasher or sink, wipe counters when you are finished with them, throw away trash as you make it, and clean up spills immediately. It may take a while to develop this good habit, but if you have allowed enough time it will be much easier.


5. Leave the Kitchen Spotless
If possible, as soon as dinner is done clear and wipe counters and table, wash all dishes, and sweep the floor. By leaving your kitchen thus you will wake up to a clean and orderly start in the morning.



My Favorite Crock-Pot Meal:

Sour Cream and Dill Chicken

Ingredients:

8-10 pieces chicken (thawed the night before)
pepper to taste
2c. sour cream
2 (10.5 oz) cans cream of mushroom soup
1 onion soup mix packet
2 T. lemon juice
2 t. dill

Place chicken in bottom of large slow cooker and sprinkle with black pepper. In large mixing bowl combine remaining ingredients and pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours or high 3-4.
Serve over rice (recipe following) with a side of mixed vegetables.

Soaked Rice
(Nourishing Traditions Recipe)

2 c. brown rice
4 c. warm water
4 T. whey, yogurt, buttermilk or keifer
1t. sea salt
2-4 T. butter

In saucepan combine rice, water, and whey (you can also substitute lemon juice or vinegar). Leave in warm place for at least seven hours (I usually do this right after breakfast). Bring to boil and skim foam, reduce to low and stir in salt and butter; cover tightly. Without removing lid, cook over lowest heat possible for about 45 minutes. Yummy!

Note:
These are not original ideas, I have gleaned them over the past couple of years from all the wonderful older women in my life.

Recipe for a Happy Home

Half a cup of friendship, and a cup of thoughtfulness, creamed together with a pinch of powdered tenderness, very lightly beaten in a bowl of loyalty, with a cup of faith, one of hope and one of charity. Be sure to add a spoonful of gaiety that sings, also the ability to laugh at little things. Moisten with sudden tears of heartfelt sympathy, bake in a good natured oven and serve repeatedly.

Taken from:
Mrs. Dunwoody's Excellent Instructions for Homekeeping: Timeless Wisdom and Practical Advice
by Miriam Lukken

Frugal Friday - Cheap Rentals

Crystal did her Frugal Friday post this week on Family night. This reminded me of what a great deal we have been able to find on movies for our family night.

We watch a movie nearly every Friday night (we sometimes play games instead). We used to get them from our library and pay $1 a piece for them, but now we have a $3/month subscription to Netflix (we signed up for their free trial then canceled it, then they sent us this offer). This has been a great blessing because there is such a huge selection that you can find nearly every movie ever made. You can also watch some online which has been nice for when we get a movie that we really didn't like. We have been able to find lots of Christian films, movies from classic authors such as Dickens and Austen, and new releases like Amazing Grace. It is much easier to find a clean movie this way then going to our local movie store or even our libraries not to mention much less expensive.

What You Do

I just got my copy of Passionate Housewives and have begun reading it. Yesterday I found this quote in the third chapter and wanted to share it with you.

What you do in your house is worth as much as if you did it in heaven for our Lord God. We should accustom ourselves to think of our position and work as and sacred and well-pleasing to God, not on account of the position and work, but on account of the work and faith from which the obedience and the work flow.
--Martin Luther

This quote is Scriptural in its meaning. Not that some how we in the flesh are well-pleasing to God but we lean on Christ in faith and His work in us is well-pleasing to the Father.

Col 3:17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

Col 3:23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;

2Co 10:3-6 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

Act 17:28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being;

Mat 17:5 While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.

Gen 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

May God bless you as you serve Him in your sacred calling.

Apples, Apples Everywhere!

Apple season is fully here and I am taking advantage of it. Michigan has it’s many beautiful orchards and farms that supply us wonderful fresh apples this time of year. Last week we finally visited one of these orchards. Lined up in a machine shed were neat rows of different kinds of apples. It was a hard choice, but we came home with some Honeycrisp, Jonagold, and Macintosh, mostly Macintosh.

The day after our little trip to the orchard was spent in the kitchen preparing all those apples. Pies, applesauce, apple butter, apple tea and apple jelly are the results of lots of hard, but fun work. My dad especially appreciated all this as he is the apple fan of the family.

What really excited me about all this cooking though was how little waste! In the past when I did my apple cooking I would pull out my apple peeler/corer/slicer, run my apple through it and leave about as much scraps to throw away as I did apples to cook. So this year I decided to put all those peels and cores to work.

First thing they were going to make me was apple jelly. I have never made apple jelly before, I had heard about it but I am not the jelly maker so I never tried to make it. But feeling industrious and having one last box of pectin in the cabinet I took the plunge and looked up a recipe online. I found a few here and here. I used the later and found it very similar to other jelly recipes, you cook the apples down (about 30 minutes) and mash them through a sieve to make juice, then use the juice to make jelly. I’m afraid my jelly didn’t set up very firm, not that there is any fault in the recipe – I actually hope to try it again – but that my pectin was many years old. It is not going to waste though, the resulting syrup is wonderful on pancakes, in oatmeal and to sweeten apple tea.

Making apple jelly has led me to think of other ways to use apple scraps. You could make juice from the cores and peels, syrup from the juice, puree from the peels and also apple tea from dried peels. Although haven’t tried all these ways yet, except the tea, I think they would be wonderful ways of being frugal.

When we really try to be creative with the things we already have it is amazing how much we are blessed. Can you imagine, all those things I made from just six dollars worth of apples? Frugality isn’t just an idea, it is a frame of mind – creativity that can be used to bless our families.

Many Blessings

Good Quote

I found this quote from Theodore Roosevelt to be very inspiring. It is taken from a speech he gave to the National Congress of Mothers March 13, 1905. You can access the entire speech, which is quite lengthy and very good, at this link.

No piled-up wealth, no splendor of material growth, no brilliance of artistic development, will permanently avail any people unless its home life is healthy, unless the average man possesses honesty, courage, common sense, and decency, unless he works hard and is willing at need to fight hard; and unless the average woman is a good wife, a good mother, able and willing to perform the first and greatest duty of womanhood, able and willing to bear, and to bring up as they should be brought up, healthy children, sound in body, mind, and character, and numerous enough so that the race shall increase and not decrease.

There are certain old truths which will be true as long as this world endures, and which no amount of progress can alter. One of these is the truth that the primary duty of the husband is to be the home-maker, the breadwinner for his wife and children, and that the primary duty of the woman is to be the helpmate, the housewife, and mother...Into the woman's keeping is committed the destiny of the generations to come after us...The woman's task is not easy--no task worth doing is easy--but in doing it, and when she has done it, there shall come to her the highest and holiest joy known to mankind; and having done it, she shall have the reward prophesied in Scripture; for her husband and her children, yes, and all people who realize that her work lies at the foundation of all national happiness and greatness, shall rise up and call her blessed.

-President Theodore Roosevelt

Saving On Lunches: Soups

Host site

The average lunch menu for many people probably includes sandwiches, chips and other such food. One reason for this is sandwiches taste great and can be made in a wide range of varieties. Also they are quick and easy. But sandwiches have their down falls; they are not always nutritious and/or strain the budget (i.e. bologna is cheap but not exactly healthy). So my solution to solving both the nutrition and budget problems is soups.

Soups are packed with nutrients, and can be made with all kinds of inexpensive ingredients. Think about what can go into soups: leftovers, carrots, chicken bones, celery, beans , noodles, canned and frozen vegetables, potatoes, garden vegetables, squash, and the list goes on- all inexpensive good food.

To start making soups you need a good stock. I usually make double or triple batches of chicken stock to save time later, this lasts me a month or two. Chicken is my favorite stock because we can get chicken leg quarters from our Wal-Mart for $0.49/lb. Mom divides them into backs, legs and thighs to freeze and I use the backs for stock. There are lots of great stock recipes out there, I use the chicken stock recipe from Nourishing Traditions. Be sure to add a couple tablespoons of vinegar to extract the calcium from the bones and parsley to impart additional mineral ions to the broth.1 Other basic stocks include beef (or venison), fish, and vegetable.

Now you are ready to try all those great soup recipes hiding away in your recipe collection. You by no means need a recipe though. Some just like to keep a "soup bucket" in the freezer to collect leftover vegetables and meat, then they simmer it all in some stock or stock/water mix and add whatever spices sound good. When you make soup and have a lot of ingredients on hand, make double or triple batches to freeze for those days when you don't feel like cooking (make sure you like the recipe first).

If you haven't made many soups before you may want to stick to recipes until you get the feel for what taste good and goes together. I have posted two recipes here Bean Soup (my own creation), and Cream of Vegetable Soup (N.T. recipe) 1. Also look for recipes at Recipe Zaar. I like this recipe site because you can search by ingredient and also can adjust servings number then calculates the measurements for you. I have really enjoyed soups from Nourishing Traditions, if you have the book by all means take a look at them. You can find great recipes every where once you are looking for them. So dig in and serve your family something yummy and warm for lunch for a change.

God Bless

1. Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon was my inspiration to explore soups. If you don't own the book yet, I highly recommend it.

Bean Soup

2 c. white or pinto beans ( or 1c. each)
8 c. water
2 T. lemon juice
1 ham hock
1 med. onion
2 T. olive oil (opt.)
4 cloves garlic minced
2 to 4 T. seasoning salt (to taste)
water to cover (can be part stock)
3/4 c. chopped carrots
2 celery stalks, chopped
1/2 c. -1 c. frozen or fresh spinach
chopped ham meat (opt.)

Combine beans, 8c. water and lemon juice and soak overnight. Drain and rinse beans. In large pot combine beans, ham hock, sliced onion, olive oil, garlic, and seasoning salt. Cover with water and bring to boil. Reduce to low and simmer covered 4-6 hrs ( adding more water as necessary). Add carrots, celery, spinach,and ham meat; let simmer 20 minutes more or until beans and vegetables are tender. Serve with whole grain wheat bread. A wonderful fall soup.

Enjoy!

Free Ebooks

Here is a link to 37 free ebooks from Living on a Dime. There are books about organizing, frugality, homeschooling, and cooking.
Enjoy!

Young Women and Higher Education

Living On a Dime, an e-newsletter about frugal living, had a very good article by Jill Cooper today about blindly following the crowd. I thought she made a good point here about college.

"They" say you have to pay to send your children to college so they can become a success and make a lot of money. When did "they" come up with the idea that going to college makes a person successful? How many parents have accrued $40,000 in debt for their son or daughter's degree, only to find the student working in a field that has nothing to do with his degree? Certainly, a college education can be a useful tool, but it is one that is wasted if the student doesn't need it or fails to use it.

I really puzzle over girls who desire to be full time wives and mother in the future that spend all their money and time gaining a college education that they only use for a few years, if even that. Then they get married and have children and don't know how to successfully run their households. Shouldn't we gain the knowledge of homemaking and child care in our single years if our desired "career" is motherhood?

Just because you stay home and focus on learning to be a homemaker doesn't mean we can't pursue higher education. There is so much education out there that can be gained outside of college and cost a lot less. I am amazed at how much I can learn simple by reading.If you can build good study skill there is an unlimited range of subjects you can study and learn. For instance: the subjects I am studying this year are writing (using my brother's old college books), fashion design, social studies (politics, economics, education, ect.), natural healing, nutrition, art and music. These subjects do not take up all my time though, but are incorporated into my daily routine of cleaning, cooking and helping my family in various ways. I am also taking time in morning to read books on spiritual subjects and in the evening to read books concerning my place as a woman.

Don't think inside of the box, but explore the things that interest you and will aid you in the future. Ask the Lord what He would have learn in the years after high school and pursue those things.

Yogurt Making

Yogurt Recipe
4 c. milk
2c dry milk powder
2-3c. warm water
4 T. yogurt (commercial or from last batch, must have live cultures)
3 t. gelatian softend in 1/4 c. cold water

Heat milk over low heat stirring occationally until it reaches 180 degrees (I use a candy thermonitor to check it).

Steralize a two quart jar in two inches of boiling water for a couple minutes.Soften gelitain in cold water.
In two quart jar pour in dry milk. Add heated milk and stir. Pour in hot water leaving room for gelatain and yogurt. Let cool until 125 degrees.

Pour 1 cup warm milk into 4 T. yogurt and stir. Wisk into jar. Stir in gelitain.
Screw lid on tightly and set on heating pad and set to low. Wrap in a old blanket and leave for 8 hours. Transfer to refridgerator and chill overnight.