The (Not So) Simple Choice of What To Eat

I've been doing quite a bit of learning lately about food. The more I learn about food, the more I realize the far-reaching implications of the seemingly simple choice of what to eat. Food is so much more than what I buy at the store and cook for dinner-- how I choose to eat is how I vote for what exists in the world.

Three books have influenced my recent thinking about food. Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma gives an in-depth picture of the detriments of modern industrial food, from GMO corn to feedlot cattle to caged hens to pesticides and even to industrial organic, and offers a creative alternative through ecological farming and being connected with our food through its life, death, and preparation. Pollen challenges us to think about what we're eating in terms of our own health, public, animal and environmental health, politics, ethics, and sustainability. In his words,

"But imagine for a moment if we once again knew, strictly as a matter of course, those few unremarkable things: What it is we're eating. Where it came from. How it found its way to our table. And what, in true accounting, it really cost."

Nina Planck, in her simple book Real Food: What to Eat and Why, shares her knowledge and experience with eating local, fresh, traditional foods. She believes rather than eating industrialized food, which threatens our health, our environment, and our connection to the pleasures of food, we should be eating "real" food (meaning old and traditional foods), including raw dairy, grass-fed meat, eco-friendly fish, ecologically grown fruits and vegetables, good fats (including olive oil, lard, butter, beef fat, and coconut oil), eggs from pastured hens, and unrefined sea salt. Her guidelines are based, in addition to her own extensive research, on the work of Weston A. Price.

The latest addition to my library, and my favorite of the three, is Full Moon Feast: Food and the Hunger for Connection, a book graciously sent to me by Chelsea Green Publishing Company. Jessica Prentice's book, I think, sums up the above perspectives and adds to them with her beautifully written thoughts about our connection to nature, seasons, and one another through food. In addition to sharing a variety of seasonal recipes, Prentice also talks about food traditions of indigenous cultures throughout the world, traditional methods of food preservation, our dependence on petroleum, and healing through community. I'll let her words describe her book:

"When we begin to heal the broken relationships in our food system, the nutrition of our food begins to improve. Animals are treated humanely when we understand that we are in relationship with them-- that they are part of a whole we, too, belong to. Once we accept that we are all connected, and that we want those connections to be strong, flexible, and resilient instead of severed, torn, or frayed, healing becomes profound and multilayered."

And all three authors LOVE Joel Salatin and his ecological farming.


Thanks to these influences, I feel more knowledgeable about what foods I want to look for. I've been asking more questions at my local butcher and egg supplier about how the animals are raised and what they are fed. I've been glad for my garden, and interested in finding local fruit this summer. I do often feel frustrated with some things I don't know how to find or afford, like good quality butter and fish. And I don't know much about eating locally/seasonally. But I also know I am on a path of learning, and I am grateful that I can learn more every day. I will keep reading books (soon I will read Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle) and thinking about how, where, why and what food to eat.


Related posts:
Life Without Groceries
Plenty: An Experiment in Eating Locally
The Future of Food

Naked Living Teepee

Our living teepee is up and ready to be covered by growing things. I planted morning glories and sweet peas around the perimeter, and clover in the center. Sunflowers are beginning to grow along the fence behind it. I feel excited for it to be surrounded and covered by flowers.


Related posts:
Garden Progress- May 2008
From Lawn to Nature's Playground
Garden, Not Lawn

Garden Progress- June 2008

Even though I don't seem to find more than a few minutes once a week to garden, my garden seems to be growing! The photos below show a portion of the big veggies right now (cold season crops-- peas, carrots, broccoli, cabbage, onions, and spinach):





The squash suddenly decided to grow, representing itself with lots of volunteers in addition to sprouts from the 3 different times I re-planted seeds. Now I have no idea which seedlings go with which squash:



Some things (beets, kale, and eggplant) are getting eaten:



We've been picking and eating from our strawberry patch:



How is your garden growing? Successes? Failures?


Related Posts:
Garden Progress- May 2008
And So It Begins...
Lasagna Gardening

We're Worm Farmers!

Thanks to Freecycle, we got some worms! The interesting thing about getting the worms is that Kathie, the Montana blogger who found me on the internet and whose worm composting class I attended last week, was the one who originally gave worms to the woman who gave me worms today. You are showing up in my life in all kinds of ways, Kathie!

We drilled holes in the bottom and top of a plastic bin, set the bin on a large tray (to catch any water-- "worm tea"-- that drains through), put some veggie scraps in the bottom of the bin, and covered the scraps with damp strips of paper bags/newspaper. The worms will turn all of the material into rich, nutritious compost for houseplants and the garden beds. When we fill the bin to the top with organic matter, we'll put another bin (with holes in the bottom) right on top of the organic matter in the bottom bin. We'll start filling up the new bin, and the worms will migrate from the bottom up through the holes into the upper bin, leaving ready-to-use compost in the bottom bin. Does that make sense at all? The bin stacking method makes it a lot easier to use the compost without having to dump it all out and dig through it to separate out the worms.

The best part is that Ashton is really excited about the worms. This could be a great learning experience for them.


Related posts:
Community of Bloggers and Worms
Garden Progress- May 2008
Turds to Tomatoes: Composting Humanure

Playing Piano and Stepping Forward

I've been taking piano lessons for about a year. My husband is my teacher. It is going well; we have power issues every now and again, but mostly we work well together. Part of the reason our lessons go so well is because of the method he teaches. It is a playing-based approach called Simply Music. I haven't taken piano lessons before, so I don't have the negative experience with it that many people have, nor can I speak about the difference between this method and the usual approach; but I can say that Matt's students have fun, enjoy their lessons, get satisfaction out of their rapid progress, and hear comments from their friends and family about how astounding it is that they play so well in such a short time. I like learning to play: It is relaxing and focusing, I think it improves my intelligence, it is empowering to be able to play this instrument that used to be so intimidating, and I get to write my own beautiful songs.

We've been through a lot of changes over the last 3 years since having our first child. Before we had kids, we floated around working jobs to pay the bills without really knowing what we wanted or why. Then, after we had our unexpected baby, over time we've been getting more and more in touch with our life purposes. I went from college student, to AmeriCorps member, to waitress, to realizing I wanted to stay home with my child. By being a stay-at-home mom I've been more challenged and fulfilled than ever before. Matt went from college student playing in different bands, to bread baker, to carpenter, and over the past year has been realizing that piano is the only thing he wants to do.

When we decided I would stay home, he became our sole breadwinner, which pushed him to be creative about how to make enough money (preferring to make the most money he could in the least amount of time). He started putting himself out into the community by joining several bands and advertising himself as a wedding/event pianist. Then a friend told him about teaching Simply Music, so he took the at-home training course and started getting students. A year later Matt has his own successful band, is often invited to join other bands, has a booked summer, and has around 20 piano students.

To make up the rest of what we need for our bills, he's also been doing carpentry, a job he generally finds unfulfilling. Lately Matt has been realizing that in order to truly succeed at his music career, he needs to take his foot out of the carpentry door. It is a safety net that holds him from putting himself fully forward into music. We knew that sometime there would be a transition from carpentry to full-time music, and we've been nervous about it. Life has led us, sooner than we anticipated, to the turning point of taking that step and trusting we will succeed. Matt is in the process of deciding to let go of his carpentry job and go for getting more students and more gigs. We are afraid-- what if he doesn't get students? What if we don't have enough money? What will happen to us without the fall-back job? What about the debt we had committed to paying off this year?

Scary and exciting. Stepping into the unknown is so scary, but we know it is the only way to succeed. Please wish us well over the next months as Matt tries to recruit piano students. Because of his summer gigs, we can afford for him not to do carpentry for the next 2 months, but after that he will need to have enough students to get us by.

Check out this review of Simply Music in The Old Schoolhouse homeschooling magazine.


Related Posts:
Jess Loves Matt
Confessions of a Mother
Healthy Family, Healthy Community

This Week's Favorites- June 26, 2008

Thanks to Danielle for discussing in Simple Living the Easy Way what it means to her to embrace technology while reducing her impact on the earth. I have a hard time hearing people talk about how we all should go "green", give up technology, change everything about our wasteful lives... and do it NOW. I appreciate hearing a balanced, realistic perspective based on how we got where we are, what the implications might be of our all-or-nothing solutions, and how we can integrate all of the useful parts of our way of life. For all you Matrix fans, this post brings the man vs. machine struggle into real life! In the same way that Danielle is considering why she uses which machines, I am prompted to think about what I am really wanting for my life, what choices will keep me closer to my higher purposes and what will draw me away from them, and how I can use technology in a way that is in harmony with the earth.

I like Path to Freedom's idea that maybe I don't need bananas, although I'm still wondering how and where to find local produce here in Montana, considering I don't have fruit growing in my backyard garden. I'm on the lookout!

Beef heart, anyone? Kelly the Kitchen Kop has informed us that beef heart tastes just like ground beef. I think I'll try some.

I find myself loving and rebelling against Tansy's update on the Independence Days Challenge. I want to be that productive in my life, so her post motivates me to start logging some of the things I am actually accomplishing. Yet I cannot fathom how anyone with small children could possibly accomplish that much, so her post stirs up some self-pity and self-accusation. Tansy, if you're out there, will you tell us how you do it?

Community of Bloggers and Worms

Last night I had a cool experience. I got to meet a fellow Montana blogger, whose blog Two Frog Home I love to read, by taking her class on worm composting. Wow, I just saw that she blogged about me today! Kathie is great, she shares many of my passions, and she is a wealth of knowledge about gardening, worms, canning, and much more. And thanks to her, I'm looking forward to starting my own worm bin. It's really simple to do: It only requires some plastic buckets, shredded newspaper, and veggie scraps, and from those few ingredients you get an abundant supply of nutrient-rich fertilizer. I want healthy plants (the healthier the plants, the healthier the people eating the plants), and I like the idea of year-round ready-to-use compost (although besides putting it on house plants, what do you do with worm compost in winter?). Kathie also mentioned that worm composting is a good way for homeschoolers to provide lessons for kids-- a bucket of worms is not only fun to feel and play with, but it can turn into a variety of valuable learning about science, gardening, nature, etc. Looking forward to more learning and sharing with you, Kathie.

Parent Training

I was lucky to find this little book, How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk, at the thrift store one day. I love it. It is an integration of my favorite parenting perspectives and techniques (John Gottman's emotion coaching and Love and Logic), it is simply written with lots of examples and descriptive images, and it is has exercises to practice for each lesson. The authors' purpose is to offer us new skills and patterns that will enable us to respect our children, support our children to be caring and responsible, live without blame and accusation, express our feelings with sensitivity, and help us all to feel good about ourselves.

The book takes us through 6 different areas of focus: 1. Helping children deal with their feelings; 2. Engaging their cooperation; 3. Alternatives to punishment; 4. Encouraging autonomy; 5. Praise; and 6. Freeing children from imposed roles. I learned the most from the chapter on praise. The book says that sometimes praise can have the opposite effect of what we intend by producing self-doubt rather than self-esteem. When someone tells me, for example, that I "look great," I think, "Yeah right. I haven't lost my pregnancy weight and I barely fit into these pants. You should have seen me 2 years ago." The praise got me right into my issues. But if someone tells me "those pants are really flattering on you," I think, "Cool. I'll wear these pants more often!" In the same way, we can encourage our children by being specific and descriptive with our praise. The authors show us how to describe what we see, describe how we feel, and sum up the child's praiseworthy behavior with a word.

I'm looking forward to coming back to this book again and again.


Related posts:
Our Children Are Our Best Teachers
The Intentional Family
Winning at Parenting Through Trust

Together in the Woods

This weekend we took our first camping trip of the season. We learned some things, and realize that camping (with small children) is an art to be practiced. We all did fine and slept well, but had our ups and downs. We'll keep camping through the summer, and I think with practice we'll find an ease and flow with it. I liked that I got to slow down, notice my family, have space to have a conversation with Matt, and just be.


Related posts:
Playing in Nature
The Intentional Family
Our Children Are Our Best Teachers

Jess Loves Matt

My husband is truly a great guy. I don't tell him enough how grateful I am for him for all he is and does. Following Robbyn's lead, I want to share with you 50 reasons why I am grateful for this man in my life.

1. He is loving and gentle.
2. He loves me so very much.
3. He plays beautiful music.
4. He is thoughtful, wise, and intelligent.
5. He does what he says he will do.
6. He is trustworthy.
7. He wants to have sex with me, and he is good at partnering with sex.
8. He accepts me as I am, no matter how crazy or irrational or emotional I get.
9. He likes to learn new things and talk to me about them.
10. He is open-minded and interested in all kinds of different perspectives.
11. He is kind.
12. He has loving, bright blue eyes.
13. He knows how to parent, and he teaches me how to be a better parent.
14. He listens to me and supports me.
15. He does his best to honor what I want from him.
16. He is committed to growing himself.
17. He is doing a fine job of taking care of our money.
18. He is making his dream of being a professional musician a reality.
19. He wants to do things with me.
20. He wants to be with our family.
21. He comes from an amazing family.
22. He sacrifices for me.
23. He shares my dreams and visions.
24. He is stable, solid, and dependable.
25. He is fun to hang out with.
26. He is intentional.
27. He makes me laugh, and his laugh is hearty.
28. He is honest.
29. He is faithful.
30. He challenges me to be my best.
31. We are happier together than apart.
32. He has sexy legs.
33. He likes me unshaven and natural.
34. He is willing.
35. He connects with my Dad and has fun with my Mom.
36. He wants to take care of our parents when they're old.
37. He changes diapers, plays with kids, and cares for kids when I need help.
38. He gets excited about our shared interests.
39. He learns about the things I am interested in and goes for them with me.
40. He likes to watch movies with me.
41. He likes to travel, camp, and go to music festivals.
42. He knows how to create great meals out of whatever is in the cupboard.
43. He's spontaneous.
44. He balances my drivenness with lightness.
45. He's sure about what he wants and doesn't want.
46. He remembers information, and is my source when I want to know more about something.
47. He likes to hold my hand.
48. He calls to check in throughout the day when he's at work.
49. He wants to know what I'm thinking and learning.
50. He appreciates me.
    

Thank you, Matt, for being my partner. I am thankful for my memories and looking forward to growing and changing with you.


Related posts:
The Intentional Family
Our Children Are Our Best Teachers
Inner Child

This Week's Favorites- June 19, 2008

Have you heard of the Dervaes family and their urban homestead in Pasadena, California? I am inspired to do follow their lead on my own small plot in suburbia. Check out this 2 minute CNN report on this family living the ultimate green lifestyle on an urban farm in Pasadena, California.

Lisa at The Tardy Homemaker shows us how to make cheese.

Robbyn tells us why she loves her husband. Thank you for this beautiful reminder.

Stone-Making at The Write Start looks like a fun project that will last forever.

Fun Kid Craft: Homemade Very Hungry Caterpillar Book

Ashton loves The Very Hungry Caterpillar. We bought her a Very Hungry Caterpillar sticker book, but even though it was supposed to be re-usable, it only lasted about 10 minutes. So today I made one myself.

1. I stapled some blank white paper together to make a book.
2. I cut construction paper shapes to match some of the pictures from the real Very Hungry Caterpillar book.
3. I traced my cut-out shapes onto my book pages in the order they go in the story.
4. I gave Ashton the book, the cut-out shapes, and a bottle of glue.
5. She found where to place the cut-out shapes in the book and glued them into the traced outlines.
6. In the end, she had a homemade Very Hungry Caterpillar book!

Does that make any sense? I realize I should have stapled the book together after the glue dried, because the pages stick together. But Ashton enjoyed the activity and it kept her busy for awhile. Maybe next time she can help me cut out the shapes.

I do not claim to be crafty at all, so I feel awfully proud of myself when I come up with a neat craft activity. Today, I feel proud. I am a good mommy.

Related posts:
From Lawn to Nature's Playground
Playing in Nature
Better Than School: A Homeschooling Success Story

What's in the Kitchen Today?

Boiled/Deviled eggs- This one is not complicated, but it is an important staple in our house. We eat eggs for breakfast, lunch, and snacks. Having boiled or deviled eggs on hand helps us make sure we have food ready to eat when we are hungry.

Roasted Red Pepper Salad Dressing- I just learned that making my own salad dressing is easy, quick, and cheaper than buying it pre-made. For this dressing I roasted a pepper, mixed it with a little balsamic vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper, herbs, and olive oil. Then I added cream and chicken stock to make it a thinner consistency and stretch it so it lasts longer.

Coconutty Candies- I've changed the original recipe to include (all of these are very rough approximations) 1/2 cup coconut oil, 1/4 cup raisins, 3/4 cup nuts and seeds, 2 Tbsp peanut butter, 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast, 1-2 tsp kelp powder, 1-2 tsp azomite powder, 1-2 Tbsp cocoa powder, vanilla, honey, and stevia. Mix it up in food processor, then pour them in a small casserole dish and sprinkle dried coconut on top. Refrigerate, then cut into chunks. The kids love the taste, and I love them because they are mineral-rich power snacks.

Fermented yams- This recipe is from Nourishing Traditions (it is actually the fermented taro root recipe). The recipe says to cook 2 pounds of the tubers in a 300 degree oven for 2 hours, then mash them and mix with 1 tbsp sea salt and 4 Tbsp whey. Cover and let sit out for 24 hours, then put in a jar in the fridge. I wonder if it can be made without whey for those who don't make whey? Any ideas?


Related posts:
Supplementing with Superfoods
My Kichen, Land of Projects
My Kitchen, Land of the Living Dead

Work, Rest, and Getting Back on Purpose

Now that it's summer it seems like we have so much more to do with yard and garden work on top of the usual inside projects. I like doing projects: I feel powerful when I look at a finished project and see what I accomplished, I enjoy working hard and using my body while quieting my mind, and I feel excited when I experience newness and change.

This weekend I got rid of the TV (and all its accompanying gadgets and movies) from the living room and replaced it with a bookshelf, and now our space feels so much more clear and comfortable. Matt fixed up the rabbit hutch and created a pen so they can graze on the lawn. I worked on "Project No Lawn": I covered more of the grass to kill it, put down some edging, and set up the poles for the kids' living teepee. I also planted some eggplant and tomatoes and squash seeds in the garden. We did all these things in between taking care of our small children, who are almost always needing one thing or another.

Our family got some time to relax and hang out together, but all I really remember is doing projects. We did go for our usual Saturday morning family hike, but the rest of the weekend is a blur. I want to relax and have fun with my family, let Matt have the rest he needs from all the work he does, and enjoy my home and yard without having to constantly be working. But how do we manage all we have on our plates (house, yard, garden, kids, Matt's music, animals, commitments, etc) and still have time to relax? How do we support ourselves to stop when there is so much to constantly get done?

I realize that this is a theme for me. I take care of myself last, after I get everything else done, and then go around feeling exhausted and unhappy. I continue to work on this issue; I keep coming back to my true purposes for how I want to be in my life and I commit to ways that I will live out those purposes, but then I fall off the wagon without even realizing it. For example, one commitment I have been breaking is resting, journaling and reading right when kids go down for naps (rather than jumping on the computer right away and using my whole break surfing the internet, which leaves me feeling drained and disappointed). I have not been following through with my commitments. It's a real challenge for me to do what I really want to be doing in my life (connecting with my family, reading, resting, getting enough sleep, exercising), and let the rest (cleaning, chores, projects, errands, blogging) move down on the priority list.

I recommit to checking in with my purposes and getting clear about my commitments. I will also talk with Matt about how we want to set up our weekends so we have more down time together.

Does this resonate for anyone? How do you manage everything on your plate? Do you have space in your life for resting, connecting, or doing what you enjoy? How did you set that up for yourself?


Related posts:
Creating Conscious Commitments
My Struggle With Living Purposefully
Inner Child
Confessions of a Mother

Green It! Carnival

I like carnivals because they are a great way to share ideas, generate community as bloggers, and offer the world our combined perspectives. I like to think it might be one more way I'm making a difference. As a token of my support, and as a favor to a woman who I think is doing a fine job with her blog, Green Me, I am hosting the this week's edition of Green It! Carnival.

Here we go...

Lisa Spinelli presents an interesting look at her Personal Carbon Footprint, posted at Greener Pastures: Personal Finance.

Stefanie S. helps us understand why we're buying organic in Why Buy Organic? and what we're paying for when we buy organic in What Do Those Organic Labels Mean, Anyway? posted at Focus Organic.com.

GP presents To Market to Farmer's Market We Go posted at Innstyle Montana- Come on Inn, saying, "Good friends, good fun, good deeds... at the farmer's market".

Leslie presents Wal-Mart vs. Bringing Your Own Bags posted at A Slowcavore's Ramblings. One of my biggest pet peeves is hassling with store clerks about how I DON'T WANT the bag, thank you anyway.

Jamie McIntosh gives simple ways to Increase Your Food Security posted at Suite101: Organic Gardens blog, saying, "At the grocery store, increasing prices complement shrinking product sizes on the shelf. Meanwhile, I can still grow much of my family's organic produce for pennies."

Teri offers several simple and inexpensive homemade house cleaner ideas in Earth Friendly Cleaning posted at Teri's Organic Garden.

NtJS presents Don't Throw Away Your BPA! posted at not the jet set, saying, "Here's a hot tip: You can get a refund of the full purchase price on BPA laced items."

Condo Blues gives us "12 ways we can reuse those pesky plastic bottles that are cluttering up landfills" in 12 Ways to Reuse Plastic Bottles posted at Condo Blues.

Tip Diva presents a useful list for everyday water conservation at Top Ten Tips - Reduce Your Water Usage posted at Tip Diva.

Mother Hen gets our kids eating squash in Squash Eatin' Squid posted at Ship Full O' Pirates.

jzulueta shares some ideas for building an energy efficient home in Aiming for a Green House in Calgary posted at Everyday Architecture.


That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of Green It! using the carnival submission form. Please read the publication criteria carefully! Past posts and future hosts can be found on the Green It! blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: green it, blog carnival

This Week's Favorites- June 12, 2008

Laura at (not so) Urban Hennery tells us about her past growing up on the farm, and how her childhood experiences affect her today.

El at Fast Grow The Weeds demonstrates the abundance that can be achieved (in cold, snowy Michingan) with a greenhouse, or even just some plastic on top of plants.

Especially interesting to me since getting rabbits this week, Crunchy Chicken has a whopper of a discussion going on the ethics of raising rabbits.

Amy at Let's Explore has a fun idea for helping her kids to be excited about chores.

Erin from THE MAIDS sent me this useful list for getting kids involved in cleaning:

Summer is here and kids are looking for fun both inside and out. If your home pays the price in kid-sized messes, get the kids involved in cleaning using these fun tips from THE MAIDS Home Services.

• Don’t expect kids to use adult tools to clean, instead create supplies that are kid-friendly. Use an ice-cream pail for mopping chores or shorten an old mop handle or broom to make it kid-sized.
• Fill a squirt gun from a solution of a gallon of water and a drop of dish soap. Let kids squirt windows and mirrors and wipe dry with paper towels. Leaves glass clean and streak free!
• Cover kids’ hands and arms with dad’s old athletic socks then squirt the socks until lightly damp with a safe solution of vinegar and water. Send them off to dust around the house.
• Got a pile of blocks or action figures strewn on the floor? Scoop up toys in a few swoops using a kid-sized leaf rake to form a pile for easy pick-up.
• Make cleaning a game; give young kids grill tongs and challenge them to pick up toys and put them in a toy box or bin only using the utensils. Keep score and see who wins!
• Don’t forget the fun music to help your kids get a groove on as they boogie around the house cleaning.

You might also like:
Suburban Rabbit Farming
Garden Progress- May 2008
Safe and Cheap: Homemade Detergent

Supplementing with Superfoods

We don't take vitamins, partly because they are so expensive and we would rather put our money into good food than supplements, and also because I read an interesting book, The Real Truth About Vitamins and Antioxidants, that turned me off to supplements. The book discusses the dangers of synthetic vitamins and advocates for whole food "concentrates" (though I never really understood what "concentrates" meant), but talks about how just small amounts of whole foods will give us adequate amounts of the vitamins and minerals our bodies need. The author discusses the flawed studies on which the FDA bases our dietary recommendations. After researching several different vitamin companies and finding none that I felt I could trust, I decided to go for getting the nutrients our bodies need through good food.

I like the idea of superfoods. Sally Fallon of the Weston A. Price Foundation says in her Guide to Superfoods,

"Superfoods—as opposed to vitamins or supplements—are foods that naturally concentrate important nutrients. Unlike dietary supplements, or vitamins taken in isolation, superfoods provide many nutrients that support each other and prevent the kind of imbalances that often occur when vitamins are taken singly."

She goes on to list a variety of superfoods and their health benefits. I have a handful of superfoods I've been using on a daily basis, including cod liver oil, nutritional yeast, azomite mineral powder, kelp, amla powder (like acerola but stronger, and it has spirulina in it), flax meal, coconut oil, and bee pollen (although lately we've been learning that our bodies may not be able to digest bee pollen unless it is part of cloudy, unprocessed honey). Check out the Guide to Superfoods for info on most of these items. I've been wanting to add sprouts and/or wheatgrass to the list, in addition to the fermented foods I try to get in every day. But are those considered superfoods?

I been working on putting these superfoods in everything I can think of (with the exception of cod liver oil, which I give on a spoon with honey or it makes everything taste like fish). I've been making oatmeal in the morning by soaking oats, cooking them in chicken stock, and then adding the superfoods (with stevia and honey and cinnamon to make it taste good). I've been putting superfoods in the kids' coconutty candies. The other day I made a smoothie with kefir, superfoods, strawberries, and vanilla and stevia. I froze it in an ice cube tray with popsicle sticks to make little popsicles. Ashton, who usually won't drink my smoothies, has been eating them nonstop. Score one for superfood mama!

What I want is for myself and my family to have the vitamins and minerals our bodies need, and I want those nutrients to come from food rather than expensive pills. Will you all share about your experiences with how you nourish the needs of your bodies? Do you take vitamins? Are you happy with the kind you are taking? What ways do you use food to give you your vitamins? What superfoods am I missing?


Related posts:
Liver, Ultimate Superfood
Coconut Oil: Our Favorite Snack
Health Checklist

Book Give-Away Winner

The randomly selected winner of the Life Without Bread book give-away is... Willow! I am so thankful for the encouraging and useful comments you all gave me. I will put your suggestions to action.

Suburban Rabbit Farming

Matt has been interested lately in saving money, growing our own food, my garden, and the raising animals that make a contribution to all of the above. Farm animals give us nourishing food, provide manure for nutrient-rich garden veggies, potentially make and/or save us money, put us in touch with the process of how we get our food, and let us start experimenting with our idea of being self-sufficient, eco-friendly homesteaders. So, Matt went out and bought some rabbits (2 does and a buck) and a ramshackle old hutch from a local rabbit breeder. We'll make rabbit babies and learn to kill and cook them. I still feel a bit weirded out to look out the back door and see these creatures, much less think about what is ahead-- babies, killing, skinning, cooking...

I'm also wondering about the nutritional value of rabbit meat. Is it healthy? I've heard it's very low fat, and that it isn't good to eat only rabbit meat. Anyone know about that? How much fat should I add to our meals when I cook with it? And what do I do with the organs and bones and pelts and feet and other pieces?

Here we go! Next stop... chickens (maybe next spring), and a goat (who knows when), and maybe some more space for all these beasts to live and roam.


And see the white in the grass in the background? Yeah, that's SNOW. From today. Argh.



Related posts:
My New Clothesline
Turds to Tomatoes: Composting Humanure
Garden, Not Lawn

3 going on 40

Did she get this from my side of the family or Matt's?


Related posts:
Springtime Fun
The Intentional Family
Confessions of a Mother

Playing in Nature

I avoided reading Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder because the name sounded so dismal, and I have so much going on in my life and mind that I would rather focus on things I can do rather than more things to worry about. But after reading yet another raving review of this book, I decided to borrow it from the library. I am glad I did. It was inspiring, thought-provoking, engaging and motivating.

At first glance I thought it was going to be a book about parenting, but it's actually a critique of American society: the shifting of our society with each generation further and further away from nature, and the cost to our children (and all of us) of growing up alienated from nature. The author, Richard Louv, did an incredible amount of research putting this book together-- the book is packed with research, interviews, discussions, and stories, all centered around the importance of nature, the consequences of our separation from it, and the benefits of being in connection with it. Louv also offers some great ideas for how to re-do our schools and communities in ways that are green, sustainable, and beyond back-to-the-land.

What drew me in most as I read this book were the stories throughout the book of people's experiences in nature, and the profound impact those experiences had in their lives. The stories touch a place inside me that I can't explain-- it's a place that feels, that resonates, that vibrates. When I try to remember what the book said about why I should get my kids out in nature, I can't think of the answer; I feel it. Louv suggests that even though we categorize nature as something separate from city, our cities are still in fact part of nature. We are living in and with the natural world whether we think we are or not. Just as we are inherently sexual and spiritual beings, we are also "natural" beings; there is a part of us that is wild, keen, and totally connected with our environment.

I want my kids to grow up having a sense of connectedness with their world, to be stewards of the earth, to have a bigger picture of our place on the planet, or at least the feel the peace, quiet, expanding of the senses, and creativity that comes from being in nature. They have a biological need for it. And I want to enjoy it with them, letting myself learn, open, create, relax, explore, and feel the wonder of it. This book has motivated me to eventually find a home with land for my kids to explore, and for now to keep going for our weekend family hikes, include in our daily routine trips to the beautiful parks and natural places we have around us here in Montana (or maybe we'll just find one great place and go there every day), find simple ways to enjoy the flowers, leaves, trees, sunshine and birds in our neighborhood, find interesting natural places that might be hiding in our neighborhood, and altogether discontinue my daughter's use of movies (she only watches a few minutes once every week or two, but lately even that seems like too much to me). I know there is so much more, like creating community in our neighborhood, giving lots of opportunities for free play, and allowing my kids to roam without my watchful, fearful eyes on them.

I wonder how I would have been different had I been exposed as a child to more natural places more often? And how was I affected by the camping and outdoor activities we did do? How might my kids be affected by my attention to giving them experiences with nature?

How do you think you and/or your children were impacted by being or not being involved with nature?


Related links:
Video Clip of Richard Louv discussing his perspective
Interesting and Informative Video on Nature Deficit Disorder
Children and Nature Network

Related posts:
From Lawn to Nature's Playground
Better Than School: A Homeschooling Success Story
My New Clothesline
Confessions of a Mother

This Week's Favorites- June 5, 2008

Diane at Peaceful Acres gets us thinking about what we eat with her post Does Your Food Have a Face?

Ann Marie at Cheeseslave lets us know about the Fast Food Nation film. The film may be eductional, but I think the book is a must-read for all of us.

Robbyn at The Back Forty talk about reducing food quantity, improving food quality, and making homemade bread.

I'm enjoying the latest issue of Kids Craft Weekly, a free newsletter with great ideas for kid art projects.

Mom Unplugged gives us a breath of air in The Sound of Silence, a post about the quiet of life without TV.

Book Give-Away

I've decided to give away a copy of Life Without Bread. The sad thing about giveaways is that only one person gets the book, but maybe I'll do more giving things away in the future to offer more opportunities. Anyway, just leave me a comment about what you have learned from reading my blog, what you have liked, or what you would like to me to write more about. I'll pick a name from the comments next Wednesday.

Liver, Ultimate Superfood

I keep running into information telling me that liver, and other organ meats, is one of the most important, most nutrient-dense, foods I can feed myself and my family. I've avoided it as best I could-- the taste and smell make me gag-- but it seems that if I want my family to have really nutritious foods, I just can't get around the fact that liver is top of the list.

Scott at Modern Forager explains that "offal, or organ meats, is a foreign concept to most Westernized individuals, who typically opt for muscle meats like T-bones, sirloins, and roasts. Organs are now simply leftovers that are discarded after the animal has been dressed. However, our ancestors and modern day hunter-gatherers opt for the organ meats of animals and have been known to leave behind the muscle meats when food is plentiful." Chris at The Healthy Skeptic tells us that "while it’s true that fresh fruits and veggies are full of vitamins and minerals, their micronutrient content pales in comparison to what is found in meats and organ meats - especially liver."

And here is an excerpt from "The Liver Files: Recipes and Lore About Our Most Important Sacred Food", from the Weston A. Price Foundation website:

So what makes liver so wonderful? Quite simply, it contains more nutrients, gram for gram, than any other food. In summary, liver provides:

* An excellent source of high-quality protein
* Nature’s most concentrated source of vitamin A
* All the B vitamins in abundance, particularly vitamin B12
* One of our best sources of folic acid
* A highly usable form of iron
* Trace elements such as copper, zinc and chromium; liver is our best source of copper
* An unidentified anti-fatigue factor
* CoQ10, a nutrient that is especially important for cardio-vascular function
* A good source of purines, nitrogen-containing compounds that serve as precursors for DNA and RNA

The Weston A. Price Foundation recommends eating one 100-gram serving of beef, lamb, bison or duck liver (about 4 ounces) once or twice a week, providing about 50,000 IU vitamin A per serving. Chicken liver, which is lower in vitamin A, may be consumed more frequently.

Here is a suggestion for a healthy diet from a really interesting article called Guts and Grease: The Diet of Native Americans:

"So the formula for good health in the modern age begins with the products of "a fine dairy herd"—whole, raw, unprocessed milk from cows that eat green grass, a highly nutritious substitute for guts and grease and one that every child can enjoy, even native American children who are supposedly lactose intolerant. Add some good fats (butter, tallow and lard), aim for liver or other organ meats once a week (but don’t fret if you can’t achieve this with your own children), make cod liver oil part of the daily routine, eat plenty of meat and seafood, and augment the diet with a variety of plant foods properly prepared, including a few that are fermented. Keep sugar and white flour to a minimum."

I've heard tips that a good way to eat liver without actually eating it straight up is to freeze it in chunks and then grate it into food or drinks. I've been grating it into my ground beef meals, but it is super hard to grate: It is cold, slimy, and hard as a rock when frozen. I've torn my hand several times on the grater, so I don't want to do it anymore. So what I just did was puree the liver in the food processor and freeze it in an ice cube tray. Now I can toss a liver cube into my meals without any problems. The real challenge is not letting the whole meal taste like liver because of it!! Blech.

But that's me these days-- I'm that health nut mom (the one we used to make fun of as kids, when we took that mom's kid home to our house for a "real" meal of hot dogs and cookies) who makes her kids eat strange-looking tasting concoctions because "it's good for you!"

Do you eat liver or other organ meats? How do you prepare it?


Related links/posts:
Guts and Grease: The Diet of Native Americans
The Liver Files: Recipes and Lore About Our Most Sacred Food-- includes recipes
Liver Recipes from The Urban Homemaker
Want to Live Forever? Drink Kombucha!
Coconut Oil: Our Favorite Snack
Health Checklist

My Kitchen, Land of Projects

Here are some of the this weekend's kitchen projects:

Soaked and dehydrated nuts. We love nuts, and I love feeding them to my family once they are properly prepared. Traditional people always soaked or partially sprouted their seed and nuts before they were eaten. This is because nuts contain numerous enzyme inhibitors that can put a real strain on the digestive mechanism if consumed in excess. Nuts are easier to digest and their nutrients are more readily available if they are first soaked overnight in water and then dried.


Homemade raw milk cheese. We haven't been drinking as much of our raw milk lately, so I've been making cheese. Basic stuff, nothing fancy yet. But it is raw, with all the probiotics intact because I don't boil it or use vinegar or lemon juice. I culture it with kefir (or I think I could use bacterial starter especially for cheese), let it sit at 100 degrees F for about an hour for the bacteria to proliferate, then add rennet, let it sit again, cut the curds and drain the whey. Voila! Cheese! The picture above shows the cheese curds on their way to being drained (there are nuts waiting to be dehydrated in the picture as well).


Wine. This batch is dandelion wine, fresh from the field next to my house. It is made from soaking 2 quarts of dandelion blossoms in water for a couple days, boiling it again with oranges and sugar, adding yeast, and letting it ferment until it's ready. Check out the recipe I'm using here (recipe #2).

What are you up to in your kitchen lately??


Related posts:
My Kitchen, Land of the Living Dead
Homegrown Wine
Health Checklist

Funny video

Oh my gosh. Check out this super funny Saturday Night Live skit. I laughed so hard I cried.

Mom Jeans at www.hulu.com

Sorry I couldn't load the video onto my website for you, but I tried it and my site would not load until I took it off.