Real Food Challenge: Fighting Against GMO’s

Week Two, Day Nine Challenge
Fighting Against GMO’s

Here’s one of those tough challenges that can truly only be effective if you’re vigilant.
Avoid genetically modified foods.
Far easier said, than done.

For the last few years, our family has tried to avoid GMO products as much as possible in our diet,
mostly by buying only organic foods.

Then, we added chickens to our little farm.
And goats.
… and then tried to find a non-GMO product to feed them.
Ha.

If anyone needs a reminder of “What Not to Buy”,
just shop at your local Tractor Supply.
You can also read this post by Jenny, from Nourished Kitchen about the possible de-regulation of GMO alfalfa,
yet another scary thing to add to the world.
(and makes me very grateful for the farmer we purchase our hay from… not organic, but not GMO, either)

You can also download the Non-GMO shopping guide and USE it!

Week Two of the Real Food Challenge…
nine days down, nineteen more to go!

Real Food Challenge: Fats for High Heat

Week Two, Day One Challenge
Fats for High Heat

Today’s challenge is using traditional fats in our cooking.
This was one of the first “new” ideas that really challenged me when I was learning about a traditional foods diet.
How could FAT be good for you?!
However, I was quickly swayed.
Not by research.
(although there is quite a bit out there)
Not by cost.
(because GMO canola/corn/soy oil will always be cheaper)
But the taste.
Ahh… the taste.
THAT sold me.

Some of my favorite ways to use FAT:
Popcorn popped in coconut oil.
Eggs simmered cooked in butter.
Potatoes fried in duck fat.
Oh, and the quintessential:
Homemade bread with enough butter on top to sink your teeth into.

Week Two of the Real Food Challenge…
eight days down, twenty to go!

Menu for February 7th – 13th

Menu
Sunday
breakfast: biscuits, sausage gravy, fruit salad
lunch: out to eat
dinner: beef stew, whole wheat rolls, salad

Monday
breakfast: corn pancakes, sweet cheese topping (NT recipe)
lunch: chicken tacos, cortido
dinner: stuffed potatoes, broccoli, salad

Tuesday
breakfast: scrambled eggs, sausage, toast
lunch: falafel, pita bread, cucumbers w/hummus
dinner at Trade Club Valentine’s Banquet

Wednesday
breakfast: soaked whole grain pancakes, berry syrup, whipped cream
lunch at Raw Milk presentation
dinner: chili, cornbread, greens, salad

Thursday
breakfast: fruity smoothies (raw cream, frozen fruit, yogurt)
lunch: grilled cheese (use l/o cornbread), tomato soup
dinner: root vegetable gratin, pickled artichoke hearts, salad

Friday
(Moma at the coast)
breakfast: soaked applesauce cake, whipped cream
lunch: hotdogs w/saurkraut & mustard
dinner: pizza, salad

Sabbath
(Moma at the coast)
breakfast: cinnamon rolls (using this recipe, with more sugar in the dough), oranges
lunch: Daddy’s Diner
dinner: popcorn, fruit

Be sure to join Laura each week for more than 400 other menu plans and recipe ideas!

Real Food Challenge: Relax and Evaluate

Week One, Day Seven Challenge
Relax and Evaluate

Let’s see how we did this week…

Day One: clean out pantry – done.

Day Two: choosing wholesome foods – done.

Day Three: improving our grains – done.

Day Four: starting sourdough – done.

Day Five: sprout your grains – done.

Day Six: milling sprouted flour – … getting there!

Join up at Nourished Kitchen and start this challenge anytime!

Real Food Challenge: Milling Sprouted Flour

Week One, Day Six Challenge
Milling Sprouted Flour

Well, I’m still waiting on my sprouts to appear -
the weather turned off a bit cool, and I think that slowed them down a bit.

But I am excited to try this particular aspect of the challenge, simply because buying sprouted flour
IS STINKIN’ EXPENSIVE!

But here’s the basic premise:

• Soak whole grain in water to cover and set in a warm part of your home overnight (8 to 12 hours).
• Drain grain into a fine mesh sieve and rinse thoroughly, stirring the grains with your fingers.
• Continue this process for one day or until the grains begin to plump and a white root barely emerges from one end.
• Spread the grains on your dehydrating trays and set the temperature to 105 to 110 degrees and dehydrate the grains until they are completely dry
• Pour the grain into the hopper of your grain mill and grind as you normally would.

  Week One of the Real Food Challenge…
  six days down, twenty-two to go!

Real Food Challenge: Sprouting Your Grains

Week One, Day Five Challenge
Sprouting Your Grains

This is something I still haven’t gotten into the habit of, and I really should!
Here’s the instructions Jenny gave:

1. Start with clean grain, so take care in sorting through it to make sure all pebbles and grains with poor appearance are adequately removed.
2. Rinse grains thoroughly.
3. Add grain to a ceramic or stainless steel crock, pouring filtered water over the grain until the grain is completely submersed under several inches of water.
4. Soak the grains overnight.
5. In the morning, pour the grains into a fine mesh sieve and rinse them well.
6. Throughout the day, rinse the grains multiple times taking care to stir them so all grains are rinsed evenly.
7. Within one to three days, you will see a little sprout appear at the base of each grain.  This is the sprout-level best used for flour; howeverm you can continue to sprout the grain by rinsing and stirring it multiple times a day for up to three days if using it to eat raw in salads or even in cooked porridges.
8. They should be kept refrigerated after they sprout to your liking, but kept at room temperature during the sprouting process.

   I’m going to start some wheat berries today, since those are “supposed” to be the easiest to deal with…

We’ll see what happens!

Week One of the Real Food Challenge…
five days down, twenty-three more to go!

Real Food Challenge: Start Your Sourdough

Week One, Day Four Challenge
Start Your Sourdough

So sourdough and I have a…
one-sided relationship.
I love it.
It hates me.

Every time I try to do a starter, it goes horribly,
all moldy and black,
horribly,
funky smelling and foul,
WrOnG.

But I’m going to give it ONE MORE TRY.
I’ve already spent money on more starter cultures than I’d like to admit,
so I’m going to try something different this time
and do a yogurt starter.
(Because I always have really good luck with yogurt )

Here’s the recipe:

1 cup raw milk (heated til just warm)
2 tablespoons yogurt
1 cup rye flour

Combine the yogurt and milk in a quart jar, cover (not tightly) and let sit in a warm place (80º-90º F) for 24 hours until the milk  has cultured slightly and is “thicker”.
Then add the flour and put it back in the warm place for 3-5 days.
Stir it daily.  It will bubble and have the odor of fermentation.
It’s ready to use.

A starter is a live thing and must be fed.  When you use it you should replace what you used.  The amount you should replace will vary according to need. If you use your starter often or you know you are going to have a heavy demand soon, then you can put several cups of milk and flour (equal measures) in it.  Generally though you should put in either 1/2 C to 1 C of both flour and milk.

I have heard that using buttermilk gives the starter a much stronger sour taste… I might try adding that when I refresh the starter…
If it works!

Week One of the Real Food Challenge…
Four days down, twenty-four more to go!

Real Food Challenge: Improving Your Grains

Week One, Day Two Challenge
Improving Your Grains

In our family, we eat whole grains.
However, we’ve definitely noticed a difference in our bodies if we don’t add a step when using whole grain products.
Today’s challenge talks about improving the availability of the nutrients in whole grain by soaking them in an acidic medium for 8-12 hours.
For those of us who already made most of our baked goods from scratch, adding the soaking step was no problem.

Here are some of the soaked flour recipes I use most often:
Soaked Whole Wheat Bread
Soaked Buttermilk Whole Wheat Biscuits
Soaked Applesauce Cake
Soaked Baked Oatmeal

Week One of the Real Food Challenge…
three days down, twenty-five more to go!

Real Food Challenge: Choose Wholesome Foods

Week One, Day Two Challenge
Choosing Wholesome Foods

I’ve always been a big fan of planning – it helps save money, time, and food in general.
I know that the planning habit definitely helped while we were transitioning to a traditional foods diet,
simply because there can be so much preparation involved, and many new techniques to be learned.

The easiest way for our family to continue to choose wholesome foods is to plan on them!
I usually sit down on Sabbath evening and plan out our menu for the week ahead, although recently, I’ve had more “sit” time because of nursing, so I’ve been doing several weeks at a time, which is reflected in the shopping list below.

I try to keep it pretty basic, and I check the menu plan and pantry again before I go shopping, just to make sure I didn’t use up the last of something I’ll need.
With three children, one of whom is an infant, we have been limiting our shopping to one day per week, and we’re trying to stick with that.
Not only does it cut down on our grocery budget, it saves on fuel, too

I also plan out our menus and Brian’s lunches so there’s never any question of “What are we eating?”
This is probably THE biggest help, as I can look ahead and see what needs to be prepped several days in advance,
as well as judging what meals need to be “quick” and what can take a little more time to prepare.

So there you have it – how we manage wholesome foods in our diet!
Week One of the Real Food Challenge…
Two days down, twenty-six more to go!

Real Food Challenge: Clean Your Cupboards!

Week One, Day One Challenge
Cleaning Out Your Cupboards

I’m taking Nourished Kitchen’s 28 Day Real Food Challenge.
I’m hoping it will help us get back on track with our eating habits, which, while they haven’t gone completely out of control,
there’s been a pretty drastic derailment, what with a new baby and all.

Here’s are some pictures of my pantry:
Top shelf, left to right:
cocoa powder, carob powder, tapioca pearls, molasses (x 2) brown rice syrup, coconut oil, local olive oil, more olive oil, popcorn
(in the back is my plastic milk bottle storage)

Second shelf, left to right:
rosewater, diced tomatoes and paste, canned salmon and tuna, home-dried tomatoes in olive oil, home-cured olives, spelt macaroni, brown rice and buckwheat pasta, dried fruit, crispy nuts, homemade jam

Third shelf, left to right:
rice (about 5 different kinds), beans (again, about 5 different kinds), kombu seaweed, grains (quinoas, millet, amaranth, etc), baking basket (ww flour, wheat berries, rapadura, sucanat, brown rice flour)

Bottom shelf, left to right:
breakfast grains (oatmeal, cracked grains, spelt flakes, soaked granolas), raw apple cider vinegar, dried shiitake mushrooms, dried hominy, potatoes, ginger (that I’m pretty sure I’m going to have to rehydrate to use…)

And yes, in case you’re wondering, my cupboard usually does look like this.
I am THAT kind of freak.

I did have to cull some things from the cupboard, which will be making their way to my mother’s pantry (“You’re not going to get rid of all that, are you?”).
We have salsa, canned beans, enchilada sauce (that was “on sale”), white flour, ravioli and lasagna noodles, sweetened condensed milk, canned soup (ick), and some odd form of “food in a can” my husband found at the Asian store.

So there you have it!
Week One of the Real Food Challenge…
one day down, twenty-seven more to go!