Baby-stepping our way to better nutrition
One of my goals for the new year is to make even greater strides in encouraging health and nutrition in our home. It's a continual learning process and each year we try to move more in the direction of making permanent changes which will result in better health in our home and family.
I'm reading The Busy Mom's Guide to Simple Living and really appreciate her focus on educating yourself regarding health and nutrition, keeping it simple, and taking it slowly. It can be overwhelming if we try to make radical changes all at once.
In reading her book, I was encouraged to realize just how many changes our family has made in a good direction when it comes to health and nutrition. In the last two years as we've slowly taken baby steps in this direction some of the changes we've made include: drinking only filtered water, eliminating all chemical cleaning products from our home (excluding laundry products which I have yet to find a good substitute for. I tried making my own and that didn't go so well. Any suggestions?), eating only natural, hormone-free meats and eliminating pork, buying hormone-free milk from a local dairy and range-free eggs from a local farm. I've also slowly been incorporating more and more whole grains and fruits and vegetables into our diet, started juicing on occasion, and learned how to make kefir.
My husband has been very excited about these changes - he never knew he'd enjoy eating healthier so much - and I never guessed he would like it either! It has been a fun journey to try new things, experiment, and figure out what works best for our family and what permanent changes we want to make.
I haven't completely decided on definite changes or experiments for this next year - I have a lot of books on my to-read list which I'm hoping will give me some food for thought in this regard (and I welcome any book suggestions from you all) - but one thing which I'm really excited about implementing is grinding my own flour. My dad bought me a grain mill for Christmas and I've already been having lots of fun using it.
We made this banana bread today using some of our freshly-milled flour (recipe found here):
Honey Whole-Wheat Banana Bread
For more great kitchen-related posts, see Tammy's Kitchen-Tip Tuesday.
I'm reading The Busy Mom's Guide to Simple Living and really appreciate her focus on educating yourself regarding health and nutrition, keeping it simple, and taking it slowly. It can be overwhelming if we try to make radical changes all at once.
In reading her book, I was encouraged to realize just how many changes our family has made in a good direction when it comes to health and nutrition. In the last two years as we've slowly taken baby steps in this direction some of the changes we've made include: drinking only filtered water, eliminating all chemical cleaning products from our home (excluding laundry products which I have yet to find a good substitute for. I tried making my own and that didn't go so well. Any suggestions?), eating only natural, hormone-free meats and eliminating pork, buying hormone-free milk from a local dairy and range-free eggs from a local farm. I've also slowly been incorporating more and more whole grains and fruits and vegetables into our diet, started juicing on occasion, and learned how to make kefir.
My husband has been very excited about these changes - he never knew he'd enjoy eating healthier so much - and I never guessed he would like it either! It has been a fun journey to try new things, experiment, and figure out what works best for our family and what permanent changes we want to make.
I haven't completely decided on definite changes or experiments for this next year - I have a lot of books on my to-read list which I'm hoping will give me some food for thought in this regard (and I welcome any book suggestions from you all) - but one thing which I'm really excited about implementing is grinding my own flour. My dad bought me a grain mill for Christmas and I've already been having lots of fun using it.We made this banana bread today using some of our freshly-milled flour (recipe found here):
Honey Whole-Wheat Banana Bread
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 2 t baking powder
- 1 t baking soda
- 1/4 t cinnamon
- 1/4 t nutmeg
- 1/4 t salt
- 1/3 cup oil
- 3/4 cup mashed bananas
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup honey
For more great kitchen-related posts, see Tammy's Kitchen-Tip Tuesday.Labels: Health and Nutrition, In the Kitchen, Recipes
posted by Crystal Paine at 2:12 PM
45 Comments:
Question: what is the rationale behind eliminating pork?
We've made many of these same changes in our diet over the past 2 years, but we could still do better. My biggest problem is sugar-- I have such a sweet tooth!
I have found it hard to find ways to keep the grocery budget way down, since I only buy natural/hormone-free meats and organic/hormone-free, free-range dairy products. It seems like deals and coupons just do not exist in the organic world! Any thoughts?
We use Melaleuca products for cleaning and laundry supplies. I am extremely pleased with all of their products, and would recommend them highly.
Your banana bread looks yummy!
I've been wanting a grain mill, but was unsure which would be the best. Did you do a lot of research into different mills, or did you just sort of stumble on a good deal?
Crystal,
My husband and I started making similar changes a few years ago. A friend of ours actually did a whole Bible study on the subject of nutrition (yes the Bible really does speak to us in this area)! We were shocked at how our bodies crave sugar, and how great we felt after we cut white sugar! All the changes you have made thus far are really wonderful. Keep up the good work.
As for the laundry soap, we recently switched to Charlie's Soap and really like it! It only takes one tablespoon per large load! And it really gets our clothes clean. (Side Note: my husband in a welder and his work clothes had me worried w/ this detergent but I was really shocked at how clean they came...my friends husband is a mechanic and even his clothes come out really clean!). I have bought mine at Charlie's Soap website, but I think Marmee Dear sells it too.
Ok, now that I finished that a couple questions if you don't mind...will you please tell me once again what the name of the all purpose cleaner you use is? I know you have mentioned it before but I always forget to write it down. Also, how is it on scrubbing out toilets and showers?? Next, I would be curious where you buy your grain (any reader suggestions??). I cannot make a loaf of bread right! I have tried and tried, and it either won't rise or rises so much that it falls apart after it is baked. I read that the quality and type of grain may be the cause. What type have you been using to make that beautiful whole wheat bread?! Thanks so much!!
Sweet Crystal,
I am enjoying your site. You are wise beyond your years. I even give out your site to young Moms at my church.
I began grinding my own grain six years ago and now I use it to make all my own bread products. You can use many different types of grains ,so enjoy experimenting. A great website to visit is www.urbanhomemaker.com and you can get much valuable info, products and a free newsletter.
God Bless You!
Susan
I am thinking about getting a grain mill. Where do you get your wheat berries from?
Where do you get your wheat? Are you including the price of wheat in your $35 a week groceries?
Are you enjoying your grain mill then? That is nice!
i have an Ultra mill, but it does not grind as fine as I would like, so I have not had good time making 100% whole wheat bread.
I use a laundry soap that is more natural, eco friendly. I use very very little and the clothes are nice and clean and smell good! it is cheap too! i bought this container in July and am not quite to half a container yet. I don't know exactly how chemical free soap can be as it is made from lye and fat, but at least it does not have the added stuff in it!
I am sure Crystal will answer these questions, but I thought I would throw in my 2 cents for what it is worth.
For Beka: From what I understand the rationale about eliminating pork comes from the fact that any and all toxins that are in the pigs diet are stored in its fat. Therefore...you get all those nasty toxins too. Correct me someone if I am wrong, and apologies to any pig farmers!
For those looking for a grain mill: I have a Nutrimill Whisper Mill and LOVE IT! It can do fine to coarse (and really does do fine. I have heard others say they couldn't tell much difference, but I definatley can with the Whisper Mill).
Crystal,
My husband gave me a Nutrimill a couple of years ago and I LOVE it!! I haven't had one problem with it and I grind wheat/bake bread at least once a week. I really like the Bread Beckers Recipe Collection (www.breadbeckers.com). I know that you can get grains from them too, but I'm not sure about the pricing. I get mine through a group that orders it from Montana and it's around $19 for a 50lb bag.
As for the laundry detergent, I use Charlie's soap also, but only for diapers. I love it, and I would use it for all of my laundry except that it's a good bit cheaper to make my own detergent for everything but diapers (the homemade detergent uses pure soap which isn't supposed to be good for cloth diapers...not sure why). Anyway, if you're interested, the recipe that I use is super easy and I posted about it here:
http://littlearrows.blogspot.com/2007/11/laundry-soap.html
Check out http://www.breadbeckers.com/ , especially for those who live in the Atlanta area. I get all my supplies from them and have several of their cookbooks. They also have articles on the nutritional value of grinding your own wheat.
Crytal,
This is a post after my own heart! Unfortunately, we live in a mid-sized town, and we have no nearby source for grain fed beef or free range eggs. My question, like so many other readers, is how do you budget for these added expenses in your grocery budget? Thanks!
I just read Refined to Real Food and found it very approachable, reasonable, and helpful in regards to transitioning to a whole foods diet.
A question - how do you drink only filtered water and still be frugal? Or perhaps filtered is not the same as bottled? My family has been buying large containers of bottled water for years, either from Sierra Springs or Culligan, but are seriously thinking about stopping because of the high cost and using just tap. Yes, there are higher quantities of minerals and who knows what else in the tap water. But it is cheaper. I'm curious to hear what your answer would be to this. Thank you.
That book was such an eye-opener for me; I had NO CLUE one could actually mill their own flour!! I was totally blown away.
Here I am, about 7 years later & making bread from fresh flour is second nature. My 3 youngest children have no clue one can actually BUY bread at the store (or flour, for that matter!)
My very favorite book for nutrition is What The Bible Says About Healthy Living by Dr Rex Russell
I saw someone mentioned Charlies ~ I tried it at KimC's recommendation & it did not work at ALL for our family; in fact many whites were ruined because of it (new baby socks went in white & came out nasty gray, that sort of thing)
I use powdered homemade soap and it works well for us. I missed the smell of fresh laundry though, so I purchased a small bottle of ALL small & mighty & add few drops to each load & that fixed that :-)
for my soap - I simply grate 1/2 bar Zote & put it in food processor (you could probably skip the grating & just do it in the processor - but I wasn't sure it'd get fine enough, so I grate it first - just takes a minute)
then add 1 c. washing soda & 1 cup borax. Mix for about a minute. Use about a TBS per load
Blessings ~ Tracy
We LOVE Charlie's Soap! That's what I use exclusively for all of our laundry needs. Cloth diapers, baby clothes, towels, you name it. They also have a referral program - or at least they did- where if someone orders from them and gives them your name as the referral then they send you some laundry detergent free.
I KNOW you like free! :)
My husband gave me a grain mill for Christmas (Nutrimil) and a bread machine for my birthday (2 days later). I've really been enjoying grinding my own flour and making bread the "easy" way. With a 5 month old it's hard to make bread by hand, he always seems to need me right when I need to knead the bread! I've also had great success grinding corn for cornmeal and spelt to make spelt bread.
For the other commentors, I've been buying wheat berries at Whole Foods. They are 49 cents/lb in the bulk food section (organic hard red winter wheat), which is the cheapest I've found around here. All the online places end up being more expensive once freight is added. I need to call WFs and see if I can purchase a large bag from them (possibly at a discount, some places will do that).
Oh, I forgot to mention, I use Biokleen for laundry. It's usually 10 or so a bottle, and it is supposed to do 64 loads. I stretch it to around 100 loads per bottle.
i have used Melaluca laundry products. they do not contain any bleach, chlorine, or ammonia.
Blessings,
jen in al
We also have been taking baby steps in the direction of more healthy eating the last couple of years. Because I have had some health issues come up, we have had to make even some giant steps!
But good for you for seeking to educate yourself in this important area. As you have found, eating healthily, does not mean enjoying your food more! I actually like it better!
I have been doing a mini series on my site on some different healthy grains to use. Some of you interested in healthy food might be interested! I am also looking for more recipes for millet, so if you have any great ones to share I would love to get them from you!
womanlypursuits@blogspot.com
God bless you!
You might try Charlie's Soap.......I recently made the switch and am loving the results. It eliminates the need for fabric softeners, cleans very well and leaves behind no residue. If you buy directly from their website, there is no tax and shipping is always free.
Your blog is great!! I have a challenge in trying to stay under 150.00 a week for groceries for my family of 8 which includes a teenage boy in wrestling.. LOL I make my laundry soap with 1.5 cups borax, 1 cup washing soda and a bar of shredded Dove soap. It takes 2 TBLSP per load, but works very well.
Esther from Indiana
I love my wondermill (whisper mill)
I love grinding our own wheat, oats, rye, spelt, beans, well if you can grind it....
I have used on all kinds of things and love have fresh ground.
Erika@pioneer homemaker
Yes, I am wondering to... what is the rationale behind eliminating pork. My husband was a pork farmer until recently so we've always ate it. Would you mind passing on your reasoning?
I am really curious if buying wheat berries will put you over the $35 a week groceries? I like the idea but it seems expensive but so is good quality whole wheat flour. I know eating healthy is important but I am curious how this will fit into your budget.
I priced wheat berries and like another commentor said, Whole Foods is the cheapest I can find them. I don't have space to store in bulk right now, so I'm just buying them 5 lbs at a time. They are $0.59/lb at our Whole Foods. This is only slightly more than what I had been paying for flour at the store and is very worth it to me.
So yes, this is definitely very possible in our $35/week budget. As I get better at trimming other areas, it gives me the ability to have more money to spend in areas where it really counts.
I'm also going to price-compare other grains and see if I can come up with even less expensive flour mixes by combining some grains.
Catherine: I didn't shop around for one - my dad just surprised me with one. He didn't even know I really wanted one, he just had a "hunch." :)
Thanks for all the input on laundry soap - I'm going to try out Charlie's and see what I think. And maybe I'll also work up my courage to try making my own again.
Great post! I will have to check into the book you mentioned. Another great book for nutrition is Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. It is a cookbook, but also a wealth of information. It talks about soaking fresh milled grains in an acid so that the phytates are better broken down and easier to digest.
I know that Marilyn Moll from Urban Homemaker sells this book and has many recipes in her catalog that are Sally Fallon's.
On another note we have the Nutrimill and love it! We have had it for about a year and can make so many yummy breads with it! You can even grind popcorn to make cornmeal.
Rebekah
Seventh Generation or Trader Joe's brand laundry soaps are relatively non-toxic and eco-friendly as well.
Awesome post! We are also trying to make changes in our diet and have been for about a year.
As for laundry soap I use homemade laundry soap, but I used the powdered version. It is much easier to make and doesn't leave any residue. I got the recipe from http://www.thefrugalshopper.com/articles/detergent.shtml
Powdered Laundry Detergent
1 Cup Grated Fels Naptha Soap (I use Zote which can be found at Ethnic stores and Wal-Mart)
1/2 Cup Washing Soda
1/2 Cup Borax
For light load, use 1 tablespoon.
For heavy or heavily soiled load, use 2 tablespoons.
My DH is very impressed with how well this works.
Good luck on your nutrition journey.
I'll be intereseted in learning more about what you think of your grain mill! I have been thinking toward that direction since I've been learning more about whole wheat flour and the shelf life of what we find in the grocery stores. :(
Re: natural laundry soap, we've been using melaluca products for this and have been real happy. Here is the link to their "home" products... http://www.melaleuca.com/ps/index.cfm?f=ps.categoryPage&l1=1&l2=8&l3=0&sCatId=8.
We don't spend enough each month to be able to use one of their programs... but we buy in with another family who shares with a number of people. The way they work is that you have to purchase a certain amount each month to be a member. Maybe you have friends or family that would want to go in with you. My husband's skin is pretty sensitive and his back was breaking out all the time. We decided it must be the detergent and since trying the meleluca he hasn't had problems! :)
Hope this helps!
Wow! .59 a pound for wheat berries!!! I am spoiled I guess. I thought i was paying alot when I paid $14 for 50 pounds of wheat (.29 a pound), but I can buy it locally at Wheat Montana and it is grown here.
Many people do not eat pork as it can cause some health problems in otherwise healthy people. Myself, i do not have anything against eating it, but it gives me a stomach ache usually.
I make my own laundry detergent (a powder; the gel/liquid stuff was too much trouble for me). My recipe is in one my blog posts, here.
The rationale behind not using soap on diapers is that soap residue can build up in the diapers and prevent them from being very absorbent. I have never had this problem, though, with my homemade detergent (which is made with soap), and I have with certain storebought detergents.
We love our Berkey water filter, too. :)
We don't eat pork, either, and our main rationale is that God said not to! We figure that since He made pigs and He made our bodies, He knows better than we do what He's talking about. ;)
oops! I just noticed a typo in my last comment! Drat.
I said:"As you have found, eating healthily, does not mean enjoying your food more!"
I meant to say "does not mean enjoying your food less!" Hopefully everyone knew what I meant. :-)
I second Nourishing Traditions. It has been immensely helpful to me (even though I don't agree with everything in it). It's a great resource.
I also often use bio-kleen products. They have worked great for me.
Super baby food by Ruth Yaron is an awesome book on making all your own baby food, as well how to go about freezing it/ storing it once you make up large batches! I've used it for all three of my children...not only is it so much healthier as opposed to store bought baby food, but much easier on the wallet. I thought this might be of particular interest to you, as I'm sure you are starting Kaitlyn on cereal and veggies by now!
Heather in Pa
I second the recommendation for Nourishing Traditions, it is a great book for healthy traditional eating. They also have a website, www.westonaprice.org with a lot of articles. We also drink filtered water, and filtered is supposed to be much cheaper than bottled water. We have a countertop filter that attaches to the sink faucet (from www.doultonusa.com). You can also get pitcher filters at places like Walmart. For laundry, I have been using Seventh Generation, but I have recently found something that is probably as natural as you can get. It is called Maggie's Soap Nuts, and they are soapberries from Indonesia. They cost about the same as the Seventh Generation detergent. Here is their website for more info:
http://www.maggiespureland.com/
Thank you so much for the banana bread recipe! As it happened, I had some bananas I needed to use up today and was looking for a healthy recipe to use them in. I checked your blog as I do every day, and there was the recipe I was looking for! My little boy is a very fussy eater with a very small appetite and I am always looking for ways to get healthy foods in to him. Because he doesn't eat much I need to make sure that what I do give him is really nutritionally good. I made the banana bread this afternoon and both my little ones love it. My son took a bite and announced "Mmmm, delicious", so thank you Crystal for a great new way to get some goodness into my little boy.
Kind regards,
Paula
I'm so happy for you that you got a grain mill. I LOVE mine! For a great book on nutrition I recommend Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon. I also recommend Shaklee laundry detergent. A bit pricey, but worth it to avoid all the chemicals. Happy Baking!
By the way, I have used the soap nuts, and I think they work great.
Mmm that looks delicious! I'd love to get a grain mill someday. :)
I'd love to get a grain mill someday too! I, too, am taking baby steps toward better nutrition. I'm excited that one of the local grocery stores is carrying more and more organic all the time and putting it on good sales too! Some changes I've been making:
*Buying whatever I can organic if it is close to the same price as I would pay for a non-organic item
*Buying as much produce as I can organic (which at this point is usually just bananas or lettuce)
*Buying organic milk for myself during the pregnancy
*Learning how to make veggies more appealing (stir frys and different spices and sauces that make veggies really tasty for the family)
*Going with all-natural cleaners (but I have yet to switch to an all-natural laundry soap, may have to check into Charlie's stuff)
*Being more careful about scents in the home (eliminating bathroom air freshners, cheap scented candles, body sprays, etc.)
*Checking into the products I use for face and hair more carefully. I used to just buy what I liked or what was cheap. Now I'm beginning to look into the ingredients behind things and I now realize that not all over-the-counter make-up and shampoo is good for one's body. I'd like to gradually build up my natural-make-up products supply and eliminate harsh shampoos and the use of hair spritz and stuff like that. It's a bummer that so much of what you can get free at Walgreens probably isn't as good for you as natural stuff!
Hi Crystal, I have been making all the bread for our family for twelve years now, and almost always make sourdough. You should try it because it is absolutely the most nutritious (and tasty!) bread you can make for your family. If you want a lot of bang for your buck, and like the idea of wringing out all the nutrition you possibly can from your freshly milled flour, sourdough is the way to go. (Plus you won't need to buy yeast at all) It makes the bread more easily digested and the nutrients more readily available to your body. Once you start eating it, your body will actually crave it when it's gone. And do NOT believe anyone who tells you it is somehow difficult to do. It is not. It's just as easy as yeast bread. In warm weather it actually rises just as quickly as store-bought yeast, too. We love it.
Also, here are two of my favorite bread-baking books that include lots of whole-grain and/or sour recipes:
The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book
Secrets of a Jewish Baker
There are other books available on whole grains that I haven't tried out by Peter Reinhardt and Beatrice Okajangas.
Good luck!
Krista
P.S. 29 cents a lb for wheat!!! Wow. We can't find it for less than 79 cents a lb here in northern New Mexico. And it is STILL saving us money to bake our own. But, then, I am thinking maybe we should move to Montana.
I was so blessed to receive a KTEC grain mill a little over a year ago from a fellow Freecycler!
If you have any local Amish communities, check there for buying wheat berries in bulk. I pay between $15 and $17 for 50 lbs depending on whether I buy soft or hard wheat. And yes it DOES make a difference. And for storage, I called some local bakeries like Walmart and Sam's and asked them to save their empty icing buckets and lids for me. You have to call early and pick them up that day Most placed don't clean them out well so you may end up with a few cups of free icing in the deal too. ;-)
Once you have mastered the bread baking, you might want to try something like this recipe for Shortcut refried beans http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Shortcut-Refried-Beans/Detail.aspx. I can never seem to remember to soak my beans, so this works well for us. I prefer to use black beans though.
Have Fun!
Congratulations on getting your grain mill! We have this same mill and have been grinding our own wheat for 2 years now. We love it! I am having the same laundry soap dilemma, and I am considering purchasing T-Wave Activated Cleaning Capsules. Have you or your readers heard of them or know how they work? Thanks!
For His Glory,
Catherine
DO YOU DRINK RAW MILK FROM YOUR LOCAL DAIRY? IF YOU HAVE ANY INFO ON RAW MILK CAN YOU SHARE?
Let us know if you have any questions about Charlie's Soap. We actually do like to talk on the phone.
Re: Laundry - Last month when I was in Germany, my friends used nuts and the inside was some natural soapberry or something or other that washed their clothes. I'm usually wary of such things, but this one I couldn't come up with a reasonably solid argument against. It seemed good to me. I thought it did a decent job and even smelled good. It was weird throwing nuts in a bag and washing them with our clothes.
I googled it - these are the same thing: http://www.ezoetic.com/p-665-maggies-soap-nuts.aspx
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