Real Food

Do you eat real food? That's a good question. Picture this, a non-mainstream granola mom walking up to me asking me this question 2 months ago. This is how I would answer,  "Most of the time I try to give my kids healthy, good food.  I give them fresh fruits and vegetable everyday.  And I can make a killer spinach smoothie which I use organic spinach! HA! I use to make my own bread all the time and  milled my own wheat but have gotten away from it since the twins were born.  I do sometimes buy store bought oatmeal bars, but they have oatmeal in them, right?  And I USED to only buy organic milk only, but now from, time to time, I will buy the .99 cent milk. Come on it's under a dollar, how can I pay $6 for organic milk when I can get it for $1?  I buy my chicken from Sam's because it's so much cheaper but from time to time I'll buy an organic chicken from supermarket. I make almost all our food at home, but I do use white beached flour from time to time and yeah I do use white sugar and yes I sometimes use boxed items!  {picture me starting to get defensive, LOL} I do buy organic eggs for our family and make my own baby food. And yes, we do eat out for lunch or dinner once a week and we do go to Donut Bank almost every Saturday, but that's a treat, right? But hey, I still think I give my kids real food."  WOW, knowing what I know now, I haven't been giving my kids "real food" at all!!!!

Lets back up 8 years ago, when I started learning about natural organic living. WOW, it's crazy to think this journey of natural organic living all started 8 years ago when I got pregnant with our first child, Avin. It all started when I started researching pregnancy and labor/delivery.  I knew right away that natural child birth was the route I wanted to take. After our first sons birth I was absolutely amazed by the whole process of natural labor and delivery. I really didn't know much at the time about it but I knew I HAD TO LEARN MORE!!  What I had just experienced, I felt like every mom needed to experience. With Avin we did the normal hospital protocol stuff (vaccinations, eye drops, circumcision at the hospital) which we learned later that wasn't the route we would take for our family in the future. Just two years later, our 2nd child was born, this time felt way more educated on natural child birth. I actually started learning more and more on how to become a doula. During that time we felt the Lords conviction to stop vaccinating our children. While I learned more and more about that, I also learned health and nutrition. Just 16 months later our 3rd child (and only girl) was born and we started learning more and more about organic living. I started grinding my own wheat and buying organic when possible. Since then we've had 3 more kids and in that time I've had many ups and downs with that life style. I feel like a lot of seeds were planted in my life during that time and I'm very grateful for that.

Three months ago,  I was struggling to make enough milk for the twins and, with much research and a lot of time on my knees praying for direction from the Lord, the raw milk world opened up to me. Years ago we considered drinking raw milk but I only knew a small about of information and really didn't let myself dig in to all the research. While researching raw milk this time around, I learned a lot about traditional eating or some might call it "real food" eating.  Jeff and I felt this was a step we had to take for our family

Years ago I watch Food Inc, so I watch it again. I also watched Farmageddon. A HUGE eye opener and probably made the biggest impact on me was this speech by Sally Fallon Nourishing Traditional Diets  Also  Oiling of America , and Breakfast Cereal are great speeches by Sally. I could list about a dozen more speeches by Sally but I'll stop there. Years ago a dear friend of mine introduced me to Nourishing Tradition but the only thing I took from the book was to give our babies soft boiled egg yolk as their first baby food.  So I got the book and have been reading it like crazy.  I also got a lot of great information from Weston A Price website. Some of the blogs I've been following are The Healthy Home Economist and Mama and Baby Love

A couple things that really stood out to me while learning all this was.... in one documentary, guy said "I hear so many people say, I can't afford organic food" but then you look at their homes, cars and clothes they wear. This one really hit me like a ton of bricks. Compared to all the other countries, americans spend the least amount of their income on food and the most on health care. WOW!!!!!  We also spend the least amount of time in the kitchen. This statement really breaks my heart, because I know so many people use the busy lifestyle as an excuse and care more about what activities their kids are doing than the type of food they are feeding them.  Look at the childhood sickness and disorders the kids of America have!!!! This stuff wasn't around 50 years ago. Another comment that stood out to me was, "Americans need to stop being medicated and start being educated." One of my favorite blog posts I read was a blogger talking about how people make this comment all the time... "I grew up eating this junk and I turned out just fine" Really??? If you think that is right, you have to read this blog post. Something has to change or we are going to just keep getting sicker and sicker!!! I also learned that just because it says it's organic doesn't mean it's ok to eat. It's best to know where your food is coming from.

After praying about all the information we were learning, we felt it was time to make some HUGE changes. It's taken us about 2 months to get here. This is a journey and we will continue to seek the Lord for direction as this is something we do not take lightly.

Right now, all the products we buy for our home will be free from highly processed foods. We are only buying non pasteurized dairy products, organic grass-fed meats, using animal fat, butter and coconut oil for cooking. The things we will no longer buy for our home... No refined grains such as white flour, white rice, no refined sweetener such as sugar, any form of corn syrup, no artificial sweeteners, no vegetable oils, margarine, and NO SOY!  Basically if there is a questionable item on the ingredients label then it's not good for you! We are buying local when possible and have been going to the source.  Going to the farms. Meeting the farmers and seeing, first hand, how the animals are treated and raised.

I know we can't live in a perfect food bubble, but when I cook at home, I plan to stick to our real food rules.  I don't expect everyone to be on the same page as us! Yes there will be times when we go out to eat, friends or family will have us over for dinner, the freezer exchange each month and the once a month we eat dinner at our church meeting. I know we can't always stay away from "non real food"  I never want people to feel like we aren't grateful for them serving our family, because we are grateful. But, if I can control what goes in our bodies when I serve our family at home, then that is just what I will do. We will no longer do our weekly donut bank runs and no more eating out once a week. These will truly be special times and only happen a couple times a year. We will continue to NEVER let our kids drink sodas and we will continue to not drink them. It's been one and half years since Jeff has had one and, in the last year, I would have one about once a month.

RAW MILK
We found a farmer that would supply us with raw milk. AKA pet milk. Yes we are drinking pet milk!!! It's illegal to sell raw milk for human consumption in the state of Indianan. But it's not illegal to sell or drink pet milk. This is one way a lot of farmers get around this law. Another way is to be a share holder of a cow and then you, as part owner, can drink the milk from YOUR cow. To learn more about raw milk click here. Or if you would like to purchase raw milk you can get it from Grass Corp or Rose Hill. Our family gets 3 gallons a week. I would like to go up to 4 gallons soon to make my own cheese and ice cream. And let me just note here, I have never ever ever been a milk drinker! And now I crave it!!!!! The taste is AMAZING!

EGG/ CHICKENS/RAW BUTTER
We are getting our eggs, chicken and raw butter from our dairy farmer each week. Our family gets 3 dozen eggs, 1-2 chickens and 1lb of butter each week.

BEEF
Right now we are getting our ground beef from Grass Corp, We are getting it at $5 lb, this is the cheapest I can find around here. In the spring we plan to get half of a cow. But until then we will be getting 4 pounds of ground beef each month.  Grass Corps is a trusted farmer  outside the Evansville area. The great thing about this farm, is they deliver to Evansville once a week for just a $5 fee.

HOG
I'm super duper excited about this one. We just put in an order for half of a hog!! And will have it in our freezer in less than 2 weeks.

RAW CHEESE
Right now we are supporting a couple different farms and shops for our raw cheese. I've purchased from the River City Co-op, Grass Corp and I just put in my first order through Azure Standard. Raw cheese can get expensive but it's worth it.  So much better for you and the taste is AMAZING! I also plan to make my own mozzarella cheese from our raw milk.

BULK ITEMS
Wheat berries, rolled oats, rice, beans, popcorn and nuts, I got from Azure Standard.  I got 25-50lb bags of each for great prices! Azure is a co-op that delivers to Evansville once a month! It's super easy to order online.

PRODUCE
Right now I'm getting all my dirty dozen from Elberts, Co-op or Fresh Market. Our plan is to buy some vegetables from a friend this summer and support the local farmer markets.

OTHER GROCERY ITEMS
With my big bulk order through Azure I ordered some other grocery type items. But this is where the "organic world" can trick you. You must look at the labels and know what your are reading. I found some noodles, tortilla shells and sauces that seem to be clean. But really the best option is to make everything at home so you know exactly what is going in it! Also getting stuff from River City Co-op and Elberts as I believe it is important to support local shops.

COCONUT OIL
This stuff is amazing and good for so much! I bought ours from Tropical Traditions 

COD LIVER OIL
I'm saving the best for last. This stuff is amazing for you! To learn more about Cod live oil click here and click here It doesn't taste amazing but it's worth it! We bought ours through The natural health advocates