So this road to understanding counter-culture health this day and age has a been long and windy one. There is so much to think about. There are so many things I'm used to just popping into my mouth or rubbing onto my skin that I've started to look at differently and wonder about. Is this something that was available 100 years ago? Does it contain ingredients God intended for consumption? What is it doing to my body: my metabolizm, my energy, my digestion, my overall health? And again, it's one thing if it's every-so-often, but when I decide to make something a common occurance at my dinner table, or contrarily restrict it, I want to make sure that I'm making the best decision for my family.
Bringing you all into this has been a great way to move me along. I've benefitted from the accountability and I have to think twice before writing something down if I'm not sure that it's a healthy way to go. It's brought further questions to mind.
What I'd like to do here is just list out a few things I'm rather confused about. Maybe someone somewhere has some insight to share. If not, hopefully getting this down for all of you to see will inspire me to find the answers. Thanks for visiting. This list is not by any means exhaustive, but it's a start. Maybe I'll add to it in the future!
~ Corn. Corn is confusing to me. I've read in numerous places that corn needs to be fresh, really fresh, because as soon as it's picked it starts turning to starch. This makes it less healthy and, surprisingly, less sweet. I've been slowly (very slowly) reading through The Garden Primer and she recollects therein growing up with corn in her garden. They would have a pot of bowling water all ready to go. Then the kids would go out, cut off the ears of corn, and make a mad dash to the kitchen to get the corn boiling right away, thus preserving it's sweetness. Now, I tried growing corn last year. It actually grew fine, but the ants loved it. I don't do ants. Not for anything. So the corn was left there to rot until my husband had time to pull up the crop and toss it in the trash. So this leaves me with the question: how do I buy corn? Is frozen corn ok? What about dried corn for popping?
~ Rapadura. In Sally Fallon's book, she talks about Rapadura being an appropriate replacement for white processed sugar. The problem is it's expensive, hard to find (amazon being the only option for me), and I've never heard anyone else talk about it before. What if she's wrong? But I agree with pretty much everything else in her book and I think it's fabulous. Her take on chocolate is probably my only beef, and it's possible that it's out of denial. =) But anyway, I'm having a hard time taking the step to rapadura simply because Sally says so.
~ I miss some of my favorite recipes that I just haven't found a suitable substitute for, mostly involving flour. I can't get my whole wheat flour to rise. If I could solve this problem, things like popovers, homemade bread and muffins that have otherwise healthy ingredients could be added to our menu. A good friend gave me a recipe for her whole wheat bread, but it is quite time-intensive. Someday...someday.
~ Cleansing. The Maker's Diet talks a bit about morning and evening cleansing without the use of antibiotic soaps. The problem is it doesn't say much more than order our cleansology kit. It talks about focusing on around eyes and in the nostrils, so as to help fight of illness from germs you may have picked up throughout the day. I'd love to know how I could incorporate some of these techniques without buying a kit. What sorts of things do they use? Wouldn't it be nice if after bringing my kids home from the nursery I could do a quick cleansing of the places where germs may have accumalated?
~ Gardening. I gave gardening a try last year, but it was mostly unsuccessful. I want to know more about composting, turning the soil, crop rotation, etc. I am working through a book, but I seem to learn better being shown. Maybe someday I can take a class.
This is what comes to mind for now! What sorts of things are you confused about?
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I have really enjoyed reading your blog...but honestly somethings are overwhelming and I don't understand the motivation for making some of these decisions. Where did your motivation to change your eating habits come from? And what were the first most basic changes that you made? My kids are addicted to snacks. How did you come up with fun alternatives to the fun snacks that kids love? Not only snacks but breakfast too...my kids wake up in the morning asking for cereal...what do your kids eat for breakfast and do they love it? I just don't know where to start! So any advice would be much appreciated!
ReplyDeleteHey Joanna, it's really hard. I'm so glad that my convictions on this stuff aligned with when I started having children so that there are certain things they just haven't known. Granted, my husband loves buying cheerios for them! For breakfast we do eggs, toast, oatmeal, or some combination of those normally. I "sweeten" the oatmeal with applesauce and raisins. For snacks I'm often asked - no, begged - for crackers. I usually do some sort of fruit, which is a huge crowd pleaser. So overall, I've found the secret to healthy eating especially for the young ones is keeping lots of fruit on hand.
ReplyDeleteThere is plenty of room for other things when I have the time and foresought to think ahead. I have an amazing recipe for waffles I will one day share. What kid would turn down waffles for cereal? All of these things can be really healthy as long as it's done right.
Be very gracious with yourself. Make small steps. If you want, you can start by changing just breakfast and then see what other things you can adjust.