I haven’t noticed much difference in how I feel physically other than I find I tend to have a pleasantly full tummy most of the day.  Moving from breakfast to the mid-morning snack is my hungriest time.  Other than that I tend to be pretty full unless I sit around reading about food (I do that a lot right now :p)  I’ve also been nice and regular going to the bathroom which has been a problem for me so I’m pleased.

So Much Soaking

The biggest part of the challenge has been all the soaking.  Going from mostly canned beans to dried beans means remembering a lot of soaking.  Pair that with oatmeal that needs to be soaked every night, several nights of rice, and nuts and I feel like I’m doing a lot of soaking.  

I read a tip today to put soaked beans in the fridge – I may start soaking all of my beans on Saturday or Sunday night, then putting them in the fridge the next morning to be ready for the week.  It seems like it will be easier for me time-wise to do all the prep for soaking at once.  I could probably do the same with oatmeal for the week, actually.

Dry Bean Tip

A bean idea (Scott actually thought of it) that’s been working well for me is to have my beans soaked one night, then put them in the crock pot on low the next night.  By morning I have great beans.  I’ve been bringing them to a boil on the stove, then pouring them into the crock pot; I may try a batch without that first step.

Dishes that Never End!

Another challenge that’s come up is dishes – I’m preparing food so often, and so much food to fill the family up, that there are always dishes.  Cassidy washes our eating dishes (plates, cups, silverware) – but I do the pots and pans, and on nights when we’re running behind, I have everything because Cassidy goes to bed.  Scott has a project going at work right now and has been late some which means supper is late.  I don’t mind that (it gives me more time to have everything ready!!) – but the dishes are getting overwhelming. 

We generally hand wash though we have a dishwasher.  I feel it’s important for kids to have responsibility and the dishes are a good one (plus we’d go through all of our dishes before we got to supper if we didn’t hand wash between meals.)

I’ve begun to try and make sure I wash pots/pans/cooking utensils as soon as I’m done with them.  It’s hard though, because as soon as it’s done it needs to be on the table, and then we’re sitting to eat.  Maybe I should fill the sink with hot soapy water and dump the pots and pans in as soon as the food is served, then do a load quickly after we eat and before Cassidy does dishes.  I could put them on the dishwasher racks to dry.  Then it would be being used for something…

How the Kids are Doing With It

I have noticed that the kids, especially Cassidy, have had mostly cheerful dispositions the past few days.  They’ve also been willing to go and play outside – Cassidy and Asher for long periods.  This is really nice, especially since we’ve been having weather down into the tens and under during the day.  They come back in happy and warm. I really think good food helps to make a cheerful and calm child (other things help too, mind you!).

I’m still hoping that this 30 days will see Cassidy gaining some weight.  I’m also hoping all the good fats and warm foods will help the kids’ hands to be a little warmer.  They tend to have cold hands and that’s always bugged me.  I feel like they should have warm hands, because it seems if their hands are cold, they must be cold.

Scott

We’ve been trying Scott on properly soaked oatmeal this week and thus far that seems to be going well. I load our oatmeal down with butter and a bit of coconut oil, which I suspect probably helps. I’m also trying to make sure he gets plenty of good snacks to help him stay away from the carbohydrate-full snacks, we’ll have to see how content that keeps him, or if he’d prefer me to stock his normal snacky stuff (chips and salsa… which I’d like to make for him once I can get some corn!)

Trying New Things

We tried kombucha for the first time last night and it was pretty good. Definitely fizzy. I may try making it here at some point. It seems like it might be a nice refreshing drink in the summer. Since I haven’t had soda in years the “fizzy” feeling isn’t something I miss or long for. But kombucha is a nice probiotic drink and I can see benefits to having it around, especially when it’s hot. Which it isn’t at all right now :p

A Couple More Tips

So thus far my major challenges are in planning/executing traditional meals because there is extra preparation involved.  I’ve already found the beans in the crockpot idea, and making a huge salad to last through three dinners works well.

Another thing I’ve found is I can usually steam a veggie over something I’m already cooking – last night I steamed over the red potatoes I was boiling.  Tonight I steamed over the beef stock I have going on the back burner.  It’s easy to pop the food in a steamer basket and set it over the pot.  I successfully avoided microwave steaming because of this! I’ve also found I can place a double-boiler pan over a pot that’s already cooking to melt butter for a sauce if I need to.

Thoughts for the Coming Days

Next week I’m hoping to get a raw meat dish in at least for a snack for the kids and I (not sure how keen on the raw dishes Scott is yet).  I’d also like to finally get around to sprouting some nuts.  I’ll continue to work on streamlining my kitchen time and hopefully will continue to see cheerful dispositions and full bellies with the children!

I’m also hoping to see that I stay regular in bathroom endeavors :p And that Galen of course continues to grow and remains the relatively laid-back little fellow that he is. Feeling a bit less fatigue would also be great – though I’m not sure I’m going to get that because I think being a homeschooling mother of four, running a business, and being wife to one great hubby kinda means I’m going to be tired some of the time!

I’m featuring two recipes for this week’s Real Food Wednesday because I feel like they compliment each other well and they’re inexpensive – which is perfect since our topic is Real Food on a Budget.

The major portion of this meal is the Lentil Loaf – lentils are cheap even when you buy them organic! The recipe also calls for brown rice, another inexpensive staple. The soup calls for only a small amount of beef which compliments the lentils while being easy on the wallet.

Lentil Loaf

1 & 1/2 Cups lentils

Water to cover

1 Tablespoon whey

2 cups soaked and cooked brown rice

2 onions, chopped

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 teaspoon sage

1/2 teaspoon marjoram

Salt to taste

For topping:

1 can organic tomato paste

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

2 Tablespoons sherry

3 Tablespoons butter (melted)

salt to taste

Soak lentils in water with whey overnight.  Drain and rinse, then cover with water and bring to a boil.  Simmer until soft.  Fry chopped onions in cooking oil of your choice and mix with lentils, mashing partially as you mix.  Add rice and mix in seasonings. Press into a greased loaf pan.

Mix ingredients for sauce well and spread over lentil mixture.  Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.  (Recipe is adapted from the Farm’s cookbook)

Korean Beef Soup

1 1/2 quart beef stock

1/2lb beef brisket, sliced very thin (I have used other beef cuts as well)

1/2 cup brown rice

1/2 cup brown rice or buckwheat noodles, broken into pieces

2 Tablespoons naturally fermented soy sauce (or tamari)

Bring stock and rice to a boil and skim.  Add brisket and soy sauce and simmer for 1 hour.  Add noodles 10 minutes before serving.  (from Nourishing Traditions – I love the soup recipes!)

The lentil loaf also freezes well so this meal can be doubled and done in two loaf pans for a quick meal another day.

For more Real Food on a budget ideas visit Cheeseslave!

The hour is upon us… today is the start of our 30 day food challenge.  We’re taking 30 days to follow the principles of the Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF) and the Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation (PPNF).  Everything I prepare will be based on the principles of eating healthy traditional cultures had.  And foods I’m buying will be either from the “Best” or the “Good” category in the WAPF 2009 shopping guide.

The only exception I can think of will be Scott’s daily coffee because I’m not going to ask him to give that up.  I’m also not holding Scott to it because he’s a grown man and can decide what he wants to eat for himself – but at home he’ll be getting my cooking and I’ve been working hard to send good snacks with him to work.

I’ll be blogging throughout the trial to report how I’m feeling, and how I’m managing a traditional foods lifestyle with a family of six.  Traditional foods take more planning and preparation than processed foods from the market so it’s a little overwhelming to think of not taking any “shortcuts.”

I’m going into the challenge slightly bummed because I like making enchiladas once a week or so, but we can’t use store-bought tortillas during the trial.  I’ve been planning to make some but our source of whole corn is sold out   So no properly soaked tortillas until I find a source of non-GMO whole kernel corn.

My major goal for the challenge is to get myself into the habit of properly preparing grains – and to learn how to manage traditional foods with a large family to care for, homeschooling, and running a business.  I’m also hoping to work on eating more seasonal foods and, of course, avoid most canned products (tomato products are going to be an exception to the canned stuff avoidance).

I hope this eating style will also make good nourishing breastmilk for Galen and that it’ll put a little meat on Cassidy’s bones!

Ok… onto this week’s menu plan, and I’ll update how things go!

Monday: B -Egg, Beef, +Veggie Scramble; soaked oatmeal (we are going to have Scott try soaked oatmeal this week), beet kvass “shot”

L - Coconut fish soup, kraut

S - Balsamic carrot salad, Coconut chicken soup, Sweet potato “coins,” Liver with onions and mushrooms.

To-do – Soak kidney beans, soak oatmeal, soft-boil eggs, crockpot chicken, start chicken stock, boil white beans + transfer  small crockpot for overnight cooking.

Tuesday: B - Egg, Beef, +Veggie Scramble; soaked oatmeal; beet kvass “shot”

L - White Bean Chicken Chili soup (chicken from the crockpot chicken yesterday), kraut

S - High enzyme salad, Egg soup, Red potatoes + butter, spinach + butter, Shredded chicken (served with poulet au porto sauce, chicken meat from our crockpot chicken yesterday)

To-do – soak rice, boil kidney beans and transfer to crockpot to cook, soak oatmeal

Wednesday: B – Egg, Beef, +Veggie Scramble; soaked oatmeal; beet kvass “shot”

L - Beans and rice Jamaican style, Simple soup (whatever soup takes my fancy that meal), kimchi

S - Caesar salad, Simple soup, kraut, steamed winter squash (w/ butter and nutmeg), rice, Hearty Hamburger and Heman sauce (I love this recipe lol!)

To-do – start beef stock (morning) soak oatmeal, soak nuts, start fermented sweet potatoes, soak rice

Thursday: B - Egg, Beef, +Veggie Scramble; soaked oatmeal; beet kvass “shot”

L - Beef stew, kraut

S - High enzyme salad, French onion soup, Baked beans, rice, kraut

To-do – soak oatmeal, soak rice, roast nuts

Friday: B - Egg, Beef, +Veggie Scramble; soaked oatmeal; beet kvass “shot”

L - Pate, fermented sweet potato, steamed squash (w/ butter and nutmeg!), kimchi

S - Ceasar salad, Roman egg soup, kraut, broccoli w/ hollandaise, spaghetti sauce, rice (yes we eat our spaghetti sauce over rice…in a gluten free family you learn to like strange things)

To-do – Soak lentils, soak rice, try Bacon, Egg, and Cheese muffin recipe (a GF recipe!)

Saturday: B - Scott makes breakfast

L- Omelettes, Simple soup, kraut, baked beets

S - Simple salad (in otherwords, one I throw together) and dressing, Korean beef soup, kraut, Lentil loaf

To-do – start beets early AM!, soak black beans, go to to farm store

Sunday: B - Scott makes breakfast

L – Black bean soup, kimchi

S - High Enzyme salad, Simple soup, kraut, steamed squash (w/ butter and nutmeg), Roast chicken and potatoes

To-do – start black beans early AM, soak oatmeal, start fish stock, sprout seeds, start kraut, soak white beans, grind beef for breakfasts

Snack Choices:

We have milk with every snack, and I add extra cream to the milk several times a week.

whole milk yogurt, raw milk cheese (spread with butter for me and kids), crispy nuts, soft boiled eggs, avocado, pate, marrow and cheese, bacon egg and cheese muffins (new recipe we’re trying this week!)

Visit the Organizing Junkie for more meal plan ideas

I sat down a couple of weeks ago and went over my goals for 2008 then set out my goals for 2009. I feel good about 2008 – I accomplished my major goal of having a healthy baby, and I redesigned my site with a fresh design and clean code.

Several of my 2009 goals center around our nutrition and I’m going to share those here:

Improve our overall family nutrition to be more in line with traditional nourishing diets:  We’re starting this with our 30-day WAPF challenge (eating only from the WAPF “best” and “good” foods for the entire 30 days). I plan to maintain that eating style as much as possible this year with my main focus being on properly soaking all our grains/beans/legumes/nuts.

Keep our family supplied with homemade fermented foods: sauerkraut and beet kvass are the two I want to keep going on all the time. I’d also like to learn to make kimchi and kefir this year.

Start a small square foot garden in the spring and have it produce through first frost in the fall.  We’re hoping to do 16 squares (1 square foot each) this year as we learn to keep up our own garden

Stock our pantry: I’d like to have a 3 month food supply stored in our pantry. This is challenging to since I want it to be as WAPF/PPNF friendly as possible. It also needs to be gluten-free so no wheat!

And some minor goals I have are to look into healthy cookware and how to eliminate microwave use, as well as move towards mostly green home and personal care products!

See more nourishing resolutions and get inspired at the Nourishing Gourmet!

Learn more about the WAPF and PPNF.

More on eating well! During pregnancy (and lactation and preconception) you need to be eating a really nutrient-dense diet. Children also need lots of nutrition packed into all their meals – in fact, there’s not much room for empty calories.

So even if you’re not dieting (don’t diet when you’re pregnant or nursing an infant!) low-carb can help you make sure you aren’t filling up on carbs that aren’t nourishing you – or your kids.

Enter my Real Food Wednesday snack today: Braised Marrow on Raw Milk Cheese.

Marrow is a very nutrient dense food that is happily regaining popularity stateside.  In the UK it’s often eaten just spread on toast.  I decided to braise ours for a little more flavor.

It turned out well – yum!

You need:

• Bone Marrow (I used thin cut slices of beef marrow because these are a good size for the kids; they’re cut about the size of scallops.  You could also use 3-inch pieces of marrow and serve the cheese on the side)
• Salted Water (optional)
• Coconut flour
• Salt and Pepper to taste
  
• Braising fat (I used tallow, I think next time I’ll use coconut oil, or a coconut oil/butter mix)
• Raw milk cheese, sliced (about 1oz slices are perfect for pregnancy, slightly thinner for kids)

1. Pop marrow out of bones.  Reserve bones for stock-making!

2. Soak the marrow in salt water to draw out most of the blood, if so desired.  I skipped this step but you may want to.

3. Dry marrow well.  Mix flour, salt, and pepper.  A few tablespoons of flour will be good unless you’re doing a lot.  Roll marrow segments until completely coated.

4. Heat your fat.  I did mine on medium and next time I will probably do just below medium heat.  Braise marrow segments until coating is crispy and lightly browned.

5.  Place one marrow segment on each cheese slice.  Spread if desired – my kids wanted theirs spread.  I just ate mine as braised

This snack was a hit with the kiddos, which is good since it’s very good for them!

Mine came out a little more browned than I would have liked but they were still tasty. This recipe could also be done without the breading, or with the marrow dipped in a little buttermilk and then breaded lightly. It’s very nice to bite into the soft warm marrow and the taste goes along well with the tangy raw milk cheese! I served up milk with our snack as well.

A good variation that is not low-carb is to serve on a lightly toasted soaked grain bread. A strong flavored sourdough or rye would be best!

Visit Kelly the Kitchen Kop for more low-carb recipes from this Real Food Wednesday!

A parting picture of Galen (10 weeks now!), who made this post possible by snoozing through the entire process

I’ve decided since I’m going to be working intensively on our nutrition that I’ll join the Menu Plan Monday brigade   Deciding this late I’m just barely going to make it on Monday

I’ve decided to try serving multiple-course suppers this week, in the hopes of actually filling my family of bottomless pits up.  Thus far this has effectively resulted in more food being served at supper, however I can’t exactly pull off serving separate courses – I just end up with all of them on the table at once.  We’re having a salad, soup, and main dish with every meal.  This brings us to two soups a day most days, as we almost always have soups with (or for) lunch.  Anyways, on with the menu plan:

Monday – B: Egg, mushroom, zuccini, and beef scramble.  Soaked oatmeal with butter, cream, and yogurt for the kids an I, leftover roasted potatoes for Scott.

L: Homemade nachos supreme, homemade tomatoe soup, sauerkraut.

S: Balsamic Carrot Salad, Coconut Chicken Soup, Liver with Mushroom and Onions, soaked rice.

To-do: Soak oats, crockpot cook chicken (for tomorrow’s soup and extra chicken to freeze for enchiladas next week)

Tuesday -  B: Veggie, beef, egg scramble.  Soaked oatmeal for kids and I, soaked rice with coconut oil for Scott.

L: White bean chicken chili soup, sauerkraut.

S: High Enzyme Salad, Chicken Rice Soup, Chicken supreme with rice (rice leftover from yesterday).

To-do: boil black beans and transfer to crockpot to cook through morning, soak rice, soak oats, start sunflower seeds sprouting, pick meat off yesterdays chicken; start stock

Wednesday – B: Veggie, beef, egg scramble.  Soaked oatmeal for kids and I, soaked rice with coconut oil for Scott.

L: Black bean soup, sauerkraut.

S: Cucumber yogurt salad, Roman egg soup, chicken gumbo w/ rice

To-do: soak nuts, soak oats, start sauerkraut

Thursday – B: Veggie, beef, egg scramble.  Soaked oatmeal for kids and I, soaked rice with coconut oil for Scott.

L: Beef stew, kraut

S: Salad, Mexican soup, Black bean enchiladas w/ guacamole and sour cream

To-do: start stew at breakfast, start fish stock, soak oats, roast nuts

Friday – B: Veggie, beef, egg scramble.  Soaked oatmeal for kids and I, soaked rice with coconut oil for Scott.

L: Coconut fish soup, kimchi

S: Caesar salad, Soup (whatever takes my fancy), Roast

To-do: meal plan/grocery list, thaw liver

Saturday – B: Scott does weekend breakfasts!

L: Pate with crackers, Soup, steamed squash, kimchi

S: Salad, Mexican soup, Tacos garnished with avocado

To-do: grocery shop

Sunday – B: Scott does weekend breakfasts!

L: Omelettes, soup, tomato slices, sauerkraut

S: High Enzyme Salad, Simple veggie soup, Roast Chicken w/ potatoes

To-do: soak rice, soak oats, grind beef heart (for breakfast’s ground beef), soak black beans, soft-boil eggs (for snacks for the week), soak marrow (for snacks for the week)

Thanks to Cheeseslave for the idea of publishing our menu plan

Visit Organizing Junkie for more menu planning ideas

I continue to emphasize it in new articles and here in the blog because so many women don’t realize just how important it is.  Of course there are articles all over telling you to eat your veggies and get plenty of whole grains.  But those very same articles give some very bad nutrition information for your pregnancy.

One of the fundamental ways these articles mislead you is by telling you that you really don’t need very much extra food during pregnancy.   You’re not “eating for two” the articles say.  In fact, they claim that at the end of pregnancy you need a mere 300 calories more than when non-pregnant.  And you supposedly don’t even need that at the beginning of your pregnancy!

I’m going to let you know now that this information is wrong - don’t believe it!

I had a horrible day recently.  Let me tell you why.  I normally eat three meals and three snacks every day.  Two of my snacks are made of 2 cups of milk (each snack) and another protein/fat source (like cheese or nuts).   Well we ran out of milk and I wasn’t able to go out and get any.  I missed having just the milk from my snack for a day, and then the next morning.

By lunchtime on the second day I felt horrible.  I felt exhausted, and a little nauseous.  A friend called me shortly after lunch and immediately asked if I felt OK.  I told her no.

As soon as naptime was over that day I took the kids to the store and we got milk.  Since then I’ve made sure milk is available for my snacks – or that I add extra to my snack to make up for the milk I missed.

I felt this bad from missing the protein/fat/minerals/vitamins from just a few snacks.  I was still eating full, big meals – meals packed with nutrition.

But my body and my baby knew they needed more than that.

In pregnancy you are building a human being from scratch! Your body has to continue to support itself and build an incredibly complex life form at the same time.

It’s a modern lie that your body “only” needs 300 extra calories, and that you should use “lowfat” products.  During pregnancy you need to eat.  You need extra protein, fat, vitamins, minerals – everything.  Do eat plenty of veggies and whole grains.  But you should also be sure you’re getting good healthy fats and proteins in your diet.

Be sure you’re eating enough to stay on top of your baby’s rapid growth – and the increased needs of your own body!  Your blood volume expands, your babe is growing, and you need to store some extra “padding” for breastfeeding your baby.

I also personally feel that you should eat meats, eggs, and dairy products during your pregnancy to give your baby the most nutrient dense foods as possible – and to build your own body up for pregnancy and for your birth and postpartum period.

For more information on solid pregnancy nutrition start with my article on pregnancy diet – and do your baby and yourself a favor…ignore the magazines and eat a bountiful, nutrient dense diet.

And I want to feed them well. I have been working on progressively improving our diet. We’ve been focusing a lot on traditionally cultured foods lately – like sauerkraut and pickles made in a brine solution, not vinegar. These foods, like traditional yogurts, have many probiotic bacteria in them that help enhance health. (Look forward to seeing some information about my kitchen experimentation in the blog :p)

We’ve also been eating more nutrient dense foods like organ meats, and trying to get as much meat as we can from pastured animals. We eat a lot of eggs and enjoy healthy traditional fats like butter, coconut oil, and tallow.

Now why would I choose to eat like this?

Doctor Price’s Invaluable Work

An extremely interesting study carried out by a dentist named Dr. Weston A. Price brought a lot of valuable information to the table (no pun intended) about the nutrition of traditional cultures. Much of research and observation is highly interesting to me because it centers on the health of children and women – women pre-conception, women pregnant, and women nursing their children.

Dr. Price went to many, many traditional societies around the globe in the 1930’s and observed these peoples and what they ate. He found that as long as they ate their traditional diets the people were healthy and had almost non-existent tooth decay. He noted that the children were healthy and happy, and that mothers had good pregnancies and made rich, abundant milk.

He noted that women hoping to get pregnant, pregnant women, nursing mothers, and children ate lots of foods especially high in nutrients.

And he found that where traditional cultures began to eat “modern foods” – processed flours and sugars, canned foods, sweets, etc. – their dental health deteriorated remarkably. And the bones structure of children being born was weaker, children and adults were more disease prone, women had trouble with pregnancy and nursing, etc.

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words…and Dr. Price took thousands of pictures of his findings. His work is amazing and it truly proves the benefits of eating good traditional foods – meats from animals eating what they’re supposed to (so animals raised on pasture…not in cages), fermented foods, organ meats, clean raw dairy, good fats (butter, coconut oil, olive oil, palm oil, rendered suet and lard – yep, even saturated fats!) – all kinds of food we’ve been told for years not to eat – and we just keep getting sicker and sicker.

I get a lot of information about eating real, nutrient dense foods (and preparing them) from a foundation set up to help get the word about traditional nutrition out – the Weston A. Price Foundation.

For a basic tour of the WAPF and vital nutrition principles for you as you’re TTC, pregnant, and raising your child click right here!

The WAPF gives its information away free of charge so that you can get tons of valuable information. They do provide a membership and one of my favorite benefits is their quarterly journal – I look forward to every issue, and many, many of their issues are on baby and child health – and health while TTC and pregnant.

I highly recommend membership so you can increase your knowledge on nutrition and give your children a legacy of health that will touch generations of your family Click here to print the membership form – feel free to put my name (Kristen Burgess) as the referring member!

I am a firm believer in the Brewer Diet after having had three very healthy babies born after three wonderful labors and excellent births – all while following the Brewer diet. While my second child was a baby I began to read a little on the works of Dr. Weston A. Price and became very interested in his work after my third child was born. I have been working on the diet for pregnant and nursing mothers recommended by the Weston A. Price Foundation since I got interested in Dr. Price’s work.

This diet is the Brewer diet with some extras and notes added in. It includes focus on rich bone broths, yummy fermented foods, and just a lot of good common sense. I’ve been following this diet and adding in some things found to be good for conception in with them.

I really think diet is one of the keys to a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby which is why I stress it so much on NBBC and stress it with myself. It can be a challenge to “eat so well,” especially when there is so much convenience food out there. It will especially be challenging in early pregnancy if I feel sick at any point. With my previous pregnancies I felt some nausea, and with my third baby it was persistent nausea for weeks. I’m hoping the good nutrition starting in the preconception period this time will prevent that. But I know it could be an issue.

With that in mind I’ve been thinking of ways I can plan very healthy meals that don’t take too much energy. I’m also working on my meal planning techniques. I have been able to do effective menu planning for awhile – it just takes practice. It makes it much easier to get all the nutrition needed in. Now I’m working on learning how to plan meal preparation. One time period of chopping all my veggies for the week makes for a solid block of time in the kitchen but saves a lot of later labor. It seems to work best shortly after the shopping trip.

I think this will help during pregnancy because even if I feel tired or ill I can quickly throw pre-chopped ingredients together. And the planned meals will let me be sure that I have everything I need in my diet – from protein to yummy greens. I’ll continue more about nutrition and meal planning later.