Real Food Challenge Week 2 Recap

Well, this week has been difficult. I have had project deadlines out the wazoo and a touch of some sort of spring yuck. It never developed to a full-blown flu like I get each spring; but it was enough to slow me down. The combination of deadlines and yuck knocked me off my game a little bit. I did really well at sticking with the program for dinners. And I did a pretty good job of planning ahead for them as well. But lunches kicked my butt this week. We ate out several times because there either wasn't anything to prepare quickly for lunch in the kitchen,or because we were out when we were overcome by hunger. The Boy was loving it. But I was not. Yesterday I picked up stuff for lunches, so hopefully week 3 will not be as disappointing in this regard.

There is good news too. I picked up my first order from the new buying club. I am happy with the quality of the food. The eggs are better than those I have been buying a little more locally, and the chicken is half the price with a higher confidence level on my part with regard to the way it was raised.

Also, I finally got my seed starting shelf set up in the basement with the help of The Boy. I have to hide it in the basement because otherwise the naughty kitties who live here will curl up on top of my seedlings. Apparently, seedlings are tres comfy.

And last, but certainly not least, I lost four pounds since cutting back on processed foods. This is a minor miracle considering that the last several years have been filled with me doing exactly what the doctors said to do and steadily continuing to gain weight. Huh.

My goals for the coming week include continuing to work on meal planning and continuing the garden prep work if the rain lets up. I'd really like to get some seeds in the ground! I'll also start more seeds inside to transplant later. I'd like to try something new in the kitchen, but with so many deadlines looming it isn't likely to happen.

Real Food Challenge Week 1 Recap

I've gotten off to a slow start in the Real Food Challenge running this month at Not Dabbling In Normal. I find myself missing a few aspects of last month's challenge at Nourished Kitchen. One of the things I find myself missing is the structure. So I've decided to adopt some of last month's structure for my personal challenge this month. Among the things I'll incorporate is the Monday Recap post. I thought I would enjoy the flexibility of NDIN's challenge more than I actually do. I think the reason for this is simply that, at any given moment, I am trying to juggle too many responsibilities. It gets overwhelming. I am serious about making changes in my family's diet. But I am also seriously time-restricted. It was nice to get a daily assignment last month, and know that every Monday I would have to fess up how I did during the week. NDIN is doing a "link party" today. But they also did a Friday recap. I'm not really sure if there is a regular check-in planned or not, so unless I figure out otherwise, I'll just plan to post a recap on Mondays.

That being said, I slacked more than I'm happy about this week. I also had tons and tons of schoolwork to turn in (I'm taking 15 credits this semester). On the upside, I did a better job about planning meals ahead of time and the meals I did plan were in line with our new diet. There were no disasters in the kitchen this week (woot!) and I'm getting into the swing of things with my new way of shopping. On the downside, the meals I didn't plan ended up not being great choices. They could have been worse; but they could have been a lot better.

In one respect, however, I got a "kitchen bonus" of sorts. This week was bulk trash week in my neighborhood. I scored an old-school 12 inch cast iron dutch oven that a neighbor was tossing. I'll post a picture when I've finished cleaning it up. I'm looking forward to trying sourdough bread in it.

I think my big lesson this week was my personal need for kitchen structure in order to stick to a healthy plan. I do a lot of winging it in life, with generally decent results. But the kitchen does not seem to be an area in which I can afford to wing it. That's useful information that, hopefully, I can translate into more success next week.

Also, FYI, the folks at Not Dabbling In Normal have posted a bunch of recipes this week, as well as some awesome photos. Go check them out. It's worth the click.

The Next Real Food Challenge

I stumbled upon Nourished Kitchen's 28-Day Real Food Challenge at the beginning of February, just as I was making the commitment to myself to change how my family eats. It was an intense 28 days. I survived and learned tons! But as the challenge was wearing down, I started to worry a little about losing the support, information, and accountability I had come to depend upon in my first month of changing my family's approach to food. So I was really excited to discover another Real Food Challenge just getting started over at Not Dabbling In Normal. Where do I sign up? (here, actually) I'll continue my journey with these folks for the month of March. This challenge has each participant working at their own pace and appreciating each step in the right direction. So if you are new to real foods, this might be a good challenge to try as you get your feet wet. Pop on over to NDIN and check it out!

28-Day Real Food Challenge: Week 4 Recap and Beyond

This week has been kind of crazy here. The whole thing sort of flew by me, with me thinking I was “failing” the final week of the 28-Day Real Food Challenge hosted by Jenny at Nourished Kitchen. But somehow, I actually did alright this week.

Day 22 was about choosing and preparing meat. My struggle to find grass-fed meat I can afford to buy has been a theme running through this whole challenge for me. As a result, I’ve scaled back how much meat I serve here in order to purchase meat in line with my ethics. I’ve developed the habit of always watching for a new source of grass-fed meat or a better price. And while I had never really had trouble preparing grass-fed beef, bison was a whole other matter. Last night, after much fretting and hovering with a thermometer, I prepared that much anticipated bison steak to near perfection. For me, eating meat with that much pink inside will take a little adjustment. But The Girl declared it delicious and everybody finished their serving. Progress! I tried to get a picture, but naturally, my camera told me to change the batteries and I decided to eat instead.

The animal proteins theme continued on Day 23 with a discussion of pork, poultry, and eggs from sources raised in accordance with the natural proclivities of pigs and chickens, which means access to grass, bugs, worms, etc. I’ve been buying pastured eggs and bacon for several weeks now and adore them. They’ve become my standard breakfast. I’ve struggled more than a little bit with the price of pastured poultry, but am slowly coming around. Pork is not really an issue here because, aside from my morning bacon, nobody here actually likes pork. However, if I have a chance to buy pastured-lard, I will give it a try.

Day 24 was all about preparing and using stocks and broths. This is where I really shined this week! I prepared both beef and chicken stocks, jarred them, and tucked them into the fridge for easy access. I am still learning all the ways to use them. But with one or two notable exceptions, nobody has complained about the foods I’ve prepared with them. I love the richness homemade stock adds to foods. Love it.

I was both looking forward to and dreading Day 25 and its discussion of offal. I don’t have much to report here. The Girl told me in unambiguous terms that she does not want to eat organ meats. I didn’t even have to ask The Boy. Honestly, I’m not thrilled about it either. But I have not given up hope. I need the right “entry” to this food group. I did include the miscellaneous chicken bits in the pot when I made stock. But that’s my only offal foray so far. I’ll experiment on myself when the kids visit their dad. Unless the smell drives me out of the kitchen.

Day 26 highlighted fish and seafood. I already was incorporating these into our diet, but was plagued by confusion over what is safe and what isn’t, what is sustainably/ethically harvested and what isn’t. I really, really appreciate the Seafood Watch guide to help me navigate this area.

Our assignment for Day 27 was to figure out how we can give back to the real foods movement. This assignment arrived the same day The Girl came home from a friend’s house and informed me she’d “schooled the neighbors” in real foods. Go Girl! As a Master Gardener, I already volunteer in my community helping people learn how to grow their own food. I’d like to also incorporate into my blog more resources for beginner gardeners who want to grow some of their own food. We also share resources we’ve come across, like Food Inc., with pretty much anyone. It makes a difference. For instance, after we watched that movie, I told my parents to watch it. They did, and have made a number of significant changes in their purchasing habits. They’ve also continued encouraging others to watch the movie.

Finally, Day 28 is about looking forward. I fully intend to continue buying and eating in line with all that I’ve learned during the last 28 days. I had made the commitment to change how we eat just before I stumbled, accidentally, onto the 28-Day Real Food Challenge just as it was beginning. I owe Sara at Plays Well With Butter for pointing me to this challenge. Thanks Sara! I’m so glad I joined! I have plenty to learn still and plenty of room for improvement. But I have also progressed more than I would have without this challenge to guide, support, and nudge me. Thanks Jenny!

Looking forward, things I plan to work on include planning ahead and perfecting my sourdough bread. We've cut way down on the amount of grain in our diet primarily because to do them right requires more work than I can muster. I'd like to add a little bit back. I still haven't made the sauerkraut I've been looking forward to, and I goofed with the cultured veggies I did make. After they started to discolor at the top of the jar, I decided to toss them. After spooning all but the last spoonful into the garbage disposal, I decided to have a tiny taste. It was good, and I wasted it! Note to self: patience really is a virtue. And then there's offal, which I'm working up to. Really. Check back and see.

28-Day Real Food Challenge- Week 3 Recap

This week has brought its' ups and downs for me in the 28-Day Real Food Challenge. But it has also made me aware of how close to the end of the month and thus, the Challenge, that we are. And the idea of coming to the end of this Challenge makes me a little bit sad. I have found that I really crave the accountability of having to check in each week, and the guidance of Jenny's daily emails, and the comfort of reading about my fellow participants successes and challenges.

After reflecting on the 14th and writing up our Week 2 reviews, we got back to business on Day 15 with primer in SCOBYs or, symbiotic colonies of bacteria and yeast. SCOBYs are involved in the creation of kefirs (water and milk), kombucha, and ginger beer. I hadn't actually heard of the so-called "ginger beer plant" SCOBY before, so I had to look that up. What I learned was fascinating! Our actual assignment was to get a culture and start brewing. Well, I've been looking for a local source for water kefir grains for a few weeks now with no luck. I did discover bottled kombucha at our "local" (not so local) natural foods store and bought a bottle. The results of that purchase were disaster and my Ode to Kombucha. I would really like to get some water kefir grains, so if you've got an abundance and would like to spread the wealth, please contact me so we can try to work something out!

The lesson for Day 16 was about preparing cultured vegetables at home. I was really excited about this part of Week 3. I like sauerkraut and have been looking forward to trying my hand at making some. But when it came time to prepare my first cultured veggies, I went looking for a recipe I thought the kids might enjoy too. You can check out this post see the Marinara-Style Cultured Vegetables I tried. Yesterday I tasted this experiment. It's definitely doing its thing, but also definitely not done. Also, after I tried it I had a brief but intense headache. I'm not sure if the two things are actually connected or not; but it seems possible.

On Day 17, our assignment was to try our hand at making yogurt at home. This is another assignment I was looking forward to. However, life got in the way of progress this week and I haven't done it yet. I did buy more milk yesterday, so hopefully I can get that going today.

Ditto for Day 18's assignment to make cheese. I plan to try my hand at the yogurt cheese first, after, you know, I make the yogurt.

Day 19 had me worried for a moment when I read that it was about neutralizing enzyme inhibitors in nuts and seeds. While I did buy grains to soak, way back in the challenge, I never actually soaked them. Or flour. Because, well, that requires more thinking ahead than I can generally muster in my fire-to-fire life these days. But I was reassured that nuts were not gone for good when I read that the nasties in nuts can be avoided by ditching the papery skins or roasting. Most of the nuts I use are either roasted or de-skinned. I was a little sad about pistachios until I double checked- yes! Those salted ones with their skins on are roasted.

So, the little high I got from not losing pistachios came crashing down on Day 20 when I read the assignment on soaking beans to neutralize phytic acid. It would be nice, for people like me, if I could soak a huge batch of beans and then re-dry them so they were available when needed. I haven't read anything about doing this yet, but I'm trying to keep hope alive. I have enough trouble trying to get more beans into our diet let alone trying to remember to soak said beans. So if anyone knows if I could soak a large batch of beans and then dry them in the oven (no dehydrator here) for later use, please let me know. My big worries about this idea are the possibility of decreasing nutrients and the possibility of decreasing keeping time.

I'm looking forward to Week 4 where we'll address meats, fish, and broths. These are areas I have struggled with a bit during the challenge. I've learned a lot so far, although I struggle with not being able to improve everything at once. I've had some big challenges in my life outside food this week. They've highlighted for me some of the things I'm really good at, and some of the things I'm really not good at. I hope to be able to incorporate that new enlightenment into my life so that I don't find changes such as this food journey to be quite so hard to adjust to; but in the mean time, I've discovered that when all else fails, I can type a question into the black box on my desk and answers will trickle in from cyberspace. How cool is that?

Thanks again, Jenny, for hosting this Challenge.

28-Day Real Food Challenge- Week 2 Recap

Well! I felt like quite the slacker in the Real Food Challenge this week after a grueling Week 1. This second week was more education, less to-do list. The easier pace was welcome here since we're still adjusting to the changes we made in Week 1.

The lesson for Day 8 was all about fats for high heat usage. The only oil on the list that I've been able to locate is palm oil, so that's what I've been using. At first, it seemed a little odd to scoop solid oil out of a container. But I find I actually like the palm oil. I would really like to try coconut, but have not been able to locate any sold near me.

Day 9's lesson was on resisting GMOs. This is an issue already near and dear to my heart. I had actually already sent in my letters on the GMO alfalfa issue.

On Day 10 we covered fats to eat raw. I'm using olive oil and butter. In fact, olive oil, palm oil, and butter are the only fats in my kitchen right now.

Day 11 brought instructions to bake some sourdough with the starter we started in Week 1. I had already done this the day before and eaten it with the dipping sauce I whipped up. (Oooh, so yum!) The bread turned out great, but the baking method needs a little work.

On Day 12 came encouragement to find real milk. Raw milk is illegal here. I would buy it if I knew who to ask (ssh, don't tell "the man"!); but so far, I don't. I have found local, grass-fed dairy products and feel good about buying them in the mean time. They are wonderful!

Finally, the lesson for Day 13 was about getting your bacteria. We frequently have yogurt and sometimes kefir (milk) in the house. I'd really like to try water kefir, but I haven't found anywhere local to buy some. Ditto for kombucha. I'm the only person in my house with a taste for sauerkraut- but I've been reading about making it and plan to give it a try. So I'm especially excited to find more about this is coming up next week in the challenge.

The 28-Day Real Food Challenge is hosted by Jenny at Nourished Kitchen. Thanks for all you're doing for us, Jenny!

28-Day Real Food Challenge- Week 1 Recap

A few days ago, after stumbling into Sara's blog where I read about the 28-Day Real Food Challenge going on this month at Nourished Kitchen, I moseyed on over to NK and joined the Challenge myself. Little did Iknow what I was getting myself into!

The challenge for Day 1 was to clean the pantry, fridge, and cupboards of all processed foods. I will admit right now that I did not toss everything with processed ingredients because my family is just beginning to change to a real foods only diet and I don't think we'll stick with it permanently if we go cold-turkey and then get frustrated. Also, I just can't afford to replace a lot of food at once. However, I did toss a whole bunch of stuff. The pictures show most of it.

 Much of the stuff I threw out was stuff that has been lingering unused in the cupboards or fridge for quite some time. But others, like the oil and sugar, will be missed. For most of this week, I have been relying on olive oil and butter. I can't find coconut oil locally. But one of the grocery stores has palm oil, so I picked some up today.

Day 2 brought the challenge to choose wholesome foods. Fortunately, I already had on hand quite a few things that fit this bill- whole, organic milk and real butter; fresh fruits and vegetables; olive oil; nuts; and whole meal flours. I've been working on incorporating these foods for some time. My biggest challenge has been to learn ways to prepare these foods without incorporating processed adulterants.

The challenge for Day 3 was to improve your grains by soaking them. The goal is to reduce the effects of the phytic acid present in the grains in order to improve absorption of the grains nutrients. Well, this was a head-scratcher for me as I'd never heard of this before. But it is intriguing and I fully intend to try it! I don't have any whole grains on hand yet and I was too wussy to soak a bowl of flour until I had a better idea of what exactly to do with it. I'll read up on this as I'm able and then give it a whirl. Please feel free to recommend reading material!

Day 4 was my favorite challenge- to start a sourdough starter! Yum! Because I joined the Challenge a few days late, my starter is not ready to use yet. But it is coming along beautifully and smells great! I am a firm believer in the tradition of naming sourdough starters (it's harder to forget to feed something with a name), but I haven't yet settled on a name for mine. Here's what mine looks like now (sorry, picture's a little fuzzy).

The challenges for Day 5- sprout your grains- and Day 6- mill your own sprouted grain flour- will have to wait until I can get some grain. Also, I don't have a grain mill or a dehydrator and they really aren't in the budget. I'll probably try the wet-milled method suggested as an alternative, but I only have a teeny-tiny food processor and no blender. I'll give it a whirl (sorry!) and see what happens.

Overall, I'm happy with my progress this week. I was afraid I might feel guilty for not going cold-turkey on all processed foods as instructed on Day 1; however, I really haven't because I know it would increase my family's chance of failing at permanently changing our diet. It is really important to me to succeed at this, both for our long-term health and for a more immediate purpose. Several years ago, I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. I have been taking multiple medications every day since then. And it really pisses me off.

Over the years I had become very suspicious that my RA and other health issues were diet related. It wasn't until I read Pollan's nutritionism rant in In Defense of Food that it all came together in my mind. That epiphany felt like an idea that had been trying to fight its way out of the back of my mind finally broke through. My initial goal was to be off RA meds and feeling fine by the end of 2010. But, when one of my meds was due for refilling a few weeks ago, I just said "no more". I had no idea what would happen. When I first started the meds, I could barely walk the pain was so bad. The first few days I was sore, but not awful. But I was changing my diet, drastically, at the same time. I have been amazed by how good I have been feeling already. Yesterday and today I shoveled massive (!!!) amounts of snow and I really don't feel any worse than anybody else who spent two days shoveling. And that's after I gave up the second medicine too. It will be interesting to see how this experiment progresses. Meanwhile, I'm really looking forward to the rest of the 28-Day Real Food Challenge.



   

Sourdough Starter

Isn't it adorable? Thursday's assignment for the 28-Day Real Food Challenge is to start or otherwise acquire a sourdough starter. No directions were included so, although I knew the basic idea behind sourdough, I hit the web for instructions. There are lots and lots of instructions out there and no two are the same! Ultimately, I stumbled into this article from Eric at breadtopia.com (which, though I haven't fully explored it yet, looks to be a great resource for those who'd like to bake their own bread).

The method Eric demos, in both article and video form, is incredibly simple- but surprisingly includes pineapple juice. The purpose of the juice is to create the right level of acidity in the culture for the yeast to start working. If you are interested in the science behind that- and it really is fascinating- Eric mentions in his post that Debra Wink, the discoverer of this method (a chemist and baker), had sent him an essay on the topic that he would forward on upon request.

I didn't get my starter started until the middle of the day. Even so, several hours later when I stopped by to check on it there was already action. When I initially combined the ingredients, the starter looked similar to the picture above. When I checked on it later, the picture below is what I found. It appeared to have already started fermenting a bit as there was what appeared to be a bit of hooch (alcohol resulting from fermentation) on top. I stirred the mix (resulting in the above photo) and set it back safely on top of the fridge.

 

Starting sourdough starter from scratch is apparently a pretty tricky thing. The failure rate appears to be high. After reading Debra Wink's essay on the subject I have to wonder if perhaps many of those failures are not actually failures, but rather people tossing the starter before the yeast they want really get going. When not using the pineapple juice method, other bacteria get working before those desired by the bread baker. Ultimately, the initial bacteria turn the starter too acidic for their own survival, paving the way for our yeast to take off. It's an amazing journey that also happens work out beautifully for humans.

28-Day Real Food Challenge

Yesterday, without knowing entirely what I was signing up for, I joined the 28-Day Real Food Challenge hosted by Jenny at Nourished Kitchen. Doing so seemed like a good way to remain accountable right from the start of this exciting yet daunting process of getting my family off processed foods. The challenge is laid out like this:

Each day, for the entire month of February, you’ll receive an assignment that will help you learn about the principles of a nourishing diet including the importance of grass-finished and pastured meats, wholesome fats, sprouted and soured grains and probiotic foods.

That all sounded good, so I continued reading.

Learn how to stock your pantry, how to source wholesome foods, how to reduce costs, hot to mitigate antinutrients naturally present in certain foods and how to improve your diet step-by-step through nourishing, real food. Simple as it is, the 28-day challenge is designed to walk you through a transition into real food one step at a time.

Alrighty then! Where do I sign up?

Well, let me tell you... That first step is a doozy. Jenny has us boldly stepping right off the cliff and into the void. When I read the Day 1 instructions to "remove all processed foods and foods containing those ingredients from your kitchen" I thought of that commercial for some stop-smoking aid where the guy is inexplicably on top of a building contemplating stepping off the roof, and when he does take that step, the stop-smoking aid's manufacturer has kindly made available "invisible" steps that lead him safely to the more stable street level. I started to worry. Who is this Jenny anyway? How confident am I that she really has a series of sturdy invisible steps that will lead me safely back to solid ground? Jenny has clearly been studying corporate America and has mastered the concept of 'first get them hooked- then drop the whammy."

I'll be honest with you; even though my family has already been moving toward a diet free from processed foods, I broke out in a cold sweat before I even opened my cupboard cabinets. Realizing that this challenge has hundreds of other participants, I started surfing their blogs to see how closely they were adhering to this requirement. I found a really mixed bag. Some people are making allowances for spouses, parents, or other roommates.

For me, the issue boils down to two questions: Can I afford to summarily toss and replace these banned foods? and What the heck will we eat until I can replace the banned foods? (We're talking hungry teenagers here!) The answer to the first question is a resounding "No." And the answer to the second question is "I have no idea." So, I was happily surprised to log on this morning and find this advice from Terri at Simply Basic: “Just take baby steps and you will do just fine. Don’t try to change everything overnight.” And that is exactly what I plan to do. Thanks Terri, for the right advice at the right time!