It’s time for a new book list for a new year! Here are my picks for the year! Let me know if you’ve read any of these and what you thought about it! I’m super flexible and if I come across something that appears more interesting then I may swap it out! Continue reading “Book List for 2012”
So as many of you know my goal is to read a fictional and a non fictional book each month which would total 24 books in a year. I easily have enough of a list of “want to reads” to be able to completely supply my goal! There are so many great books out there. Continue reading “Books List reviewed for 2011”
Ready for another dose? This was a super short chapter and something I’m not going to be introducing anytime soon. I totally agree with it and found it fascinating, but since we are off grains currently we won’t be sprouting them at the moment. However, I am interested in giving it a try once we start introducing them once again. Continue reading “Nourishing Traditions Book Review: Part IX – Sprouted Grains, Nuts & Seeds”
[amazon_link id=”1850780773″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Until the Day Breaks[/amazon_link]
Patricia St. John
This is a great read about the life and work of Lilias Trotter. She led an amazing life as a missionary to Algiers in the late 1800s and into the early 1900s. She never married, but was married to bringing Christ to the lost. The work and dedication of this woman was amazing. She committed her life to these people and loved them fiercely. Continue reading “Until the Day Breaks”
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White Picket Fences a novel
By Susan Meissner
This is a quick easy read. Not a lot of suspense or mystery, but enjoyable, light and mindless! 😉 I don’t know if mindless is a good adjective, but for me at the end of the day I enjoy a little light mindless reading just before going to bed. My brain is usually ready to turn off so I don’t want to pick up something too heavy or takes a lot of brain power! I would think this is true of any mother! Continue reading “White Picket Fences”
Lacto-fermentation is something I’m relatively new to, but I’ve gotten a bit of practice over the last few months. I’ve successfully made sauerkraut, ketchup, mayonnaise, kimchi and some pickles. We weren’t huge fans of the pickles (except for Tonchi who loves them). The rest of us weren’t too thrilled with the flavor. I think that was due to the fact we were expecting the flavor to be similar to traditional pickles, of which it wasn’t. I also plan to try it a few more times with different ingredients. Continue reading “Nourishing Traditions Book Review: Part VIII- Fermented Vegetables & Fruits”
We have finally made it through the introduction and now onto the cookbook portion of the book! I was hoping to try some of these recipes, but I don’t have the cultures needed and wasn’t going to order them specifically just for trying it out. We do our own crockpot yogurt, but haven’t yet tried any cultured butter (we make our own regular butter), cultured buttermilk or piima. I’m game for a try, but it won’t be this week! Continue reading “Nourishing Traditions Book Review: Part VII – Cultured Dairy”
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Baking Cakes in Kigali
This is a GREAT book!
It takes place after the Rwandan genocide in 1994. Angel Tungaraza is a professional cake baker for special occasions. She is a loving wife and mother to her grandchildren. Each chapter talks about a new cake and the story behind it. Continue reading “Baking Cakes in Kigali”
Our next instillation of Nourishing Traditions is coming to you! Read on!!!
Parting Words:
This post and what follows today closes the introduction and the start of the cookbook portion! We are making head way! 😉 Even if we are only on Page 81! However, I found the following quote in her closing words so true and important to remember.
“We must not lose sight of the fact that the fundamental requirement of the food we eat is that we like it. The healthiest food in the world does us no good if we must gag it down because it tastes bad.” (page 63)
Food and the enjoyment of it is so vitally important to our family. We LOVE food! I know I’ve told others this before, but I probably only make a recipe twice a year! I don’t make things more than once very often. There are so many good combinations out there and so many good things to eat! I’m always on the hunt for new things to try and new ideas to excite me about cooking! I would have no desire to eat healthy if it didn’t taste good! That is the desire I have as I post recipes on this blog… that they are healthy and TASTY!
Fallon also states that it is important to satisfy the four tastes we have been created with: Salt, sour, bitter and sweet. All of these flavors can easily be found and enjoyed in natural foods.
Guide to Food Selection:
This section was hugely helpful to me. Most categories of foods are divided into groups: Nourishing Traditional Foods, Compromise Foods and Newfangled Foods. After all that I’ve read and studied it is hard to remember highly beneficial and what is just OK. It isn’t too hard to remember what she really says to stay away from. She has a way or writing that makes you WANT to avoid those things at all costs! What she says about them makes so much sense. Below I’ve included some of the items she lists in these three categories. Not nearly all of them and without the explanations and clarifications she gives, but it at least gives you the idea of the content she supplies.
Nourishing Traditional Foods: Raw milk, butter and cheese, grass-fed meats, organic whole grains fermented legumes, soaked nuts and seeds, fermented drinks and unrefined sea salt.
Compromise Foods: Commercially raised meats, small amounts of tofu, milk from commercial dairies, melted cheeses, white flours, veggies from a distance, natural sweeteners, honey, maple syrup, rapadura, wine and beer.
Newfangled Foods: Processed meats like luncheon meats and salami, processed oils, pasteurized or homogenized dairy,bleached and fortified white flour, commercial dry cereals, corn syrup, irradiated foods, soda alcohol, coffee, tea, MSG, artificial flavors and additives or colors and aspartame.
Word on Equipment:
Now this is my Christmas wish list! It was encouraging to go down through the list and see how many changes I’ve made over the last few years to healthier kitchen equipment. It also made me see quite a few more items I’d like to add to my arsenal! Again… not necessities, but definitely wants! Of course we shouldn’t be surprised that she highly recommended getting rid of the microwave, but I was surprised about the pressure cooker. I don’t have one, so I don’t have to worry about it, but I was thinking of getting one. I’ve heard they do great for quickly cooking dried beans. Fallon says they cook foods at unnaturally high temperatures which damages and removes the nutrients in the food.
The following is a new wish list of items after reading this section!
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[/amazon_link]Stockpot
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[/amazon_link]Stainless Steel Food containers
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[/amazon_link]Glass jars – I especially want more gallon sized ones to store my bulk purchases in!
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[/amazon_link]Glass bottles for storing lacto-fermented beverages in
[amazon_link id=”B003S9XF7K” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]
[/amazon_link]Mini Mill for spices and seeds
[amazon_link id=”B001055VD0″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]
[/amazon_link]Stoneware muffin tines
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[/amazon_link]Dehydrator – I love mine, but I’m afraid it is going to die any day. I dream of owning an Excalibur!
Kitchen Tips & Hints:
This section had a lot of great ideas and tips to make working in the kitchen easier and to save time. It also had a few natural remedy ideas too… like how to get stains out of aprons, remove tomato skins and what kind of butter to use.
The first of the two tips I found most interesting and useful for me were to soak veggies in hydrogen peroxide for 10 minutes to remove chemicals and pesticides. I need to find a good way to add this to my routine. I know a water rinse doesn’t do it, but that is all I’ve been doing at the moment.
The other comment was about dishwasher powder. She says it is extremely poisonous. She recommends only using half of what the box suggests and to run an extra rinse cycle. Also if anyone has cancer in the home, their dishes should be hand washed and rinsed well.
There is a lot of additional information, hints and tips… some of which I knew and some I found revolutionary! I hope you get the chance to read it!
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Striving to preserve what we have graciously been given.
Striving to preserve what we have graciously been given.
Green & Grateful 