Topic: Links to traditional foods diet

[barleychown]

Sarah, why did you start doing this?  Just curious.

I got sick and tired of always feeling sick and tired. I was dragging myself through my days, and not getting much done. When I got the stomach infection I knew things had to change. For over a month, the only things I could eat were things like yogurt smoothies...I figured my body was trying to tell me something. It was.


I still slip back into old eating habits occasionally, esprcialy when stressed...but then I start feeling yucky and realize what I'm doing is causing it.

Start small. Change simple things. Do you use salt? Switch to REAL salt, that still has it's trace minerals intact. Commercial salt is stripped of all the minerals, which are then sold for quite a profit. When you crave salt, you are most likely craving one of the minerals. I use to use sooo much salt it wasn't funny. Mike even talked of me needing an intervention.  We switched to real sea salts, and I almost never salt food at the table anymore. Crazy!

[barleychown]

  I can't get past the way it looks.

So, if it's the snot factor, do you think turning it into yogurt cheese would help? Basically, you drain off the whey in the yogurt, and you are left with a cheese the consistancy of cream cheese or thicker. I use it as a dip, or a spread on pitas and the like...you can flavor it, like any soft cheese...herbs, seasonings...

[Tina]

Sea salt is now on my shopping list.

[barleychown]

Not just any...it needs to be traditionally prepared, which means really just dehydrated. I like fluer de sel ($$$) or sel gris ($)...and the red salts from Hawaii are great, too.

It my store, it's sold near the specialty cheese case, as most foodies love their salt.  

Here's a link that gives breif overviews of different types of salt:

http://www.saltworks.us/salt_info/si_Gourmet_Reference.asp

Look for ones that mention minerals...NOT ones that say something like "less additives"...which is code for stripped salt, like kosher.

[Jessica]

I do some things right but there is plenty that I am doing wrong.

[barleychown]

I do things "wrong" every day. I just try to space out the bad with the good. I'll never give up caffine totally...or coffee. Or sugar.

[Triss]

I could never give up on coffee either, but there is so much there that just seems to easy to implement.

[barleychown]

A good site to help you find local options for produce, meats and milk:

http://www.localharvest.org/

[Tina]

Lots going on in my area there. I knew about some or most of them. I hadn't been sure the farms I visit were organic or not. 

[Jessica]

That is where I found the CSA.  They just happen to be about a 1/2 mile from my house.  I had no idea!

[Tina]

What does CSA stand for? I saw it there but didn't investigate.

[Dianna]

Community Sponsored Agriculture, Tina...

There are quite a few around here, it seems...

[Jessica]

Exactly what Dianna said.  I know I could have my own veggie garden and I do plant some but I could never have the variety that they have.

[Tina]

Ty, I figured it would be something like that. I would be a little worried if I subscribed to something that I wouldn't be able to use it all up.

[Jessica]

For this year anyway, I am splitting a share with a friend of mine.  They say that they give you enough for a family of 4.  Well, there are only 3 of us and I can't count Tristen because he doesn't eat enough.  So, I decided to split.  I am excited about it!

[barleychown]

You have to be open to trying new recipes for new things. I know of some that have included garlic scapes, fiddleheads and rat tail radishes, just to name a few. I think odd is good every once in a while.

[Jessica]

This one is set up market style so we can pick and choose to a point.  They are also giving out recipes in case you don't know how to prepare certain things.

[barleychown]

That's awesome! You'll have fun with it.

I like the idea because it basically forces you to eat veggies every week. 

[Jessica]

Exactly, Sarah.  I figure we have to get them in somehow and what better way.  I won't want to waste it so we will eat it.

[Tina]

I used to do Share packages, Self Help and Resource Exchange. We would put in $14 a month and the next month they guaranteed at least $30 worth of groceries in a box (you supplied the box). It also required community service hours but that was easy because we did plenty. It was fun for a year or so and we got a couple of boxes for ourselves plus a couple for a couple of other people not too well off.
But then they became more regulated in what they were giving out and they were not so fun any more. Fewer fruits and vegetable and more convenience food. I began checking prices and realized it wasn't as much of a savings as it had been at first. We fell out of the habit and didn't miss it much.
I am the only one that I really count into the general food. Teddy doesn't count because he only eats the same old, same old... Jonni will eat sometimes but rarely has leftovers. And gets burned out fast on the things she eats over and over. 
I don't need to be forced to eat vegetables at all. I seem to be going off much meat again. But I guess with age vegetables get trickier on your digestive system. I have to pick and choose which ones will work for me and in what form. I can tolerate fewer raw ones than in the olden days. I bought dehydrated sea salt today. I will see if it satisfies those cravings. I can save a bundle on potato chips, my preferred salt delivery system.

[Jessica]

I do eat veggies, Tina, but I would like to see more in our diets.  I have some sea salt in my cupboard. I have to see what it says on it.  If it wasn't for James, I would hardly eat any meat at all. I am not a big meat eater.  Besides having it in hotdishes, I could do without.  The night I made roast, I ate about 3 bites of it and I didn't really want it. I printed a recipe for black bean burgers today. I am going to see how I like them.  I'm pretty sure James will not eat them.  I figure I can just freeze them and either eat them for lunches or on quick meal nights.

[Tina]

Yes,  for me meat is a seasoning to flavor the real food. My home made hamburger helper meals (when my older kids were young and I had foster kids) was about 3/4 pound to feed 6 of us. Or sometimes less. Food was beans, pastas, cheeses, vegetables. Flavorings were meat, onions, garlic and spices and some sauces. Dessert if we had it was most often fruit based. Or cookies and things I made. And I tucked nutrition into my cookies with a lot less sugar. My snacks and things for years were a complete protein and my kids didn't really realize it. But don't ask my oldest to eat granola in any form. Talk about burnout.

[barleychown]

A collection of links to recipes, discussions, tips and ideas...

http://www.foodrenegade.com/fight-back-friday-march-4th/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+FoodRenegade+%28Food+Renegade%29

She hosts this every week.

[Tina]

Well, that site swallowed me for about an hour after I was headed to bed. Food is getting scary around here.

[barleychown]

Link to a story in the NY Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/25/business/25tomatoes.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1267993418-GU91Q/XmQX20s77JbNO0hw

Well, crud. I use a LOT of canned tomatoes. Time to grow more of my own.