New to the Traditional Ways of eating and I'm feeling overwhelmed :(

[Athora80]

I'm in need of some guidance. I'm a stay at home mom of a one year old, a very active and attached one year old! So I only have time to relax/plan/think, etc, etc when he's asleep! hehe. I have recently started reading Nourishing Traditions and I am very much intrigued and I want to dive right in but I know that's unrealistic. I have been networking and talking with people I met at a Weston Price chapter in my area (very thankful I found them), this has helped so much. But I still feel clueless as to where to begin. The main reason I want to change my diet is due to my digestive issues, but also for the health of my husband and son.

I am aware I should take baby steps but really don't know where to begin. I have a jar of fermented sauerkraut but it hasn't been left in a cool, dark place and I worry that it isn't safe to eat it. (my mother keeps telling me things lol). I have some bones and chicken necks to make broth as well. I have learned to soak my grains, beans and seeds/nuts. I am not taking the cod liver oil yet. I am taking a whole food multi and a good quality fish oil supplement for breastfeeding though. I have found that the dinner part of traditional eating seems fairly easy to plan out, it's lunch I seem to be stumped on.

Where did all of you begin and how has the journey been? How did it go with getting your family on board with you? My husband still needs a lot of convincing, especially since he brings home the bacon ;) Any suggestions or tips?

[flightgoddess]

One step at a time. (I have gotten lax lately though, I had a lot of adversion to many TF things during my first trimester) Start with one thing, and then consistantly do it thereafter. Like bone broths. We eat a chicken, I make broth with the bones in the crockpot overnight, chill it while I'm at work the next day, and then clean it up/freeze it when I get home (or use some in dinner). We have bone in pork chops, I make broth with the bones in my mini crock, etc. In the winter I'll make some kind of broth like every couple weeks and freeze parts of it.

Nuts: I usually stock up on nuts from Trader Joes all at once on a trip, and then make a ton of crispy nuts and seeds to have on hand in the cupboard/pantry (or fridge depending on nut) And then I won't do nuts again until I'm running out and make another shopping trip.

Granola: I'll make this like, once a month if I'm in the mood/have crispy nuts/seeds on hand.

Weekends I'm better about getting oats/grains/flours out to soak the night before so they are ready for Sat or Sun breakfast. ANd then I usually make double batch or more, so I can freeze extra waffles to pop in the toaster, or extra oatmeal to microwave later.

I'm trying my first kraut ever, so we'll see how that goes! Been 2 weeks and it smells and tastes right, so I think it is time for the fridge...

Lunch is usually leftovers, or non-TF as I am work and sometimes need something easy.

[bignerpie]

Based on my personal experience with WAPF, I'd guess the reason that you're feeling overwhelmed is because WAPF has a very all-or-nothing approach to traditional foods. I always felt like a failure because I wasn't 100% by the book.

For example, we eat grass-fed beef but don't drink raw milk. I don't take CLO or soak grains, but I use traditional fats and oils. It's a process, and I don't believe that it's feasible to completely change the way your family eats overnight. 

Incorporate one change at a time, and when you're comfortable with it, move on to the next thing. Next on my list is switching to raw milk. I currently have a great source of local, unhomogenized (but still pasteurized) milk, but I just got a lead on a local source of raw milk. Once we're in the routine of getting that, I'll move on to something else, like soaking grains.

I really like Nina Planck's book Real Food. I find it much more approachable than Nourishing Traditions. I think it's better for someone new to traditional foods.

[JMJ]

I do a lot of soups for lunch.  I eat a large breakfast and dinner and eat a series of smaller snack-meals in between.  Sometime between breakfast and dinner, I may have a kefir smoothie, a bowl of soup, a few handfuls of crispy nuts/seeds, a bowl of yogurt, crackers and pate, sardines, pickles, some fruit, or some leftovers from another meal.

Fermentation is hard and kinda scary to get into without having somebody to walk you through it.  Choose what you're comfortable with.  Milk kefir is really easy.  You can buy Bubbies saurkraut and pickles to smell and taste what they're supposed to be like.  Ferments that have turned usually smell bad and have visible mold.

See what shortcuts you can take.  If you have the means, what can you buy until you can figure out how to make it?  Naturally fermented pickles?  Yogurt or kefir (kefir will be from starter culture, not from grains)?  Canned oysters or sardines?  What can you make in bulk to minimize the amount of time you are spending in the kitchen?  Can you make a huge batch of soaked rice, beans, broth,meats, etc and freeze the extra so you only have to cook it every few weeks?  Can you make a bunch of crispy nuts all at once or get everything soaking for the week at the same time so that you just pour a bunch of stuff in bowls, add acid or salt to each, add filtered water to each, and call it good until morning?

[nourishingmamma]

Wow, I can totally sympathize with you.  I wish I'd known what I know now because I made so many costly mistakes in the beginning.  I actually thought all food was my enemy and stopped eating everything that was processed without any kind of replacement.  I worked harder than I needed to to make sure I was eating "Pure".   I tried to make my own bread, cheese, cottage cheese, pickles, Everything!  Well, 1 year later, and much the wiser I started blogging about simple foods that don't take much effort especially for Moms of toddlers.  I talk about practical things like food prep (really important to not be in the kitchen all the time) and easy foods your toddler will love.  Please visit my blog and if you like I'd be glad to mentor you with what I've learned so far.  You can email me at [e-mail]

My food blog is at http://www.realfoodinspiration.com

[RealFoodMommy]

I'm in the same boat as you! I started back when my 2 year old was born.  I've taken it step by step.  My first step was to cook from scratch, get rid of processed food, start buying local produce, etc, basically all whole foods, no soy.  Then I started buying raw milk, higher quality foods in general, grass fed beef, free range eggs, whatever I could afford and find.  Then I started doing sourdough.  Now, I'm working on fermenting.  Kefir to start, then I'll start trying to make whey and things that need to be made with that.  Next, I'll probably start learning to soak grains and get my own mill.  Then organ meats (I just can't seem to get on board with that one).

Take it one step at a time.  Each improvement you make is better than you were before.  That's one reason why I like Nina Planck.  She made me feel like you didn't need to be perfect with it, and do what you can afford.  Eating eggs is better than cereal, fortified eggs better than regular eggs, free range is best.  Butter is better than margarine, but grass fed butter is best.  Eating fruits and vegetables are better than not, organic better than regular, local is the best.

Somethings are more important, like having high quality milk or high quality beef.  

 

[RealFoodMommy]

Lol, we said the same thing.

[RealFoodMommy]

Definitely read "Real Food" by Nina Planck.

[bignerpie]

Originally Posted by RealFoodMommy 

Definitely read "Real Food" by Nina Planck.

Love that book!

[prancie]

I have Nourishing Traditions and it is an interesting book, but some of the recipes are just not that good.  Some are alright.  I think the easiest way to approach it to think of this as eating in a more old-fashioned way.  Take the new out of your diet.  Processed foods, vegetable oils, etc.  Find a farmer or 3 that you like for meat or eggs (or a health food store), find a source for you fats, like lard, tallow, duck fat.  Get some gourmet type cookbooks, foodie cookbooks.  I like "Bones" and "Fat" among others.  

 I don't do all the right things, I make white bread and don't soak the flour.  I also make light wheat bread with white and sprouted flour.  I do always, always, always have homemade stock.  

I thing "Deep Nutrition" is a better book for the beginner.  

[BubblingBrooks]

Use NT as a textbook. Read the whole thing, including the recipes.
make a few that interest you, and fit what you have on hand and time for.

As a rule, view the book as a school, where you learn old fashioned food prep.
Traditional foods is more about preparation of real food. Once you can see that, you can "flip" most any recipe out there to fit a TF diet/lifestyle.