"Need TF mentor" or "TF for dummies!"

[brumba]

My 2.5 year old has cavities so I read Cure Tooth Decay and purchased Nourishing Traditions.  That was a few months ago.  Was really excited to get started... 

My fermented carrots were horrible.  Had no idea if my whey was edible.  Homemade butter tasted awful.  Bought bone broth from a local farmer because I was too squeamish to make it myself and boy was it REALLY chickehy!!! 

Essentially, I'm a terrible cook and need help.  I feel so overwhelmed with my Nourishing Traditions cookbook and failure at attempting to make things in it, that I don't even know what to do to try to continue.  After having so many flops I've lost my gumption to continue trying to make new foods.  Now perhaps everything I made was fine and tasted the way it did because it was supposed to but I have nothing to compare it to, so I erred on the side of caution and didn't attempt to feed bad-tasting and potentially unsafe food to my family. 

So how do I proceed?? 

I even contacted my local Weston Price affiliate, and though she's very nice, wasn't very helpful.  I REALLY love the philosophy behind Weston Price but need serious guidance. 

This is what we currently do:

We drink raw milk and cream, make ice cream, use Kerrygold butter and once in awhile use bone broth, but should use it more often (and need to learn how to make it taste good).  I have kefir grains in the fridge with directions on how to use them but I'm afraid of wasting them if I do it wrong.  Ditto with the creme fraiche and sour cream grains I have in the freezer.  Failure gets expensive! 

We also have two different flavors of Green Pastures fclo/butter blend -- no dice, son won't eat it unless it's in a smoothie with TWO spoonfuls of honey, which I would assume counteracts the benefits of the fclo.

For breakfast, we eat free range eggs or french toast on sprouted bread -- both with raw cream and lots of butter.

For lunch -- I have no ideas for lunch.  We usually eat fruit and Stonyfield yogurt.

For dinner, we eat chicken, sweet potatoes, and frozen organic broccoli -- EVERY NIGHT!

Is there anyone out there who can help (or direct) a completely undomesticated new mommy who wants to help remineralize her sons teeth? 

If so, a HUGE thank you in advance!!

[velcromom]

Some of the best resources that helped me when I was learning were TF blogs. Here are some of my favorites:

http://www.cookingtf.com/ctfblog/    Kerry Ann has a menu mailer that plans out your week including shopping lists and prep tasks.

http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/

http://kellythekitchenkop.com/
 

http://www.cheeseslave.com/

http://gnowfglins.com/

[luckiest]

Just wanted to add Mommypotamus to the list of helpful TF blogs.

There's definitely a big learning curve, more so if you aren't used to spending time in the kitchen!  I made a few batches of TERRIBLE broth before getting my method down...I use a leftover chicken frame, a beef knuckle bone, and a beef marrow bone, and do a "perpetual soup" method (after 24 hours in the crock pot, strain off the liquid, add more water and ACV, let it go another 24 hours, strain off liquid, etc - can use the same bones for up to a week and really get your money's worth out of them!).  Anyway, the biggest reason that my broth tasted awful - not enough salt!!  I add it into the mug right before I drink it, along with garlic powder or chopped raw garlic.  Use real salt, obviously, but it makes a huge difference in taste.  It went from totally disgusting and unpalatable, to amazing.

The crock pot is your friend for dinners.  If you don't have one, get one.  You don't know how often I throw frozen chicken breasts into the crockpot in the morning.  

Also, familiarize yourself with a method - like roasting - that can be used for different veggies.  If you can roast sweet potato spears, then you can roast carrots, parsnips, beets, broccoli, cauliflower, etc.  We eat a lot of taco meat (just ground beef with homemade taco seasoning) alongside avocado and roasted veggies.  Hard to mess up ground beef!  

For lunches - get in the habit of making more food than you'll eat at dinner, and then lunch can be leftovers.  Also, I know it isn't the best, but Applegate makes grass-fed hot-dogs...

I don't have too much experience with fermenting, so I can't help much there.  I can handle my water kefir, and I picked it as a first go because it seemed like the easiest undertaking.  There's some finesse and trial and error involved, for sure.

Baby steps!