New to NT and a little frustrated

[bigknitwit]

I would really like to cook good, wholesome comeplete meals for my family. However I am a little overwhelmed with all the reading/research I've been doing, and it's findings. It's very difficult to put these ideas into practice! I feel like every time I start on something (like making my own bread), I find out I'm doing it all wrong (oops, I should have been soaking the flour, not to mention it's probably rancid since it's the organic whole wheat from the grocery store!). I bought some nuts/seeds for general snacking to get away from all the grains, only to read on Mercola that he recommends against eating nuts because of their high Omega-6 content. To make matters worse I can't even vent to irl people - they'd look at me like I have two heads! Help!

What NT steps did you implement first into your routines?

Where does one find free-range meats without taking out a second mortgage? What do you use to as a compromise?

I found a local dairy that sells raw milk, however the cows are not confined, not pastured. Sigh. I figure this is still better than the grocery store milk, organic, or not. Still dh took ds to the gastro-entonologist yesterday (chronic stomach pain/gas/diarrhea) and told him about our raw milk consumption. Of course he strongly, STRONGLY advised against it, saying that every year he sees several children sick from raw milk. Sigh - how do you stop from second guessing yourself?

sorry such a long post from a newbie!

[AnyaK]

quick question from an even newer newbie to this forum...what does "NT" stand for/mean?

[yitlan]

NT, or Nourishing Traditions, isn't just a cookbook. It's really a philosophy that forces you to modify your cooking, buying and life! No one could make all those changes at once, I think. I've been doing it for two years and am still working on it. Choose what best fits and makes sense with your family and build from there. Otherwise, you WILL get overwhelmed. I made these changes first:
Raw dairy
homemade yogurt
soak grains (this one requires no extra money, just planning!) and beans
broths
natural sweeteners
And all the while I slowly expimented with the recipes in NT.

[newcastlemama]

NT= Nourishing Traditions (a cookbook and infomational book about eating the old fashioned way)

First, start at your own pace. What I did first was buy free range eggs, organic butter, free-range meat/fish (we have them cheaper from a local meatmarket (if you buy in bulk too..80 pounds at once..you can save), cheeses, and yogurt. I also got coconut oil and always used raw honey. We buy ezequiel bread for now (1.99 at trader joe's). We also all take cod liver oil (nordic naturals) These things didn't take new skills just different shopping, so it made it easier.

Next, I am going to try making the beverages...ginger ale, kefir. And broths. I already know how to make breads. I have cut out grains for now, but when I encorpaorte them in I will need to learn soaking.

We all are just learning as we go. I ws a vegetarian so I am learning how to prepare meats right now..Mine tend to come out a little overcooked! I want to learn as much as possible before we have another baby though. I just figure once I learn the basics I can make anything and for less $$ and better nutritional value.

RAW MILK-it kind of freaks me out too. Noone has ever reported being sick on it though (i read in a magazine today) Organic Pastures raw milk throughly tests their milk and has never had complaints of illness. Reading realmilk.com helps too. People get sick on pastuized milk according to that site. I am hoping to get my own cow in the near future and drink milk from that just making sure to keep everything very clean.

Question? who are the "irl people"?

[AngelBee]

I am in the same boat. Very overwhelmed.

[summerlilies]

Hi,
I started NT a few months ago. I started by getting rid of stuff -- boxed cereals, canola oil, rice cakes, tofu, anything processed. I went through my pantry, fridge, and freezer and only kept things that were NT friendly.

Then I found a co-op / farm where I can get raw dairy, eggs, chickens, meat (it turns out it is the same farm that supplies Sally Fallon with her food - so I trust it). I also bought coconut oil and cod liver oil and started taking both.

Two other things that helped me get started:
1) I joined several yahoo groups on NT to get tips/ideas.

2) I bought my best friend the NT book and we decided to do it together. One day a week, we have "NT day" where we do something NT oriented. This week we are making chutneys (while our kids play). Next week, we are making Kombucha, then sourdough, etc. We broke it down so that each week we have a theme (beverages, fermented veggies, bread, snacks, etc.)
It helps to have a friend keep me on track and it helps to focus on one thing at a time.

Good luck and enjoy the journey.

[JaneS]

Um, only a few cases of "raw milk" problems (and even those have not been all attributed to raw milk) have been reported in years. I've been consuming it for a year with only incredible benefits. However, it greatly depends on what kind of raw milk. I would not at ALL do confinement raw milk, more pathogens in their milk b/c the grain changes their milk composition and their digestion. Only do pasture/grass based.

Bone broths, cod liver oil and homemade yogurt kefir were the easiest to implement first for me. And I think the most bang for your buck. Then finding grass fed meat, soaking oatmeal and nuts etc.

www.eatwild.com for local meat sources
www.realmilk.org for milk

Become a member of WAPF and email your chapter leader for advice on sources. Many leaders set up their own coops.

[MrsTittlemouse]

I can't add much to what has already been said except take it as slowly as you need to. I used to spent hours (seriously) making a menu plan every Sunday. We were eating delicous food every day, but it was way to complicated. I eventually found my "staple" items.
Raw milk, bone stocks, yogurt, soaked grains. We went through a really tight financial period recently. We often ended up roasting chicken then making a stock out of it. We eat a lot of soup. The stock is so delicious that just by adding some vegies you have a great meal.
Trader Joes now carries a lot of NT type things- Celtic sea salt, wild salmon, tuna, high quality sausage, nuts, creme fraiche, etc...
I found Hibou's method of meal planning (in the meal planning thread) really helpful.
HTH!
-Lizzie
PS kombucha is so yummy!