Getting Back to Blogging

Ok....after a long, long and maybe too long break, I think I am going to keep up with my blogging again.  Although I am pregnant with #5, I would love to keep up with this especially so family can keep up with growing children :)  Look how much everyone is growing....I need to update more pictures :)

Family Photos

This is us :)  I love being a mom and wife....I love being at home....the world is icky but I really love life when I am clinging to my Savior.....life is good when it is lived with Him.....I can breathe and hope and dream!!!

Sidetracked

Our Little Bub loves trucks and tractors.  He would be smiling but its like 13 degrees out :(

Sidetracked.......that is what my life has been for alittle bit.  The traditional diet has stabilized to a norm around our home so I have completely forgotten to continue to share some of the fun things we are doing as a result of the switch to nutrient dense foods.

Herdshare......we now drink raw milk from a real farm that we can visit.....they give our animals a good, normal life .....we also get coconut oil, real salt, beef, chicken, yogurt, cream (to make my own butter) and fruit when in season.

CSA.....we have joined another farm that provides us with our veggies for the summer.....the great kicker is that EVERYTHING is organic!!  It's really fun to drive there and pick up our share of crops and to support another family

Organic Food Coop.....my friend runs a local food coop that picks up about 2 minutes from my home....huge blessing....I can get everything from them but I usually stick with nuts and dried fruit and some other miscellanous things.

Bee Farm.....we get all our honey from a local bee farm 15 minutes away....we are planning a field trip there soon to learn more about bees.

Farmers Market.......this is where I get the remainder of my fruit and more veggies to ferment :)......I also get my raw milk, grassfed cheese here!

Fermenting....probiotics in a capsule???...NOPE....we make our own in our Pickl-its (check out a pickl-it http://www.pickl-it.com)%20.....yummy/  yummy kefir!!

Dehydrating....doing lots and lots of that right now....getting ready to go on vacation and I am trying to make traveling snacks....graham crackers, herb crackers, chicken jerky, hamburger jerky, butterfinger bites, fruit roll-ups....

Lots of adventure to our week and I would not have it any other way.  The Lord has been so good to provide so many blessings for us and I am so grateful.  He is always working on me in one way or another and typically never lets me rest in between teaching times.  I just started to get comfortable with all the food changes and now He has pulled another whopper on me....its big (for me at least) and it is for another post.

Food Chit Chat and Cute Kids

I have been alittle busy lately so sorry for no posts.  They will be coming soon but in the meantime I will be hosting a "Food Chit Chat" night here at my home on Tuesday, June 1 at 8pm.  I will be covering the basics of the Traditional Diet, samples of food, recipes, resources, encouragement and more.  Contact me through email or facebook to let me know if you are coming.  This night is for friends and family only :) !!  Hope to see you there.

Here are the cute kids....for a quick little update.

Peanut should join the circus.  Baby B is just so cute.

Big Bub just learned to pump and is overjoyed.  Little Bub is hilarious and makes me laugh daily.

This is the most recent picture of us.....another 5 aspects project picture :)  It was really fun.

I thought this was a really funny series of pictures.  Notice Little Bub driving his car on Big Bub while he is screaming and how Baby B gets fed up with Little Bub and tries to push him away....just too funny!!  I love these photos the most because I think they show the most reality!

Ahh! Haa! The Traditional Diet

More than likely the term "traditional" and "diet" used together are a rarity to you.  They were to me.  Now "lowfat" and "diet" were words I knew well.  How about words like kombucha, kefir, lacto-fermentation, dehydrating, sprouting, lactic acid bacteria, kimchi....uhhh, can someone please speak English? :) These were some of my early thoughts when I started to read about the Traditional Diet.  This was a whole new and exciting world for me.

So here it goes.....Ladies and Gentlemen....The Traditional Diet Guidelines

1.Eat whole, natural foods.

2.Eat only foods that will spoil, but eat them before they do.

3.Eat naturally-raised meat including fish, seafood, poultry, beef, lamb, game, organ meats and eggs.

4.Eat whole, naturally-produced milk products from pasture-fed cows, preferably raw and/or fermented, such as whole yogurt, cultured butter, whole cheeses and fresh and sour cream.

5.Use only traditional fats and oils including butter and other animal fats, extra virgin olive oil, expeller expressed sesame and flax oil and the tropical oils—coconut and palm.

6.Eat fresh fruits and vegetables, preferably organic, in salads and soups, or lightly steamed.

7.Use whole grains and nuts that have been prepared by soaking, sprouting or sour leavening to neutralize phytic acid and other anti-nutrients.

8.Include enzyme-enhanced lacto-fermented vegetables, fruits, beverages and condiments in your diet on a regular basis.

9.Prepare homemade meat stocks from the bones of chicken, beef, lamb or fish and use liberally in soups and sauces.

10.Use herb teas and coffee substitutes in moderation.

11.Use filtered water for cooking and drinking.

12.Use unrefined Celtic seasalt and a variety of herbs and spices for food interest and appetite stimulation.

13.Make your own salad dressing using raw vinegar, extra virgin olive oil and expeller expressed flax oil.

14.Use natural sweeteners in moderation, such as raw honey, maple syrup, dehydrated cane sugar juice and stevia powder.

15.Use only unpasteurized wine or beer in strict moderation with meals.

16.Cook only in stainless steel, cast iron, glass or good quality enamel.

17.Use only natural supplements.

18.Get plenty of sleep, exercise and natural light.

19.Think positive thoughts and minimize stress.

20.Practice forgiveness.

http://www.westonaprice.org/Dietary-Guidelines.html

(I will actually refer to the diet as NT from now on meaning "Nourishing Tradtions"....its the cookbook from an early post)  This is the Traditional Diet (NT) food pyramid. It looks alot different than what I was used to seeing.

I am going to help guide you through how we switched over and what it has done in our lives. This is month 3 of the adventure and I have proof that this change in food choices and preparation is the real deal....Stay Tuned....

The Great Adventure: Out with the "New" and in with the "Old"

Prior to going to Holly's that night,  I would have easily rated myself at an "8" for the nutrition of our family.  After reading and learning more information on nutrition, I now would have given myself something closer to a "3".  I was blown away at how much I was outsourcing our food to mega food companies and how much they were compromising the very nutrition of our food.

So, the center of our adventure is now.......eating whole, nutrient dense foods, preparing them properly, and yes that means no more processed foods.  This is NOT a switch to only eating organic labels.  (Though we do get our spices and such in organic.) This IS a switch to eating food in its most whole state...that means as minimally processed as possible.  (Things such as crackers, gummy bears, candy, fruit juice, goldfish are out even if they are "organic".....in posts to come I will share more information on processed foods and extruded grain.) We have gone back to a traditional diet.....one that has foods that my great-great-great grandma would recognize.  (That's 3 great's)  Here are pictures of my fridge and cupboards now :)

In the next couple of weeks, my hope is to gently show you how we switched to a traditional diet and what exactly a traditional diet is.  I will include recipes and tutorials and hopefully soon Holly will have her blog up and running so I can shoot you over to her.

Now that you have heard part of our story, I am hoping that you will continue to keep reading and learning.  The information I will pass along to you will cause you to do one of three things.

1. Remain- to continue on with the Standard American Diet (SAD)
2. Reform- to take the SAD diet and switch to organic (still buying boxes, frozen dinners and canned goods but are now organic.....still outsourcing food to the local health food store and organic labels)
3. Return- go back to a traditional way of eating and preparing foods (dehydrating, fermenting, sourdough bread, making meals from scratch with fresh produce, "real" milk and eggs and my favorite part.....eating lots of "good" fat)

My hope is that you will in some way research what you are eating daily and the next time you think or say, "I know this is so bad for me, but.....but...."  ----My hope is that at that moment you will toss it, instead of eating it.  Of course, I am hoping you all will want to "return" to good, whole food.

Stay tuned for the first step in this process of switching over.....in true Bethany style, I stalked down every person that had good food information for me and switched over to all of this fairly quickly.  I was responsible for caring for my family and once I knew the truth about the foods in our home, it was a joy to throw them away as quickly as possible (I can't say that for Big Daddy....he trusted me but it took him a little longer to adjust to not having chips, crackers and such in the house until I came up with a nutrient-rich substitute)  I will be sharing information with you at a much slower pace in hopes that you will not get overwhelmed but be excited to start this journey :)

Next post I will tell you a little more how this Amish connection Holly had changed our lives indefinitely......

The Great Adventure: The night that the ball starting rolling

Narrator: Tap, Tap, Tap...

Me: Yes, God.

God: It's time to do something about your self-control with food. I see it has become something you worship over me.

Me: I think you are right God, now what?

Finally after months of tapping and prodding, my heart responded.  I choose to give up snacking after 7pm.  I noticed that after the kids go to bed was the worst time for me to have a lack of self-control with my food.  I had three very dear friends who did this with me (bless their hearts....I had weeks to think about this and I pitched it to them and they started the next day....very impressive)  We decided to do it for 40 days and see what we learned from God in the process.

After day 4, it was getting really easy for me....actually I stopped craving food at night and was content with water with a squirt of real lemon.  Around day 5 or so, a friend was presenting a project for "Five Aspects of Woman Study" (I highly recommend that every woman take this course if its ever offered at your church....just amazing!  I did post a couple of posts from the study if you would like a preview  Week 1 and Week 2) and she made soap for the class.  Being very old fashioned and loving to do things the "old, traditional" way, I hunted her down after class and set up a time to learn how to make soap.  This future friend, Holly, also mentioned a connection to an Amish family (no we are not becoming Amish :) ...good guess though....I just love how the Amish know how to do so many things without the use of electric and it intrigues me....this connection will be described more in other posts)

Soap night came and I was pumped.  I actually had no idea what God had in store for me this night...I thought I was going there to learn how to make soap free of toxins and carcinogenics.  While we were waiting for the soap parts to melt, I asked Holly about a cookbook she had on her counter.  It was called "Nourishing Traditions".   We got to talking and she started telling me about a dentist who was in search of the causes of dental decay and physical degeneration that he observed in his dental practice in the early 1900's.  It was fascinating what some of his findings were from uncivilized cultures around the world.  You can read more about him here.

Sad to report, we forgot a key ingredient in the soap and it did not turn out :(  But I think God did not intend for us to make a good soap that night (then we had an excuse to do it again) but for Him to open my eyes to a whole new world.

I naturally came home to research for myself all that Holly had shared with me.  This would be the beginning of a three week nutrition study, about three hours a day.  I felt like I was putting myself through nutrition college.  I researched the pros and cons of so many things.  I spent most of my time here.  What I found in those three weeks, was life changing for this family forever.

This was the literal start of the adventure...unfortunately, I am an "all or nothing" girl and this one I gave my ALL. (I say unfortuately because it left my family in a little bit of shock...especially my hubby who could not keep up with what I was learning)

The next post will reveal the adventure so stay tuned............

We did finally have success with the soap on another night.  I am hoping to host a night/class to make some soon.  Big Daddy and Big Bub are in the process of making some soap molds for me :)

The Great Adventure: Slaves in America???

We live in a country that has fought for the freedom of its people.  We have freedom of religion, of speech, of the press, to assemble, and to petition.  But my question is, "Are we really living a life of freedom?"

Through my time in Scripture and living everyday life, I have found myself asking this question to myself. (If it seems like I asked myself alot of questions, its because I do :)  After re-evaluating my days and what I was spending time on, it was time to tackle the things in my life that distracted me from serving God and my family to my greatest ability as an extremely flawed woman. (thankfully God's grace is sufficient and his forgiveness is great)  I made a mental list of the things that people and I could be a "slave" to in a "free" country so here it is: (there may be more to add but this is all I could think of at the time)

1. Sports

2. Sex

3. Work

4. Money

5. Marriage

6. Computer

7. Facebook

8. Blogging

9. Drugs/Alcohol

10.  Food

11.  Our Kids

12.  Sleep

13. Bargain Hunting
14. School
15. TV
16. Exercise
17. The Phone (any form)
18. Texting
19. "Me" time
20. Politics

The above things are not bad in and of themselves but if you worship them and they are stealing away precious time from more important things in your life then I think its time to rearrange your priorities.

Once again, more things that God was wanting me to change.  My number one slave: FOOD (sleep and bargain hunting were on my list too...I was shocked to see what I did sometimes just to get a bargain...scary).  I did not realize it until I actually sat down and thought about it.  For the most part, I have no self-control when it comes to food.  It was something I did live to do.  It was so convicting but I did nothing about it.  I acknowledged it and then it sat on the backburner for months.

God kept tapping me on the shoulder to remind me about this area but I decided I had better things to focus on at the time like homeschooling, scrapbooking and taking care of the kiddos.

The tapping continued for months here and there.....but still nothing..........

The Great Adventure: An Unexpected Book

And the story goes on......

After I started milling the flour,  I also started doing cloth diapers.  Big surprise I know, but, I really liked doing it.  But my knew found fun diminshed when we were blessed with a new washer.  Little did I know that front loaders aren't the best for cloth diapers.....actually, I had to quit using them because they did not wash well any longer :(  Anyways, that was just alittle blip on the radar but just one more little "old-fashioned" way that snuck into our home.

Shortly after my cloth diaper adventure,  I finally saved up money to buy a book I had wanted for ages.  I ordered it and eagerly waited for it to arrive.  It took days and days and finally...........it was here.  Then it took me at least 3 months or so to pick it up and read it (Life is so interesting with kids and at this point I had three)  But once again, God's timing was perfect for me to read this book.  I bet you are wondering what the book was.  It is called, "Rite of Passage Parenting" by Walker Moore.

I would highly recommend that everyone (married, single, kids, no kids) read this book at some point.  I know it says its a parenting book but I gleaned alot from it personally.  I will have a full book review on it another time.  For now I want to focus on one part of the book.....Outsourcing.

Moore talks about how much Americans outsource....someone else to teach and take care of our children and elderly, Betty Crocker for our cakes, Green Giant for our frozen foods, maids cleaning our homes, restaurants cooking our meals, and the list goes on (I wish I had the book to give you some of his examples but I lent it to a friend)

As I was reading this chapter, it made me think of a couple of things.....1.) What am I outsourcing that I should be taking care of myself? and 2.) If I am outsourcing some of my duties, what am I doing with the extra time I have?  These two questions helped me do two things.....cook more from scratch (not just things with flour in them) and limit the computer.  It's amazing how lazy I realized I was and how much time I was wasting throughout the day.

I often get asked the question, "How do you do it?  You homeschool, have 4 children under 6 years old, make all of your own bread and still have time to scrapbook, blog and have girl game nights. ( I  have one more thing to add to my list but I don't want to spoil the adventure :)  I never have any time.  I'm too busy" the person replies.  My thought is, "What are you busy with?"  I will constantly reevaluate that question with my life in everyday comings and goings.  I like to keep it simple and fortunately, I do not struggle with saying "no" to too many commitments.

God is definitely my Rock everyday...I need Him and He responds to my calls of desperation.  To be honest, we don't have a tv to be distracted by.  We will watch an occassional movie but that is it.  I think that is a huge factor to the productiveness of our days.   I have learned to make useful the time during the day which I was being idle/lazy (like taking a nap when all my kids are sleeping through the night is not needed or my weakness, being on the computer too long researching one more thing).

Outsourcing was another interesting and convicting part of this adventure and I am still idle in some areas of my life but at least I can identify them now and work on them........

The Great Adventure: An unexpected purchase

Shortly after my thoughts on transforming our home environment, a friend was telling me how she was "milling" her own flour.  Honestly, the first thing that came to mind was her turning a crank of a mill as the grain was mashed into flour, outside in the backyard and I thought, "How in the world does she have time to do that? and "What a silly thing to do when you can buy flour at the store."  Whole grain flour had not been introduced to me up till this point and here she was, making her big debut and I shut her down.  I did not know the benefits of whole grain yet but I was semi-interested in the whole "milling" process. 

As the weeks went on, I thought more about how neat this was...I could make my own flour (and it was alot cheaper too!)  So I priced out the good ole' Nutrimill from a good friend locally who sells them.  God's timing is always so perfect and unfortunately this was not the time to buy the mill :(  So I waited patiently and wondered when the day would come.  I waited longer and still no extra money for the mill.

Christmas was just around the corner and I thought just maybe, someone "might" get me the mill.  Christmas came and went....no mill :(  (I know, I know.....bear with me....most people want big glorious things and here I am wishing for a flour mill....its just me.....I never thought in a million years that I would ever dream of getting a flour mill :)  Then, very graciously, one of our family members allowed me to return some gifts and use the money toward the mill !!!!!!! I picked it up in January 2007.  It was glorious and now I could forever use whole grain, non-processed, no bleach, free from chemical flour from my very own kitchen.

I love the mill.....how much do I love my mill?  I have not used flour from the store in this home since January 2007....cheaper and much more healthy.  I use the flour from our mill for everything.....cinnamon rolls (actually rising right now as we speak for Easter tomorrow), waffles, pizza, bread, muffins, cookies (yum)....you can substitute the whole grain flour for flour in any of your favorite recipes.

Whole grains have shown to be better for you than white flour.  I have had two pregnancies now since switching over to whole grain everything (except the occassional white bread at restaurants and fast food) and they were both amazing.  I really think that switching to whole grains helped my body get the extra nourishment it wasn't getting from store bought bread (basically dead food...nutritionally I mean) to nourishing and nutrient dense whole grains. ( I have lots of recipes I will share but they will come later on)

I was excited to provide good food for my family and I felt better about what I served them.  I learned how to plan better (with 4 kids you have too!) and it has in turn made me more disciplined.  The kids love to mill the flour too and Little Bub knows exactly how to work the machine....its precious.

This was quite an adventure for me but that was still about 3 years ago, so the story goes on, but I have not yet scratched the top.  What was in store for me down the road I would have never forseen even if I could see into the future :)  Stay tuned............