On Changes, Food

Ok, so Emily and Mere wanted to know more about the nutritional changes we're making. (But y'all need to share yours, too! Learning is more fun, together!)

I'll be upfront: I hate change. Really, I do. Sometimes, it's necessary, and good. Then, I can handle, at times, even embrace it. Most of the time, people want change for the sake of change, with no regard to whether it's a change for the better. When that gets foisted upon me, I loathe it even more. That's what re-arranging the furniture, or coloring your hair, is for. Not for major life changes.

So, when we do decide to change things up around here, it's usually done with a fair amount of thought, research and planning before hand. That's not to say we have all the answers. We're pretty sure we don't even have most of the questions yet. It just means we've taken stock and decided that, for this house, and this family, at this point, this is what we're going to do. And sometimes, in case those aren't enough qualifiers, we don't end up able or willing to pull it off at all. Yep, just drop your pocket change in the therapy jar as you enter the foyer.

One last caveat, so that nobody confuses me with a "professional" in any sense of the word, I'm a gleaner. Gleaning has saved people from dying off, and from making poor choices whole hog, for centuries. Any process that provides that much consistent return is worth looking into. So, when I say I get a lot of insight from Nourishing Traditions, (and I do!) that doesn't mean you'll be able to pry the pressure cooker from my cold, dead (and potentially malnourished, since I keep using the danged thing) hands. I still believe the pressure cooker is the procrastinator's crock pot, a little technological gift from God so that we don't have to choose between eating our food raw and not eating at all. (Yeah, I know, Jess, but I will probably always cook at least some of my food. Love me where I'm at, right? *grin*) Gleaning means that I get why that's not the best way to go about getting food on the table, and I'm willing to work toward an ideal. Or to incorporate those bits that seem to mesh with the above mentioned legwork, meow meow, study, meow family. Meow. (tried to find a link to Daniel Striped Tiger's talking, inserting "meows" in, here and there, but, um... wow. the word "meow" has been taken to an HNL in the past few years. no video for you!)

So, the nutritional changes, we've actually been making slowly over the last year or so. It began with raw milk, spread to soaked grains, moved on to my quirky affair with kefir, and so on. Then, due to logistics, we let the raw milk slide. Life has a way of not letting things slide, however, even when you think it'd be easier to do so. And this was no exception.

John's had a bit of health trouble the last six months or so. We got most of it ironed out, except one: stomach pain. We checked the wheat, we tracked his diet, we flipped his mattress, upped his water, tested eighty gallons of blood, blah-blah-blah. The kid's been a tough little lab rat the past six months, lemme tell ya. Then, one day, while a friend lovingly let me freak out to her about scheduling a visit with a neurologist, it hit me: in John's nine years on earth, the ONLY time he's been free of stomach pain has been when he was on raw milk. That includes the wheat-free years. He's never been free of stomach pain. He had a lovely reprieve last spring, and then, *bam* it was back. Right when we went back to store-bought milk. Hmmm.

So, we found a closer source. We got him spooled back up last week, and within 72 hours, the stomach pains diminished significantly. Within another 24 after that, gone. From 3-4 episodes a day, to nothing, in a week. Guess what's going on our regular grocery list, now? We've made some other changes, too - not all at once, but bit-by-bit.

~ We're pretty much a juice-free home, now. Zorak occasionally buys orange juice. But I don't schedule it into our regular diet. The kids eat fresh fruit several times a day, and they drink water both at meals and throughout the day. They have access to the milk whenever they want, as well.

~ I've cut my coffee consumption exponentially (not exaggerating), replacing that with water, as well.

~ We've moved our Big Meal of the day to an earlier spot in the day, and added in a few smaller, but more intentional meals.

~ We eat breakfast and lunch outside, whenever possible. The atmosphere can't be beat!

~ Oat groats, instead of rolled oats, go farther, are more filling, and have more nutrition. Larger upfront investment, if you buy through a co-op, but an enormous savings, overall - not just financially, but in health benefits, too.

The savings from eliminating juice (and other peripheral beverages), and reducing the coffee consumption, alone, freed up money to spend on local, free-range chicken eggs and fresh, thick, clean milk.

And some changes aren't changes. They're things we've always done, and still feel are the best choice for our home. We still use lard. We still eat meat - red meat, white meat, wild game, you name it. We still have pintos (or some kind of bean) available every day. I've got the boys convinced lentils are cool, but they're relegated to lunchtime only because Zorak thinks they're puny and lacking in body, much preferring the noble pinto. We skimp on junk food and keep a good supply of veggies in the fridge.

The boys are cooking with us more, too. Now that Jase can get up onto the counter and back down, he's pretty, erm, "involved". Em dons her fairy wings and mixes or pours. James made a fantastic guacamole to go with lunch, today. They made a dutch baby (new recipe) and a recipe for German pancakes the other day for breakfast (they did a comparison - and the verdict is, it's the same thing. We ate it all.) Jacob's venturing into the kitchen for a little one-on-one, and learning the ropes as he goes. These are always excellent kitchen happenings!

I'm sure there's more we can do. Probably more we will do. But right now, for this home, and this family, at this point, this is a good place to be.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy