Yesterday, the kids and I finally went to the raw dairy (Swan Brothers) in Claremore. It is about 25 minutes from where we live. I don't don't why I was sort of expecting to see some cow milking, but I was thinking it would be more a "field trip" than it turned out to be. That is where the disappointment stops, though. The milk is so creamy and delicious and I feel really good about giving it to my kids...and myself :) I've got a batch of raw yogurt "incubating" now. The yogurt maker has been great. I lied and didn't post pictures of the first batch...because it just looks like yogurt. It is tart and yummy and the kids are gobbling it up. I've been adding half of a mashed banana and/or some pureed mango, along with some local honey...and it is so yummy. I haven't fully researched the benefits of raw milk, but I know it is healthy and am grateful to have access to it. I paid $15.00 for 4 gallons (cheap!) and put a couple of those in the freezer for next week. We'll be returning the the dairy for more fresh milk soon :)
Love,
Kate
Showing posts with label health and nutrition. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health and nutrition. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
"Let Food Be Thy Medicine." -Hippocrates
People seem to think that our family has a pretty healthy diet. If that means that we absolutely do not go to McDonalds, they are right. If that means we do not have a HUGE tub of sour cream in our fridge, they are wrong :)
We haven't always been the healthiest of eaters. Like most things that last, it has been (and continues to be) a gradual process; we are becoming more aware and more disciplined and creative with each passing year. Friends keep asking me to post recipes on my blog, so I will continue to do that. It is fun to get new ideas from other families. I am so guilty of thinking things are so hard and impossible and time-consuming (like making tortillas) and then finding out after years of avoiding that "thing" that it really is super easy.
One thing we do, that may be a little different is giving our boys the same food that we are eating, from about the time they are 7-8 months old. Like today, we made taco salad, and instead of giving Max a jar of carrots, or just the cheese and avocado, we take everything that we are eating and blend it up in our mini food processor for him to eat. Maybe we've just gotten lucky with kids that will generally eat anything, and occasionally Levi will tell me, "I don't like that!"...but I think that they have been trained to accept a variety of tastes and textures. For instance, if I am making a somewhat spicy Indian curry, I will blend up the rice and curry and stir it into some whole milk yogurt. Here's a snack tip too. Sometimes we give them the typical cheerios or goldfish, but do you know what is way better? They love snacking on garbanzo beans! I make them from dry beans (from the bulk section at Whole Foods) and put just a tiny bit of salt in the water and that is a great, nutritious (and inexpensive) snack that wastes essentially nothing...no big boxes to throw away or recycle.
Back to taco salads. We eat them a lot. They are just so easy to throw together, especially since we eat vegetarian ones. I think choosing not to buy much meat helps leave room in our budget for buying more organics. I definitely can't afford to buy everything at Whole Foods, but there are a few things that I always buy organic. Like apples, lettuces, parsley, cilantro, potatoes, etc. Things that are not as important to get organically grown (from a nutritional standpoint) are: Bananas, avocados, broccoli, and onions. We often do not buy organic tomatoes, but at Sam's there are ones that are certified pesticide-free. That works for me. I, personally feel so much better when I eat well. Not to mention, my kids are in their formative years, and I really don't want them taking in a lot of chemicals, pesticides, or preservatives.
And a note about Sam's...I broke up with that Walmart big box place several months ago, but we recently got back together. Walmart and Sam's are absolutely terrible in so many ways. They have essentially put out all of the mom-and-pop owned grocery stores, hardware stores, and countless other types of stores and small businesses across the nation. They exploit so many people and nations in order for us to get our cheap things. I hate them for that. I believe that I do vote with my dollar, and I really try to support local businesses as often as I can. I don't buy a lot at Sam's and I rarely go to Walmart (except to develop pictures or pick up Zach's insulin,) but I did the math and figured that I would save about $100 per year on mixed greens alone if I got back together with Sam's. We go through about a container a week, and they are 3.99 at Sam's and 5.99 at Reasors and Whole Foods. So now, when I walk into Sam's, I know that I can only buy 5 or 6 things, and they all have to be ridiculously healthy. Otherwise, it is no longer saving me money or making my life better. I will buy a pack of 5 avocados, mixed greens, a huge bag of fresh broccoli, a 2lb block of Tillamook cheese, and a big bag of almonds or walnuts, or something like that.
I also wanted to share that fish oil is a potent anti-depressant and mood stabilizer. It works for me anyway. I take a couple of teaspoons a day (at separate times) mixed with apple juice. If I stay on my fish oil, I don't need to take any anti-depressants at all. I wish I would have known about fish oil supplementation when I was 20 :) Oh well.
Here are some pics from today's taco salads:
Oh yeah, and in the one with Levi's funny face, he is not crying. He is having so much fun, he can hardly contain himself. In the one with Max's hand at his mouth, he is signing "eat." What a love. Hope you've enjoyed this post. I'd love to hear if you liked any of the ideas and would like to hear if you have any similar ideas for me. Thank you for reading!
We haven't always been the healthiest of eaters. Like most things that last, it has been (and continues to be) a gradual process; we are becoming more aware and more disciplined and creative with each passing year. Friends keep asking me to post recipes on my blog, so I will continue to do that. It is fun to get new ideas from other families. I am so guilty of thinking things are so hard and impossible and time-consuming (like making tortillas) and then finding out after years of avoiding that "thing" that it really is super easy.
One thing we do, that may be a little different is giving our boys the same food that we are eating, from about the time they are 7-8 months old. Like today, we made taco salad, and instead of giving Max a jar of carrots, or just the cheese and avocado, we take everything that we are eating and blend it up in our mini food processor for him to eat. Maybe we've just gotten lucky with kids that will generally eat anything, and occasionally Levi will tell me, "I don't like that!"...but I think that they have been trained to accept a variety of tastes and textures. For instance, if I am making a somewhat spicy Indian curry, I will blend up the rice and curry and stir it into some whole milk yogurt. Here's a snack tip too. Sometimes we give them the typical cheerios or goldfish, but do you know what is way better? They love snacking on garbanzo beans! I make them from dry beans (from the bulk section at Whole Foods) and put just a tiny bit of salt in the water and that is a great, nutritious (and inexpensive) snack that wastes essentially nothing...no big boxes to throw away or recycle.
Back to taco salads. We eat them a lot. They are just so easy to throw together, especially since we eat vegetarian ones. I think choosing not to buy much meat helps leave room in our budget for buying more organics. I definitely can't afford to buy everything at Whole Foods, but there are a few things that I always buy organic. Like apples, lettuces, parsley, cilantro, potatoes, etc. Things that are not as important to get organically grown (from a nutritional standpoint) are: Bananas, avocados, broccoli, and onions. We often do not buy organic tomatoes, but at Sam's there are ones that are certified pesticide-free. That works for me. I, personally feel so much better when I eat well. Not to mention, my kids are in their formative years, and I really don't want them taking in a lot of chemicals, pesticides, or preservatives.
And a note about Sam's...I broke up with that Walmart big box place several months ago, but we recently got back together. Walmart and Sam's are absolutely terrible in so many ways. They have essentially put out all of the mom-and-pop owned grocery stores, hardware stores, and countless other types of stores and small businesses across the nation. They exploit so many people and nations in order for us to get our cheap things. I hate them for that. I believe that I do vote with my dollar, and I really try to support local businesses as often as I can. I don't buy a lot at Sam's and I rarely go to Walmart (except to develop pictures or pick up Zach's insulin,) but I did the math and figured that I would save about $100 per year on mixed greens alone if I got back together with Sam's. We go through about a container a week, and they are 3.99 at Sam's and 5.99 at Reasors and Whole Foods. So now, when I walk into Sam's, I know that I can only buy 5 or 6 things, and they all have to be ridiculously healthy. Otherwise, it is no longer saving me money or making my life better. I will buy a pack of 5 avocados, mixed greens, a huge bag of fresh broccoli, a 2lb block of Tillamook cheese, and a big bag of almonds or walnuts, or something like that.
I also wanted to share that fish oil is a potent anti-depressant and mood stabilizer. It works for me anyway. I take a couple of teaspoons a day (at separate times) mixed with apple juice. If I stay on my fish oil, I don't need to take any anti-depressants at all. I wish I would have known about fish oil supplementation when I was 20 :) Oh well.
Here are some pics from today's taco salads:
Oh yeah, and in the one with Levi's funny face, he is not crying. He is having so much fun, he can hardly contain himself. In the one with Max's hand at his mouth, he is signing "eat." What a love. Hope you've enjoyed this post. I'd love to hear if you liked any of the ideas and would like to hear if you have any similar ideas for me. Thank you for reading!
Sunday, November 22, 2009
no holiday ham for me, thank you.
We watched Food Inc. a couple of weeks ago and if you haven't seen it, you might want to. We don't eat much meat as it is, but now (i can assure you) we are eating even less. What's worse is that I often do not cook meat at the house, but will have it when we go out. Now, I will try to turn that around a bit. I am still thinking about different parts of the film every day. And I still can't look at the meat in the supermarket. It bothers me. Chickens bred to grow so fast that they cannot even walk. 100 different cows that have been knee-deep in manure, contributing to a single hamburger. The larger the animal, the more I was bothered. Not to mention, the substandard working conditions for meat-packing employees. It is grotesque the things that are done to make a buck. The love of money truly is the source of all types of evil.
The day after watching the film, I placed my order with the Oklahoma Food Co-op for some grass-fed beef (which is super-high in omega-3's) and some local honey and butternut squash. You If you live in Oklahoma, I would encourage you to check it out. Similarly, I have been wanting to take the kids to visit the Swan Brothers dairy farm to purchase some raw milk. If you want to join us, let me know :)
The day after watching the film, I placed my order with the Oklahoma Food Co-op for some grass-fed beef (which is super-high in omega-3's) and some local honey and butternut squash. You If you live in Oklahoma, I would encourage you to check it out. Similarly, I have been wanting to take the kids to visit the Swan Brothers dairy farm to purchase some raw milk. If you want to join us, let me know :)
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