Since starting our new adventure in eating whole, organic, local foods, I have learned a lot. One of the thigns I have learned is that what I used to think was "normal" really isn't. Here is what I mean.
Have you ever had an egg from a free-range chicken who has been fed some of the best stuff. The inside of the egg is actually a different color. When I cracked open my first one, I just stared at it. It was orange. I mean bright orange. I actually had to call my mother to make sure it was ok to eat. Can you believe that!!! I was so used to the eggs from the grovery store that when I was faced with one of the healthiest eggs I could possible have I actually doubted if it was ok to eat. Truthfully, the experience kind of shook me up. If this was true with eggs, what else have I been eating that really was an impostor for the real thing. It turns out, a lot of things I have been eating are impostors.
Using the amazing website called Local Harvest and the advice of a friend, I was able to track down a farm 10 miles from my house that raises grass fed cows and pigs and is organically certified. We currently are receiving, milk, eggs, pork and beef from them. From the moment I first tried any and all of these I knew that there was no turning back. It was all so amazingly good that I can't even imagine buying from the grocery store ever again. And that is purely based upon the taste!
As you can imagine, the cost for such delicious delicacies is much higher than I used to pay. Which means, that from now on, mean is a side dish in our home. In fact two to three meals a week are without meat. In all truth I think this is a good thing. I am sure we will be feeling a lot healthier by eating more veggies and less meat.
The other really fun part is what we have been able to do with the milk. What we receive is raw milk, which means we get the small delight of having the cream on top. This makes fro some delicious baking. We also have made yogurt, kefir, cheese, butter and buttermilk.
The recipes can be found on this wonderful website. (you should try the ginger-ale, its delicious!)
Here is good instructions on how to make butter.
The yogurt and cheese was delicious. In fact my husband and I did the cheese together and had a great time while making it.
Making butter was fun, but tiring.
I did not like kefir and the buttermilk was easy, but got wasted since I don't use it much.
All in all, I am extremely happy with these changes in our life. the change has been pretty easy, with the hardest part being budgeting, but I'm getting the hang of it.
Still to come, fruit and veggies, grains, and cooking.
Jen, I will be honest with you. I was happy and sad at the same time reading this. You are on the right track, but you would do well to omit pork from you diet completely. #1, it is not "food" ~ only that which God says is clean is fit to eat. Even organic pork contains parasites and worms that cannot be killed in our kitchen. Pigs are decomposers and eat dead things, they do not have a way to remove toxins, so we eat those toxins when we eat swine flesh ~ we were not meant to eat them, period. You wouldn't think of eating a vulture or other scavenger bird would you? God gave us his wonderful law because it is good for us. Everything else looks great and I am so happy for you. Real food is amazing! Just make sure you are eating "food!"
ReplyDelete