Mom to Mom for Christ: December 2009

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Snow!

Our front pasture and driveway covered in snow.

My daughter came up with this idea of snow cakes. She started by shaping snow in a plastic container and came in asking for a candle. It was a few days past my birthday and she wanted to make me a cake! The best kind...no calories! So together we kept adding things she could experiment with, food coloring, whip cream, marshmallows and sprinkles. It was a great snow day activity and although we didn't really eat any of her snow cakes, we did save a few of her more elaborate creations in the freezer for fun.

Simple Tips for Eating Well

Drink Water... Lots of it! We bought a set of reusable bottles from Reduce.com for each member of our family. They are cute, dishwasher safe, and encourage us to drink more, waste less.

Buy organic dairy and meats ... girls are reaching puberty earlier because of the consumption of hormones in dairy and meat products. It is a matter of health.

Eat fruits and veggies in season. This will offset the additional cost of eating organic dairy and meats. Also eating local when you can, helps support local farmers and reduces the amount of gasoline it takes our food to get to us.

Make your own "Real "bread from fresh ground grain. Invest in a grain mill, and a mixer. They will help make cooking more wholesome, healthy and less expensive.

Purge your pantry of hydrogenated oils and enriched flours. This is a great first step to get you started today! Replace items with whole wheat, or natural alternative. Enriched is not good! It is a warning flag that means highly processed. Instead buy items labeled whole grain. The one place where our family has compromised is peanut butter. We've tried natural peanut butters without hydrogenated oils, but we just prefer Peter Pan. One thing in your pantry eaten in moderation is still a huge improvement over 100 things in your pantry with hydrogenated oils eaten mindlessly. Eating well should be a positive change for your family and your health. Fight the big battles... leave the peanut butter alone if it's going to cause a riot!

Replace corn oil with organic corn oil... Corn is heavily sprayed with pesticides. The oil expressed from conventional corn has concentrated levels of pesticides. Buying organic oil reduces your exposure. Spectrum brand offers great selection of high quality organic oils.

Ditch the boxed stuff... determine what you can make yourself. Granola... Ranch dressing... Brownie mix... oatmeal... make your list and find recipes on the internet. I found a recipe for bullion base, who knew? Make it yourself AND save money!

My favorite kitchen investments:

WonderMill Grain Mill
KitchenAid Mixer
Food Saver Vacuum Sealer
Tribest Personal Blender
Yo- Life Yogurt Maker (although it can be done in a Crock Pot)

Eat well, save money....

Eat well, save money.....
A few years ago, I started thinking about making my own bread. I loved the idea of baking wholesome nutritious bread for our family but we are a fast paced family, and I wondered if I had the time and the energy for one more thing. As time went on, I became convinced of all the reasons I should bake my own bread, from fresh ground flour and the tremendous health benefits, but realistically I wasn't sure I was ready to spend $250 on a grain mill. I was worried that my enthusiasm might just be a phase and it might just end up going to the unused appliance graveyard! After several months of thinking it through seriously, and talking it over with my husband I decided to finally order my grain mill. The two years that followed were a frenzy of bread mishaps. My family graciously ate more than their fair share of mishappen, hardcrusted, underrisen bread. But right from the beginning, even those humble loaves had an amazing taste that just couldn't compare to store bought bread. They kept encouraging me and I kept baking until one day I finally began consistantly getting beautiful, well risen loaves of bread!

Grinding my own grain for bread, was just the beginning. We loved the way the bread tastes and I felt such pride knowing I was feeding my family wholesome nutritious food. Eventully I started grinding grain to make muffins, pancakes, coffee cakes, brownies, anywhere I needed flour. What I didn't expect was all the money it would save us and the way it would change everything about how we eat at home. Since I could grind my own flour, I didn't need to buy flour or all those packaged mixes in the store anymore. Also I found myself making wholesome muffins and hamemade pancakes for Breakfast instead of relying on PopTarts and cereal which save us even more on our grocery budget.

A typical trip to the grocery store use to include non-organic meats and dairy that were cheaper than a typical box of cereal, and plenty of expensive boxed items, loaded with enriched flours, sugar and hydrogentated oils. Now our shopping trips are more reflective of our values. We buy slightly more expensive organic meats and dairy and when possible, in season fruits and veggies. I get most of the whole grains and bread baking supplies I need from a local Mennonite market where I can order grain 25-50 lbs at a time and bulk local honey as I need it. We are eating better and spending much less money, as I realized that I could make eating healthy and convenient for our family. Changing our food values has encouraged me to think about our food choices, and have fun learning at make new things at home . For us, it has been a gradual process over two years, but we are healthier and enjoying real food.

I still have several projects in the works... I hope to learn to make fresh mozzarella at home, for a tomato basil recipe we love, and I would love to have a mostly heirloom garden some day (with the help of my sweet husband who does 95% of the gardening around our house). I recently bought a food saver, which has been my second favorite purchase only to my grain mill. It has made putting together healthy wholesome food even quicker and easier with vacuum sealed home made pantry mixes. We are also making an effort to buy only locally farmed organic meats and prepping them Fresh-Market style then vacuum packing them for freshness and convenience. I hope to also try making graham crackers soon. Yesterday I went to the grocery store and bought a few things and mindlessly grabbed two boxes of graham crackers without reading the label. As I was putting them away it occurred to me to check the ingredients, the1st ingredient was enriched flour... 6th or seventh down hydrogenated cottonseed oil... ok those are out, but first I have to find a recipe to make them myself... we can definitely do better than that!

It is my hope that this site will be a place where we can share ideas, prayer requests and encouragement in everyday life.Grab a cup of tea, or a stack of laundry :) and enjoy!

Warmly In Christ,
Melissa

Mom to Mom for Christ

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Snow!

Snow Cakes!

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Eat well, save money....

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