Traditional Food.

Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon.

This book has forever changed my life.

I know that is a bold statement. . . but it has.

A few weeks ago, a friend recommended this book to me. I jumped on Amazon to look it over and I and snagged it right on up.  I did some digging around and came upon a few other books that intrigued me as well and I snagged those up too. I will list them below. Fortunately, I am an Amazon Prime member and I didn't have to wait very long for my books to arrive. Because patience isn't one of my best traits.

I dug right on in to these books and I haven't put them down since.

They are basically recipe books.  But oh so much more.

They look at nutrition and health from an entirely different perspective. One that totally makes sense to me.  I have been having tons of problems. . .what I would call old age problems. . .but I am hoping I can "fix" some of these problems, just by changing our eating habits. Which needed to be fixed anyway.

What impressed me the most about the book is the amount of old knowledge and wisdom in them.

Knowledge that is getting lost.

I love knowledge. I love to learn new things and I especially love practical knowledge like this.

I have to admit. . .some (or a lot!) of the recipes kind of gross me out.  Who would think to boil chicken feet?  Not this girl.  But when I mentioned this to my mom, she said, "oh, yeah!  My grandpa used to have us suck on chicken feet and they weren't bad at all." 
FYI. . .there is only one mention of chicken's feet, but it stuck with me! 

Anyway, even if you do not adopt the practices mentioned in the book. . .they are a wealth of information.  And really, who can't benefit from eating less processed and more whole foods?  

Here is my favorite recipe book out of the bunch

From Scratch by Shaye Elliott

I've tried several of her recipes and they are all spot on and delicious! I've made three batches of her wheat bread already!  It is super easy! I've never been a bread maker.  I'd make rolls once or twice a year, but that's it.  The rolls are super time consuming.  This wheat bread is SUPER SIMPLE and DELICIOUS! She also has a great blog, The Elliott Homestead.

the Nourished Kitchen by Jennifer McGruther
This book is a little bit more out of my comfort zone.  Some of her recipes sound really interesting and I can't wait to try them!



Our garden is growing like crazy and I can't wait to harvest our first vegetables and use some of these recipes.

Right now, I am focusing on gaining knowledge and making little steps toward a more traditional lifestyle.  This is a big undertaking. It takes more ahead of time prep (like a day or more ahead of time) and that is tough for me. But probably really good for me too. I'm so bad about planning ahead for meals. I will do good here and there, but there are many nights that it is five o'clock or after and I have no idea what we are going to have for supper. I'm hoping (and so far it's working) this will make me plan ahead and be a little more organized!

I just wanted to share with you how much I have been enjoying reading through these books... you just can't believe the amount of knowledge in Nourishing Traditions!  The recipes are in the center of the page. . .and there is a side bar on each page that is where the history of certain foods and preparation methods are. And a few facts you probably didn't want to know about items we eat.  :(

Happy Reading!  

MB





 

handwriting. . .

So I was looking through a Recipe/Memorial book that my family completed after the death of my much beloved Grandmother Tracy in 2000. We were all devastated by the loss of her and we were terrified that her memories would forever be lost to us. In 2000 my sister, some cousins, and myself had just recently discovered this thing we call scrapbooking. . .so we hadn't done much more than purchase some things here and there.

ANYWAY. . . we compiled this book of some of my Grandma's favorite and most famous recipes. . . plus a few pictures of family food and get togethers! I wish we had done a little better job, but I LOVE that we did do it!

I have a HUGE strawberry patch and I was searching for a strawberry preserves recipe. . .so I pulled out this book, because this was one of my Grandma's most famous recipe (she had a bunch)! Now, I have looked through this book a million times, but today it particularly struck a chord with me. Right there in front of me, in my Grandmother's own handwriting was her famous Strawberry Preserves Recipe. I can't imagine much more precious than this. . . such a true treasure. . .seeing her words in her own handwriting.

Now my point is. . . I know not all of us love our handwriting OR we just don't know exactly what to say in our journaling. BUT, let me tell you how important your handwriting is! These recipes just wouldn't be the same if they were typed on a computer. . .as much as I love my computer and gadgets. . . you just can't beat how personal handwriting is!

Seeing her handwriting makes me feel a little closer to her. . .like I still have a part of her with me. Kind of sappy i know. . .but these recipes made me feel a bit sappy.

I am not saying that ALL of your journaling needs to be handwritten. . .I know how nice computer generated journaling can look. . . BUT make sure you have bits of your handwriting somewhere in your Memory books. . . .Even if you just write a name or a date here or there. . . what a treasure for your family. . . they might too feel like they still have a piece of you with them . . .


Here is part of the first picking from my Strawberry Patch. . . I have since picked MANY more than this!!!

Here is the recipe for Irene Tracy's Strawberry Preserves. . . .

1 1/2 quarts fresh strawberries
2 1/2 Cups sugar
1/3 Cup lemon juice

Combine all ingredients. Heat slowly to boiling point- then cook rapidly 8-10 minutes-stirring frequently-mixture will be thin-will thicken as they set at room temperature at least 24 hours. Then several days in the fridge-stir once in awhile all during the thickening process-put in containers and freeze.

Probably why this recipe brings back such fond memories is that it was usually accompanied by her famous hot rolls. . . OR on bread day she would fry the left over dough in butter and we would slather it with the preserves. . . . such a good memory. . .I can almost taste it now!!!!!