Simplifying, health and Nourishing Traditions...

Along with our simplifying as well as trying to save money like crazy...the first thing I thought of was meal planning, eating healthy and saving money. Ok...I'm working on that, and it seems to be working out well. The second thing I thought of was saving money on supplements. So...again, I poured over all of my books, prayed, and God has showed us (and is still showing us) a plan for health and thrift....as naturally as possible. I've been reading and putting some things into practice from Nourishing Traditions. It is a book by Sally Fallon, who follows the health studies from the Weston A Price Foundation. You can check out their extensive website here (hope the link works) Most of what is in the book is really good old-fashioned common sense, as well as centuries old practices of preparing food.

Here is some of what we are doing. You'll see jars sitting out on counters here, or in cupboards. The one on the left is 'beet kvass'...a wonderful blood and liver tonic, the one in the middle is my 'kombucha'...also a good liver tonic as well as loaded with enzymes and 'good' bacteria. The white one on the right is my kefir. I culture this daily, and make smoothies with frozen unsweetened strawberries that everyone likes...and it has so much more good bacteria even than yogart does...and is so much easier to make than homemade yogart!

This is not a complete tutorial...you can go to youtube and watch any tutorials on making these things that explain it very well. This is what my kefir 'grains' look like when strained. There are different schools of thought as to using metal utensils/spoons or not....from what I've read it doesn't make a difference.

Here is how I drain the kefir into my blender. Simple, isn't it?

This is a picture of the tea for the kombucha brewing while the 'mother' kombucha culture (some call mushroom) waits to be added.

And here is my glass of cold kombucha with ice ready to be enjoyed as well! It is really good...tastes like a cross between 'sweet' iced tea and ginger ale.

Along with doing these things, we're eating lots of broth. I've been making my own homemade broth for years....origionally because it tasted better. Then, because it was cheaper....now I know how rich in health benefits homemade bone broth is! I make chicken, turkey, beef, and vegetable broth...and even when I make the veggie broth, I throw in 1 or 2 beef bones to the broth.

What does this all have to do with supplements? Well...since we're boosting our nutrition thru food, and getting our good bacteria from yogart and kefir....I'm not buying probiotics anymore, and not giving a multi-vitamin everyday. We're also drinking our 'green lemonade' and carrot juice....the only supplements that I haven't figured out how to cut down or out completely is evening primrose oil for me, and cod liver oil.

So...as we're on this journey to simplify, save money, cut costs and do it in a healthy manner....cutting back on our meat consumption, eating more 'raw' foods....making everything we can from scratch and focusing on our meals and supplements has allowed us to save money...and be healthy. Does all of this take time and planning? Absolutely! Doing things in a simple way doesn't mean easy. Would it be easier for us to not cook everything from scratch? Sure! But it is so much cheaper and healthier for us to cook and eat whole grains, salads, fruits and veggies, and culture some of our food. I will say, that shopping at Aldi's once a week for our main shopping has saved us a ton! And, what I buy there is very healthy. Buying in bulk once a month from a natural foods co-op, Trader Joe's once a month, and costco once a month...then planning my meals accordingly also saves us quite a bit. We're still praying and planning on other ways to save money and cut costs as well. More in future posts as the Lord leads. I'm also reading everything I can as to the 'old-fashioned' ways of doing things....and now have 3 nice long clothes lines in my basement, more planned for outside when Spring arrives, and a garden this year. ( we haven't had a garden since we moved 3 years ago)....also learning to dehydrate, canning more and now...even making homemade ketchup! (did you know ketchup is loaded with high fructose corn syrup, and how bad it is for your health?!)

Anyway....off to get snacks for the kids, switch loads of laundry before Ty wakes up from his nap, then make our kefir smoothies. May the Lord bless you abundantly! ~Sue~