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Post by jen51 on Jun 24, 2017 13:02:25 GMT -5
I've applied the principles of traditional cooking loosely in my home for the past few years, but have recently dove deep into it. I'm convinced the health benefits are worth it.
A traditional diet is generally characterized by a few things: -Eating foods in their whole form, i.e. No processed foods. This means whole grain, natural sugars like honey and maple syrup, raw milk and cheese, and I'm sure it goes without saying, no prepackaged foods. -A diet high in Saturated fats and omega 3's. Lard, real butter, ghee, coconut oil, palm oil, etc -A diet high in fermented foods, organ meats and bone broth
There are other things, but those are the big ones. The premis of this way of eating is based upon thriving cultures of the past- modeling what they did before industry came along.
Don't get me wrong, we still indulge in the sweet stuff and eat things that aren't made from whole ingredients, but they are the exception now, not the norm. One thing that has been difficult for me is grains. Soaking (lightly fermenting) grains is a must in a traditional diet, so it takes a lot of planning and adjustment to get into a normal routine with it. As well as soaking, I do sourdough. We drink a lot of raw milk and make yogurt and kefir and cheese. I am generous with fats when I cook, and bone broth is a regular part of our diet.
When I met my husband, he had some very bothersome health issues caused by candida, and he doesn't have much of a problem with it anymore. Thanks to this way of life, we both have much better gut health and general well being.
Anyone else a fan of traditional cooking?
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Post by mundacormeum on Jun 24, 2017 13:16:59 GMT -5
It's definitely something I am interested in. It seems to me to be a good option for healthy living. At the same time, it all seems so overwhelming! I usually start researching, then give up because I can't just do it all in one swoop. If I can't do it ALL, I'd rather do nothing . It's a personal flaw of mine. I can be that way about Catholicism and prayer, too. If I miss morning prayer, I may as well give up for the day, because it's not "perfect." Alrighty.....now I'm rambling off topic
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Post by Jayne on Jun 24, 2017 13:18:57 GMT -5
This has been my ideal for cooking for years, ever since I read the book Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. I just discovered that she has a blog when I looked it up just now because I was having trouble remembering the exact name. linkI suspect that Jen's interest in this is one of the reasons I like her so much. But it could just be because she is really nice.
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Post by Jayne on Jun 24, 2017 13:26:58 GMT -5
It's definitely something I am interested in. It seems to me to be a good option for healthy living. At the same time, it all seems so overwhelming! I usually start researching, then give up because I can't just do it all in one swoop. If I can't do it ALL, I'd rather do nothing . It's a personal flaw of mine. I can be that way about Catholicism and prayer, too. If I miss morning prayer, I may as well give up for the day, because it's not "perfect." Alrighty.....now I'm rambling off topic I think it would be almost impossible to adopt this approach to food all at once, especially when one has young children. But it could probably be managed one recipe at a time. For example, set a goal for every month or so of learning a new technique. For example, decide to make your own broth. When that no longer feels challenging, add the next thing, perhaps yogurt. Even though I consider traditional cooking the ideal, I am nowhere near to having switched over completely. Try to be more gently with yourself, Munda. It may help you to be more gentle with your children (if that is even an issue for you).
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Post by jen51 on Jun 24, 2017 13:36:01 GMT -5
This has been my ideal for cooking for years, ever since I read the book Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. I just discovered that she has a blog when I looked it up just now because I was having trouble remembering the exact name. linkI suspect that Jen's interest in this is one of the reasons I like her so much. But it could just be because she is really nice. Thanks, Jayne! Nourishing traditions is a wonderful cookbook to have. A great place for beginners, while still being a must have for veterans. My copy is well used. I've had my eye on the beet kvass and sweet potato soda for a long time now, I need to just try them already!
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Post by jen51 on Jun 24, 2017 13:53:31 GMT -5
Wise words, Jayne. I've been getting my feet wet slowly the past few years. It started with yogurt, then ferments, then I tried my hand at cheese and stock, and then jumped on the kefir wagon, etc etc. At this point I have gained the confidence I needed to really dive in. Actually one of the first things I did, which doesn't require much learning, was simply change what fats I cook with after understanding why saturated fats aren't the murderous villains that the FDA makes them out to be. Vegetable and canola oil are big no-no's, so I ditched them. Truly, there is nothing that absolutely has to have refined oils in it. It can always be replaced with some sort of better fat. Munda, one resource that has been so incredibly helpful to me is ""traditional Cooking School." She has awesome, to the point ebooks and instructional videos. traditionalcookingschool.com/
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Post by Clotilde on Jun 24, 2017 14:06:50 GMT -5
I would definitely say that this book has some influence on my cooking, but also that a good deal of it was what I grew up with, excluding the grains.
I think my strongest area is probably use of fats, bones, and meat. I have a good thing going with this. I've really learned how to use as much as I can. I am trying to overcome some of the prejudices of the American palate (liver, etc.) but it's really, really hard.
Generally, our way of eating is a protein and fresh vegetables. When they are not in season we rely on potatoes and rice. I do make rice often because it is really hard to make so much food for a big family and have some leftovers.
I have not met a fermented food that I like yet. I'm trying, but kimchee almost killed me.
We also used to drink drink raw milk and I would make butter but I just could not afford to keep up with our needs. We live in an area with high raw milk prices and I have to drive to another state because there are few dairy farms where I live. Since we moved, I have not looked into it again, but I generally do not drink milk, either. I actually don't like to drink milk, I would rather cook with it. So, that kinda puts me at working with vegetables and meats.
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Post by jen51 on Jun 24, 2017 14:46:02 GMT -5
Kimchi is terrible, I agree! I don't think I'll ever try it again. My favorite ferments are radishes and dill carrots. Cultures for health has a free book on lacto fermentation that I have used a lot for recipes. www.culturesforhealth.com/learn/free-ebooksWe are so fortunate with raw milk. My husbands second job is at a raw milk creamery, so we get a discount. We get it for $4/gallon. Having a cow would be ideal for us, but we aren't in a situation in life to have one right now.
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Post by mundacormeum on Jun 24, 2017 15:44:26 GMT -5
$4 a gallon is a steal! It's not even legal to sell in my state.
We have a Chinese pickling crock that we make various pickled veggies in, and we love it. We go in phases with it, though. We make our own chicken broth, and I have some beef bones in the freezer for beef broth, but I have yet to make stock. We raise our own beef and pork, but don't have chickens, yet....it's on "the list". We do a lot of dried beans, but I rarely soak them....I always forget. I don't buy organic, because it is so expensive, but the vast majority of my ingredients for recipes is fresh fruits and veggies. Most of our meals are made from scratch, as well. Every now and then I'll opt for the convenience of a box meal, but it's not too often. I quit using the canned cream of everything soups years ago....haven't looked back! We do eat pasta, rice, and bread (many of my breads are homemade), but I don't do whole grains. Same with desserts....homemade over boxed most of the time, but still using (un bleached) white flour and white sugar (I do get a huge tub of unrefined cane sugar once a year, and use it until it's gone, but I'll use whIt sugar otherwise). My biggest deterrent is salty snacks. We like our chips and crackers. But, we also do a lot of fresh fruits and veggies as snacks, too, so I guess that helps.
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Post by mundacormeum on Jun 24, 2017 15:45:30 GMT -5
I'd like a milk cow, too, but I'm afraid of the time commitment. I'm already tapped out, and having kids do it still means I have to oversee and manage to make sure it gets done.
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Post by mariac on Jun 29, 2017 12:53:35 GMT -5
This has been my ideal for cooking for years, ever since I read the book Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. I just discovered that she has a blog when I looked it up just now because I was having trouble remembering the exact name. linkI suspect that Jen's interest in this is one of the reasons I like her so much. But it could just be because she is really nice. Thanks, Jayne! Nourishing traditions is a wonderful cookbook to have. A great place for beginners, while still being a must have for veterans. My copy is well used. I've had my eye on the beet kvass and sweet potato soda for a long time now, I need to just try them already! I love the Nourishing Traditions cookbook. We've been doing that type of cooking for maybe 4-5 years. Closest raw milk source is 45-60 minutes away, so we do lower temp pasteurized milk from Natural Grocers. I make really, really good yogurt, also.
Edited to add - would love to try beet kvass sometime. Also saw a recipe for a fermented cherry drink that I'd like to try.
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Post by jen51 on Jun 29, 2017 13:06:23 GMT -5
Thanks, Jayne! Nourishing traditions is a wonderful cookbook to have. A great place for beginners, while still being a must have for veterans. My copy is well used. I've had my eye on the beet kvass and sweet potato soda for a long time now, I need to just try them already! I love the Nourishing Traditions cookbook. We've been doing that type of cooking for maybe 4-5 years. Closest raw milk source is 45-60 minutes away, so we do lower temp pasteurized milk from Natural Grocers. I make really, really good yogurt, also.
Edited to add - would love to try beet kvass sometime. Also saw a recipe for a fermented cherry drink that I'd like to try.
I recently saw a recipe for a fermented cherry drink as well! I wonder if he saw the same one. l recently found a recipe for thick raw milk yogurt. The benefits of raw milk, plus all of the probiotics! I'm excited to try it.
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Post by Marya Dabrowski on Jul 1, 2017 10:27:53 GMT -5
We don't do much. We have a big garden, I can and freeze, make kefir, just started making yogurt thanks to you ladies, bake bread that is fermented overnight in water with kefir added, grind my own wheat berries, eat organic cows and a local pig, raise our own chickens (still haven't started this year), make kombucha, drink a lot of water, and get raw organic milk from a local farmer. Sounds like a lot, BUT, I still buy a lot from the store, eat macaroni and hotdogs, buy freezies, used canned cream of XY soups, drink de-caf coffee and my husband drinks monster drinks. But...every year I found I'm doing more; canning more, preserving more, etc...
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Post by jen51 on Jul 1, 2017 10:45:58 GMT -5
We don't do much. We have a big garden, I can and freeze, make kefir, just started making yogurt thanks to you ladies, bake bread that is fermented overnight in water with kefir added, grind my own wheat berries, eat organic cows and a local pig, raise our own chickens (still haven't started this year), make kombucha, drink a lot of water, and get raw organic milk from a local farmer. Sounds like a lot, BUT, I still buy a lot from the store, eat macaroni and hotdogs, buy freezies, used canned cream of XY soups, drink de-caf coffee and my husband drinks monster drinks. But...every year I found I'm doing more; canning more, preserving more, etc... Sometimes you just need some macaroni and cheese! I served some for dinner the other day and my husband looked at me weird when I put it on the table. Not because he wasn't happy with it, but because I have been repeating everything I've been learning about traditional cooking to him for the past couple years and store bought mac and cheese is the opposite of that. But everyone enjoyed it and it made the family happy. If I keep going with the traditional diet, adding new things and changing slowly, I'm sure that one day without even realizing it, the desire for mac and cheese will be gone. I don't have an interest in being militant about it, because I think it would make home life less enjoyable for my family.
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Post by jen51 on Jul 1, 2017 10:53:30 GMT -5
Do you do the second ferment on kombucha, Marya? If so, what are your favorite flavors?
We aren't currently making kombucha. My husband really likes it if it isn't fermented long, but I say that it's counterproductive doing it that way because the sugar isn't completely gone if it isn't fermented long enough. He doesn't like it strong. It's just too much of a hassle to keep up with if it's not going to benefit our health so we stopped. I've been thinking about starting up again to see if maybe our taste for it has changed.
Cultures for health is having 25% of starter cultures today so I'm thinking about starting water kefir again.
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