My Whole Foods Journey Continues

Lacto-Fermented Apple Chutney

Well, I'm not even sure how long it has been since I've posted. These summer  months have flown by without my accomplishing even half of what I imagined I might, and could have, done. Instead, I became totally engrossed in this quest to improve my family's diet and even now am scrambling for a sense of organization in this area with school fast approaching. If you have not attempted eating only "outside of the box," meaning no processed foods, you cannot imagine the panic and frustration when your toddler repeatedly comes to you asking for cookies and chips (and wandering to the pantry wondering why they are no longer there). Well, that alone is enough to convince me that I am doing the right thing by changing the way we eat. But it is SO hard!

Aside from the bigger picture of learning to eat new things, there are all kinds of smaller goals to accomplish. Learning to bake bread, well, learning to make almost everything! I've always considered myself a homemade kind of person, but you never realize how much you come to depend on convenience foods until they are no longer there.

So far, I've had many successes, but also many failures. I haven't yet made what I would consider a good loaf of sandwich bread, and I can't make sourdough english muffins to save my life (but I do have a living starter on my counter which I feed diligently every day). I have, however, made some lovely light sandwich buns, homemade breakfast cereal, and lacto-fermented pickles (what?). The things I have made and failed to make are too numerous to list.

The challenge of eating whole foods comes in three parts: learning to eat differently, learning to cook differently (and a lot more), and making it work with your budget. The first requires a desire and an openness, the second requires time and lots of patience (and a thick skin), and the third requires diligence.

It's amazing how quickly I went from balking at the $3 expensive eggs in the grocery store to not batting an eye at $4 for local eggs and $7 for raw milk. And don't think you can pop out for a pound of grass-fed beef for anywhere close to a grocery store price. BUT...It is doable. We eat less, but better quality meat, and because we aren't buying all the processed convenience foods, there is a little extra money for all the good stuff!

I started out this mission with a vague idea of what it meant to eat whole foods. I had a set of rules and a lot to go by on the Internet. It wasn't long before I found myself swimming in the Nourishing Traditions pool, which is an even greater challenge than just whole foods. Everything requires forethought and planning. Because grains must be soaked or sprouted, there are no impromptu cookies or brownies, and because unrefined sugars are so much more expensive than refined sugar, cookies and brownies are fewer and far between (which is probably a good thing). I have also discovered the joys of lacto-fermentation. I will not even attempt to explain what that is about because it falls under the realm of "sciency stuff." I read the explanation and say to myself, "That makes sense," and then promptly forget it. I have successfully made pickles by this method and currently have ketchup and 5-spice apple chutney in the works. It's amazing to actually see the bubbling, fermenting going on in those jars!

It has been a crazy couple of months and I have purchased things I never thought I'd own, like a grain mill and a food dehydrator. I have learned that grain-free usually means expensive, and that it is okay to fail now and then. I have also learned from several other bloggers that food is not my god, and that eating a certain way should not become an idol (and it easily can). I have also learned that my family is remarkably flexible (or they just really love me alot) and when I think of the craziness of it all (even done for our own good) I don't see how I could ever be mad at any of them after how well they have stood up under this strange invasion of weird foods.

Today my teenager was following a recipe for raw almond butter truffles and he said, "I've never even heard of half of these ingredients." But he didn't say it in a bad way!

What I need to be perfectly happy in my whole foods lifestyle...

First, I need a grain mill, and I am working on that. They are SO expensive! I was hoping to find a used one, but so far no luck. I found one on Ebay, but so did some other people. It's kind of hard to shop on Ebay when you are non-competitive and on a budget! I also need some canning equipment, and a large freezer, and maybe some bread baking lessons.

Also, and take it with a grain of salt, I need some laying hens, a couple of dairy cows, and a small farm for a garden. Is that too much to ask? If you knew me at all, you would laugh, because surely I am joking, right?

For most of my adult life I have lived sedately suburban. As a child, the wild places were my playground and I romped endlessly and heedless of danger through unknown parts on imaginary adventures. I didn't stomp loudly on dedicated pathways scanning the perimeter for snakes or live in fear of poisonous spiders lurking...well, everywhere.

During four of my elementary years I had the privilege of living in a German village while my father was stationed in Germany with the Air Force. I loved it. We were immersed in the village life, farm life, living in community with others. I spent much time on a particular farm where we watched and helped in the birthing of calves, had warm fresh milk squirted into our mouths, and enjoyed the foods and benefits of farm living. I will say that the chickens scared me to death. Even to this day I would probably rather birth a calf than collect eggs from chickens.

Then we moved back to America and I had to become normal again (I found that my years in Germany had made me peculiar in ways that did not aid me in "fitting in"). For years I secretly held onto the dream of owning a small farm (on and off into my twenties). I thought that one day I would get married, and contrary to military life, we would settle down and live somewhere forever and forever. I did get married, and then life with Corporate America began. It wasn't even ladder-climbing on our part, just being shoved around from place to place because that's what the companies wanted. The Lord had prepared me well for this lifestyle, but this wasn't what I signed up for!

Somewhere along the way, my favorite way to enjoy nature became looking through the window, or at the least, a screened-in porch. In fact, at one point in time, my greatest desire was to have a patio home in a manicured and fenced neighborhood (because no snakes would live there). I think it was having children. Suddenly, everything I loved about the outdoors was a danger to my child. Wild things are everywhere! Snakes, spiders, ticks, leeches, not to mention the bigger things--why we aren't safe unless we're inside! I am still coming to terms with those fears.

But...I find myself more and more enamored with idea of having a big enough piece of land to actually do something with, on which to love and nurture and bring forth fruit, and on which to teach my children to do the same. It is hard for me not to be jealous of some of my favorite bloggers and their picturesque homesteads, or even just friends of mine with the space for a garden. But this is where God has put me. Who is to say that if I did get the desires of my heart (and all the work that goes with it) that I wouldn't go screaming into the house at my first run-in with the wildlife I find so terrifying and give up on it forever? I literally scream when I find a tick on myself!

So I guess I'm back to baby steps. Maybe some day I will have a mini-farm and learn to live at peace with God's scarier creatures. But for now I will concentrate on getting a grain mill and shop at the farmers' market--can't wait until Saturday!

I Made Yogurt!

Yes, I did! I made yogurt in my crockpot. My slow cooker has never been a great friend to me because it seems there are so few meals our family enjoys out of the crockpot. For the yogurt I used the method on A Year of Slow Cooking blog. I followed it exactly even though my crockpot is seven quarts (crazy big) and she did hers in a 3-qt. I was checking it at 11:30pm, at the end of the 8 hour final wait, and was pleasantly surprised by a creamy, mild tasting yogurt. I knew I would want it thicker so I strained it through coffee filters in colanders in the fridge overnight. This morning I had a nice thick yogurt, but half the amount. I am going to save some of the whey for some recipes in my Is Your Flour Wet? book. I am excited about this triumph because I actually like this yogurt better than the tangy store-bought yogurt. Today I bought some cheesecloth to properly strain the next batch.

So thick on the back of the spoon!

This morning I mixed a little organic strawberry preserves and some honey into it and it was so delicious! For the boys I even threw in some fresh strawberries. Along with our yogurt we enjoyed Whole Wheat Strawberry Chocolate Chip Scones. The recipe is actually for blueberries, but we had strawberries. I brushed the tops of the scones with a little milk and sprinkled some demerara crystals on for looks. We found the scones to be a little under sweetened, but I don't know if that is because the over sweetness we are used to in almost everything we eat from the store, or because it really needed a little more sugar. I think this recipe looks great and hope to try it another day. Speaking of sugar, this morning I drank my coffee with just half n half and no sugar, and I liked it! That is something for me. I went from those terrible-for-you flavored creamers to half n' half and a bunch of sugar, and now...no sugar! Yay me. Now if I can just make it stick...

My whole wheat bread came out okay yesterday. The risen loaves actually looked better than the baked loaves. They tasted good, but the texture wasn't right for sandwiches. I'm hoping to find a veteran bread maker to mentor me into the perfect loaf of bread.

I also made some whole wheat chocolate chip cookies this week. They were actually really good. I'm trying this recipe next. I went to Whole Foods today and bought some Whole Wheat Pastry Flour and some Spelt--new adventures!

Adapting to Whole Foods Eating

I am trying to spend LESS time on the computer reading about things to do and more time actually doing those things, but it's hard when you come across yet another blog full of great stuff that might disappear any moment if you don't go through all the archives right away! Anyway, my new favorite blog is http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/. Before I discovered it I was already leaning in this direction. While browsing the cookbook shelves at the bookstore I ran across the book Nourishing Traditions. I only had the time to peruse the table of contents and a few interesting bits of the text, and despite the fact that it was all completely foreign to me, the wheels began to turn. Then I began to reflect on the astounding number of potential health issues already evident in both sides of our family. Everyone knows that so many of these things can be prevented by just eating better and taking care of our bodies, but which of the thousands of diet lifestyles is the right one? There has to be a better way than lifelong deprivation of foods that I love, forcefeeding of artifical tasting protein supplements, and consumption of artificial sweeteners to fool myself that I am actually still getting treats. One of my biggest pet peeves is the overflowing grocery store aisles trying to sell me every conceivable product doctored up to meet the latest fad diet or nutritional super food. Obviously it isn't working!

This attitude began years ago when I read the book Thin Within, which isn't what it sounds like. It is a grace based approach to weight loss, wherein it teaches you to listen to your body's own hunger cues to eat to satisfaction and not to fullness/stuffed. The book, In Defense of Food, which I am currently reading also addresses this. One of the first pieces of advice in Thin Within is to throw out all the diet foods--Yay! Since then, my mantra to my children has always been, "All things in moderation." I successfully lost a lot of weight with this method and ate what I wanted. Despite being thin, I didn't always listen to my body's cues about what to eat. My obnoxious sweet tooth wanted a small helping of something that would bring my tastebuds momentary pleasure, when the rest of my body cried out for something more healthful and substantial. Then I got pregnant and hunger cues no longer played any part in my food choices and everything was topsy turvey again!

Long story short, I recently came to realize that while I can listen to my own hunger cues and make good portion choices for myself, the only way to make a positive change for my whole family (one that my children can take away with them), is to change the foods we eat. So while all this is running around in my head, I came across 100 Days of Real Food.

I'm taking things in baby steps. We had already started getting a weekly produce basket, off of which I base all of our meals for the week. This forces me to incorporated vegetables into our diet that normally would never cross our threshold. I am working on incorporating whole wheat a little at a time in my baking. This week I bought my first piece of grain-fed beef at the farmers' market. Eliminating processed foods from my diet is not as difficult as eliminating it from the kids' diets. They like snacks. In fact, I used to think it was a successful grocery trip if I had gotten a good deal on lots of snacks. So today I am sharing one recipe solution for Little Guy, a replacement for animal crackers, and one recipe for any everyday breakfast food, Whole Grain Blender Pancakes.

This cookie recipe comes from The Cilantropist blog and I just tweaked it a little. I didn't have any tiny animal cutters and I wanted them to be small like animal crackers. I had originally thought to make them alphabet cookies, but my alphabet cutters were too big. I settled on tiny stars. I followed the recipe pretty much except I substituted oat flour for the flax seed because I didn't have any, and I think they came out great. It seemed a little tedious with the refrigerating and the freezing, but the result is a nicely flavored crisp cookie, perfect to give to little ones (or bigger ones). I'm thinking I could make this dough a head and freeze it for busy weeks. One batch filled a large chinese takeout container--plenty for a week. Here is my saved version of the recipe with the changes I made and without the specifics on using animal cookie cutters.

Little Guy’s Cookies

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup All-purpose flour
1/4 cup ground flaxseed* (oat flour)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 stick butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

* If you don't have ground flaxseed, you can grind flax in a spice grinder, or you could substitute finely ground nuts

Special equipment: Animal cracker cookie cutters or small cookie cutters .

In a medium bowl, whisk together the first 6 ingredients, and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer cream together the butter and sugar for about 2-3 minutes, then add the egg and vanilla extract and continue to mix. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients (flour mixture) in two additions, and then mix until the flour is just incorporated. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and shape it into a ball; flatten the dough ball into a 1-inch thick disk and wrap it tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough at least 2 hours or overnight.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone liner . Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it warm up for a few minutes; then roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of about 1/8 inch. If the dough sticks to the rolling pin or starts to crack, just dust the top of the dough with a little flour.

Cut out cookies using whatever small bite-sized cutters you have. Working quickly and carefully, use a spatula to transfer the cookies to the lined baking sheet. You don't want the dough to get too warm and stick, but the cookies are also delicate and can break easily. (Squeeze together any dough scraps and put them back in the fridge to re-roll for your next cookie batch.)

Place the baking sheet in the fridge for 30-40 minutes or in the freezer for 15 minutes; then bake at 350 degrees for 7-9 minutes, or until the edges are just lightly golden and cookie is slightly puffed. Transfer baking sheet to a wire rack to allow cookies to cool completely. Cookies will keep in an airtight container for about 1 week.

Other flavor ideas: Add cocoa to the dough, cinnamon

This second recipe comes from a free e-book called Is Your Flour Wet? from http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/. I used yogurt and brown rice. I was out of vanilla and used almond extract instead. I also added about 1/8-1/4 cup whole wheat flour to thicken the batter to pancake consistency. These are not your typical thick, suck the moisture out of your mouth, cakey pancakes. These are hearty, flavorful, and moist. We ate them with fresh strawberries and maple syrup.

Whole Grain Pancakes

1 Tbs. olive oil

1 cup cultured dairy (buttermilk, yogurt or kefir)

1/2 cup uncooked oats (rolled or whole)

1/2 cup uncooked brown rice (or try buckwheat, millet, barley, spelt, kamut, or any other whole, raw grain)

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

Other add ins: pureed pumpkin, squash or sweet potato with warming spices; ripe bananas and cinnamon; applesauce; nuts

Mix oil, dairy, oats and rice or other grain in blender at high speed for three minutes: Keep cover on blender and leave out overnight Just before baking, add remaining ingredients and reblend for 3 more minutes. This will be a thin batter, but you can adjust the consistency as needed by adding flour or liquid.

For a good long while I was in a cooking rut. I was really dreading dinner time and would think of all kinds of excuses to avoid or delay it. More and more I find myself not only excited about being in the kitchen, but not wanted to leave to do other things! So far, none of our whole food experiments have been terrible, and we are adjusting. Like I said, baby steps, we enjoy the occasional soda with pizza night, and I'm not super strict about eating out nights, except almost no fast food (still love Chickfila).

Last night I started a sourdough starter and have discovered that this can be used to make all kinds of baked goods, not just bread! Today I will try a whole wheat sandwhich bread recipe, and I hope to make my own yogurt in a crock pot soon (all my friends are doing it)! At any rate, I'm enjoying this forage into the world of whole foods and can't wait to see where the journey takes me!

Sewing Cloth Training Pants-- A Pattern Review (Of Sorts)

I knew as soon as I started sewing cloth diapers that I would be just as excited to sew cloth trainers when the time came--always something new! Normally our boys don't even look at the potty until three, but Little Guy is completely aware of his pee-pee and will tell me immediately afterwards. He tinkles ALOT, so lately I'm changing diapers ALOT! I thought to myself this week, "Why waste a big fat diaper on one wetting?" Aha--He needs trainers!

I did a little research on patterns for cloth trainers. There isn't a whole lot to choose from. I piddled around with a few freebies I found, and then decided I just wanted to buy a pattern. After looking them over, I decided I wanted the style that has a separate center panel like boys undies because I would be more likely to use PUL scraps than if the PUL covered the whole outer. I briefly had my heart set on the Tinkle Time Trainer Pattern , but I kept looking for a few days. I came across the Bella Bum Big Boy Trainers Pattern on Etsy and decided to go for that one. I liked how many options there are for the stages of potty training. They also have a girls' version. You never know until you actually look at and use the pattern how much you'll like it, so I held my breathe while I was waiting for the email with the download (which was only a couple hours). Verdict: I like it. The pattern is nicely organized and nothing is left unexplained (that I noticed). The pattern even explains how to measure for and choose the correct size, which is always helpful.

Let me say this, I would save myself a lot of "OOPS" if I would just read and follow instructions. But I have issues with this! After you've sewn a hundred different diaper patterns you tend to think, "I've got it down." Trouble is, not all patterns work the same, or why would there be different patterns! I made a couple of boo-boos but was able to make it come together nicely in the end. My biggest mistake was not clearly paying attention to the instructions on measuring the Fold-over Elastic. I ended up piecing my elastic after some misinformed cuts, and I never waste FOE! Oh, and I also forgot to prewash the FOE, which I might have ignored anyway because I was so eager to try the pattern. In the end, the back side pieces came out a little wider than the front side pieces and the snapping ends didn't line up exactly. I was later able to determine that this was my error in cutting out the pattern. I had chosen the Stage 1 style but cut out the stage 3 pattern (which basically just includes seam allowances because you don't use snaps on those edges), and this made the widths not line up correctly. When I was trying to figure it out I emailed the pattern maker and got a quick response from them, although I ended up figuring out my mistake as I was getting ready to take photos to send them for analysis. An "AHA" moment.

The assembly is pretty basic. You start with your soaker pad. I didn't make mine exactly like theirs with soaker layers and a booster layer because I was using two edge pieces of a prefold diaper sandwiched between a good diaper flannel and a repurposed white undershirt. I just zig-zagged around the prefold layers to keep them in place in the soaker, and serged around the outer layers' edges. The prefold layer is a little stiffer than I would prefer, but I have a bunch that I want to use up.

For the center outer layer I used some of a PUL remnant I bought at JOANN'S that was really too short for most diapers, but great for this. For the stretchy side wings I used a pique knit polo shirt that Hubby had thrown in the repurpose pile. For the inner layer I used the repurposed white undershirt. And I happened to have a piece of white FOE for binding that had been slightly abused and torn off of another project. The pattern recommends twill tape to stabilize the stretchy wing edges where the snaps go, and all I had was black, but it turns to the inside anyway.

The pattern actually suggests using non-absorbent stretchy knits for the inside and wings to avoid wicking, but I am big into repurposing, so we just make do. Besides, If I'm going to be changing him after every little tinkle, wicking shouldn't be an issue! Most of the time I don't even put a waterproof cover on him at home when it's warm. I love how the soaker is only attached at the front and back for faster drying.

So, aside from a few deviations, which I can't seem to help doing, I followed the pattern and was able to complete a pair in a couple hours (printing pattern, measuring for size, cutting pattern, cutting fabrics, serging soaker, sewing body). Of course I had to put them on him immediately to see how they fit and I was very happy. I did notice when I took them off later that there were some little elastic marks on his thighs, so we will size up the elastic next time!

If you are looking for a trainers pattern, I would definitely recommend this one. If you are new to sewing, some challenges might be working with PUL and FOE--but if I can do it, SEW can you!

Further Notes on Sewing Daddy Flats--Using Velcro

I have been asked before whether or not Daddy Flats could be sewn with Velcro (Touchtape, Aplix), so I decided to try it out and see. I had messed up the wings on a Daddy Flat I was sewing and thought it was the perfect opportunity to try it out. These Daddy Flats were made with one layer of cotton velour Sock Monkey Print and one layer of super thick diaper flannel.

I started by sewing up my Daddy Flat as usual. Then I cut two pieces (1.5x1.5 inches) of touchtape hook, and four pieces (same size) of loop fabric. I also cut a 5 1/4 x 2 inches piece of loop fabric for the tummy panel. I choose loop fabric for the loop side because it is so much softer and more flexible than touchtape. You can only find this fabric through diaper suppliers. Touchtape could also be used. The loop fabric on top of the tab will allow the wing to cross-over if necessary.

First I attached the wing tabs by sandwiching the wing end between a piece of hook (facing the inside of the diaper) and a piece of Loop fabric (facing upwards), with the tabs hanging over slightly. I put one pin into the tabs to keep them from shifting on the first side I sewed, then removed the pin to finish the square. I do a straight stitch because I have never found that I needed more, and for some reason my machine doesn't like to zig-zag the hook tape. You could do a regular or 3-step zigzag around the edges if you preferred.

After experimentation I found that my machine sewed the two layers together more neatly if I sewed with the hook tape facing upwards. I usually stitch 1/8" from the edges. I then sewed the other two 1.5" pieces of loop fabric beside the tabs, on the inside of the diaper, about 1/4" away. The only purpose of these tabs are to fold the wings over onto for washing. They are called laundry tabs and are meant to keep the hook part of the Velcro from grabbing and ruining things in the wash.

Finally, I attached the tummy panel of loop fabric centering it where your snaps would go, 1/2" down from the top edge. It went together quickly.

If you do not have access to snaps/pliers etc, this might be a good option for you to try.

Beware: If you let your little one run around without a cover at home, the Velcro closure is definitely more likely to be undone by your little one!

If you aren't familiar with Daddy Flats, click on the link above for more information about this great pattern and see my other blog posts about sewing Daddy Flats!

A Neat Idea---Fertility Tracking Jewelry

Recently a friend of mine gave me a neat little gift, a fertility tracking anklet. If you are at all familiar with the Rhythm Method or Natural Family Planning, the application of this piece of jewelry will be immediately apparent to you.

We first saw these in bracelet form in an Etsy store and thought, "what a great idea." The idea being that you use the bracelet as a reminder and to track your monthly cycle in order to be aware of your time of fertility either for the purpose of getting pregnant or not getting pregnant. Having said that, you must have fairly regular cycles for this concept to work for you, and you must be a careful person. Yesterday I checked my calendar with my anklet (last month was the only month in ages that I had made any notation of this), and I was several days off with my charm, which means I either forgot to move it or I put it in the wrong place to begin with. If you are a scheduled person and attentive to detail, this may be just the thing for you. Since it has been many, many, many years since I have used the Rhythm Method or paid any attention to my cycle for those purposes, I am still in the testing phase of whether or not this will be valuable to me other than being an attractive piece of jewelry.

How to use one: The different color beads represent the changes in your cycle, during your "time", likely to get pregnant, likely ovulating, unlikely to get pregnant. A charm is attached with a lobster claw to move along the anklet each day. See the Etsy link above for a chart that details it.

If you are already into making jewelry, one of these would be a snap to throw together and could be a real reflection of your personality. You could even make more than one to go with different color schemes. I like it as an anklet, but I could also see it somehow transformed into a necklace version. The problem I am now seeing is that mine will be too bulky to wear under socks in the winter. Sometime in the next few months I plan to experiment with creating a very fine anklet that could be worn with winter wear. The one my friend created for me is made of all earth tones and silver. This works well for me because I rarely wear bright colors and I think it goes with most everything. The charm says "laugh often" on one side and "love much" on the other--both of which I need to remember to do.

I just think these are a great idea and wanted to share it! You may be wondering how the anklet looks on, but I am going to spare you the sight of my blocky "Dutch" ankles and let you use your imagination.