My (Current) Food Philosophy - And a Recipe

I say "current" food philosophy because, well, it seems every day there is something new to learn about what our bodies truly need!  So I have to stay flexible.  As I learn something new, I make the change (if I can) and try not to worry about any potential harm I may or may not have caused.  Ultimately, we make the best decisions we can based on the knowledge and resources we have at the present moment.   For example, I had been giving my daughter chia seeds in her morning yogurt nearly every day.  I thought they were adding some good substance and omega-3's.  And then recently as I was looking up some other information, I came across this article and changed my mind.  Not that I won't ever use chia seeds again - they make a decent egg replacement in baking recipes - but I have decided they're just not spectacular enough to warrant feeding them to my daughter on a regular basis.

Moving along...I would describe my current food philosophy to be mostly "traditional", a little bit "paleo", and overall "real food".  These are a few popular food movements that I will describe briefly for you.  Traditional foods are basically foods that our ancestors have been eating for hundreds of years.  They have a focus on nutrient density and are in polar opposite to packaged and processed foods.  Some examples include: pasture raised meats and eggs, wild caught fish, organ meats,  cod liver oil, broths made from the bones of such animals, raw milk and cheese, fermented vegetables and beverages such as pickles or dilly carrot sticks and kombucha or water kefir, animal fats (butter, tallow, lard), unrefined sweeteners like raw honey and maple syrup, whole grains that have been prepared by means of soaking, sprouting, and sourdough fermentation.  See this article from Stephanie of Keeper of the Home for a good article describing Traditional Foods.  The Weston A. Price Foundation has a lot of good resources and information as well.

The Paleo philosophy is similar to the Traditional philosophy in that it stays away from packaged/processed foods.  It is sometimes called the "caveman diet".  It emphasizes foods that our earliest ancestors would have eaten - meat, fish, vegetables, fruits, nuts, tubers.  However, in the strict sense, followers of Paleo do not eat dairy, grains, or legumes.  I use paleo-based recipes when I may want to make something without grains but do not want to take the time to soak, sprout, or ferment my grains.  For example, I want to try this recipe for snickerdoodles.  I want to avoid using all-purpose flour but don't think a sprouted grain flour would yield a good result and my old recipe isn't adaptable to being soaked.  I don't adhere strictly to paleo, but these types of recipes fit within my philosophy because they emphasize foods that are in their more natural state.

The Real Food movement is very similar to the traditional food movement.  Again, real food is whole and unprocessed food, that has not been altered by man.  It is food in its most natural state.  Ideally, real foods are single-ingredient items; packaged items contain very few ingredients.  Here is one article and here is another about what defines real food.

Why do I follow these "movements" in governing my food choices?  I do this because I believe we were designed by our Creator and I want to steward our bodies in as close to the way he originally intended as possible.  I believe God put on this earth all we need for sustenance.  Highly refined and processed foods were not here originally!!!   I believe that nutrition really does make a big difference in the functioning of our bodies and the health of our future children and grandchildren.  I don't believe that chemicals and artificial flavors and colors can sustain the generations.  The way people eat today is NEW!  I don't care to be a part of the science experiment.  And what results are in (high rates of obesity, cancers, chronic illness, autoimmune disease, etc) don't look promising to me. Beautiful Babiesby Kristen Michaelis is a book that speaks a lot on nutrition and pregnancy specifically that I found quite interesting. Deep Nutrition by Catherine Shanahan is on my wish list to hopefully read soon!

So what do we eat in our house?  We eat lots of eggs, sprouted grain (Ezekiel) bread, homemade yogurt, organic meats and cheeses, organic fruits and vegetables, milk from a local farm.  In baked goods I use coconut Flour , soaked nuts and seeds, or organic sprouted flour  I cook with olive oil, butter, tallow, and oh yeah - coconut oil .  I drink water kefir and eat fermented pickles.  When I make white rice (yes, WHITE rice!), I cook it in coconut milk or homemade bone broth to sneak in more nourishment.  Soups and stews are a staple.  And I've recently been enjoying making homemade ice-cream, yum!  And dark chocolate...mmmm, dark chocolate...we have a Trader Joe's nearby and you can't beat $2 for a bar of organic and fair trade dark belgian chocolate with only 3 ingredients and no soy or dairy!  I will obviously be sharing lots of these recipes (or links to the blogs in which I found them) as we go along here.

Tonight we had beef stew in the crock pot (my old crock pot recently started leaking...I was secretly glad, so that I could purchase a new programmable one and I love it!  Sorry for the tangent...it is still new and I am enjoying trying new recipes in it!).  I really wanted a biscuit to go with it, but my husband is on a detox diet (a discussion for another post) and can't have wheat, eggs, dairy, or nuts and I didn't find a suitable recipe in the short time I searched for one.  When he is no longer on such a strict diet, I want to try these ones.

Beef Stew in the Crock Pot

~ 1 lb grass-fed beef stew meat (local if possible)

2 or 3 potatoes, chunked

4 carrots, peeled and chunked

1 onion, chunked

1 can/jar diced tomatoes (I buy Muir Glen  whose can linings are BPA free) or 1-2 fresh tomatos, diced

3 cloves of garlic, pressed or minced

~ 1/4 teaspoon each marjoram, rosemary, and thyme 

Salt (unrefined sea or Himalayan) & pepper to taste

2 cups beef bone broth

1/4 cup red wine

2 tbsp arrowroot starch/flour  plus a little water to mix it in

1 bag frozen peas, thawed

Put the potatoes, carrots, onion, tomatoes, garlic, spices, beef, broth, and wine into the crock pot and mix together.  (If you have the time, brown the meat in a pan first to keep the meat even juicier...I often skip this step for sake of time and dishes.)  Cook on low 10 hours or on high 6-7 hours.  In the last 30 minutes of cooking, add the thawed peas and arrowroot starch which has been mixed until smooth in a bit of water (this will thicken the juices).

Enjoy with sprouted grain or paleo biscuits, if desired!

A note on links:  I added several links to various other blog articles which delve more deeply on our subject, FYI if you would like to learn more.  Some links are recipes...some I have tried, others I hope to soon!  If you try them, I hope you enjoy the results!  Remember, give yourself grace and leave room for trial and error as you experiment with new ways of cooking!  Other links are to books I have read, hope to read, or products I personally use in my kitchen.  Some product links are affiliate links.  Should you make purchases through my links, a portion will be given to me in support of my blogging activities.  Some of the products I link to show you what I use; I do not necessarily purchase through Amazon but may shop around for the best price.  Thank you for reading and supporting my new blog!