Changes

I've been on a journey. A journey of change for me and my family. I've had my sight on this journey for some time but I wasn't sure I could do it or even if it was worth it. My journey has been food. More specifically the discovery of real, sometimes called whole food and the reduction of processed food or "food products". Thanks to books, documentaries (through Netflix) and family I have been enlightened to, what I feel, is a better way. I have become aware of how much the food we put in our bodies affects us, positively or negatively. I've even become aware of the healing qualities food can have. It makes sense to me. Heavenly gave us these amazing bodies capable of so many things. He also gave plants, herbs and other things found in nature to assist our bodies. This journey has just begun and though it has been rough at times, I think I'm getting better at it. We have started off slow by reducing our intake of processed foods, meats and some dairy. We have strived to eat more fruits and vegetables and make as many things from scratch as we can, thereby having more control as to what goes into our food. We are by no means perfect. But we have improved and we celebrate the successes and strive for improvement where we can. The two things I noticed first when starting this is 1. real food is not cheap. In fact I'm spending about double what I spent on groceries before. 2. real food takes time. I've double my grocery bill but I've tripled my time in the kitchen. So I no longer have extra spending money, but it doesn't matter because I don't have time to spend it anyways. I always am making something or cleaning something up. I did manage to save an extra $15 from the budget one week and bought the kids summer clothes at Salvation Army.

One of the first things I did for our family (after reducing our meat intake to about once a week) was get rid of all the processed food in our home. Basically if the "food product" has more than 5 ingredients, or contains high fructose corn syrup, or hydrogenated oil, or there are ingredients I can't pronounce, or I don't know what they are I booted it from our kitchen. I've tried to eliminate the 5 whites: 

1. white flour 

2. white sugar 

3. white oil (we use olive oil or coconut oil)

4. white salt

5. white milk

If you were to ask my kids what they miss most from our pre real food days they would tell you "real milk" and "real syrup". 

At first I switch our family to almond milk, the kind you buy in the store. After reading all the ingredients on it I decided to try my hand at making my own almond milk. It was easier than I expected and taste better, too. It's just time consuming and expensive (almonds aren't cheap). But I'm learning that most "real food" is time consuming and expensive.

First I take raw almonds and blanch them to remove the skin. I have fond (time does wonders to change our memories) memories of this as a child. Whenever Clay got a shipment of almonds from his dad he would gather us round the table to "slip nuts". It was child (or slave) labor really. But now I know why he did it. Slipping nuts takes a long time! That is the lengthiest part of making almond milk.

After the almonds are slipped (skins removed) I soak them in water over night. Then I blend them with 4 cups of water, add a little salt, vanilla and pure maple syrup. Then strain them through a cheese cloth or nut milk bag (much easier and better way).

Alex was my slave labor this day. Don't worry I made him feel like I was doing him a favor by letting him slip nuts. 

The almonds (and their skin) after they're slipped.

Blend away, baby. Oh, I forgot to mention I add a little cinnamon, too.

Then strain...

...and squeeze. Kind of like milking a cow. Then you have delicious, nutritious almond milk. (Can you tell I'm practicing for my food blog that's going to make me lots of money, but that I don't actually have time to write.

Another thing we tried is homemade granola. Since I cut out cereal I was hoping the kids would take to this. They didn't care for it much (though Rob and I like it).

Homemade whole wheat tortillas and quinoa have become a staple in our home.

Smoothies are another hit. I always add spinach to the smoothies. Sometimes I get kale, carrots, avocado and celery in there too. Alex will actually request green smoothies sometimes.

Here Alex is helping me make homemade strawberry jam. He was a super strawberry smasher.

So there's the skinny on my journey and why I've had little time to catch up with blogging.