Nicole from Traditional Foods Challenge
I am a foodie. My evolution as a foodie has brought me from simply enjoying the preparation and eating of food to a more full understanding and appreciation for real, wholesome food. More than that, I have become passionate about the source of my food and the relationship the food has to my body. Food can be good for us and taste great! I first started my culinary passion years ago when I began cooking for myself and my new husband. I was taught the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach and I was determined to make a lasting impression! I tried new recipes constantly, trying to perfect a certain technique or a certain dish. My tastes have always been for homemade food so it was no stretch for me to make everything from scratch. I loved the challenge of making pie crusts and homemade tortillas, tomato sauces and cookies. Oh the cookies … I began reading food magazines and continued to cook with quality ingredients and found myself drawn towards those ingredients that were so tasty yet so basic – butter, cream, good dark chocolate, in-season produce. The rise of accessibility to good, fresh ingredients was pushing me towards a more traditional way of thinking towards food. Take a great tasting carrot and eat it from the ground or simply roast it in a little butter to bring out it’s sweetness and enjoy! There is hardly anything better than a bowl of fresh berries topped with freshly whipped cream. Less than a year ago I learned about the Weston A. Price foundation and the food values expressed by many who follow this diet. It seemed to make sense. Butter is good for us. Whole milk is the way the milk comes from the cow. Cheese does not need to be labeled “natural.” Refined sugar and white flour is detrimental to health. I was still trying to loose baby weight from baby #3 and I knew my sugar habit needed to go. So a friend and I decided to take the plunge and rid ourselves of some of our worst habits over a set amount of time and see what would happen. We aimed to buy organic, to eat whole foods and look at every food item we brought into our homes to examine if it was nourishing to ourselves or our family. And we are not going back! Not only am I keeping my family healthy, I love eating whole foods. I love the good quality meat that I don’t question where it came from and if it was healty. I love eating butter, eggs, milk, and full fat yogurt. And the veggies and fruit that I can trace back to my county are no doubt better than anything shipped from Central America or accross the country. I have lost weight and am cooking true to my culinary point of view – from scratch! There are less cookies as I used to bake them but we are okay with that. Eating a whole food diet for me is more than just being counter-cultural, even though it is, and it is more than just filling our bodies with something that will keep it running smoothly. Real food follows the food from it’s source to our bodies with a care that implies our bodies are worth taking care of. When I feed my husband and children soup made with rich chicken broth and homemade sourdough bread there is a sense of accomplishment that for me is deeply satisfying. When I take care to source my ingredients to know they are helping nourish our bodies makes the job of cooking is more meaningful. A whole food diet is more than just eating what is good for us. There are particular fats and enzymes and bacteria that are uniquely beneficial to our bodies but to eat them for just that is hard for me. I don’t eat yogurt simply because it is good for me. I eat it because I love the richness of it and the versatility is has to be made into smoothies, salads, soups. I eat coconut oil because it has many good qualities but I also love the flavor it gives chicken curry, raspberry muffins and steel cut oats. And the challenge of making some ingredients tasty enough to please my family is just the challenge I love! Spring is here and with it come the wonderfulness of asparagus, spring onions, lettuce. The health benefits of eating green vegetables is all but forgotten when enjoyed in a well prepared meal with family and friends. My body is happy and so is my soul. That is what whole foods are about! Nicole blogs at Tradtional Foods Challenge where she discusses their on-going journey into real and traditional foods, offering excellent and solid information on the value of a natural, whole foods diet. NourishedKitchen.com is highlighting the real foods community. If you would like to share your Real Food Story, please contact Jenny.
© Jenny for Nourished Kitchen, 2009. |
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