Nourishing Traditions

Phil and I are both enjoying perusing the cookbook Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon and Mary Enig. We've been eating a more "traditional" diet for some time now (getting away from refined carbohydrates and eating more animal protein) but we have some ways to go to achieve the way of eating promoted in this book. It's by no means new fangled. It's a return to old, traditional ways of eating that primitive cultures thrived on (i.e., fermented foods, animal fats, raw dairy) and away from modern, processed food. Whole food prepared in the ways that this books suggests should promote optimal health. We've already been practicing some of its advice for many months--making homemade yogurt and taking cod liver oil, for instance. I don't know how much we'll adopt of the principles and practices in this book but I hope we can do quite a bit as we both agree with its basic tenets and we need to provide our family with the best quality food we can. We won't go so far as to move and make a small homestead complete with chickens, a couple of cows and a giant garden but it's tempting given how expensive pastured animal protein, raw milk and organic vegetables are.

Here are some foods that we have now in our larder that we're just not going to buy when they run out. Thrifty me is not willing to just throw out everything processed. So, here are some things we are not replacing:
Crackers
Vitamin water (I know, I know...I only bought it in the first place because I am pregnant and a medical professional suggested I drink it.)
Non-sprouted grain bread
Breakfast cereal
Soda pop (I virtually never drink it but Phil does.)
White flour
Sugar

Our first steps toward Real Food/Traditional Diet way of life:
We're soaking grains/flours before using them (in buttermilk usually that is a by-product of Phil's butter making).
We make our own yogurt.
We're looking for local farms where we can buy eggs and pastured beef and chicken.
We've started buying organic eggs and have sampled raw milk (but at $6-7 per half gallon, we wonder how we can make that work--we drink a lot of milk and eat a lot of homemade yogurt).
We've checked out what products are available at PCC and Whole Food Market and started looking online for sources.
We made homemade chicken stock from several chicken carcasses we've been collecting.
I'm making a batch of nuts prepared in a way that makes them more digestible--soaking them in salt water and then dehydrating them.

My biggest concern right now is how we can possibly afford organic eggs, raw milk and pastured beef and chicken. I think that may work itself out. Maybe when we stop buying convenience and processed food completely, the better quality food won't seem so expensive.