hqueen's collection of Far From the Usual stuff.

[hqueen13]

So I've mentioned several things here and there in various threads that keep coming back to the same topics. I have collected a lot of crazy resources in the past year or so that we've changed our habits away from the SAD (standard american diet) and pushed more towards natural in all aspects of our lives. So I figured it probably wouldn't hurt to put them all in one place, and then I can more easily reference things when I need them. We'll see how this goes....

 

[BarredBuff]

Interesting very good journaling topic

 

[hqueen13]

I guess I'll start with a bit of back story. It all started with a short bus. No, really.
I met a wonderful lady while taking some courses with my horse in Florida. We kept in touch, and several months after I returned home, she put out a message on her facebook that some friends of hers were traveling and doing work. They purchased a small white school bus and retrofitted it as a 'house bus' and were traveling doing odd job work. He, his wife, and their 4 year old daughter were working where ever there was a need for work. I asked if they could make it up to MD from FL, and long story short, they finished up the job they were on, and headed straight to MD. Two days later we had company! We had no idea what kind of a wild ride we were in for!
Joe was a superb handyman, and Jeanne's cooking was amazing. Their daughter, Jadyn was darling and sweet (despite the fact that neither of us are big on children). Joe set to work doing odd jobs around the barn and installing a fence with lumber donated a year before because the person that agreed to install the fence backed out on the non-profit (I'll fill in a little more back story on our situation in a bit, its quirky). We arranged for the equipment and he set to work, mostly single handedly installing the entire fence line which was about 600' of three rail board fencing. He finished that and reconstructed our round pen (it wasn't round, seriously.) which doesn't sound like much except it had been sitting un-round in the same spot for many years, and had to be dug out, graded, and then all the panels reset again. He installed a roof on the back of our house to replace the aluminum one that had blown off twice to the point it couldn't be reattached. He just kept on working.
Jeanne, on the other hand, set to things in the kitchen and made a whirlwind of change. She handled our cooking, and taught us to like cabbage (cabbage soup, and cabbage roll pie are awesome!), taught us to make smoothies with veggies and fruit in them, and in general turned our concept of food upside down. She showed us that fat isn't the villain, but in fact the hero, and that the closer to the source you can get, the better off you are. She shifted our entire paradigm about food. We were suddenly seeking out raw milk and grass fed beef, tossing out crackers and chips, and ditching soda and microwave meals. Food is health, and food is medicine. Our modern culture has forgotten where we have come from, and in doing so has lost our connection to the source which grants us health.
We have come to understand that our modern culture, in all of its brilliance, is suffering from simple malnutrition. We are no longer getting nutrients from our foods, and our foods are being grown in malnourished soils and being coated in toxins and poisons. The meats that we are eating are being fed diets that were never intended ("All vegetarian diet for chicken!" what the heck!? Chickens AREN'T vegetarians....) and the quality of the product suffers. But no one notices, because no one remembers where their food comes from anyway. And then, once the food is harvested it is further adulterated by processes that extrude it and squish it and mash it into shapes that nature has never seen (after all, what part of the cob does a "corn flake" come from!?). The precious nutrients are lost and forever gone. Never fear, science says, we can fortify them instead! Man made "vitamins" and "minerals" are reapplied to the "food" in a vain effort to reconstruct what nature so easily creates when left to do what she does best.
Jeanne so patiently taught us so much, and continually showed us what it meant to really invest in nutrition. She so deftly cooked for four adults and one child all the while spending only $100.00 per week total. All organic ingredients, all healthy foods that were not adulterated or manufactured. She taught us not just how to cook, but WHY cooking is important. Sadly, I still don't enjoy cooking, but I understand why it is essential to health. So my other half does most of the cooking, and I help out (Thank goodness I can clean like a fiend, otherwise he might get rid of me!).
They ended up staying much longer than we anticipated, and it was a vital time for us learning and exploring with their help. In the year following their stay with us we have changed so many things. The difference in focus and awareness has expanded into many other areas of our lives. We make our own laundry detergent, are no longer using most commercial soaps. We are now seeking more ways to expand our level of staying close to the source of things and have a sense of purpose and direction.
We currently live in a funny situation. We're in a park (can't shoot the deer...), living as 'night watch' for a non-profit equestrian center so that there is a presence available on evenings and weekends when the barn manager isn't here. We are extremely limited in our ability to do anything with our property, and look forward to the day when we have our own space. It is far from ideal, but has its own wonderful aspects (the lack of overall responsibility is a huge plus! We aren't the only ones that have to feed and care for the horses, and we don't have to make any of the big decisions!). Yet I crave my own space to do with as I please, and defend as I see fit. We aren't in a position to make a change at the moment, and the convenience of the bigger city does have us in a terrific position to have access to a variety of things that may be harder to obtain when we are further away from mainstream civilization. We will be gathering resources and knowledge while we bide our time until a shift enables us to make a change.
Now that I've gotten the back story laid out, I'll move on to more details later.

(edited to fix my tired typos!)

 

[Denim Deb]

 

[Dawn419]

Just wanted to say Hello and Welcome!

 

[Beekissed]

Very interesting back story...can't wait to hear more!!!

 

[framing fowl]

Can't wait to hear more. Sounds like we are at a similar place with our food philosophy. We're on 1/4 acre in the city so we enjoy the many resources but don't have near as much land or the animals we want.

Have you tried fermenting yet? It is my new favorite food method that involves no cooking. I love it!

 

[~gd]

Sorry but I have to ask, where in Nature does the concept of cooking come in? I have never heard of any animal other than man that cooks any part of their food. Is it not the main process of processed food? we know that it denatures protein and changes fats and carbohydrates. It seems to me that if you really want to be "natural" it means eat it raw. Please no replys I am not trolling for a fight, just think about just how natural you want to be.

 

[CheerioLounge]

Well, you've piqued my curiosity....

 

[Beekissed]

All raw diets are great for fruits and veggies, not to mention nuts and grains, not so much for meats...but man has adapted the natural diet to one that is easier to eat for the young and the old. Think of eating a raw potato if one is just starting table foods or have lost dentition and swallowing ability due to age.

Also, some foods were cooked to increase their nutritional value for those who have little to eat. Not picking on the potato but they will put more fat on an animal if they are cooked, which is why potatoes were cooked before feeding to livestock in Europe where this was a home stock supplement and sometimes their base ration.

If you live where four seasons of raw, palatable foods are not readily available, cooking to store it, smoking to cure it, salting to cure it and even sugaring to cure it all managed to change the nature of the original food. Sometimes it was cooked to kill any bacteria or mold that had collected in storage...as in grains that molded or had weevil waste in them.