september meeting

We had a wonderful meeting last Thursday! It was probably my very favorite. As I left at 11:00, I felt filled up and inspired and so very, very grateful for all of you (and so very, very well fed).

We talked about "Preserving Raw Foods with Natural Probiotics."

. . .and strengthening our family's immune systems in preparation for fall:).


Here is an article from Word of Wisdom Living on immune systems

and some GREAT suggestions from Amy Jones at A World of Wisdom on "Achieving Flu-Free Winters." I learned how to make my own tinctures and capsules from Amy. I did a little demo on making your own herbal capsules--it is SO simple!

There were several things I had promised to email out that were mentioned during the group meeting and a few other great tidbits that I have found this week.

If you would like to get a keifr start try "the keifr lady." Here is a great little video on makingkeifr. Our family may just be in love with keifr smoothies (Tim took a picture of four-year-old Skyler holding three smoothie cups with straws--he had stolen them from the other kids). I LOVE the raw milk atReal Foods in Orem. It makes my heart sing . . .and a reminder that milk is seasonal. I learned that through A World of Wisdom Cookbook--the seasons of milk and dairy are spring and fall.

Ellen asked if Robyn had a section about rejuvelac in the chapter on preserving raw food with probiotics. She didn't. But I noticed she just talked about it on her blog.

. . .Gina did such great demo on making your own yogurt with a yogurt maker (it looks like there are several on amazon). Robyn has instructions in the 12 steps book on how to make your own in your oven. Also, Costco now sells a two-pack of 32 ounce Greek yogurt.

A couple of members were able to attend Caleb Warnock's classes about a month ago. They raved about them (thanks Rachel for the head up!). Caleb's book Forgotten Skills of the Mormon Pioneers is at Costco

for $10.69. A steal.

Costco also carries a new product. it is a sprouted bean mixmade by tru-roots, the same company that makes the quinoa available at Costco. I am really excited to try this (remember all the crazy health benefits from sprouted foods talked about at our meeting a few months ago). Also, for those of you who want to give out "treats not sweets" this Halloween Costco has mini card packs and play-doh. I have been handing these out for a few years. I like to buy an extra pack and send those to school with the kids when they need to bring "treats." Here is an article about using non-food rewards and some great halloween suggestions from 100daysofrealfood.

I found a new blog this week that I wanted to pass along (delightful delicacies). The author teaches cooking classes with Raw Melissa at Jacob's Cove. Check out Jacob's Cove (a local CSA) blog for tons of recipes using your seasonal produce.

I watched a great documentary yesterday (while folding laundry) called Ingredients. It talked a lot about the best tasting meals naturally come from the best ingredients and those are often produced locally). Several chefs were featured. It had a gentle approach--it wasn't going for the shock factor like Food Inc., and I actually teared up when it talked about the zucchini. Ah, I love using my garden produce in my kitchen (even if I have only have four zucchini so far:)). If you haven't read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver yet I would highly recommend it.

I watched another documentary this weekend (that a friend recommended) called Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. It is the story of a man with a rare auto-immune disease that cures it from an extended juice fast and encourages a few others who make some remarkable changes (loosing a few hundred pounds type changes). It reminded me of Cali's class last year about juice fasting. The doctor, Joel Furhman, in the documentary wrote the book that Cali recommended that was recently written about here (scroll down for the post about fasting).

Those documentaries, along with Forks Over Knives, are all available on instant Netflix.

Jeniece sent me a great website that i have been devouring. It is the blog of a family who transitioned to "real food" and theirexperiences--click here to read. I particuarly liked her tips for kids. She also has a section on "real foods on a budget." Although her diet may not look exactly like ours--the experiences of transitioning are very smiliar. She also has a great recipe section.