We Are Deep In the Heart of Texas

Nomadic seasons of farming adventures with nature thrown in to include; a pinch of family, snippets of friends, counting our blessings, paying IT forward, home school, and the spicy things I decide to rant about.















Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Real Food, Thanks Barbara

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I watched this video on Barbara's blog or "3 Acre Homestead." Thanks so much!

A new series is starting on the 25th of March, with this Chef Jamie Oliver.

I truly believe what our families are missing so much by not knowing where our food comes from.  I highly recommend the following to help you; gentle reader learn about America's Health Crisis related to food consumption by 

Reading List or cookbooks I use:

Barbara Kingsolver's
ANIMAL, VEGETABLE, MIRACLE: A year of food life

Jean Anderson 
The Green Thumb Preserving Guide 

Reader's Digest 
HOMEMADE: How to make hundreds of everyday products

Randall Putala 
Better Groceries for Less Cash

Ball
Complete Book of Home Preserving

Joan & Lydia Wilen 
 Bottom Line's  Healing Rememdies

Martha Engstrom 
The Farmer's Wife Cookbook

Hazel Meyer
The Complete Book of Home Freezing

David Zinczenko 
Eat This, Not That

Nancy Birnes
Cheaper & Better Homeade Alternatives to Storebought Goods

Sheherzade Goldsmith
 A Slice of Organic Life

M.E. Winston & Holly Garrison 
 The New York Cabbie Cookbook

Gina Steer 
Jams and Perserves

Janis Jibrin MS, RD & Susan Westmoreland 
Good Housekeeping: The Supermarket Diet Cookbook

MOST IMPORTANT FOR SELF/FAMILY CARE: 

(THANKS NUNNIE PANTS for clueing me in on this treasure.)

JETHRO KLOSS: 
BACK TO EDEN

MOVIES:
FOOD INC
http://www.foodincmovie.com/

Fast Food Nation
http://www.foodincmovie.com/reading-list.php

Also on the Peta Website are videos on the treatment of America's Food Industry and lack of humane care for meat animals.  Mind you, I can not buy Tyson or KFC any longer.  Because of the videos on PETA's site, I was finally able to eat our own farm eggs and this year; we will humanely butcher our own animals for food.  Yes, I still have meat in the deep freezer but, as it is used up; we are not replacing it with store bought.

http://www.peta.org/ (this site has a free vegan starter kit)

I am turning more to vegetables but, I have a hubby (TEXAN) that has to have meat with every meal.  I am working this down too, by cooking one meatless dinner a week.  Got to start him out slowly........  Will I ever be totally vegan? Probably not, I do love a good steak or roast chicken once in awhile.  However, I don't consume meat everyday.


Another thing, since I have changed my shopping habits and pantry stocking.  My son's ADD is much less noteable, is on grade level or higher, sleeps better and earlier.  My husbands high cholesterol has dropped to normal range.  The boys know how to identify vegetables/fruits and love salads.


Our food bill/budget has benefitted the most

weekly food bill average

2007   $225 (junk, sodas, sugared juices, prime meat cuts, impluse buys)
2008   $170 (less)
2009   $125
2010   $90


NEXT  gardening

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello, I hope that your having a wonderful day.
Thank you for the mention of my blog on your post.
The Subject of FOOD is very important.
What a great idea to post the books, movies and links.

Nekkid Chicken said...

HEY Barbara,

I know better than to plagarize a writers blog and of course you deserve the credit for educating me to this video. We all need to share information to have healthier lives and families. I can not wait for the new series to begin.

I love some of the history channel, national geographics, and currents new programs. Very informative!

HUGS TO YOU!

Texan said...

That is so great your food changes and good for you, you have lowered your food bill in the same years that grocries and everything else has done nothing but go up up up!! Pat yourself on the back girly!!

Nekkid Chicken said...

Hey Texan,

I will pass on my savings smarts. I coupon like a mad woman on things like TP, Laundry Detergent, Fabric Softner, and breakfast cereal -- these are the things my boys and I go through a lot of weekly.

While I can make homemade laundry detergent, after experimenting (we have hard well water with the extra luxury of sulphur), liquid commerical seems more suited to us -- takes out odors, leaves clothes smelling downy fresh.

I guess my next edumacashun will be in using essential oils for that process. And making our own soaps. Just right now, I don't have the time with my college courses starting up again in a few weeks.