Grocery Co-op

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Anti-Wheat

Hey I know the title of my blog is wheatgeek.. It's going to stay the same, but now it's pretty much going to be wheat-free. Cougar has a wheat intolerance (yay-I have 900 pounds of wheat). Holy pain! But.. I think we have experiences to learn and this will be a very learning experience for us. I know his eczema is something his body is not liking. We got rid of dairy and it helped a bit, but I know there is still something there. Now it's process of elmination. Dairy: check/ wheat: working on it.

I did make some bread completely without wheat. It's the blender bread which you can find here, but I substituted Kamut for all of it. I thought it turned out really good. Nothing beats Anitra's bread recipe that I got from Simply Living Smart, but my kids still really liked it. It's more crumbly without the dough enhancer and gluten, but I'm simple. So I simplified.

I bought my kamut from Walton Feed and it is supposedly supposed to be better for people who cannot handle wheat. So we'll see :) Wish us luck.. yuck!

chemical free products

I know some of these things are going to sound really weird, but if you know me by now, you'll know I'm a little weird about toxins, etc. I just like stuff natural. Instead of complaining about how companies put so many unecessary chemicals, etc. in our food, body products, etc. I decided to take matters into my own hands.

Here is an article if you'd like more information about chemicals in our products.

So here are some money saver tips/chemical-free hair and beauty products that I have tried.

LOTION:

I no longer use lotion at all on anything. I use coconut oil and it works great. Just like I wouldn't ingest all the chemicals in shampoo/lotion/etc. I don't want my skin absorbing them. Plus it smells so good.. So coconut oil is a huge thing at my house. You can purchase it here.

It's $37/gallon, but if you can get 5 of you together and order together, you can get it for $29/gal (not including shipping).

SHAMPOO:

1 TBSP. baking soda to 1 cup warm water

CONDITIONER:

1 TBSP. apple cider vineger mixed with water

Once a week, rub virgin coconut oil in your hair at night, and then wash in the morning. Super soft hair.

BODY SOAP:

There is a girl that lives on the highway from Crossroads to Riverside corner named Laura May Miller that sells goat milk soap. (I'm sure you've seen the sign for it) I have to be especially careful with my 3-year old's skin because he has eczema. We've really liked that soap. She has quite a variety of different scents. I also really like her lip balm.

The internet is so awesome for finding anything you want. These are things that I have on hand, that are inexpensive, and have worked for me. You can add essential oils to stuff to make them smell better, etc. I just usually don't care that much. There are a lot of companies that use only organic materials and no chemicals etc. for makeup and stuff.

Good luck! Let me know what works for you..

Spring Water

OK check this out!!! Find a Spring

This site gives you information where you can get fresh spring water straight from a .... SPRING!

I'm sure there are tons more in Utah, but the one it lists so far is only in Ogden. I can't wait to go there!

I bet we have some closer to us. Does anyone know any trusted sites where there is fresh water? No chlorine, no fluoride, just water how God made it.

Kent's Sale

2 lbs of bluberries for $1.99, and bananas are 2 lb for 79 cents.  Great time to load up on fruit and freeze it for the winter.. 

cut your bananas, freeze them on a cookie sheet, and then throw them in a ziploc bag.  

Easy peasy.. 

Coconut Millet Pudding

3/4 cup millet

3 cups milk/milk substitute

1/2 cup honey

1 cup coconut flakes

1 tsp. sea salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

Heat milk until scalded. (little bubbles around edges, and film on top). Add millet, honey, coconut, sea salt, and vanilla. Pour into an oiled oven casserole dish. Bake at 350 for 1-1 1/2 hours until the millet is tender. Serve hot or chilled with whipping cream and preserves.

We made this with soy milk (I personally don't think soy milk is good for our bodies, but it's all we had), and we ate it warm with no whipping cream or preserves. It was DELICIOUS!

If you don't have any millet, come to my house and get some to try. I have a 50-lb. bag of it.

Some thoughts

This is for anyone out there if you read my blog. Maybe if you leave a comment and let me know if anything is inspiring you to EAT REAL FOOD, you might get something on your doorstep..

I've been talking to a handful of people about eating whole foods - REAL FOOD, as in not processed, as in what we eat I have to prepare and make. Do you want the truth? It's a pain in the butt a lot of times. I know it will get easier. I'm still learning for sure. Other times it's super easy. Especially this time of year when there's so many fruits and veggies in season. BUT.. to me there's not a question in my mind whether it's worth it. Why? Because I don't want to be, and I don't want my children to be, part of the world that has so much knowledge and resources, yet is so unhealthy. Looking into their eyes tells me it's the most important thing to nourish our bodies with the right stuff with REAL FOOD.

You may be the very busy mother who is working full time - Or the empty nesters who don't feel like cooking and eating out is so much more convenient - or you may live alone and don't feel like cooking for one person - you may have more on your plate to handle than dinner - you may be me.. someone who is home all day and has the time to prepare fresh meals for every meal and actually enjoys it.

So here's my thought for you tonight.. make a tiny change to EAT REAL FOOD. Something you feel like you can do. Can you on Saturday morning have your kids help you make 3 batches of blender pancakes and freeze them so you don't have to buy eggos or sugar cereal for the next week? Can you switch from hormone loaded eggs for .79 per dozen to farm fresh eggs from a neighbor for $1.25 a dozen? Can you make sure you buy 100% juice instead of 5% juice/soda for you and your kids? Can you think of preparing dinner for those bodies that you love in a positive way instead of a death sentence?

YOU CAN! I know you can because I see it. I talk to you who want to do it, know it is the right thing to do and just don't know where to start. It's overwhelming, but not if you make a small step.

Here is what happened at our house:

Oct 2008, got rid of white flour for good. Substituted it with whole wheat flour in baked goods/pancakes/bread.

November 2008, significantly decreased processed sugar. Replaced with raw honey. Made my kids drink a glass of water before they could have breakfast. And lunch. And dinner. How are we going to get rid of chocolate milk?

December 2008, still working on the no processed sugar thing. Still trying new things.. honey, pure maple syrup, all fruit jam. Switched from white rice to brown rice. From now on, only natural peanut butter without rapeseed oil.

January 2009, switched from white noodles to whole wheat noodles, still working on the sugar thing.. Started incorporating a lot more vegetables and fruits. From now on, no fruit snacks at our house.. apples, bananas, oranges, celery sticks, carrot sticks.

February 2009, no more dairy. Replaced it with rice milk, or no milk.. Started reading ingredient labels more closely. Took a stand and refused to buy anything with MSG, high fructose corn syrup, TBHQ.

March 2009, Still working on all these things previously mentioned.

April 2009, incorporated green smoothies (*might have been my favorite step!). Became daily green smoothie drinkers. And love it. Became a vegetarian.

May 2009, started eating a salad every day. Not just me.. my kids too. Made them eat a salad before dinner every night. Yes.. still Atwood's dressing. Tried a lot of new grains: millet, buckwheat, kamut, quinoa.

June 2009, finally found a homemade salad dressing that they like. No more chemicals or MSG in our salad dressing!

July 2009, started using coconut oil/olive oil/butter exclusively. Firmly said no to canola oil, shortening, and vegetable oil.

August 2009, decided to chill out a little and let my kids eat "normal foods" at parties and other people's houses. Feel good about that.

September 2009, help more people make little changes to EAT REAL FOOD.

The whole purpose of this post was to give you encouragement, especially if you feel overwhelmed, and to show you it isn't going to happen overnight. It happens by little changes.. Be the change you want to see! Good luck!