We’re half-way finished with the challenge: you’ve tackled the pantry, stocked up on wholesome food, learned to properly prepare grains and wholesome fats and even started to source good, fresh raw milk if you hadn’t already done so. So, sit back and evaluate the week. If you blog, share a link to your post (or posts) below so we can check them out and give you some support. If you don’t, make sure to check in by commenting.
Did you miss an assignment or a day?
If you joined the challenge late, missed your email or assignment, get caught up by checking out the challenge’s archives.
Coming up on Week #3
Week three is all about my very favorite subject when it comes to traditional foods: fermentation! You’ll learn the basics of lactic-acid fermentation including how to ferment vegetables, dairy products and how to produce naturally effervescent beverages that are a great substitute for sodas and other soft drinks.
Real Food Challenge Prizes:
Remember, to be eligible to win these prizes you must check in every week to share your progress – where you succeeded and where you struggled.
- 2 Participants will receive a 1-year Subscription to Nourished Kitchen’s Recipe Cards by Mail checkout the current giveaway..
- 1 Participant will receive a Real Food Ingredient Guide by Kelly the Kitchen Kop.
- 1 Participant will receive a culture kit containing water kefir grains, dairy kefir grains and a kombucha mother courtesy of Cultures for Health (see their listing on the resources page)
- 1 Participant will receive a free registration for the Fundamentals of Traditional Foods class at Gnowfglins.
Share how Week #2 Went for You:
If you blog, share a link (or two or three) outlining how you handled this week’s challenges. What proved difficult, what proved easy? What did you learn, what did you already know? And, of course, what are you eating on your real food journey? If you don’t blog, just share your experiences in the comments here:
Using the good fats is something we’ve already been doing, yet I’m lookinf forward to adding some new ones like coconut oil. I’m still reading up on fermentation and learning to do some of it. This SCOBY/kefir stuff seeems interesting. I am overwhelmed by all the new stuff to do and try. Little steps at a time I guess.
Jenny,
I haven’t written before this. I’ve been a little overwhelmed by the steep learning curve, but I know once I have things figured out, it will be second nature. I want to tell you how much I appreciate your beautiful website and all that you are doing to help all of us learn this way of eating.
My dentist recently discovered unusual tooth decay (post-menopause), so that sent me on a mission to figure out what was going on. I learned about the work of Weston Price and your website, which has been a blessing. When I drank my first cup of raw milk, I felt so amazingly nourished – it was a beautiful feeling.
I don’t have grandchildren yet, but I’m excited to know that I will be able to help my son and daughter have healthy babies!
By the way, in regards to chocolate, I recently learned about a new company in Ecquador that is the first 100% cacao co-op owned chocolate maker. It’s http://www.Kallari.com and it’s delicious!
Thanks so much!
Holleyc
This week has been interesting. I’ve had several steps foward as well as a couple backward. I’ve been trying to keep up with my kombucha, but it’s taking forever for the baby to grow to full size. I assume that it’s because of the cold weather. My house is kept around 65-68 degrees right now. I have attempted to ferment beets and turnips, (recipe from this site), and I thought that they smelled horrible after the 3 days. They’ve been sitting for a couple more days now and the smell seems to have chilled out a bit, so maybe it just needs time. I love raw milk, however it’s really hard to come by in my area
So, I have tried more fermenting this week but I also slipped a little bit and went out to eat a couple of times, (plus a few pieces of chocolate on Valentine’s Day). Here’s to next week!
This week was great. I’ve been buying raw milk for almost a year now, so that was a no-brainer. Though due to car trouble I couldn’t get down to the dairy to buy it this week. We had to make due with what we could get close by. Needless to say, we got most of our dairy from raw cheese and yogurt. My starter turned out beautifully for the first time and I’ve made two wonderful loaves of bread. The guidelines for raw and cooking fats we’ve been following for a long time. As a bonus this week I made fudge using natural sweeteners and whole food ingredients for Valentine’s Day. A very good week. Looking forward to trying my hand at kombucha this week.
I’m behind on posting for last week b/c I’ve had a sick child, but I’ve been reading and following along. I appreciate the gmo info and the source for grassfed ghee. The ghee I brought from the store just wasn’t that tasty. The week was easier than last. I’m already pretty good with fats, but I do love to roast asparagus with olive oil. Any suggestions for a tasty alternative fat there? We only buy real milk from the farm, so we’re good there – it’s raw, non-homogenized, organic, creamy, from grass-fed cows – delicious! We switched about a year ago so my lactose-intolerant son can now drink milk. It’s been a lifesaver because he literally went from failure-to-thrive to the 50th percentile in about 6 months! I’m still working on the sourdough starter so haven’t baked a loaf yet. I already brew kombucha regularly, but I just got some water kefir grains and haven’t had much luck with them yet.
Last week went really well for me. I made wonderful pickles, preserved lemons and grapefruit, kombucha and kefir. We had lots of wonderful raw milk and even when I went away to NYC for a few days I was pretty proud and amazed that I was able to find great Traditional or very close to traditional choices. Beautiful cheeses and a lovely dinner at an NYC eatery called Craft.
Halfway through the third week now. I’m very excited and inspired by all of you. Thank you to everyone who shares their experiences.
I’m both behind and ahead because I’m slow about the bread, as I just started reading a book about bread, and I want to get past the background before I try one of the recipes! But I did make a loaf of my regular whole wheat this week! I haven’t tried the yogurt yet, either, but I HAVE done kimchi and sauerkraut, so I’m ahead when it comes to fermentation! Whee!