Passionate Nutrition

She is admirable! I stumbled upon this wonderful book that has been a blessing for me because it avoids rigidity of other traditional foods' books. Thus, my non-reading husband has been giving it a look and liking it. I really think this is a book that will appeal to EVERYONE, not only real foodists, or nutrition geeks like myself, but also people who think Nourishing Traditions is just too strict or that simply know NOTHING about what or how to eat. It embraces eating abundantly which is something I have always practiced. She also embraces listening to your own body and is very open to accepting things you might not want to stop consuming.

I love that the author focuses on Food as Medicine and to heal your body through nutrition and she emphasizes on digestive health. Some of the digestive tips and some of the beauty tips were new to me and I have started to apply them. Do yourself a favor and pick this up so you don't have to go through tons of nutrition books so you can learn everything. This one is very basic and down-to-Earth and SUPER COMPLETE.

Goji-Hibiscus Infusion

I like to do things simply. When I discovered the benefits of Goji berries as a superfood, I was determined to bring them into my diet. When I buy them at Whole Foods they are chewy and soft to suck on raw just like that. But then I went and bought some on Amazon and they were dry and hard to chew on.

How to Make Goji Infusion

That's when I discovered Goji water. You just soak the Goji berries on enough water to cover them for about two hours and voila! The color is a pale orange and the taste is super sweet just like the goji berries themselves. The color reminded me of one of my favorite teas, hibiscus and ginger tea. So I decided to experiment with this.

How to Make Hibiscus Infusion

To make your own hibiscus infusion (aqua de Jamaica) just find the hibiscus dried flower (generally placed close to the teas in supermarkets) and boil them in enough water for around 2 minutes until the flowers have yielded all their power. Experiment with this because less water will result in a deep red very concentrated infusion and more will result in a clearer infusion. Find how you like it. You can add a little bit of ginger powder if you have any, and raw honey to taste. Just be aware that if you will combine the two infusions, you need less honey because the goji infusion is naturally super sweet. Then just serve warm or place in the refrigerator for a fresh cold drink later.

Options to combine

1. Make both infusions and simply pour together.

2. Make the goji infusion ahead and pour into ice trays. Then place those ice cubes into your hot Hibiscus infusion to cool and serve.

3. Make the hibiscus infusion first, store in the refrigerator for a few hours and then pour some goji berries in. Leave to soak for at least two hours. Drain the berries and serve.

Books for the journey towards (Traditional) Real Food.

This blog is my way to journal my family’s transition to a traditional foods diet after reading much about Weston A Price’s research and many other books written my the traditional foodies community. The basics of this is to try to avoid refined modern products with lots of additives, preservatives, and yet poor nutrition. Instead, return to the knowledge of our ancestors and cook our own foods including soaking and fermenting, buy locally available produce in season and maximize the nutrition of all the food we consume and provide for our children.

As soon as I read my first book about real food I, like many others, was obsessed. I wanted, needed to know more. It became my daily hobby, because I've always been a reader, and now I was reading about how wrong I've been all along. I've always been terrible in the kitchen. My husband has cooked our food for years. Even with established recipes, mine would somehow turn out borderline edible. But now, with this no processed, no refined food, everything is simple. Soak nuts? easy enough. Throw the nuts in food processor? Easy enough. And slowly I will make things more complicated. I'm not quite there yet. But here are the books I've found useful and eye-opening in transitioning to nourishing food:

1. Beautiful Babies by Kristen Michaelis
One of THE most complete books I've found! Told in a spot-on way that will resonate with everyone. Don't be fooled by the title. Even if you don't have kids or had them long ago, or just don't want to read anything about babies, get this book. Read the first half. Make the recipes. Thank me later. 

2. Real Food by Nina Planck
Another wonderful guide to what to eat and why. As always, some back story of Nina's journey into figuring it all out and transitioning slowly.

3. Nourishing Traditions by Sarah Fallon
It's like the bible of real foodies. Too packed with info to fully sit and enjoy, but a must-have nonetheless. TONS of recipes, guides and filled with info any real foodie needs. 

4. The Nourished Kitchen by Jennifer McGruther

Oh my gosh, this lady. If you've ever been to her blog you know what I'm talking about. She just makes me want to be a stay-at-home mom and full-time cook. She puts so much love into all her recipes and this book is mostly that-wonderful recipes. She does include charts that have been SO helpful for me in starting to learn about types of grains and beans and their soaking process. 

5. (For Spanish speakers) Generacion Verde y Rebelde por Rebeca Eisenmann

This one is in Spanish but it has so much info that I haven't found elsewhere that I decided to include it. It's self-pub so it has some mistakes in recipes and such but very valuable information and guides to changing routines. Hopefully she'll have it translated soon.

I have not personally made many of the recipes but I am planning to. I hope to update my progress and how I've been feeling. If you have book recommendations for me, please leave a comment.

~~Sab.