Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats

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Note: You may have to use another jar, a pint one. I say thins because ours overflowed. So after mixing up the liquid, etc. I poured the mixed into both jars, covering the peppers.

Nourishing Traditions Cookbook for Children - The Weston A Nourishing Traditions Cookbook for Children - The Weston A

This book has completely changed how I view food. Although I think there are some problems with it (a bit of a conspiracy theory feeling to it, dismissing all opposing views as silly or unfounded), this one fact remains true. The premise of the book is that so many of our health problems stem from industrialized food--food we've only been eating for the last 100 years or so, such as refined sugar, white flour, and vegetable oil. Fallon argues that we should be eating traditional foods, with a focus on meat, animal fats, raw veggies, and fermented foods.

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Ancient preservation methods actually increase nutrients in fruits, nuts, vegetables, meats and milk products! I found this book most valuable as an opening to thinking differently about food - and that there is a reason that much popular and media endorsed nutrition is so confusing and contradictory - it is based in political, fad, or agenda thinking rather than biological history - and the absolute flood of processed and manufactured food into our diets and the resulting explosion of health problems has everyone scrambling to come up with answers that don't offend anyone or any industries that might be implicated - or challenge too far the 'everybody says' or 'everybody knows' syndrome. In addition, this book has recipes for producing your own cultured milk products - a good second best to raw milk - such as yogurt, piima cream, kefir, buttermilk, creme fraiche and others.

Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges

Update: This book deserves 3.5 stars. I enjoyed her information on history of food and history of food in different nations and many recipes. Of course, I think that eating real food, not processed, does help prevent many a disease and does contributes to better over-all daily health. I also do think soaking grains is helpful. I appreciated that she made it clear that we, in America, need more cultured food in our diets. However, some of her information irked me. I do believe that there are many illnesses that were not properly diagonsed years ago (or the disease did not yet have a name), therefore, it seems that some diseases are on the rise, when, in fact, modern medicine enables better, earlier diagnoses. She states that some diseases were almost unheard of before modern food and I find that a little hard to believe. Obviously, food allergies and type II diabetes, most likely, play a huge part in eating poorly, however, I don't buy her extremist approach about disease and food. I think food plays a huge part, however, there is more to it than that (environmental, genetics, etc) and she didn't elaborate enough, in my opinion. Conclusion: Take her cookbook in moderation (natives probably ate seasonal too) but keep practicing it. Shun the "displacing foods of modern commerce", and I think you'll make a big dent in whatever ails you. Remember, things take time, (we never really ate this way before) and "seek and ye shall find". There are a few bizarre things...I think she promotes eating meat raw, though specially prepared and of course from clean sources. I'm not willing to go that far. Heh.However, there is no substitute for corn syrup in her book. I like pecan pie (before I read her book), but there is no mention of what might be a good substitute for the ubiquitous corn syrup. What about using honey, or maple syrup or a dilution of some kind to make pecan pie, would that work? As long as were going to "treat" ourselves once in awhile, I wish she found a great substitute for that modern poison. This is another good foundation book if you're looking at eating traditional foods. She talks a lot about culturing foods to encourage enzyme growth which promotes good digestion and gut flora. The authors present a lot of information and recipes on traditionally made foods, many of them cultured - including condiments, vegetables, dressings, sauces, chutneys, beverages, etc - all great information and good recipes-! Sally Fallon Morell is founding president of the Weston A. Price Foundation and editor of the Foundation’s quarterly magazine. The Foundation has fifteen thousand members and almost six hundred local chapters worldwide. The Foundation has changed the conversation about what constitutes a healthy diet and has stimulated many fine writers to challenge the legitimacy of the lowfat, low-cholesterol paradigm. The Foundation has also alerted the public to the dangers of modern soy products, especially soy infant formula.

Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges

This cookbook is unique. . . . Nourishing Traditions throws down the gauntlet to challenge the “Diet Dictocrats.” The kitchen tools chapter is the first place you (and your children) will really benefit from Angela Eisenbart’s lovely illustrations. As the authors list and explain the simple tools needed to prepare the traditional food recipes in the cookbook, Eisenbart adds the drawings that bring them to life. And I’m very glad the authors tell us we won’t be needing a microwave to prepare anything in this book! Lisa makes the best soft chervil goat cheese with chives and garlic. And the other day she gave me a jar of her homemade fermented Anaheim peppers. “It would be good with eggs,” she said. I took it home and made my special scrambled egg dish that consists of 2 eggs, beaten with some milk, then scrambled in olive oil. Next, I slice up some tomato, avocado, and then I add some of her cheese, but I do not cook them. Well, this time I sliced up some of the fermented peppers and added them. I was so in love with this meal, with the added peppers, that I had it again that day for lunch.

Sally Fallon Morell, MA

Update: We made some fermented peppers and sat the jar on the counter. Well, after three days nothing happened. I called Lisa and she said to leave them on the counter for ten more days because it takes longer to ferment in cooler weather. So my husband put a heat lamp on them because nothing was happening. The next day the water in the jars rose, and there were a few bubbles. So a few days later we took a jar over to Lisa’s. She took one out and ate it. Said it was getting there, but it wasn’t tart enough. Maybe two more weeks, but I could keep tasting it and see how I like them. I was afraid of botulism, but she said that the whey prevented that from happening. So make sure your whey has live culture. Update 2019: Due to the massive amount of research on the devastating effects of eating animals and oils/fats that have been extracted from the original plant source, I no longer recommend this book. We followed her recommendations and ate like this for 11 years and it didn't improve my kids' teeth or our health one bit. I followed everything as perfectly as possible, even the recommended supplements. My kids never drank soda or juice and have never eaten at McDonald's or other fast-food restaurants and their teeth are still terrible. I still think that if people raise their own animals and grow their own food they will dodge many diseases but my family is now eating 100% whole food plant-based. No animals, dairy, eggs, oil, added salt or refined sugars. This was an easy transition for us because we already ate almost exclusively home-cooked meals and no refined sugar. We tossed the oils, dairy, and meat. We have seen significant improvements in our health. My husband lost 30 lbs. I lost 20 lbs. My kids stopped wetting the bed at night. No one has toothaches anymore so I am expecting to see improvement there. My son's acne cleared up. I no longer have insulin resistance. We all have more energy when we run and exercise. I no longer have joint pain. None of us wakes up with stomach aches anymore. My digestion has improved greatly! Some of her recipes are not the greatest...I would suggest finding some one who has tried them before making. I have made the kraut, kimchi and ginger carrots using kefir whey and they have turned out well. The sections on fermenting foods also really resonated with me. In our quest to make foods more convenient we have lost many of the preserving techniques that make foods nutritious. For instance, soaking our whole grains, nuts and legumes neutralized phytic acid (which prevents our bodies from absorbing the majority of the vitamins in the grain), as well as increases the general digestability of the grain. All those happy bacteria get in there and basically start to break it down for you! Isn't that nice of them? :D

Nourishing Traditions! - Nourishing Traditions Welcome to Nourishing Traditions! - Nourishing Traditions

So I rely on my common sense and my powers of observation of myself and those around me - of what effects I see or feel with different dietary variables and what kind of diet I provide myself and my family. I read a lot of information from a lot of sources to see what is out there - and try to find the common sense, and for things that are less intuitive, I try them and see -This review can’t cover every cooking chapter, so I will choose two more favorites. First, Vibrant Vegetables!. Glancing through the recipes—after reviewing the “why” behind vegetables’ color and nutrition—you can’t help but notice the appealing titles, bound to make kids super interested in eating what they prepare: Carrot Coins, Bright Broccoli, or Asparagus Brushes, for example. The chapter includes recipes for dressings and sauces. That leads to the last thing that really makes sense to me, which is the idea of beneficial bacteria and having a balance in your body rather than trying to scour everything with purell. If you have a well built up colony of bacteria in your system they will be there to compete with the bad bacteria for space and be your defender! It really does make a difference what you eat before conception, during pregnancy, and what you feed your child.. (Btw, I supplemented with WAP homemade formula and eventually switched her to it completely when I decided to quit nursing- don't judge me) Don't get me wrong, I like this cookbook and refer to it 95% of the time. I try to even "Fallonize" recipes I find outside of the book. It is my main recipe reference now. The sidebars of information and anecdotes (complete with references) make it more than a cookbook! It helps to reinforce and inspire the WHY you are doing this! AND, it is the only cookbook that I know of based entirely on Weston A. Price's principles! The right unrefined fats and oils, both saturated and unsaturated are necessary for proper functioning of the human body both structurally and metabolically, and wholesale limitation of all fats in the diet or consumption of refined or manufactured fats produces disease - this idea is currently gaining widespread acceptance - that it is the right fats you need to eat - the authors go further to assert that while there is a dietary correlation between diet and serum cholesterol, there is no evidence for a link between serum cholesterol and heart disease - something that many studies (if you support them) corroborate. The authors also assert that fats that have nourished humans for thousands of years, such as animal fat, butter, coconut oil, cold pressed olive oil, etc without producing heart disease or other ill effects are still capable of this feat today.