Metamorphosis by Kasha

Epilogue: I actually wrote this post almost a year ago, but I don't know why I never got around to posting it.  I guess I thought I still needed to edit it. (Although I did just edit it to make it chronologically accurate.)  And then I figured everyone close to me probably already knows all this stuff about me now, so why bother?  But I recently found out that there are in fact some gaps in people's knowledge - like the fact that I don't really coupon anymore.  So here is a summary of some pretty important changes in my life over the past couple years.  How time flies!

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Sprouted buckwheat. Free range eggs. Homemade chicken stock. Pictured here is Russian Kasha which I made for a simple Lenten meal. All in all, there were several days (not all consecutive) of preparation for this meal referred to in the cookbook as "peasant fare." It represents the the food journey I have been on for the past two years.

In the spring of 2009, I took a "healthy cooking and nutrition class." This class ended up kicking off a veritable revolution in terms of the way I understand food, nutrition and cooking.

The class advertised topics that I had either heard mention of, or knew a little bit about, but were mostly mysterious to me. Things like cultured dairy, sprouting, superfoods, and bone broths. I was intrigued and excited. I had no idea where this information would take me. It became a focal point of my thoughts and energies during the ensuing months. The first several months to a year were like boot camp. I was learning all sort of new skills and information, mostly self-taught and on-the-job. I tend to really immerse myself in subjects once I get interested in them and feel they are important to my life. I probably border on obsession at times, until I've learned enough to feel proficient. (As I did with babywearing, breastfeeding, elimination communication, etc.) I now feel like I've reached a level of proficiency with these "new old" techniques and have more or less established a rhythm and routine. However, I am still a work in progress and I often fall behind or fail to plan things thoroughly. I am always trying to hone my efficiency and speed and planning to keep things running smoothly and allow time for all my other duties and responsibilities. Finding balance is my constant goal - which I'm sure will be a lifelong pursuit.

Many things have changed for me. My couponing days are all but behind me now. The time I used to spend cutting and organizing and planning shopping trips has been replaced by made-from-scratch cooking. This might seem like an inconvenient trade off, but I actually feel liberated in a sense because all those products I used to buy don't interest me in the least. I no longer pour over the weekly specials. I don't even shop at Harris Teeter anymore, but once in a blue moon. Now I travel to farther reaches of the Charlotte area to fetch various "farm fresh" products and nutrient dense foods not available at grocery stores.  Furthermore, when I lack a particular condiment or food item, now I usually think, "I can just make that myself!" instead of feeling beholden to the food manufacturers and grocery stores to make and package it for me.

Sure, there is a lot more time and effort involved, but there is also a lot more joy and satisfaction.

Some other things that have changed for me:

"Partially hydrogenated vegetable oil" has become one of the dirtiest words I can think of.

Now we drink weird things to drink like kefir with bee pollen, kombucha and kvass.

I have a whole shelf in in my cabinets reserved just for things that are fermenting.

I feel a great deal of pride and satisfaction to put a meal on a table that I made from start to finish, including everything from the stock made from bones which simmered on my stovetop for up to 3 days to condiments like chutneys or ketchup or my own version of 57 sauce. Meat and eggs and vegetables were purchased after having a face to face conversation with the person who raised them. (In contrast, I used to open the pantry at 4:30pm and ask, "What am I going to make for dinner?!" I therefore resorted to packages, cans, frozen skillet meals and things of the like. I was merely "preparing" food, not really cooking it.)

I feel a sense of solidarity with homemakers of previous generations who had no choice but to make everything on their own, including raising their meat and vegetables (I'm not quite there - yet). I have a greater commitment to stewardship and conservation not only because I have invested so much more of myself into the food, but it has also helped me to see that I just don't need as many "disposables." And when I'm spending more money on some ingredients, I like to save on things like paper and plastic. I reuse ziplock bags countless times. (I am not one to wash them though - that one of the most odious chores I can imagine! I am just diligent about labeling them and keep using them for the same thing over and over. I have a "library" of bags in one of my kitchen drawers, another in the freezer and another in the fridge.)

My new food philosophy is simply to eat real food. Not frankenfood. Not facscimiles of food. Just food food. That means eating plants as animals as close as possible to their natural state - the way God intended it to be. This not only means fresh vegetables and fruit (in season when practical), whole grains, etc, but for animal products, the animals should be raised the way God made them to be: Cows that eat grass, chickens that run around outside eating bugs and grubs and seeds etc. It was something I never really thought about before. I thought chicken is chicken, beef is beef, milk is milk. But it's not so. Animals that have a healthy existence in turn have more healthful benefits to offer us. Animals that are the equivalent of human couch potatoes who eat nothing but cheeze curlz and soda pop do not have as many nutrients to offer us, and in fact have many attributes that are indeed detrimental to our health. The food chain is a really beautiful thing. We should respect it. I don't believe we can improve on God's creation, nor should we try. In addition, I've learned that some plant foods (especially grains, seeds, legumes) require some special preparation in order to better digest them and assimilate their nutrients. However, I am also learning that even the practice of soaking grains and legumes has some controversy surrounding it in the real food community. There are even subsets of real foodists do not eat any grains or legumes at all. 

Once I had learned the "Nourishing Traditions Program" so to speak, I felt like I was done. I wanted to be done. Done researching. Done learning about new food pitfalls. Done seeking the holy grail of "perfect nutrition." But the more I learn, the more I learn how much I don't know and that I will probably never truly be "done" with any subject, if only because I enjoy learning and persuing knowledge, but also because the world is so vast and one can never know it all - as much as I would like!