A couple weeks ago I was very fortunate to find out about Real Food Face-Off @ Kitchen Stewardship. I loved what Katie has going there that I couldn’t help but ask if I could “join in”. Thankfully, my query didn’t go unnoticed… I received an email from her the next day and was thrilled that she wanted me to join in. Thank you, Katie, for this honor!
Below, you will see a total of 20 questions but only 13 were chosen for the Face-Off… read here! Katie suggested that I posted all 20 questions along with my answers because I had some good things to say. Below you will find these questions thought-provoking and the answers I gave were summarized against the answers of my “challenger” Hallee @ Hallee the Homemaker.
After you’ve read through the questions and my answers… I have a challenge for you! Read on and find out what the challenge is :o)
1. How do you describe the way you eat when someone asks you to define your food?
For fun, I asked my hubby this question and his answer was short .; simple… healthy, delicious and experimental. HA!
Anyway, I usually tell people that we try to avoid processed foods and eat real food given to us from its natural source. We avoid pork and seafood. We prefer grass-fed meat from local sources and clean fruits & veggies. We don’t drink pasteurized milk (lactose-intolerant) and stay far away from soy products as much as possible. Finally, we also don’t eat refined sugar and prefer using raw honey, coconut sugar or rapadura as our sweeteners.
2. What was/is your major incentive for living a real food lifestyle?
When I first became pregnant I really started to care about what I ate and what it can do to my growing baby. After reading The Maker’s Diet, it made total sense to me to eat only what God created and follow the biblical dietary guidelines as much as possible. You can read more here.
3. If you only had energy for ONE make-from-scratch food, what would it be? Is your preference for taste or health?
A gallon of lacto-fermented Cortido: Homemade Latin American Sauerkraut. Chopping up all those veggies, letting it ferment and taking in the first bite is all worth it! Your gut will holler with delight when all those live enzymes, probiotics and vitamins do their healing work.
Both… sometimes we might not like something right away or find it bland, but we have to allow our taste buds and brain time to adjust to eating different things that are excellent for your health but not common in the American diet. Basically, we have to retrain our taste buds to enjoy real food that we should’ve been brought up on.
4. What food was your favorite that you no longer eat (or shouldn’t eat)?
I had so many! Twix candy bars, frozen pizza, TGI Friday’s Brownie Obsession… Thankfully I don’t miss them. All I remember now of those days was how yucky I would feel after eating that stuff and learned to ignore it. Not anymore!
5. What’s your favorite real/traditional food?
My fermented Cortido: Latin America Sauerkraut topped over raw cheese quesadillas with sliced avocados and a squeeze of lime juice.
AND
My kefir smoothie made with strawberries & mango. It’s like having ice cream but only better!
6. What was the hardest transition to make to real food?
Learning how to live without convenience foods like frozen pizza, chips, ice cream, cereal and crackers.
7. What’s something you remain afraid to try?
Sourdough! I’ve got the lacto-fermenting, soaking & sprouting down from the very beginning, but failed on my first try of making sourdough. I’ve made whole wheat yeasted breads with success, but sourdough is so different!
UPDATE: I’ve now conquered my fear of sourdough! I made some no-knead sourdough that came out wonderful! I will share with you about my sourdough success, plus I have several questions for all you sourdough experts out there :o)
8. What’s next on your list of changes to make?
Grow a garden when we move to our new place. I also want to learn how to make the traditional corn tortillas… the lime soaking process is still being used today in Honduras (where we are moving)! Also, I would love to enjoy more organs and do a challenge on how to eat an entire cow someday :o)
9. List your top 3 baby steps to move from a Standard American Diet to Real Food.
- Slowly remove everything from your kitchen containing HFCS, hydrogenated oils, artificial sweeteners, artificial flavorings, refined sugar, white flour and any ingredient that you can’t read or will never find yourself using in your kitchen and slowly replace them with real foods like coconut oil, butter, whole wheat, raw honey, eggs, bone broths and clean fruits & veggies. Learn to read labels.
- Cook more at home and eat out less. More frugal, healthier and easier on the budget.
- READ, READ and READ some more. Do your research when you can and seek out like-minded people to help you along the way.
10. What is the worst food (or “food”) a person could possibly put into their systems?
The combination of soda & candy. Those two things are the most consumed “foods” in the market and responsible for almost every disease we see today. They are also two of the few common processed foods that contain 100% man-made ingredients.
11. If you had only $20 to spend in a week on real food, what would you buy and what would you make?
Raw milk & cheese, eggs, brown rice and beans. I’ve been learning how simple most people’s diets are here in Central America and yet have beautiful teeth & wonderful health.
12. What does “eating healthy” mean to you?
Eating and enjoying food the way God created us to do. God is perfect and knows exactly what our bodies need to thrive! He created every fruit, veggie, animal and plant that was made specifically for us to eat for good health. He also created everything that can help the body to fight disease… how much better can it get?!
Eating healthy means that I am a rebel because I love to eat all the “bad stuff” (according to the FDA & doctors)… Butter, coconut oil, eggs (raw & cooked), raw cheese, kefir, lacto-fermented veggies, raw milk, soaked grains, grass-fed meat and coconuts.
My motto is… If God didn’t create it, don’t eat it!
13. Name the top food scoring highest on both the nutritional and budget scale? (i.e., best health benefits for the lowest cost)
Well, I was going to say eggs… but after living in a tropical country for almost 2 years now, I have to say coconuts. The water provides a rich source of minerals, vitamins & electrolytes. The meat is low carb with a rich source of saturated fats along with anti-viral, anti-fungal & anti-bacterial properties. Coconuts are known to promote energy, strength and health among the people who eat them regularly. Eggs come in at a close second though :o)
NOTE: I also forgot to mentioned that coconuts also have anti-parasitic properties too.
14. Biggest drawback of real food lifestyle?
The oppositions we received from others who are friends and family. We desire to help others when needed, but it isn’t always received. For a while I felt alone because I didn’t have another woman to turn to for support, but that changed and I found an awesome WAPF group that I am still a part of even though I live in Central America.
Another drawback was the feeling of being overwhelmed when I first started out. I had to force myself to be gracious and patience with myself & the process. I am very much a goal achiever and perfectionist in some ways. When I want something to happen… I want it to happen NOW. I also had to learn not to worry when we didn’t always eat “perfect” because the negative emotions are not any better! I will always remember what my midwife told me… pray over the food, ask for the blessing and choose to enjoy!
15. What’s the most creative thing you do to make life easier in the kitchen?
When I make my lacto-fermented Cortido … I don’t pound the cabbage mixture like it says to in the Nourishing Traditions book. I simply mix in the sea salt and whey then let it sit for 30 minutes to an hour. The sea salt naturally draws out all the juices and saves you all that pounding time that can put a knot in your neck! Simply scoop everything into a jar and pound down firmly (with your hand or wood masher) till the juices covers the mixture.
16. How important is organic food?
Well, for my situation… organic is important because chemicals and pesticides are not regulated here in Central America. We aren’t always able to find everything organic, but we have developed relationships with farmers who use no pesticides and do their best to care for their lands naturally.
What I hear most people complain is how expensive organic food is, but they are talking about organic processed food… which can be expensive! Put your money towards grass-fed meats, raw milk, eggs, and veggies from a local source that raises them naturally & chemical-free. Make your own crackers, bread, ice cream and kombucha. Buy coconut oil, grains and nuts in bulk to split with someone. You can also follow the Clean 15 & Dirty Dozen when needed, but we prefer to stop by a farmer’s market wherever we are at when visiting America.
17. What do you refuse to buy at a grocery store that you do eat from its source?
We like to buy our foods directly from small farmers… mainly meat, eggs, raw milk & cheese, veggies and fruit. The only things we get from the store are nuts, butter and oatmeal. Living in Central America has forced me to be grateful for what I can find even if it is not organic.
18. When eating out, how do make your menu decision (fav “out” food, anything you avoid)?
I have to agree with Lindsay from Passionate Homemaking on this one. We don’t fret about the food too much, but we do make an effort to look for local restaurants using the freshest ingredients possible and simply enjoy ourselves. We make it a point to not eat fried foods unless we know it is being fried with healthy fats. I believe that if we are eating healthy at home we will be okay once or twice a month, but use wisdom!
19. Best book recommendations?
- Politically Incorrect Nutrition by Michael Barbee
- The Maker’s Diet by Jordan Rubin
- Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon
- Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
- Food Inc.
UPDATE: I also highly recommend The Coconut Oil Miracle By Bruce Fife
20. Number one tip you tell your blog readers about eating healthy foods:
Try one new thing at a time, make one change at a time and don’t be afraid of the process.
For those wondering what they should get right away while changing over to real food… find a good source of fresh, raw milk. It doesn’t have to be labeled “organic” and remember to know your source. You can go to WAPF’s raw milk page and locate a source near you. For those who might have to travel a distance (so worth it!) to get their raw milk, goat’s milk freezes wonderfully and you can buy a month’s worth to save traveling time.
My Challenge for YOU!
Inspired by Hallee… I decided to challenge you to FACE-OFF with me! Pick one or all 20 of the Real Food Face-Off questions above and YOU answer them in the comments area. Share with me what is most important to you, what you want to change, what you are doing now and how you could improve. Share with us some of your creativity! Let’s all learn from each other as we FACE-OFF.
Divina Pe says
This is a great interview Mare. I hope other people do get to read this. I think I could occupy the whole comment page but I’ll answer a few. One of the most important thing to me with regards to food is to cook and eat food in their real and whole form. They also have to locally and seasonally available. I want to change how people eat. This is very challenging as there are so many advertisements on the media promoting packaged and processed products telling people they are filled with nutrients. Plus, I want to bake more with sourdough starter which I started last week. I also want to have my own garden. So far, the only thing that I’m doing is posting them on my blog and invite people to read them but I want to reach a bigger audience most especially in my own country. Also, I’m cooking healthier foods for my family. Adding fermented foods during meals. For some of them, an unhealthy food seems healthy so I have to cook them differently as not to offend them. I want to improve by continuing to read books that I have and the books that you have recommended. Knowledge is still power and my brother told me before that there’s a lot of temptation when it comes to food and it has to go back to the basics.
To answer question #2, I was actually already interested in nutrition when I was in college but was turned off by the course because it’s not want I want to do (counting calories, etc for multinational companies) but my interest came back when my father was diagnosed with cancer and was hospitalized for 14 months. I saw almost everything in the hospital such as how much medications they give you, how much blood test and x-rays they have to do but nothing is happening,and even how the doctors treat their patients. I realized that living healthy is not only about food, but it’s also about every aspect of our lives. But when I saw the food that they’re serving at the hospital, I knew I have to change something. For example, their full meal would have some chocolate bar as your dessert and some crackers for snack.
leah says
The biggest drawback for me is definitely pressure from friends and family…while my hubby is somewhat health conscious, he isn’t on board with a lot of the things that I eat.:) The fact that he is a pastor makes it difficult too, because we have A LOT of church dinners, eating out with other people, dinner at people’s houses, etc. where it is simply impossible to get out of eating bad stuff without looking really stuck up and rude. I try to just feed everyone as healthfully as possible at home and not stress about it the rest of the time. And I am trying to take healthy things to church dinners to hopefully start educating people about nutrition without being pushy and annoying!
Stacy says
Hi Mare,
I am new to this way of eating and I just had a question about your answer to question #1. You said that you do not drink pasturized milk because you are lactose intolerant. Will drinking raw milk help with that? I discovered that I was lactose intolerant a year ago and miss milk products, but have not been able to find a source for raw milk yet. Thanks for your response and I have enjoyed getting to know you!
missmessy says
Stacy, I have always been lactose intolerant, and have completely avoided milk products my whole life. About a year ago I discovered Nourishing Traditions and started drinking raw milk, and lacto fermented beverages, and making my own yogurt. I have never felt better. I am re-discovering dairy, and loving it!
Mollie says
I’ve always been interested in eating healthy, but i’ve always felt overwhelmed with information. Since eating gluten free because of Celiac disease, I find it easier to focus. I’m already cutting out a lot of processed food and cooking more. Now I find that I’m excited to focus on heatlhy eating. Researching gluten free foods has led me to sites such as yours, where unprocessed, local and real, organic foods are the mainstays of your diet.
One tip I have for people looking to switch to real foods is to do it slowly and with a small end result in mind. For example, first I wanted to eat gluten free so I learned how to make delicous GF banana muffins. Then I wanted to cut out sugar so I made those muffins with honey. Then I wanted to cut out grains so I made those muffins with almond flour. And finally, I want to monitor my intake of honey and fruits, so I try to eat two to three sweet things a day. I think it’s so important to cut out and add certain foods to our diets in a way that makes us feel in control. My ultimate goal is to feel great and be in great health, but my immediate is to avoid eating foods that make me feel tired or overfull.
this is a gret post and has encouraged me to look seriously into fermented foods and raw milk!
Mollie from http://www.thealmondflower.com
Marillyn Beard says
Wow! Thanks for all your comments and questions! This is what I was hoping for. Thank you for doing the Face-Off with me :o)
Divina – I LOVE your goals and desire to help people. That is an awesome thing. I look forward to seeing what God has in mind for you! I know you are going to do great things. I am totally with you… Knowledge IS power!
Leah – I TOTALLY understand where you are at! I’ve been there and still often find myself in that place. It is hard! I even had people accuse me of being better than them because I choose not to eat what they eat. I made it a point to never share anything unless they ask or else they will think I am be rude and stuck up.
Just remember that God knows your heart and desire. He will bless that! I will pray for your hubby to get on the same page with you 100%. I am so blessed that my hubby is with me 100% and we work as a team to do what we can in those kind of situations. I have seen the difficulies that wives go through when trying to keep the family healthy on their own. Pray, pray and pray some more! You will accomplish more through that and by your actions. I had to remind myself to be gracious to those who chose to be ignorant. Satan uses food as a trap and it is SO sad & frusterating to see people constantly falling into that trap!
Stacy – YES, we LOVE our fresh raw milk. We’ve been drinking and fermenting it for a few years now. I love goat’s while my girls & hubby love the cow milk. Did you look up the WAPF site? I have a link on the last question. I explained there that one of the first things I would do is find a source… try WAPF and see if you can. Where are you from?
missmessy – Thank you for helping Stacy out!
Mollie – You made some great points! Thank you for sharing what you’ve done. It makes a huge difference to know how to replace foods with healthier alternatives. Too often people go crazy and throw everything out, but don’t know where to start with finding healthier alternatives. Sounds like you are doing great and on the right track! Thank you so much for sharing!!!
Stephanie Mckenzie says
I am a big chicken when it comes to fermented vegtables, I am so afraid to try it, that it will taste horrible!
I greatly admire how hands on you are at learning to make healthy, whole foods for your family. I do this to degree, but I am slowly adding more and more healthy meals.
Detox 4 Women by Natalia Rose is an excellent book for health. I have found for some reason that properly combining my food causes me to lose weight and gain energy quite easily. She does reccomend colonics, but I have read that those are hard on the body and the best way to clean the intestines is to do a salt water cleanse. Anyway, she is very knowledgable, you might want to check her out!
Stephanie Mckenzie a kindred deaf momma ; )
Marillyn Beard says
Hey Steph!! Thank you for being honest. I understand the fear, but I am so sure you will love the Cortido because everybody who has tried it… loved it. Start with a quart and see what you think of it. I HIGHLY recommend going to Cultures for Health and ordering her fermenting jars. They make fermented veggies taste SO MUCH better! Let her know I directed you over there :o)
I will look up the book you recommend. I actually have been thinking about going through a detox once Tabi is done nursing. Thanks so much for your suggestion!
Thank you for your honesty, thoughts, encouragement and suggestions! I value them :o)
Great to know another kindred deaf mama! LOL!
Stephanie Mckenzie says
Thanks for the info on the fermenting jars, I will definately make the Cortido! I’m just gonna do it lol 🙂
A couple of other things about Natalia that I forgot to mention (that made me think you would like her book) is that she recommends fermented veggies and raw goat milk cheeses and of course whole, nourishing foods. I have been loving her goat milk cheese sandwich recipe (lettuce or cabbage leaves with dijon or regular mustard and slices or raw goat cheese, you use the leaves as a wrap, it’s simple but delicious!).
I thank God for leading me to your blog it’s an inspiration!
Steph
Marillyn Beard says
Steph! I thank God for bringing your here! I hope we can cultivate a friendship :o)
Go for it!! Make the Cortido and let me know how it goes. I will for sure get a copy of Natalia’s book… sounds like the kind of book I will really enjoy. Thank you!
pyrenees honey says
The main draw back for me is the limited amount of raw savoury products here in the UK. So i drink alot of raw smoothies with superfoods and honey. These are great nut at times you need something else!
Marillyn Beard says
pyrenees honey – I understand that too! Living in Costa Rica has forced me to learn to live without some things, but I also gain more too! We LOVE LOVE our raw smoothies… who doesn’t?! Thank you for sharing your thought!
JennDZ - The Leftover Queen says
That was a great interview! I really enjoyed reading all your answers. I think that these things take time to make them a regular part of your life. I am still trying to get there – but it is all about the baby steps for long lasting results!