New Year's Real Food Resolutions

Last January in this space, we posted New Year's Resolutions for real people, striving to eat real food.  In the 365 days since, new readers have joined us so I have decided to re-post the Real Food Resolutions.  The first in this series was written by yours truly.  I will post the others over the next couple of weeks.

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Every year when the new year rolls around I like to make lists of resolutions but *dad*gum*it* I can't keep up with half of them.

Today I'm posting my real food resolutions for 2011.  I'm loosely following Kimi's four wise tips for success and participating in her carnival:
 - make baby step goals
 - make goals very specific
 - don't plan a whole year
 - make one goal per month

That said, the first two resolutions I tried implementing last year and dropped the ball more than once.

1. Take fermented cod liver oil at least 5 days a week.  Seven would be great.  Five is realistic. Read here for tips to get it down.

2. Eat a fermented food with every meal.


This resolution was inspired by Little Rock's Weston A Price chapter leader, Lisa Lipe.  Lacto-fermented foods introduce beneficial bacteria and enzymes that helps your gut digest food, among other things.

Lisa says she doesn't always plan a fermented food with each meal, but more likely just pulls out jars of lacto-fermented condiments and has them on the table for each person's personal choosings.  I'm thankful that my family enjoys kombucha, a fizzy lacto-fermented drink.  Other fermented options could be: yogurt, kefir, raw dairy, lacto-fermented mayonnaise, radish relish, sauerkraut or kimchi.  With lacto-fermented condiments, a little bit goes a long way.  A couple of tablespoons is sufficient for beneficial results.

Two new resolutions for 2011:

3. Buy a grain mill (with Christmas money) and use it.


I've been wanting to buy one for a while but not had the cuh-za$h. A friend of mine with a grain mill and has been grinding grain for me.

4. Eat seasonally and locally.


The book that inspired me to think seasonally and eat locally was Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver.  It ranks in the upper echelon on the list of books that have changed my life.  Another book my husband read recently, that resonated with both of us, is What Are People For? by Wendell Berry.

Eating seasonally and locally will be the hardest resolution to fulfill.  It will require forethought, planning, and self-control.  Because it is such a paradigm shift - I am not resolving to exclusively eat seasonally and locally. I have been thinking about this resolution for a couple of years and trying to take baby steps to get there.  My specific resolution: I will strive to have at least one meal a week that is exclusively local and supplement every meal with something grown locally.  The typical farmers markets are shut down for the winter but I can still buy locally through the Arkansas Sustainability Network (ASN) food club.  I love shopping the markets in the summer!

Bonus Resolution {shooting for the stars here, this one will most likely happen in 2012}

Learn how to make awesome soaked, sprouted, or sourdough bread.

Bread making the traditional way seems to be daunting.  I have wanted to do it for a long time and is one of my last holdouts.

Stay tuned for more resolutions from others who write for Real Food in Little Rock.

-Julie


Click here if you'd like to read other baby steps my family has taken on our real food journey.  Or this article written by my husband (to wives) on how to get your man to eat real food.

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2012 Resolutions

I have not written new resolutions for this year, I will continue working on the ones above.  With joy, I am able to report that my family was able to keep up with most of the resolutions.  I bought a grain mill - that one was easy!  

After attending the Weston A. Price conference in November and learning about the incredible benefits of lacto-fermented foods, I was resolved even more to keep adding the lacto-fermented foods to our plate.  

In 2012 I want to strive to do better with eating locally and seasonally.  I have invested in a half-share of Kellogg Valley's CSA. He has more shares available if you are interested.

As for the bread, I have been experimenting with Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day.  It is not sprouted, or soaked (in the traditional sense) but it is easy to squeeze into my crazy life and much better than store-bought bread.  This bread falls into my unhealthy 20% of the 80/20.  I can't do it all.  I don't do it all.