Real food and Real kitchens

The pretty kitchens in magazines and Pinterest are not real.

I can get sucked into dreaming of bigger spaces, pristine counters,

and perfectly organized efficient spaces. But when Im honest,
the messy, food in the crevices, sink always full kind are probably
all I'll ever have or want. The reason? Im pretty sure those with
pristine kitchens probably dont eat very well. I mean, preparing good
wholesome food is messy business!

Last weekend I attended my first Weston A. Price Foundation Conference here in Indy.

Who is Weston A. Price? I was introduced to him about 6 years ago after moving to Indy and

meeting some friends just as interested in nutrition as I. Eventually I was handed a copy of Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon, and began a journey of abandoning some of the ideas about nutrition that I had grown up with. And mostly by grown up with, I mean, what I was taught while studying dietetics at Michigan State University. (Dont worry dad, all that tuition you paid did not go to waste. I didnt abandon everything I learned! Ive just started questioning some of the underlying principles that were taught as nutrition law.)

But back to Weston A. Price. To make a long story much shorter, Price was a dentist who traveled the world studying the health of various people groups. He was interested in better understanding the relationships between nutrition and both dental and physical health. Dr. Price's research demonstrated that humans achieve perfect physical form and perfect health generation after generation only when they consume nutrient-dense whole foods and the vital fat-soluble activators. What does that mean? Well, basically, we have a chronically ill society because we've traded traditionally prepared foods for fast food, processed food, food stripped of everything beneficial....empty foods. Farming techniques, food distribution, government policies, and lack of personal involvement in one's own food supply have all contributed. We're a far cry from being nourished, and we have the medical bills to prove it.

I might not agree with Price that we can have perfect health (we do live in a fallen world), but he has convinced me that there are things I can do for my family to bring improved nourishment.....not just calories. But it takes an investment of time and energy and MESS!

I've experienced a sharp learning curve when it comes to preparing traditional foods. And I have a long way to go. In the last few years Ive started soaking my grains, nuts and legumes to make them more digestible. I started making yogurt, fermented veggies, and kombucha to give us daily doses of probiotics. Ive began making my own soaked granola and breads. And though I didnt use many packaged foods to begin with, I've tried to focus on feeding us with whole foods, purchased from farmers who practice with integrity and leave behind things like pesticides, herbicides, and antibiotics. We've sought out good chicken, beef, and fish, local honey, and eggs, and even bought a juicer. And I make various bone stocks almost weekly. Im not listing these things to brag or insist that Ive arrived (nutritionally speaking), but because I want you to know that changing the way you eat takes time, but it is possible. And there is a LOT of grace in the process. Some seasons of life show themselves with other priorities, and many of these things take a back seat. And thats ok. I remind myself that even the smallest efforts can easily multiply.

One day not too long ago I came into the kitchen and laughed out loud at all the things on my limited counter space. There were various cultures sitting out, ingredients for salad dressing and smoothies sitting there, a sink full of dishes and supplies for cleaning agents ready and waiting. My laundry hadnt quite gotten downstairs, and there were more projects in motion than I could count. This style of eating Ive adapted wont leave me with a pretty magazine looking life.

Because clean eating and clean kitchens just dont go hand-in-hand.

At least in my house.

This post is linked up with Gracelaced......check out some other grace-filled posts!