Real food takes time

I have said it before and will continue to say it......I started making changes almost 7 1/2 years ago and we are still making slow steady changes each day. Education is key and finding the changes that work for you are important. Here is a brief list of what I did in a somewhat chronological order:

1. Start reading ingredient lists and shopping at local health food store-there was no farmers market back then
2. Planted a garden and started experimenting on what I was good at growing (herbs then plants)
3. Started buying organic fruits and veggies
4. Found Local Bison farm and drove there to get Local Bison meat (YUM) a few times a year
5. Drove to the only farmers market that was available at that time which was about 1 1/2 hour round trip from my house, every Saturday
6. Buying organic boxed, canned and packaged foods instead of conventional (cereal, mac and cheese, beans, frozen dinners etc)
7. Find locally sourced meats in bulk (beef was first - we avoided all others)
8. Learned how to freeze and can foods that were in season and local
9. Bought organic milk and alternative milks
10. Got a bread machine and used it often 
11. Bought other organic meats from local health food store and supplementing with beans (it gets pricey if not careful)
12. Realized the importance of finding a local farmer for ALL meats and buying them in bulk (pork, chickens, turkey, lamb)
13. Learned how to use my crock pot for everything I could think of
14. Buying organic grains and bread and learning how to cook them
15. Sourcing organic seasonal fruit and veggies local when the farmers market opened a few years ago
16. Learned to cook and plan ahead of time for dinner so we prepared and didn’t order pizza
17. Learned how to eat seasonally and local from the farmers who grow our food
18. Realized that stretching my dollar for every meal was important and learned how to make chicken stock from the bones - eventually I saw that the feet were great for stock as well
19. Went to harvest chickens and turkeys to get a real feel of the farm to table life - IT WAS AMAZING!
20. Sourced RAW goats milk for my daughter and eventually raw cows milk for all of us
21. Found a quality water filter for our drinking water - we added a fluoride/arsenic filter later
22. Got a backyard flock of chickens/duck
23. Learned the benefits of soaking and sprouting grains before use.
24. Learned how to make lard from real pork fat
25. Learned how to ferment condiments
26. Started cutting out flour products unless sprouted (with a few exceptions)
27. Learned how to make sourdough bread and starter
28. Learned how to make kefir soda, and kefir

I do all of these things now, plus a lot more, but as you can see, I did not do it overnight!  It has taken years to get to what I am doing now. I took it one day at a time.
My most recent Real food adventure is making homemade cereal, by soaking flour for 24 hours, baking, then dehydrating for another 18 hours. Totally worth the hours it takes!

The most important things to Remember.....not everything I do will work for you and your family.  If you have to outsource your breads and other things - that is ok! (I just want to be as hands on as possible). READ all labels-even if stated 'Organic'.  Ask questions, lots of questions. Learn how to cook (even if it is a crockpot)

Don’t be intimidated to talk to people or ask where things can be found.  I have been told ‘no’ or ‘I don’t know’ so many times....eventually someone will help you find it or know someone who can!
Let me be your guide on a Real food adventure!

Real Food-Real Life-Real Simple!!!