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YOU CAN DO IT! If you feel overwhelmed at the thought of eating healthier, just take a deep breath and go through these one at a time. Take baby steps and do what you can. Every little thing you change can have huge long-term implications for your health!
- #1 & #2: Start reading labels! Avoid trans fat and high fructose corn syrup! (This post also explains what a Rookie Tip is.)
- #3: Soda pop dangers
- #4: Do you know which milk is healthiest?
- #5: Is your microwave safe to use?
- #6: Take your cod liver oil!
- #7: Eat more eggs!
- #8: Sunshine benefits: don’t be afraid of the sun!
- #9: Meatrix Movies: Be aware & informed!
- #10: Choose local & organic food whenever you can
- #11: Avoid MSG!
- #12: Whole grains and unrefined carbs
- #13: Get rid of the bad fats in your kitchen!
- #14: Where to start?
- #15: Why you should only use REAL Maple Syrup
- #16: Learn about why you should try to get more coconut oil into your diet! (I didn’t do a specific Rookie Tip post about this, but wanted to link to the coconut oil post because it’s such an important thing to know about.)
- #17: Healthy Juice…Is there such a thing?
- #18: Shredding Cheese / Healthy Options – Rookie Tip
- #19: Where to find healthy meat
- #20: Healthy Bread Choices
Rookie Tips from YOU – read suggestions for beginners from readers!
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{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey Kelly — just a quick note. We have whole milk in our refrigerater now! I even drank a small glass last night. Just wanted you to know that we continue to make small changes.
Liz, I have only one thing to say: WOOHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! You made my day!
Hi Kelly!
I’ve been waiting for your post about the 5K–you missed the best part, PANCAKES!
Me and my friends will be running in the Muir Twin Rivers Festival on May 17th–see you then?
Deb–from Fowler!
Deb,
I was hoping you’d sign in and say hello! I didn’t mention pancakes because I couldn’t stay for them! We had to get back home for a couple soccer games. I was so bummed I missed them, that I made pancakes and sausage for dinner tonight.
Can’t do the one on May 17th (2 soccer games and an anniversary party), but good luck, you are one motivated girl!
You left your message in this post instead of the 5K one, so I’m going to cut and paste our comments/messages over there…
Thanks for commenting and for your last-minute encouragement Saturday!
Excellent tips! It is so nice to see such great advice online!
I am a SERIOUS rookie… grew up in a 50% homecooking 50% processed foods home. I now have a family of my own (three under the age of six), and though it has taken me a long time to start reassessing some of that environment, I am doing some deep reassessing. I give you that background to say that, while these rookie tips are good, we 100% newbies need more than just a few tips. It’s like half of this website is in a foreign language to me! I have a BS in Ed., so I am not unintelligent, but coming from nowhere is overwhelming.
If you want my suggestions (and you may not!), I would love if you talk in specifics about how you started to change, how others can make change and add a little more information about why the foods you say are bad are bad. For instance, everyone bashes all boxed cereals, but I cannot seem to find a “why” with the exception of HFCS, but not all cereals have HFCS (Multigrain Cheerios, for example). Also, can you cite or refer people to research to back up claims? Not that I implicitly trust the scientific community (look how many pharmaceuticals have been approved by “scientists” that have killed people), but I also do not implicitly trust bloggers either (truly no offense meant by that, just expressing a healthy dose of skepticism in this time of frauds and extremism).
And this is the biggie for me: can someone talk a little more about making incremental changes between things… for example, I’ve seen several posts about being “raw” milk. That is probably possible where I live (just north of metro Atlanta), but it’s not really practical to expect someone to go from store bought Skim Milk (yep, that’s me) straight to raw farm milk. What are mid-steps? What choices can I make slowly? And how do you find out about what local farms sell publicly? Are there websites for this? Should I go to a farmer’s market and ask around? Also, what about all these different grains? How do I use them and where do I get them? Is there anyone else out there from metro Atl who has pointers?
Ah! That’s a great idea -
could you add a section where people can post local farms/farmer markets/etc where you can look up your city and find out what’s available? Or maybe that’s available elsewhere online… does anyone know of sites with that type of information?
I want you to know I appreciate the effort you’ve put into this site. I’ve learned a lot in a short amount of time, but I still feel pretty overwhelmed. Even before I found this site, I’ve been making major overhauls on our lifestyle, but I need help on where to go from here!!!!
Thank you so much for any help!!
SJ, since there was so much to respond to, I’m copying your whole comment here, then my response will be in ALL CAPS within your words………..
I am a SERIOUS rookie… grew up in a 50% homecooking 50% processed foods home. I now have a family of my own (three under the age of six), and though it has taken me a long time to start reassessing some of that environment, I am doing some deep reassessing. I give you that background to say that, while these rookie tips are good, we 100% newbies need more than just a few tips. It’s like half of this website is in a foreign language to me! I COMPLETELY AND TOTALLY UNDERSTAND. WHEN I FIRST GOT INTO THIS I’D HAVE TO HAVE THE SAME THINGS REPEATED TO ME OVER AND OVER (MY POOR FRIEND KATHY) BECAUSE THERE WAS SO MUCH *NEW* TO LEARN, I JUST COULDN’T PROCESS IT ALL VERY FAST! I have a BS in Ed., so I am not unintelligent, but coming from nowhere is overwhelming. HAVE YOU SEEN THIS POST ABOUT FEELING OVERWHELMED? http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2009/02/overwhelmed-with-eating-healthier-another-random-reader-question.html
If you want my suggestions (and you may not!), I ALWAYS LOVE SUGGESTIONS!!! I would love if you talk in specifics about how you started to change, how others can make change and add a little more information about why the foods you say are bad are bad. IF YOU EVER HAVE SPECIFIC QUESTIONS YOU CAN EMAIL ME, OR ASK ME AT THIS POST: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2009/02/go-on-ask-me-i-dare-ya.html
For instance, everyone bashes all boxed cereals, but I cannot seem to find a “why” with the exception of HFCS, but not all cereals have HFCS (Multigrain Cheerios, for example). http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2009/06/whats-wrong-with-breakfast-cereals-random-reader-question.html
Also, can you cite or refer people to research to back up claims? Not that I implicitly trust the scientific community (look how many pharmaceuticals have been approved by “scientists” that have killed people), but I also do not implicitly trust bloggers either (truly no offense meant by that, just expressing a healthy dose of skepticism in this time of frauds and extremism). NO OFFENSE TAKEN AT ALL, MY MIND WORKS THE SAME WAY, I WANT TO *KNOW* WHY I SHOULD BELIEVE WHAT I READ. I TRY TO ALWAYS BACK UP WHAT I SAY, BUT I’M SURE I FORGET AT TIMES. IN THOSE CASES, NEVER FEEL BAD ABOUT ASKING FOR A REFERENCE OR FOR MORE INFO IN THE COMMENTS. IF I HAVE IT I’LL GIVE IT, OR I’LL POINT YOU TO WHERE YOU CAN RESEARCH MORE IF I HAVEN’T DONE IT YET. MORE ON THAT TOPIC: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2007/12/where-is-truth-on-health-and-nutrition_30.html
And this is the biggie for me: can someone talk a little more about making incremental changes between things… for example, I’ve seen several posts about being “raw” milk. That is probably possible where I live (just north of metro Atlanta), but it’s not really practical to expect someone to go from store bought Skim Milk (yep, that’s me) straight to raw farm milk. What are mid-steps? What choices can I THIS POST WILL HELP YOU – IT’S ABOUT WHICH MILK CHOICES ARE BEST TO WORSE – SCROLL DOWN HERE AND READ “WHAT TO BUY”: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2008/02/healthy-milk.htmlmake slowly?
And how do you find out about what local farms sell publicly? Are there websites for this? EACH FARM *MIGHT* HAVE ITS OWN WEBSITE, BUT YOU USUALLY JUST HAVE TO GO AND ASK. Should I go to a farmer’s market and ask around? ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA, OR GO TO YOUR LOCAL WESTON A. PRICE MEETINGS FOR HELP WITH ALL THIS: http://www.westonaprice.org/localchapters/index.html
Also, what about all these different grains? How do I use them and where do I get them? http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2008/11/properly-prepared-grains-fermented.html
Is there anyone else out there from metro Atl who has pointers?
TRY YOUR LOCAL CHAPTER MENTIONED ABOVE!
Ah! That’s a great idea -
could you add a section where people can post local farms/farmer markets/etc where you can look up your city and find out what’s available? http://www.eatlocal.org
Or maybe that’s available elsewhere online… does anyone know of sites with that type of information?
I want you to know I appreciate the effort you’ve put into this site. I’ve learned a lot in a short amount of time, but I still feel pretty overwhelmed. Even before I found this site, I’ve been making major overhauls on our lifestyle, but I need help on where to go from here!!!!
TAKE A DEEP BREATH, GO SLOW, IT’S OK, YOU CAN CHANGE THINGS AS YOU LEARN. AS YOU HAVE SPECIFIC QUESTIONS TRY FINDING INFO HERE ON THE SITE, AND IF YOU CAN’T FIND IT, EMAIL ME OR USE THE “ASK ME” POST I LINKED TO ABOVE TO ASK ME A QUESTION.
Thank you so much for any help!! YOU’RE WELCOME!!
Thanks so much for such a wealth of info and for being so quick about answering my questions. I have a general question about raw foods. We have been trying to introduce more raw foods into our diet. However, I have 5 kids (4 boys) and there is no way we can afford to do raw dairy products, raw honey, raw nuts, etc all the time (especially the diary products). So, my question is, if I am cooking and need cheese or honey, or some other raw product I may have, is it worth using the raw stuff if I am just cooking it? Or can use the regular stuff for cooking or baking. I hope that makes sense. Thanks so much.
Hi Lanise, good question.
First of all, raw nuts are usually too expensive for me, too, and we don’t do much raw cheese (can’t find some that I like the taste of). Raw milk I couldn’t be without though.
To answer your question, no, raw is not that important if you’re cooking it. When I did day care and would have the pasteurized but not homogenized milk for the day care kids, I’d also use that milk for cooking and save our raw milk for drinking.
Kelly
A question. I’m in the process of making whey and cream cheese using raw milk and following the directions in “Nourishing Traditions.” There is a fine layer of mold developing on the top, as the milk separates. Is ok? This is my first time making this. I started making this 4 days ago and the mold just appeared yesterday.
Lynn,
You could scrape the mold off and it’s probably fine (don’t know for sure though), but are you making the cream cheese from raw milk yogurt or just raw milk? I’ve never done it that way, so I’m not sure, but if you make it from yogurt like I do, it only needs to hang a day or two.
Try asking (or searching the forums) on the Nourishing Traditions yahoo group. (Google it.) They’re always very helpful and know tons more than I do.
Kelly
I have been making raw milk butter for several years now, but am getting a freezerfull of buttermilk. I have used some, certainly don’t want to throw it out, but am still confused obout what to substitute it for . . . milk, water, buttermilk ? ? ? Can you help me?
Hey Kelly! Just got turned onto your site and I love it.
May be a stupid question, but here goes — I love the taste of restaurant pancakes, and cant seem to get the home recipe to taste anything like them. Is buttermilk the trick?
Also, Im a huge fan of theperennialplate.com which recently did an episode on Whole Grain Milling company — they create a pancake mix. Ever heard of that brand? It looks delicious… and handmade.