Malleable Reality

I’ve previously posted an introduction to my new venture in life: eating traditionally (video included).  Today’s Back to Basics post is in regards to some of the changes that I’ve made so far in my quest for a healthier lifestyle. Most of the changes I’ve made are small things here & there, removing some ingredients used & replacing them with healthier, less processed & unrefined choices.  All of these things are simple steps to take in order to begin traditional eating.  Most importantly, remember:  Any positive change (big or small) is better than none at all.

Here are some of the things I switched out over time:

• Conventional fruit & vegetables to organic.  As much as possible.
• Pasteurized milk to raw (unpasteurized) milk. Raw milk must be grass-fed/fresh from a farm.
• Anything white to anything in it’s whole (unrefined/less processed) form. This includes white flour -> whole wheat flour, white rice -> whole grain rice, white bread -> whole grain bread, white sugar -> sucanat/or other natural sweeteners. (I did switch to Sugar in the Raw before I realized even that wasn’t sugar in it’s purest form…just marketing at it’s finest).
• Conventional, store bought (factory farmed) dairy to grass-fed/pastured only dairy. Including:   Eggs, Butter, and Cream.
• Store bought (factory farmed) meats & eggs to local/farm meats & eggs.  
• Prepackaged/processed snacks/foods to made from scratch foods.
• Vegetable Oils (rancid) to healthy oils.  Corn, canola, & soy oils are oils that I never buy, no longer cook with, & always look for in the ingredients lists of any packaged foods that I might still buy (such as bread, mayo, ketchup, salad dressings — If/when I don’t make my own).  These oils are replaced with coconut oil, olive oil, sesame oil.
• Regular/processed Apple Cider Vinegar to Raw Apple Cider Vinegar.
• Regular/processed honey to raw honey.
• Table salt (iodized) to Sea Salt.
• Improperly prepared grains to traditionally (properly) prepared grains.  With anything I make from scratch with grains, I make sure to properly prepare the grains first.  I’ve also been switching from regular whole grain store bought breads & bagels -> only traditionally prepared (sprouted) whole grain breads & bagels.
• Store bought items with High Fructose Corn Syrup to items with only natural sugars.  This includes pantry items that have High Fructose Corn Syrup as a main ingredient, such as: Jelly (Grape) -> natural/organic grape jelly.
• Pam cooking/baking sprays (oil in a can) to oil in a Misto oil sprayer.  The mistro sprayer allows you to use any oil that you want, without the use of toxic chemicals and propellants in the can.
• Canned vegetables to fresh or frozen (organic).

Items I added to the pantry & shopping lists that I never used to use before:

• Grade B Maple Syrup (not grade A!)
• Fermented Cod liver oil
• Butter oil
• Liquid Whey (homemade only)
• Arrowroot powder
• 100% Cacao (REAL cocoa)
• Molasses (Blackstrap) 
• Fine & coarse sea salt (including pink Himalayan sea salt)
• Aloe Vera juice/liquid
• Fish sauce
• Coconut oil (organic, extra-virgin, unrefined)
• Rapadura/Sucanat (whole cane sugar - unrefined/unbleached)
• Raw honey
• Raw apple cider vinegar

That’s all I can think of for now! Hopefully this helps give some insight on how I have been transitioning to more traditional eating habits.

For the upcoming weeks Back to Basics posts, I will go into detail of how some of these ingredients can be used and why they are important to have in your pantry/diet.  I will also post recipes in the future, as well as products that I’ve invested in & how I made the switch from using less processed/packaged foods and condiments, and more homemade/from scratch items.