Living Naturally in an Unnatural World

As time goes on in this little family I'm finding it more and more difficult to live naturally in this unnatural world. We've recently made some changes in our lifestyle, in how we eat as we've read more and more about the dangers in our food. I've thrown out pans...banned microwave popcorn...given away almost ALL our canned foods and more. Yes that means I make my own evaporated milk for recipes. I don't buy that red & white label soup...I make my own stock now and have it frozen to make soup from scratch. (Thanks Mama H for the directions! I'm becoming a pro at it now!) Our latest change has been to switch to meat/chicken that is antibiotic free...yes that's more expensive...MUCH more expensive but worth it. It means I get more creative with what we do purchase...we stretch things by adding extra veggies.

How did we get to this point? Article after article after article...I realized after a while that I was bookmarking these things and the next thing I knew there was a whole pile of them and when I put them all together I realized I needed to make some changes....

This blog from seventh generation was one that I saved...it covered a variety of tops from BPA, to Mercury
Then there was this one from Consumer Reports that specifically addressed BPA in canned foods. AHHH! So much info...this is when the canned goods went. I still don't know what to do with my tuna fish...so it sits downstairs.

I also found this article interesting covering some foods that health experts won't eat...canned tomatoes being at the top of the list! WHY? BPA! AHHHH! It's everywhere and it's wreaking havoc on our bodies.

And just this week I read an article (that I can NOT find) about the antibiotics that are pumped into our cows, chickens & pigs to make them 'grow better & faster' to get to our table. Well no thank you! I'll take antibiotic free!

The list could go on and on...but I'll spare you the details (unless of course you want them...let me know)

So how do we do this? Well...we either do frozen or fresh fruits & veggies. I'd love to do strictly organic at this point and some day maybe my budget will allow ~ for now I am selective...things I can't wash/peel then we either do without or I will buy organic. We'll be doing more gardening this summer for sure...We don't have a TON of space, but I'm going to save up some $$ and get some extra pots so I can plant more tomatoes, peppers and such. There will be rows of peas and rows of green beans. I'll be canning my own fruits and veggies.... http://pickyourown.org is a great site for step by step directions for freezing, preserving and canning. I've switched to dried beans instead of canned...and actually a bag of dried black beans last me about 4 meals...where 1 can of black beans last well 1 meal! And the bag is cheaper. Yes I have to plan in advance...but it can be done :)
Hopefully in the new year I can blog more about all the little changes we've made here...from the homemade lozenges...to the GOOT my kids love when they aren't feeling so well. For now I encourage you to take a look at what you are putting in your mouth and where it REALLY came from and what is REALLY in it.