How I stopped shopping...
At big box supermarkets and local grocery stores and changed my family's life!
I used to shop at the local supermarkets and *gasp* yes, even Wal-Mart back before 2020. We would grow some veggies, but it was more like a hobby than for sustenance. We had chickens, but only laying hens for eggs.
I had started making my own soaps and household cleaners in 2019, thinking I might even make a business out of it, but more so to get toxins out of my house and off of my family! I bought a round of herbal medicine books and tons of herb seeds and began to teach myself natural healing… before Convid.
Once Convid hit, I knew I was gonna have to get serious about doing my job. I had been a “half-ass” prepper since about 2008, but the thing’s I had been stocking up on were likely to create a different kind of disaster!
As a housewife, I’ve always taken cooking seriously and I thought I was feeding my family healthy foods…and then I bought Nourishing Traditions and my stomach sank. I realized all the things, horrible things I’d been purchasing that the FDA allows to be called “food” as well as the things I’d been doing wrong in the kitchen were causing my family’s health problems. It crushed me.
I was the reason my son was overweight.
I was the reason my husband was on metformin.
I was the reason for my own muscle spams and random joint pains.
I have been saying 2023 is the year we “refill our agency cups”, but it started in earnest for me in 2021. It took me a minute to get over the guilt and depression and just get busy. And busy have I been!
Diets fail because you can’t just change the food you put in and make weight loss sustainable. You must change your lifestyle if you want any health improvements to last.
Nick’s always been huge, at 6’5”. He was a huge baby and always off the growth charts and not just bigger than his peers, but bigger than most of his male teachers. Despite playing basketball through most of high school, his weight skyrocketed up to 290 pounds once he graduated!
He used to eat a lot of “hot box” food, pizza, hamburgers, chips, and processed cereals…the typical American guy fair. And with the non-organic, overly processed dinners I was fixing, all the fresh fruit and salad in the world wasn’t going to help him loose weight.
Jack’s a tall guy, too. We thought his weight of around 210 was fine for his large frame, but now we know all the extra fat was due to his glucose levels and the medication his doctor had him on to control it. You can read more about his health journey on my post here If you have Type II Diabetes.... That was before I figured out how to add pictures and captions and stuff. Hey! I’m old and busy… but, I do learn. Eventually! Here’s my hub of 27 years. He’ll be 71 in just 11 days. He really doesn’t look his age to me, but then…I see him through eyes filled with love. And you know what they say about that!
It’s been quite a journey, these last two years. I’ve learned so many new skills and have done things I didn’t think I could do…like eat “rotten cabbage”! Now, I can’t live without my fermented curtido! You can find the recipe in Nourishing Traditions or anywhere online and if you don’t like it, change it until you do. It’s an amazing addition to almost any meal and oh, so good for you! I make about 8 quarts a month.
I’d heard about kombucha and how healthy it is for you, but finding it in the stores here in our neck of the woods was impossible. It’s probably everywhere now…like the vapes aka e-cigs aka “my puffer” no one sold or knew about that I started using back in 2011. I’m always ahead of the curve. So, as per my usual MO, I decided to do it myself.
Wow…am I glad. I’ve since tried the store bought kind and do not like it! If I’d have tried it first, I may not be a master booch brewer today and Jack would be sad. He loves his blueberry and peach booch!
The biggest change I made, besides raising our own meat (because who can afford to have someone else do it? Have you seen the price of organic, grass-fed beef and humanely raised pork and chicken? YIKES!) was shopping at Azure Standard I feel like I can trust them with my family’s health. And while I’ve got two green thumbs, growing a crop of wheat or corn just isn’t quite feasible at the moment. And my guy’s can not live without their daily bread. Though, it’s sourdough bread only nowdays!
Putting all this good food in the freezers just wouldn’t work. In comes my All-American pressure canner to the rescue! Canned chicken, stocks, veggies, and even rabbit and deer are amazingly tasty when you control every ingredient and it’s a bonus that there’s no panic when the power goes out, which happens quite often here in Oklahoma!
Now, a lot of that pork is going to be eaten “fresh” and some of it will be made into sausages, but I do can my pork “stew meat” and it is so darn good. I can’t even describe what a joy it is to feed my family food that we have grow, raised, and processed ourselves! I know the toxins and poisons are likely unavoidable at this point, but when you stop putting them in, you can start getting some of them out and your health WILL improve! I know it seems like a lot of work. It is. But, it’s work I actually love doing!
I know it seems expensive to get started. It is. But, when you factor in the costs of “health care” that you WON’T be using, you may actually save money in the long run.
If you’ve made it this far, thank you for taking the time to read about my journey, my projects, and look at my pictures. I hope I’ve inspired you to make some changes in your lifestyle, to get busy improving your health. The more people who say “No. I don’t need a doctor to make me feel better”, the BETTER the outcome for all of us, for the planet and our future. Our bodies are always trying to heal, it’s how God made us. Our problem is that we get in it’s way! We stick it full of stuff that isn’t just lacking in nourishment, but actually toxic to the process.
Start small and simply. Start by getting hydrated with the best water you can get your hands on. Thank your water, seriously. Put gratitude in your glass! Drink out of glass, not plastic! And get on Youngevity’s 90 for Life. Once you’re there, try putting in an order with Azure and meeting your drop coordinator. It can be overwhelming and thing’s can seem out of your control, but I have faith in you. I KNOW you can do it!
Janice,
You are quite a Chef !
And gardener.
And grower.
And preserver.
And raiser of fowl & meats.
Wonderful Homesteader Story !
Very Enjoyable.
Lessons Galore.
Thank You
For taking the time
To Write to US.
To show it can be done, & How Colourful, The Resulting Products Are.
And...
"Oh he's A Good Boy !"
(Your 4 legged Friend).
Impressive AND inspiring. Thanks Janice. Btw your son looks magnificent. I can tell he is a kind and gentle soul.