It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3: add, subtract, and season with grace.

“The quality of our food determines in large part the quality of our lives. And the quality of what we eat is determined by every step that goes into production and processing – the feeding of the animals, care of the soil, preservation, storage and even cooking methods.”

Weston A. Price

Add

Add a little zing to your meals with something new: a new spice, a new fruit or vegetable, or a new recipe.

A ten-month food adventure is a simple way to add new items. Each month, choose one new food to try. Try it in multiple recipes. Try it throughout the month. Go exotic: celeriac, salsify, or tiger nuts. Or gently stretch the comfort zones: try every color of tomato or a new type of bean.

To make it even more exciting, grow new varieties on your homestead. Here’s a lesson I learned: share seeds with another homesteader so you don’t end up with two rows of an unfavorite vegetable! If you can’t grow it, find it at your local farmers’ market or ethnic grocery.

Why not try a ten-month food adventure, rather than twelve months? Most people want comfort foods and traditions by the end of the year. Go with the flow.

Subtract

Subtracting unhealthy (or less healthy) foods is a straightforward way to improve wellness. Consider the bags of baby carrots:

• They are not baby carrots. They are regular carrots cut to a snack size.
• Their nutritional value is less than a fresh carrot.
• Their production takes excess energy: multiple cutting machines, repeated handling, and packaging.
• They are treated with a chlorine solution to prevent bacterial contamination.

Subtract that bag of baby carrots from your grocery cart. Grow or buy fresh carrots, wash off the dirt, and cut them to size when ready to eat.

Food additives such as high-fructose corn syrup, sodium nitrate, artificial food coloring, and sodium benzoate are common in processed foods. Though the FDA deems these additives safe, each one has specific health warnings. The least processed food is the healthiest—for us and the environment.

At one of our homestead Gatherings, we learned how to recreate the flavor of ranch dressing and other popular salad mixes without all the additives. The process was easy and fun. Bonus: we can grow most of these seasonings at home. If you like making homemade gifts, a jar of premixed salad seasonings from your garden is a great make-ahead gift!



Season with grace

There is no one-size-fits-all recipe for a healthy homestead. You might be passionate about clean eating. You might be learning new ways to cook fresh food. You might be reducing your fast-food consumption. We are all at a different place on this journey.

As homesteading has become more popular, the social media critics have grown more vocal. “Eat this, not that!” “How dare you allow your child to eat a candy bar!” “A real homesteader grows, butchers, and cooks 90% of her family’s food.” Please. We have no authority to judge others on this homestead journey. Nor should we allow others’ judgments to make us feel inferior.

We can share knowledge. We can build community. We can grow friendships. And we can give everyone – including ourselves – a liberal serving of grace along the way.

To learn more about Culinary Wellness, join NLHG's next National Virtual Gathering for “Culinary Wellness: An Introduction to Healthy Cooking.” Brooke Lewis-Slamkova, an NLHG VIP Member, accomplished teacher, and chef, will lead an engaging and informative webinar. As Brooke says, “I believe everyone can cook healthy meals at home with a little skill and planning.”