The first week of the Nourished Kitchen 28 Day Real Food Challenge is complete and I survived! (Mostly due to rampant cheating.) Good times.
Day 1- Throw Out Processed Food
Looked in the cupboards, threw a tantrum, decided I was going to be a massive cheater and not throw anything away. Decided to grow up and at least box it up and put it away. Didn’t actually end up touching any food, but thought about it and pretended I was doing it.
Day 2 – Go Buy Real Food
Continued to eat processed food while I wait for repair person to show up. Vowed to take a trip to the co-op as soon as he/she leaves. Justified my actions with some vague reassurance about not wasting food.
Day 3 – Improve Your Grains
Actually went and bought real food today. Discovered that even more of the grocery store is now irrelevant to me. Real food – very little. Organic real food – even less. Organic, local, in season food – none. Bagged all my processed food, save for a small shelf of food refugees (my popcorn…). Soaked oatmeal!
Day 4 – Start Your Sourdough Culture
Trip to the co-op for more real food – local eggs, raw milk, flour, kefir culture, parsnip, rutabaga. Mocked on Twitter for asking what to do with the parsnip and rutabaga (#StuffWhitePeopleAsk). Helpful answer from Kelly @ Centsible Life and Virgina @ Living the Local Life (we love them). Ate soaked oatmeal – delicious! Oh… and restarted sourdough culture. Hoping for better luck this time.
Day 5 – Improve Your Grains
Guess what? No organic grains at Safeway. Surprise, surprise. Another trip to the co-op for rye, lentils and mung beans (!). Sourdough is bubbling and fluffing! Put grains to soak – trying rye first. Unbelievably busy day. Broke down and got take-out pho. Styrofoam galore. [Insert self loathing here.]
Day 6 – Milling Your Own Sprouted Grain Flour
Managed to avoid another trip to the co-op by virtue of the fact that my grains weren’t sprouting yet. Sourdough increasingly sour. Surprised it’s doing anything with as cold as my house is. Busy day out of the house, but the morning’s soaked oatmeal came through. Soaked oatmeal is awesome! Hubs sent me a link for rain barrels and asked me what I was going to do once things sprouted. *crickets*
Day 7 – Relax and Evaluate
Woke up to sprouted rye! Found a few recipes and decided to try rye flatbread after garden planning and seed saving class. Completely inedible and permanently adhered to my pan. Put more grains to soak. Hoping for better luck (or a better recipe) this time.
Related Posts
- One Small Change & 28 Day Real Food Challenge
- Real Food Challenge Recap – Week 2
- Real Food Challenge Recap – Week 3
- Real Food Challenge Recap – Week 4
but thought about it and pretended I was doing it
Hahahaha.
LOVE your honest approach to this challenge! I’m sprouting rye right now (going to mill it into flour). I bet the wet-milled bread would be a good use of that rye … haven’t tried it with rye, though.
Thank you for stopping by! I’m going to retry the flatbread (nothing but rye) with this batch, but also try one of the recipes with added flour and yeast. Hoping for edibility this time!
I’m impressed. I read before about you having to empty out your pantry, and couldn’t even make myself follow the link. I’m really looking forward to reading about your next three weeks though.
Yeah… that part was brutal. And I totally thought, “What am I supposed to eat in the meantime??” It’s definitely going to be an educational couple of weeks!
I’m really impressed by this experiment. I also liked the “Bridget Jones-esque” posting style.
Good luck with it!
Why thank you!
Love your blog on this. I wanted to follow the challenge, but it’s moving too fast. I will have to take it a little at a time. I got a sourdough starter from a friend though. It will be ready to use tomorrow. Looking forward to it.
Thanks so much! Yes, the challenge has been an absolute whirlwind. I’ve been spending a lot of time in the kitchen, and will be the first to admit that I haven’t done all the tasks. There were just too many AND it would have been way more food than I could have eaten. But I’m looking forward to continuing through the ones I missed over the next several weeks (kombucha, water kefir, cheese making, maybe even eating some offal – eek!).
Good luck with your sourdough starter! It’s my favorite of all my kitchen pets so far
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