Yesterday was the last day of the 28 Day Real Food Challenge, and I’m sad to see it draw to a close. I want to send a huge thanks to Jenny at Nourished Kitchen for putting on this challenge. I have learned so much, and have many thoughts about the broader implications of this kind of eating.
But those will have to wait for me to figure out exactly how this fits into my pre-challenge food life. Right now, I don’t think it does. And I honestly don’t know if I could go back to the way I used to look at food, even if I wanted to. Onwards and upwards…
Day 22 – Meet Your Meat (Grain-fed beef)
Task was to source grain-fed beef. I locate several farms and then source myself a pizza and hot wings. Oops! Pizza is expensive and disappointing. Hot wings are omnomnom. Good thing life isn’t an exercise in perfection.
Day 23 – Pasture & Meadow (Pastured poultry and pork)
Less successful with this one. Free-range eggs are easy, but pastured? Going to have to do some scouring of the internet. Places to check out: Local Harvest, Eat Wild, yahoo groups, and – oddly enough – the raw feeding co-op where I get much of the dogs’ food. I’m really looking forward to the return of the farmers market next month.
Day 24 – Mineral-rich Stocks and Broths
Yes, I’m still living on fish tacos. No, I am not sick of them yet. Yes, I know that is not “balanced.” No, I do not care. Sharing my milk kefir with the dogs, because I could never drink it all myself. Having this much dairy around is strange. Before I moved to WA and started buying raw milk, I was lactose intolerant. You want a walking endorsement of raw milk? There you go.
Day 25 – Not-so-awful Offal
Husband informs me that while he likes cottage cheese, he has no desire to think about where it comes from. Our chat about the clabbered milk on my counter devolves into something along the lines of “I’ll clabber u.” “No, I’ll clabber ur face!” Still not clear on why anyone thought we were qualified to be grown-ups. Very clear on his lack of desire to eat offal.
Day 26 – Fish & Seafood
Fish and seafood are easier – I’ve been paying attention to that for a while. Turned out mediocre spelt sourdough (why do I suck at bread?), but nutritionally prepared pinto beans for as far as the eyes can see. Discovered that taco sauce from my refugee shelf contains corn syrup – refugee status revoked. Pleasantly surprised to find that I like pork chops and sauerkraut. Freezer pork chops, not pastured. Still working on that.
Day 27 – Growing Your Foodshed
Didn’t realize that I needed to keep clabbered milk from separating during the process. Skimmed the soured cream from the top and mixed it into sprouted lentil soup from earlier this week. Used the whey? (the stuff under the cream) to make soaked spelt and oat flour for muffins tomorrow. If they turn out, I am officially getting the hang of this real food thing.
Day 28 – Beyond 28 Days
Muffins turned out particularly well considering how many random changes I made to the recipe. Sadly, spelt also makes my tongue itch. Going to take a break from the whole grain flours for a week or so, because while my body loves the nutrients, it also likes oxygen. Anaphylactic shock is a quick way to ruin your day. I’ll jump back on the horse after some further research. How can it be March already?
Oh, and by the way, the mung beans never did end up smelling like old man.
Related Posts:
- Real Food Challenge Recap – Week 3
- Real Food Challenge Recap – Week 2
- Real Food Challenge Recap – Week 1
- One Small Change & 28 Day Real Food Challenge
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“Still not clear on why anyone thought we were qualified to be grown-ups.”
Makes you wonder “When did I turn into a responsible adult?”
Sorry to hear about the whole wheat allergy though–hope you can find a way around it.
It really does. Strange.
And thanks – for now just white flour gets me around it. It’s not ideal, but I’ll probably pick back up with the whole grain experimentation in a couple weeks.
Wait, sprouting mung beans are supposed to smell? The things I didn’t know. Congratulations on sticking it out and trying a few new things. We certainly all have our limits on foods we are willing to eat or even try. At least we stuck it out to the end!
Woohoo! I’m actually really disappointed it is over. I think I might be able to stomach that stuffed chicken thigh recipe too… but, it’s chicken livers, so maybe still not!