… Kitchen Life musings to share (answering prompts from The Homekeeper’s Journal):

1. In my kitchen this week I’m struggling to stay on top of the meal preparation and cleanup. A lot of other things are requiring my attention right now, so I’ve neglected the dishes and some other regular tasks. I do have water kefir brewing, I’m soaking some pinto beans and brown basmati rice, and I plan to put a chicken in the crock pot today, too. I made soaked muffins with fresh figs for breakfast this morning, and they were super moist and yummy. Just need to tackle and tame the mess!

2. I think we do eat healthily almost all of the time because I insist on it and invest a lot of time into making it happen. Yes, we occasionally settle for foods that are less than ideal when our lives are so busy that I don’t have the time I need to spend in the kitchen. My goal is to have a good system in place that enables me to plan and prepare foods in advance so that we have healthy choices on hand most of the time.

3. My family is not resistant to healthy eating because I try to involve them in the process of choosing and cooking what we eat. That said, some of my family members do balk at trying new things. I think (and I hope) that if I consistently provide healthy food—and teach them at the same time why it’s important on both a personal and global scale—that they will naturally gravitate toward those foods on their own.

4. I don’t have a garden yet, but it is my dream to one day use as much of our suburban lot as I can to grow food for our family. Poor-quality soil means we will need to do a lot of work to build up/amend what we have and/or create a lot of raised beds. My biggest challenge will be finding the time and the money to make it happen. Right now, it’s extremely hot where I live in central Arizona, so I’m planning to make a small start somewhere in the yard in the fall or spring.

5. The hardest part about eating healthily for me and my family is finding the time that’s required to prepare everything. I love to cook, and I aspire to be organized and efficient, but it just doesn’t always happen with all of the other things I’m trying to balance—including homeschooling, house cleaning, freelance writing and editing, blogging, digital scrapbooking and other things that I love to do.

6. My favorite thing about preparing and serving healthy foods is knowing that my efforts are benefiting the people I love most. I also like to think that the choices I’m making with my food budget are helping to ensure that healthy foods will continue to be available as viable options for all of us as consumers. It’s exciting to realize that in providing the best meals for my own family, I am a part of a ripple effect that helps others do exactly the same thing.

This post is part of The Homekeeper’s Journal, hosted by Sylvia Britton at www.christianhomekeeper.org.

. . .reasons why you’ll want to enroll in the GNOWFGLINS Fundamentals eCourse scheduled to begin next month and developed by my friend Wardeh Harmon at www.gnowfglins.com:

1. Health. Whether you’ve recently become interested in the real-food movement or you’ve been committed for awhile now to preparing real, whole foods for your family, you’re no doubt aware of the health benefits that go along with eliminating processed, industrial foods from your diet and replacing them with what Wardeh calls GNOWFGLINS—God’s Natural, Organic, Whole Foods, Grown Locally, In Season. In each of the 15 lessons included in the eCourse, Wardeh will answer three basic questions about the nourishing, traditional foods she explores:
• What is this food and/or technique? What ingredients do I need?
• Why should we eat a certain food or prepare it a certain way?
• How is the technique carried out or how is this food prepared?

2. Time. Maybe you’ve watched the documentary Food, Inc. and read all of the real-food best-sellers (Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle; Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma; Nina Planck’s Real Food) but you have no idea where to start when it comes to implementing the ideas they present in a practical way that fits your busy schedule. Or, perhaps the mere thought of having to wade through every sidebar and recipe on the 675 pages of the weightiest real-food tome of all—Sally Fallon’s Nourishing Traditions—is enough to give you a migraine. Why not learn the basics—in a simple, methodical way—from someone who’s done the research and has a wealth of practical experience to share? Wardeh promises you won’t be overwhelmed by her simple plan that will take you through one step at a time.

3. Quality. I’ve had a chance to preview some of the things in store for those who enroll in this eCourse, and the attention to detail and multimedia presentation setup is incredible. Each lesson will be available 24/7 on a private Web site in print, audio and video formats to accommodate the learning style that works best for you—and so that you won’t miss a thing, whether you choose to read, listen, watch or do all three! I have followed Wardeh’s blog for about three years now, and I can vouch for her ability to present information in a thorough, down-to-earth way.

4. Quantity. You’re going to get an amazing amount of advice, ideas, recipes and techniques here—including printable guides you’ll refer to time and again, as well as access to freebies and resources that won’t be available on Wardeh’s blog. Among other things, she’ll teach you how to sprout beans and grains, cook pastured chickens and make stock, bake sourdough bread and brew water kefir (a probiotic beverage that can help you kick a soda habit).

5. Money. The eCourse costs $27 per month for five months (a total of $135)—a bargain considering the wealth of information you’ll obtain toward converting your kitchen into a real-food haven. And Wardeh offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can’t go wrong by trying it for a month to see whether it’s something that will work for you.

6. Mentorship. Whether you’ve read my blog since The Beginning (my first post) or this is the first post you’ve perused, you’ve probably gathered that Wardeh Harmon—though she doesn’t know it—has been my unofficial mentor as I’ve explored and experimented with real food. (Actually, she’s probably guessed that that’s the case, as I’ve asked her at least 1,095 questions—that’s one a day for the past three years—all of which she has graciously, patiently and satisfactorily answered!) And, as someone who’s got the heart of a teacher, she’ll do the same for you. Seriously, IMHO, you won’t get better guidance from anyone else for making these changes in the way you cook and eat. And if you sign up for the eCourse, Wardeh won’t be your only mentor: Everyone who’s enrolled can exchange ideas and share recipe results in a special forum. I’m planning to be there! How about you?

Please note: It is my goal to provide a top-quality, content-driven, ad-free blog. That said, I do occasionally include affiliate links in some of my posts. For example, if you click on the banner above, you’ll link to a site where you can learn much more about the GNOWFGLINS Fundamentals eCourse. And if you decide to enroll after clicking through from my site, I’ll receive a commission—for which I thank you. But even if I didn’t stand to benefit in any way from sharing what I’ve written here, I honestly wouldn’t change a word.