The Nourished Family

Nutrient Dense Recipes + Answers for Healthier Families

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Family Update July 2018

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“Where have the last 7 months gone?!”  Hello! It’s been a bit silent … okay, REALLY silent here on my end for the last seven months. This little blog got shoved way down on the list of life’s priorities. Lately several of my close friends have been visiting the blog more and I can see the reports from Google showing me that many are still visiting the site and reading.

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Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Cookies

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These chewy Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Cookies are perfect for anyone who loves peanut butter and dark chocolate!  They are easy to make & naturally sweetened. Gluten-free & dairy-free as well! These Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Cookies are seriously the B.E.S.T. naturally sweetened cookies ever to satisfy a peanut butter craving. Add a few bitter dark chocolate chips and they are like little bites of heaven! Just a handful of

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Easy Homemade Baby Wipes {Non-Toxic}

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Why buy wipes when you can make them for less and they are safe (non-toxic) for your baby? Complete instructions on how to make Easy Homemade Baby Wipes in just a few steps below!  Making your own Homemade Baby Wipes is easy and cost-effective. But I know it might take more convincing that that simple sentence to get you making these wipes. I know this, because my very own dear

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Thai Coconut Curry Meatballs {Paleo, Whole30}

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These Thai Coconut Curry Meatballs are a long time favorite and slowly perfected meal at my house. Our one year old is absolutely LOVING this nutrient dense dinner right now! The meatballs are packed full of protein, hidden zucchini, & red curry paste.  You are going to love the creamy coconut curry sauce. Yum!  These Thai Coconut Curry Meatballs have been around our house for almost decade. They started as

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Health Tips

  • How to Use Collagen Daily

    Strawberry Lime Popsicles, Blueberry Coconut Popsicles, in smoothies (strawberry, banana, coconut milk, collagen, white chia seeds, & shake of stevia is our current favorite!). It can be dissolved in cold water, kefir soda, kombucha, or lemon water and used in warm tea, coffee, or hot cacao.

    Because collagen dissolves in cold liquids easily and has almost no taste it is easy slip it in unnoticed! Great Lakes is the brand we buy because it is from grass-fed cows, has a good reputation, and the price is about half of other leading brands. Vital Proteins is another well know, trusted grass-fed brand.

  • How we eat saturated fat daily

    Cooking eggs in coconut oil or animal fat

    Using lard and palm shortening to make pastries and cookies

    Butter & coconut oil coffee (aka the popular "bullet proof coffee")

    Buttered or coconut oil coated veggies

    Grass-fed beef several times each week

    Chocolate coconut candies 

    Recommended reading: "The Big Fat Surprise" by Nina Teicholz

  • Eggs are a Superfood!

    Did you know that a single egg contains: 5 grams of good fats (omega-3's & omega 6's), 6 grams of protein, vitamins A, B2, B5, B6 B12, D, E, K, phosphorus, selenium, calcium, zinc, and choline. Studies are now showing that eggs do not raise cholesterol and may even lower the incidence of heart disease and stroke. Pastured eggs may even lower triglyceride levels for some people! To find nutrient dense eggs be sure to look for eggs laid by hens that roam free in a large pasture, eat insects, and are ideally supplemented with organic table scraps. If they are given grain check to make sure it is non-GMO and free of corn and soy.

  • Collagen Peptides: Why We Love Them

    Collagen is an insoluble protein that accounts for 1/3 of the protein in our bodies and 70% of the protein in our skin; it has multiple health benefits including joint repair, boosting the health of skin, hair, and nails, helping to heal leaky gut, improving metabolism, energy, muscle mass, and reducing stretch marks/cellulite.

     

  • Ratio of Omega 6 vs. Omega 3 Fatty Acids in EGGS

    According to this study, conventional eggs have a 19:1 ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids (1). Whoa! Truly pastured hens eating insects (and free of corn, soy, GMO's) have a 1:1 ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids. What's the problem with omega-6 fatty acids? Nothing when consumed in small quantities. However, in larger quantities omega-6 is known to help stimulate more inflammation in the body. We currently buy our eggs locally for ~$5/dozen and it is worth every penny. These yolks are like liquid gold! Bright yellow, thick, and super tasty. The yolk takes up most of the egg with a smaller but equally delicious egg white and the egg shell itself is hard to break. (1) Fallon, Sally, Mary G. Enig, Kim Murray, and Marion Dearth. "Fats." Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook That Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats. Washington, DC: NewTrends, 2005. 11. Print.

  • Babies & Toddlers Eat Ferments Too!

    Do our kids eat fermented foods? Absolutely! Milk kefir smoothies, kefir "soda", kombucha, sauerkraut, fermented garlic & dill pickles, fermented ketchup, & dirt. Yes -- dirt. We encourage our kids to get dirty & if they put good soil in their mouths I don't sweat it. The key is to start early if possible; we were able to start our second child much sooner and by 8 months she was eating sauerkraut plain right off her tray (and prefers it to "pancakes" to this day!).

  • How We Eat Fermeted Foods Every Day

    We eat 1-2 tablespoons of fermented foods and/or 2-6 ounces of a fermented beverage with every meal. Why? To help our immune system, improve our digestion, increase energy, and take good care of our guts. Here is a real life example of how we eat ferments every day: Breakfast: Eggs with sauerkraut or kimchi & Kombucha/Snack: Milk kefir smoothie/Lunch: Fermented pickles or carrots/ Mid-afternoon: Kefir water or kefir soda/Dinner: Fermented ginger carrots or garlic cloves.

  • Are Probiotics BAD For You?Are Probiotics BAD For You?

    Improving one's gut micro biome is a hot topic these days ... but is the standard "probiotic" the way to do this? Is consuming billions of copies of just 3-24 strands of bacteria (when your gut contains 30,000+ species) just another billion dollar industry that is underserving the needs of our bodies?

    Check out my favorite (free) podcast episodes to learn what triple board certified Zach Bush, MD & microbiology researcher Kiran Krishnan have to say on the subject:

    Why You Can’t Get Away From The Toxin Glyphosate (& What You Can Do About It) 

    Improve Your Gut Microbiome

     

  • We LOVE Saturated Fat

    Thank goodness it is no longer shocking to hear that saturated fat (animal fats such as lard & tallow, coconut oil, butter, and palm shortening) are actually good for you. The culprit that is deleterious to our health is ... drumroll .....sugar! For our families this means no refined sweeteners, keeping all forms of sugar minimal, and including moderate amounts of well sourced (organic, grass-fed, pasture raised, sustainably sourced, etc.) saturated fat in our diet daily.

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Rashele and Shelly