QUOTE OF THE DAY

"Don't let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use."
-Earl Nightingale

A Challenge for the New Year...

Image from lemonlemonade.wordpress.com

Ok, here is the challenge (that I will also be participating in!):

• Set a goal for an amount of time that you will ONLY eat home cooked meals. I don't necessarily mean 100% from scratch meals, but any meal that you can make at home (excluding microwaveable, and boxed dinners). 
• Set either an amount of days, or a meal a day that you will vow (for a set length of time) not to go out to eat, or buy dinner in any shape or form. This includes pre-made supermarket meals. I would recommend starting this AFTER the Holiday season when you have more control over what you eat. Ray and I did this for the month of November and made it for about three weeks (all the way up until our birthday week!) 

I will say, I think the benefits of doing this exercise or "challenge" manifest themselves in a few ways: Primarily, it makes you more aware of JUST how often you are going out to eat, or ordering in food. Also, it shows that with a little discipline the prospect of cooking all of your own meals is not as challenging as you had previously anticipated. Lastly, setting it for a select length of time allows you to meet a goal. For you, one day of not ordering/eating out may be an accomplishment. For others, a couple weeks, and for some a couple months! Set a goal for yourself that is a CHALLENGE, but achievable. Once you set the goal don't make it optional. If you do fail, learn from that. What happened to cause you to eat out or order food? For us, it was a special event we wanted to celebrate, who wants to cook on their birthdays :)? Also, I recommend giving yourself a type of food that is a freebie. For us it was sushi. For you it may be ice cream, or sweets. Just make sure your freebie isn't something you would consume daily :)

If you decide to take the challenge, comment below or e-mail me (naturallynourishing@gmail.com) the dates you will be attempting the challenge! Once you begin, keep me posted on your progress!!

QUOTES OF THE DAY (To get you motivated!)

Thomas Edison and Light bulb

I have decided to concentrate specifically on the fear of failure for these motivational quotes. Some might say the most crippling emotion in the world is fear. It has the power to keep you from your opportunities, from your dreams, and most importantly from your success. These quotes can be applied to any part of your life that you are trying to move forward in. Learning to overcome fear (specifically of failure) is a lifelong journey, the task is not to learn how NOT to fail, but how to use those failures to the betterment of your goal. I am putting these quotes on the blog in an attempt to encourage you to live a more "natural life." Looking at the overall goal of living a life completely sufficient off of the Earth's natural resources is far too daunting for many to imagine, however, setting every day/week/month goals (i.e. making your own beauty products, cooking meals from scratch, etc.) is a HUGE part of changing your overall perspective of the task at hand. If you can succeed in being appreciative of your "failures" and all of the wisdom they have to offer in this one area of your life, you will hopefully begin to train your way of thinking in every aspect of your life! Enjoy...

"Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently." Henry Ford 

"Failures are divided into two classes - those who thought and never did, and those who did and never thought." John Charles Salak 

"Many of life's failures are men who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up." Anonymous 

"In order to succeed, you must first be willing to fail."Anonymous

"The only real failure in life is the failure to try."Anonymous

"Yesterday's failures are today's seeds 
That must be diligently planted to be able to abundantly harvest
Tomorrow's success."
Anonymous 

It is not failure itself that holds you back;it is the fear of failure that paralyzes you. 
Brian Tracy 

I have not failed.  I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.  ~Thomas Edison

There is no failure except in no longer trying.  ~Elbert Hubbard

Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat.  ~F. Scott Fitzgerald

Failure is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.  ~Henry Ford


Do you have a quote that encourages you? Share it! Post below in the comments, or e-mail me at naturallynourishing@gmail.com

Top 5 reasons NOT to live more naturally (and their solutions!)

In no particular order...

1. It's too expensive. To this I can only say "start where you can." I always suggest starting with food, then adding in other products (i.e. makeup, clothing, etc.) as you are financially able to. More specifically, start with soft skinned produce and meats. For more information on that, read the post below titled "A Few Simple tips for eating Organically on a budget." Also, I would argue that prioritizing plays a big part in this, if you put food (and your health) at the top of your priorities list (with everything else coming after) you may be surprised at how much you really can afford. Michael Pollan talks about this in his book "In Defense of Food." Investing in what you eat, is just that, an investment! The amount of money you will spend later down the line NOT taking care of yourself and what you eat (i.e. prescriptions, medical bills etc.) will certainly cost far more than anything you invest now. If you quit viewing a healthier lifestyle as optional, but rather as a necessity, it becomes a much realer prospect.

2. I don't have access to organics. This is tougher, but not a roadblock, just an obstacle. First I would suggest doing your research. Use some of the sites in the posts below to research just how far organic growers/farmers are from you. If this is not an option, consider growing your most used herbs/vegetables (I will talk about this in later posting). Lastly, we have internet! Clothing, make-up, children's toys, etc. can all easily be found with one click of the mouse. Limited access is now becoming a dying phrase thanks to the web!

3. I can't cook/ I don't know any recipes. Again, use the internet! You can search for ANYTHING online (i.e. 5 ingredient recipes, crockpot recipes, vegan recipes, etc.) Also, use each recipe as a suggestion. Make necessary substitutions to cook a more "real" meal. Meaning, if it calls for a can of cream of mushroom, search for how to make homemade cream of mushroom (ha, can you tell I love cream of mushroom?!). For those who say that can't cook, I would say you must have quit trying. You only fail when you quit trying! Perservere! Learn from what you did last time and move forward. Also, start easy! Don't take on a 7 hour sauce that has to be reduced and calls for a list of exotic ingredients. Make simple changes in meals you already make. Take a meal of burgers and fries. Start simple, make the fries from scratch, or start with the ketchup! Try to take one element of each meal and make it from scratch, don't start with the whole meal! This way you don't become overwhelmed before you even begin, then congratulate yourself on your success! This is so important, regardless of the end result, you did it! If you take one taste and go running for your ketchup stash in the fridge, that's ok! Now you know to try a different recipe next time! Good for you for giving it a try, that's a huge accomplishment! I started by incorporating one new recipe a week. I saved it for a day I had more time, energy, and patience, in no time you'll have a whole stash of great recipes!

4. I don't have time. Again, this is a tough one. Not a dead end, but yet another obstacle. Time, and lack there of, is a very real dilemma. Let me encourage you by saying, "YOU WILL NEVER HAVE MORE TIME." To the normal person, this sounds like the exact opposite of encouragement, but let me tell you why it is: It is encouragement to get started NOW because you will never have more time, and realistically as your life, family, business, etc continues to grow, your amount of time will shrink. So get going now! Be creative now! Start the habit of making health your number 1 priority now, and your life will work itself out around that. Pick a day you have off and take that entire day to make and freeze meals for the week. Or pick one aspect of each meal to make (i.e. the sauce, the meat, etc.) and freeze for the week. Just this small step will make those 30 minutes you have to cook throughout the rest of the week much more fulfilled. MAKE EASY MEALS, I can't emphasize this enough, homemade does not have to mean hard-to-make. Again, pick what you can do and do it! If you only have energy to boil a pot of whole wheat noodles, toss in some butter and seasonings and call it a day, do that! Good for you, you've made a homemade meal! Most importantly, PLAN. Plan, plan, plan. Plan your meals, then plan the when, how, where, etc. When you are starving and exhausted after a long day of work/activities the last thing you want to do is take the time to try and plan then. Do yourself a favor and make it easy! Lastly, I come back to prioritizing. Whatever you do not make a priority in your life, will become a casualty.

5. But... This may be your toughest one yet. This represents every excuse you are going to come up with. "But... I don't have enough cookware... but... my kitchen is terrible... but... I can't do this by myself... but... I already have so much on my plate (pun intended!)... but...(I'm sure you can fill in this blank). This will probably the hardest thing for you to overcome. This is why I have listed some encouraging quotes on my next posting...


Have any ideas to help encourage others? Is there something you have overcome with living a more natural life that has paid off? Have you seen positive results since your lifestyle change? Comment below (if you can!) or e-mail me at naturallynourishing@gmail.com

Find a farmer near you!

Image from mccallcreekfarms.com

Stumbled across THIS site today and was so happy I did! You can go HERE on their site to find local farmers/farmer's markets near you. There are several sites that offer this service, but I love sites like these where you can almost feel their passion through the monitor. They provide several ways to donate and gain access to more information. I can not express how important it is to buy everything you can locally. Besides the obvious benefits, there are also several (not as obvious) benefits. CLICK HERE to read some quick facts (from the same site!) about the importance/benefits of buying locally.
Again, buying locally comes back to planning. I am ridiculously guilty of not maintaining my stance of buying as much as possible locally. The only reason, failure to plan! Planning ahead is key here, and once you do it often enough, it becomes "the norm" and less of a task.

Good luck to all of you and your local search! Have any ideas or suggestions about how to get local produce through the winter? The above site has THIS to say about winter time (scroll to the bottom)... Have an experience you would like to share about buying locally? Share it! Comment below (if you can!) or e-mail me at naturallynourishing@gmail.com

Thanks!

Problems Commenting on Blog

I have received a few e-mails that some people are having problems commenting on the blogs. I have looked into it but am not quite sure how to fix it? If anyone can offer any help or suggestions let me know! So sorry for the inconvenience! Until then, feel free to e-mail me at naturallynourishing@gmail.com with any comments or concerns.

Thanks!!

Try a new vegetable!

Try Bok Choy! CLICK HERE to read about the health benefits. This is a great vegetable for someone who doesn't like vegetables! Incredibly healthy, but incredibly mild tasting. I like to make it with noodles b/c it is a gentle accompaniment, when cooked holds the same texture as noodles, and doesn't overpower the flavor. It's a bit like an onion in that it's crunchy before being cooked, but soft after. This is a great one to puree! Toss it into a salad or sauce and no one will be the wiser! For those with little ones who are new eaters, this makes a great starter food (once pureed), serve it plain or mixed with steamed veggies, my daughter loved it!

Have you tried bok choy? What are you thoughts on it? Do you have a recipe with bok choy? Share in the comments below or e-mail me at naturallynourishing@gmail.com

Thanks!