Good news! Not only do I get to announce a winner and give away a GREAT coupon, I also get to tell you that Kelly The Kitchen Kop has decided to extend enrollment in her Real Food For Rookies e-Course for another week!

First off, the winner of last week’s giveaway was Quirky Jessi! Congratulations, Quirky. Please email me within 48 hours to claim your prize.

For the rest of us, Kelly is generously offering a 15% OFF COUPON to discount her enrollment. You can apply that towards a one time payment of $120 and bring the price down to $102. OR, you can apply it toward the payment plan and bring your monthly payment down to just $29.75. Please email me for the coupon!

Don’t forget, registration with the e-Course comes with more than $60 in discounts on Kelly’s favorite Real Food items! So, if you used the coupon AND took advantage of the discounts, you’d be paying a ridiculously small amount for the class.

If this course had been available 6 years ago when I began my own journey towards eating Real Food, I would have jumped to take it. I could have saved myself hours and hours of scouring the internet, plus lots of trial and error time in my kitchen. And even though I don’t feel like a Rookie, I’m still going to be taking Kelly’s class just so that I can hear all her great interviews and ideas. It’s never too late to learn!

Still Undecided About Enrolling?

This is what I’m telling my undecided friends, and I’ll share it with you. You should sign up for this e-Course if:

• Ingredient labels confuse you.
• You’re out of breakfast ideas and fall back on cold cereal.
• You think “low-fat” = “healthy.”
• You’ve never bought a grass-fed cow.
• You’re so busy you feel like you don’t have time to eat well.
• You don’t know how to make Real Food appealing to your kids.
• You can’t afford organic all the time, but don’t know what to prioritize.
• You don’t know how to break your sugar habit.
• You don’t know how to break your soda habit.
• You don’t know how to break your fast food habit!

If any of these describe you, why not check out all the information about Kelly’s Real Food For Rookies E-Course? If you like what you see, email me for that coupon!

Liked what you read? You may find these other posts interesting:

1. GIVEAWAY: Real Food For Rookies E-Course
2. We Have A Winner — And a 10% Off Coupon
3. WINNER: Surf & Turf Course PLUS COUPON

We’ve all been there. There’s always a learning curve whenever you’re trying out something new. But sometimes it would be real nice if that learning curve weren’t so steep. If, instead, you could simply learn from other people’s mistakes.

Today I invited Kelly the Kitchen Kop to share her Top 5 Mistakes she made as a Real Food Rookie.

Hi, Kelly! Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions. Let’s start by setting the stage. How did you first get interested in Real Food?

It was after I began the South Beach Diet over 6 years ago and a friend suggested it might not be the best way to lose weight.  She directed me to the Weston Price site and my life has never been the same!

What are the five biggest mistakes you made when switching to Real Food that you’d like to help others avoid?

1.  I wasn’t real sure at first about the whole “healthy fat” thing and it took me a bit to totally jump on board.  I questioned why I wasn’t hearing this from my doctors and figured that surely there was a reason they were still gung-ho about low-fat everything.  Soon common sense won out.  What fats have we been eating for thousands of years?  (Butter, lard, tallow, coconut oil.)  And what fats have we been eating since people started getting more and more sick and overweight?  (Modern, super processed oils like soybean, canola, safflower, along with trans fats, etc.)

2.  I didn’t keep my mouth closed enough when around my family, and my bulldozer opinions caused some to not dare ask me anything again, or not for a while anyway.  I wish I had chilled out a little and let them ask questions when they were ready.  That’s not easy to do when you know the people you love could feel better if they’d only _____ (fill in the blank).

3.  I went out and got huge jugs of Agave Nectar when I read that it was a “natural sweetener with a low glycemic index”.  I soon found out more, and an article by Sally Fallon Morell said that it is highly processed and should be called, “High fructose Agave Syrup” due to it’s high fructose content, the worst kind of sugar for our health.  Now I know which truly natural sugars work best in which recipes, and I’ll share that in the class. 

4.  We once bought a quarter of a cow (that’s a LOT of meat, trust me) from a place where we ended up not caring for the taste of their meat.  (That happens sometimes, depending on where the cows roam & what they’re fed.)  I’m glad we didn’t give up on pastured meats, we’ve now found delicious meat from a place we love (some local and some online).

5.  Early on I put the focus too much on getting the bad stuff out (buying organic for example, when often that was just another processed food), and not enough on getting the good stuff in (like fermented foods, cod liver oil, bone broth, etc.)

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I can identify with these mistakes (particularly that last one). How many of you or the people you know, for example, wanted to take control of their health and began by switching to low-fat dairy, or eliminated sugar in favor of fake-food alternatives like Splenda?

So, Kelly, tell us why you created this e-course.

To answer that, first I’ll tell you why I began my blog.  It was when friends were all asking me the same questions about Real Food and I wanted one place to send them for the information I found in all my research.  Fast forward almost 3 years and there’s a lot of information on the blog – it can be overwhelming, so this course breaks all that down into a crash course over 12 weeks where you’ll learn all that it took me years to figure out. 

To find out more details about Kelly’s Real Food For Rookies E-Course, click here. You won’t regret it!

(photo by elcefeliz)

Liked what you read? You may find these other posts interesting:

1. COUPON & WINNER for Real Food For Rookies eCourse
2. GIVEAWAY: Real Food For Rookies E-Course
3. Good Fat, Bad Fat — A Video Tutorial

Confused about why so-called healthier food options like whole wheat bread, organic skim milk, or tofu aren’t really all that healthy? Overwhelmed by the process of changing your diet to include more traditional, nutrient-dense foods? Well, you’re not alone! There are lots of people just like you out there — people who are eager to take control of their diet, but are intimidated by a lack of knowledge. Thankfully, Kelly The Kitchen Kop created an online course to help all you Real Food Rookies out.

If you’re thinking of enrolling, enter this giveaway first. Not only will one of you lucky folks win a place in the online class, but everyone who enters will get a coupon code for 15% off the course (that’s an $18 savings)!

I remember what my own Real Food Journey was like — long, arduous, and full of mistakes. I honestly didn’t know where to begin. What was more important — organic milk or organic vegetables? Sourcing locally, organically, or humanely? Which foods should I eliminate from my diet altogether?

I’m so thankful Kelly’s put together this class to help people make that transition smooth & easy instead of bumpy and complicated.

What You’ll Win

Everyone who enters will get a coupon for 15% off the Real Food For Rookies E-Course, and ONE LUCKY WINNER will receive a completely free enrollment!

How To Enter

Leave a separate comment for each of the following possible ways to enter.

1. Click on this link, read about the class, then leave a comment HERE sharing why you want to take the class. This counts as your first entry, and you MUST do this to enter the contest.

2. Blog about this giveaway and link back to this page on your blog. Comment below with the link. (1 extra entry)

3. Sign up for my email updates or RSS feed. Leave a comment below telling me that you signed up. You will also get an entry if you already subscribe — be sure to leave a comment! (1 extra entry)

4. Follow me on Twitter and tweet about the giveaway. Be sure to include the URL to this page in your tweet. Click the TweetThis button at the bottom of the post, or you can use the following tweet: “Don’t enter to win a slot in the Real Food For Rookies E-Course! I want it all to myself. http://tinyurl.com/28wgl9u” Leave a comment telling me that you followed & tweeted. (1 extra entry)

5. Email 5 friends about the giveaway, with a link to this page. Leave a comment below telling me that you did. (1 extra entry)

6. Stumble this post and leave me a comment telling me that you did. (1 extra entry)

There are a total of 6 possible entries!

Questions? Comment below.

This contest will end Friday, September 3rd at 11:59 PM PST. The winner will be chosen via random.org, and will be announced on Saturday, September 4th. The lucky winner will have 48 hours to contact me with his or her full name and email address.

NOTICE OF DISCLOSURE: http://cmp.ly/5

Proud to participate in the Real Food Wednesday blog carnival!

Liked what you read? You may find these other posts interesting:

1. GIVEAWAY: Chaffin Family Orchards Olive Oil $59 Value
2. GIVEAWAY: Wellness Consult & Miessence Organics Samples
3. GIVEAWAY: Healthy Eats Here! Restaurant Guide

Are you a total newbie to the world of eating Real Food? Are you wondering just how to start making the changes to your diet that you know are necessary? Do you want to start eating healthier foods, but aren’t clear about how to prioritize your choices in the supermarket? Do you want to know how to fit Real Food into your busy schedule without going broke?

Let me introduce you to Kelly The Kitchen Kop’s Real Food For Rookies E-Course. While there will be recipes, this isn’t a cooking class. This is an all-out introduction to eating Real Food, starting with the most basic first step of identifying fake foods and moving on from there with regular, attainable goals.

You could spend months, or even years, researching and implementing these changes on your own. Or, you could pay someone like me hundreds of dollars for individual one-on-one coaching sessions to help walk you through the process of improving your diet and sourcing better foods.

But why would you do that when Kelly’s compiled everything you need to know to get started into 12 weeks of online learning?

What You’ll Get

Audio Interviews

• Sally Fallon Morell (President of the Weston Price Foundation)
• Dr. Kaayla Daniel (author of The Whole Soy Story)
• Jane Feingold (Director of the Feingold Association)
• Tom Naughton (Fat Head filmmaker)

Videos

• Visiting a farmer’s market
• Interviews
• Recipes
• Real Food Basics such as the benefits of raw milk, alternatives to refined sugar, and more.

Written Materials

• Weekly handouts
• Kitchen Kop Real Food Ingredient Guide

Exclusive Forum Membership

• Ask and answer questions
• Exchange tips
• Chat about making the change to Real Food without anyone thinking you’re a weirdo!

Coupons (More Than $60 in Savings!)

• Cod Liver Oil
• Probiotics
• Online Sources of Real Foods like grass-fed meats
• Stainless Steel Cookware
• & more!

Lifetime Acces

• Listen, watch, and read at your leisure!

Watch This Video

For more details about the class, including pricing, class schedule, and in-depth goals for what you’ll learn, click here.

Liked what you read? You may find these other posts interesting:

1. GIVEAWAY: Real Food For Rookies E-Course
2. COUPON & WINNER for Real Food For Rookies eCourse
3. Real Food Nutrition For The School Year

I told her that 60-80% of the diet of traditional people groups isn’t cooked. “Oh,” she interrupted, “I bet I don’t cook 60% of the food I eat.”

She missed my point. She was talking about sandwiches and cold breakfast cereals, snack bars and cheese sticks. Let’s not beat around the bush, people. The Standard American Diet (SAD) is cooked. Aside from the occasional salad or piece of fruit, we just don’t eat raw foods. In fact, we fear them.

I think it’s time for Food Renegade Newbie Tip #4.

Eat more raw, fermented, and living foods.

First, some definitions.

• A raw food is a food that is not heated above 118 degrees (F).
• A fermented food is a food that has had its carbohydrates and sugars turned into alcohol or beneficial acids.
• A living food is a food that still has living enzymes in it and includes both raw and fermented foods.

Now, for some examples. Everyone understands “raw,” but “fermented” and “living” may be harder to follow.

• FERMENTED — Some typical foods preserved by lactic-acid formation include mayonnaise, pickles and yogurt.
• LIVING — Cheese, sour cream, yogurt.

Why should you eat more living foods?

One word — Enzymes.

Your body needs them to properly digest, absorb, and make full use of your food. As you age, your body’s supply of enzymes decreases. This has caused many scientists to hypothesize that if you could guard against enzyme depletion, you could live a longer, healthier life.

Okay, so they’re important. But what does that have to do with eating living foods?

Here’s a fairly succinct summary from Life Extension Magazine:

One of America’s pioneering bio-chemists and nutrition researchers Dr. Edward Howell, in his book Enzyme Nutrition, cites numerous animal studies showing that animals fed diets that are deficient in enzymes suffer from enlargement of the pancreas, as huge amounts of pancreatic enzymes are squandered in digesting foods that are devoid of natural enzymes. The result of this wasteful outpouring of pancreatic digestive enzymes is a decrease in the supply of crucial metabolic enzymes and impaired health.

<snip>

Digestive organs such as the pancreas and liver produce most of the body\’s digestive enzymes, while the remainder should come from uncooked foods such as fresh fruit and vegetables, raw sprouted grains, seeds and nuts, unpasteurized dairy products, and from enzyme supplements.

Eating food in its natural, unprocessed state is vital to the maintenance of good health, and a lack of it in the modern diet is directly responsible for much degenerative disease. Cooking of food, particularly if heat is prolonged and over 118 degrees Fahrenheit, destroys enzymes in that food, leaving what is commonly consumed by the modern person – an “enzymeless” diet. This is how by middle age we become metabolically depleted of enzymes.

If foods are eaten uncooked, fewer of the body’s digestive enzymes are required to perform the digestive function. The body thereby adapts to the plentiful, external supply by secreting fewer of its own enzymes, preserving these enzymes to assist in vital cellular metabolic functions.

So, I’m about to go all bold and red on you.

Are you ready? If you didn’t read that hunk of text up above, this is the one thing I want you to understand:

Eating an enzyme-rich diet decreases the load on your pancreas, preserving your body’s own natural enzyme potential, thereby reducing your risk of chronic diseases.

So, that’s why science tells you to eat more raw, living foods.

Here’s why you really should consider it.

It’s like what I told my friend at the beginning of the post — for centuries, traditional people groups the world over have consumed at least 60-80% of their calories in raw, living foods and beverages.

Put another way: They’re not the weird ones. We are.

Looking for more Newbie Tips? Check out the ever-growing list here.

(photo by puzzlemepuzzle)

Liked what you read? You may find these other posts interesting:

1. Grass-Fed Meats: Health Benefits
2. Breakfast Smoothies — Real Raw Food
3. Kombucha Health Benefits

The best source for grass-fed meats online!

According to a Mother Earth News story published last year, “Supermarket beef is an unnatural, industrial product. The good news is there are better and safer options.” Go read the full article for the low-down on precisely what I mean when I say industrialized cows are freaks of nature.

Okay, so if you shouldn’t eat industrialized meat, what should you do?

Well, folks, it’s time for Food Renegade Newbie Tip #3.

Switch to grass-fed beef and other pastured meats.

In my opinion, this is far more important than finding a local source of organic vegetables, and it goes hand-in-hand with Newbie Tip #2 (Start eating healthy fats.)

Why is it so important?

Three letters: CLA.

What is CLA?

It’s Conjugated Linoleic Acid, and scientific research is proving time and again that this stuff:

• Combats cancer
• Fights clogged arteries
• Reduces body fat
• Delays the onset of diabetes

From the U. S. Wellness Meats site:

Recent studies in Europe indicated that patients with higher levels of CLA in breast tissue had less tumor growth. Other animal studies have correlated CLA with decreasing body fat and increasing lean body mass. One study showed that humans receiving CLA had a significant decrease in body fat as compared to the placebo group. Yet other research has shown that CLA delays the onset of diabetes and aids the battle against arteriosclerosis (coronary artery disease).

There are good fats, fats that contain essential nutrients for life and health. In the American diet, beef and milk fat are the best sources for CLA. But studies have also shown that the cattle’s diet has a significant impact on the amount of CLA in the meat and dairy products. Not surprisingly, when cattle eat their natural diet, foraging pasture grasses and legumes, CLA levels are 30-40% higher. CLA levels drop dramatically in feed lots where cattle are fed grain and other byproduct feedstuff.

On top of the benefits of extra, naturally-occuring CLA, grass-fed and pastured meats also contain a much more natural balance of Omega-6 to Omega-3 fatty acids.

Get this.

The ratio of Omega 6 to Omega 3 fatty acids in a typical store bought egg are 20:1. In a truly free-range, pastured hen, it’s 1.5:1!  In industrial beef, the ratio is 21:1, but in grass-fed beef it’s usually 3:1 and can be as low as 1:1!

What does it matter? Why should I care what the ratio of Omega 6 to Omega 3 fatty acids in my diet is?

Because we now know that a balanced diet should contain an Omega-6 to 3 ratio of 4:1 or less.  Imbalance contributes to chronic diseases like cancer, heart disease, asthma, arthritis, and depression. Because of the industrialization of our food supply, the typical American diet contains an Omega-6 to 3 ratio of 20:1!

This is why doctors everywhere are now telling people to increase their intake of Omega-3 fatty acids. It’s not that we need more Omega-3s in our diet, per se. It’s just that we need a healthy balance of Omega-3s to Omega-6s, and that’s nearly impossible within our industrialized food chain.

So, where do you go from here?

First, check out the links on our Real Food Resources page to find a local source of grass-fed meats. If that search leaves you empty handed, you can buy them online!

That’s right.

Online.

U. S. Wellness Meats sells grass-fed beef, pork, lamb, and poultry in addition to butter from grass-fed cows, raw Amish cheese, and raw honey. What’s not to love?

Shipping is FREE (can you believe it?), but there’s a $7.50 handling fee on each order. Obviously, the more you buy per order, the more you save. Plus, they often run really good sales. So, go check them out!

Looking for more Newbie Tips? Check out the ever-growing list here.

Liked what you read? You may find these other posts interesting:

1. Healthy Meats: What to Buy
2. Hemp Oil & Hemp Seeds — Are they safe?
3. High-fat Dairy Lowers Risk of Heart Attacks

Cold-pressed Olive Oil

Food Renegade Newbie Tip #2

Start Eating Healthy Fats. They’re not what you might think they are.

If you’ve become a Label Nazi, you’ve probably noticed the perniciously pervasive oils that saturate the Standard American Diet (SAD) — corn & soybean oils.

These oils — along with most vegetable oils — are primarily polyunsaturated fats (PUFAs) that your body doesn’t know how to use. So, your body uses these oils to make you fat and weaken your immune system. Also, these unstable oils are highly sensitive to oxidation and rancidity — so much so that in the process of making them the oil actually goes rancid! Food manufacturers then have to deodorize and bleach the oils to make them marginally palatable to consumers.

I’ve got an experiment for you. Try drinking a tablespoon of veggie oil. Repelling, isn’t it?

There’s a reason.

Like most animals, your body is mostly comprised of mono-unsaturated and saturated fats. Only 4% of your fat composition is polyunsaturated.

To stay fit, lean, and healthy, you’ve got to give your body the kinds of fats it needs — the kinds of fats it craves.

Butter, anyone? Bacon grease? Beef tallow? Just the fragrance of these fats makes our mouths salivate in anticipation. Plus, these fats are remarkably stable. They almost never go rancid and can last for years stored in your pantry.

What are the “good fats?”

• Lard (non-hydrogenated, if you can find it)
• Tallow
• Butter (particularly from cows eating lush green grass)
• Coconut Oil
• Palm Oil
• Olive Oil (only cold-pressed, uv-protected, and at low temperatures)

Basically, animal fats from grass-fed/pastured/wild animals are as good as it gets. While you’re hunting down a good source for those at your local farmer’s market, start using coconut or palm oil. If you can’t find decent tropical oils in your grocery store, check out the listings posted at my Real Food Resources page.

For the low-down on these different fats and how you can use them, check out this post at Modern Forager.

So, for your next dietary change as a Food Renegade newbie, make the switch to good fats. Use your label reading prowess to avoid bad oils, then start introducting healthy fats into your cooking.

Looking for more Newbie Tips? Check out the ever-growing list here.

Liked what you read? You may find these other posts interesting:

1. How To Effectively Change Your Diet For The New Year
2. Eat Fat to Lose Fat: A Real-Life Example
3. Grass-Fed Meats: Health Benefits

Taking Baby Steps Towards Better Health

I’ve said it before, but it bears saying again: Baby Steps.

Baby Steps are the key to any real, lasting change. Offended by the word “baby”? Then, call them whatever you want — small, tiny, rookie, newbie.

The point is to make changes in small, but effective increments. You start with where you’re at, and you look to see what you can change. You make it your goal to change that one thing.

Then, you give yourself grace. Lots of grace. Grace to break every other Real Food rule. You work on your one thing — and only that — until it’s habitual.

Every diet adjustment, even the most simple, takes time. It may be two, three, or even four weeks before you’re comfortable in your new eating habits — before they “fit” like an old pair of boots.

So, where to begin?

I present the first in a series of newbie tips for those of you only just starting on your journey towards being a Food Renegade.

Food Renegade Newbie Tip #1

Become a Label Nazi. Start reading labels. Avoid anything with:

• Partially-hydrogenated or hydrogenated oil
• High-fructose corn syrup
• Autolyzed anything
• Hydrolyzed anything
• MSG
• Anything else you can’t pronounce or need a chemistry degree to understand

Notice, I didn’t say you had to give up all packaged foods — not yet, anyway.

Liked what you read? You may find these other posts interesting:

1. Healthy Fats: Is There Such A Thing?
2. New Food Resolutions
3. Grass-Fed Meats: Health Benefits