Daily Archive

Well, it’s over. I’ve completed the 28-Day Real Food Challenge, but plan to continue and further my studies. Here’s a recap of the final week:

Real Food Challenge Day #22: Why you should eat red meat
If I had to choose one thing from my new foodstyle that I wouldn’t change for purely hedonistic reasons, I’d choose grassfed beef. It is so drastically different than its feedlot counterpart that I consider it almost a different meal altogether. But, it isn’t just purely pleasure that drives me to the farmer who provides grassfed meats. When even TIME magazine concedes that grassfed meat is healing to the ecosystem; the evidence indicates the incidence of pathogenic contamination is reduced in the pasture; and respect for our food animals necessitates allowing them to express the uniqueness of their nature, I know all the sum of the parts is adding up to more than the deliciousness on my plate.

Real Food Challenge Day #23: Eat your bacon, eggs and lard too.
I have tracked down pastured pork and eggs. I am very suspicious of one source, however, because as I crack their eggs, I see the yolks are not the golden-orange I’ve come to expect in pastured eggs, but are more the light yellow color I’d expect from a grain-fed chicken. I haven’t been to this particular farm and seen their operation, so although this farm’s eggs are the most reliably available, I choose them only when I don’t have access to the eggs from my other sources.

Real Food Challenge Day #24: Maximizing Mineral Intake with Homemade Broth
Bone broth was the first thing I made when I started this foodstyle a year ago, and it is the one thing that continues in my kitchen on a weekly basis to this day. I started out only making chicken stock because that was what I used most often, and I still try to fit some stock into at least one meal a day. A while later I added beef stock to my repertoire as pastured beef bones became available. This last week I made fish stock, and I have started collecting pork bones for stock in my freezer as well!

Real Food Challenge Day #25: Not-so-awful Offal
I had liver for the first time in ages this week. I’d been planning it but the recipes I’d found left me cold. I really enjoyed it made with bacons, onions and pineapple, though!

Real Food Challenge Day #26: Fish and Seafood
I’ve also been on a real seafood kick this week. We had oyster chowder, lobster tails and seafood bisque instead of our weekly dose of salmon. Oh, I also made Jenny’s scrambled eggs with lox and it was wonderful!

Real Food Challenge Day #27: Grow Your Foodshed
I’m so glad the Challenge ended on this note. Supporting farmers, bringing healthy food to those who otherwise go without, gardening and helping others is high on my list of goals for 2010.

You know, you don’t have to wait for someone to throw down the gauntlet to challenge yourself. You can start the 28-Day Real Food Challenge any month, week or day you’d like! You don’t even have to choose 28 consecutive days! Take your time, work through the ideas and lessons and improve your life a forkful at a time!