healthy food Archives - the whole food diary

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thewholefooddiary

📍West Sussex, UK
Learning to live gently, mindfully + healthily, on a budget, as a family 🌎
kezianeusch@gmail.com
Also: @whole.beauty @kezialouise

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Morning run. ☀️ There’s always something in my ears when I run and it’s been one of my go to spaces for learning about a lot of things, especially since I had kids. Farming and agriculture, the environment, business, health, the news, race… the weeks I want to listen more, I run more.
I think that most journeys of change take time; slow sustainable steps of change that truly become part of who we are. And putting things in my ears while I run and do other tasks alone (which, you know, isn’t many as a parent!) has been a really practical way to go on a journey of beginning to educate myself on this particular topic. And I’ll offer this 👆🏼book up first as the place I started: “Why I Stopped Talking To White People About Race” by Reni Eddo-Lodge. I read it when we were still in the States but I think it’s a great starting point potentially especially for people here in or from the UK, but everywhere. And if the title jolts you it’s ok. It jolted me. Read on.
This is a hope filled journey, the same place I have to hold myself with the environment, or where my clothes come from, and how we use all aspects of our privilege in life. If it hurts to be part of knowingly or unknowingly causing pain, there can be hope in knowing we can be part of the journey forward. I for one change faster with hope than guilt, so that’s where I try to hold my heart as I take my steps, both literal ones with buds in my ears and figurative ones in adding one change at a time to our lives. ❤️

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As the unfair and unjust reality of too many people has hit our screens more this week (which is not a new story this week) there is no adequate response for here. No social media post could or should ever be the adequate response.
I need my life to respond and continue responding. Not just my social media. And not just now. I had much internal debate over if and how I say something here. Do I point to other people’s words, do I take myself out of this space, or do I step back from social media so I can put that time into learning, talking to my children more and reaching out into my real local community. Sometimes there isn’t time for all of those things and if I have to choose I’d rather be lacking on a social media platform than with my own real life words, hands and heart.
I’ve also reflected on how something that’s brought lasting change for people in other areas is me showing my journey over time and so there’s a little bit on the blog and it will continue to be a part of my story here, because it is and needs to be. I know some of you will worry I’m going to keep talking about this, some of you will worry I’m not, what I do know if this isn’t a “this week” issue for the world or my personal life, and this has been and will be an ongoing piece of my life and learning. So it won’t all come this week, but yes I’ll be here with our journey in the mix of life. And if you’re starting out on the journey of learning, yes there might be pain and shame but then there’s beauty in realizing we get to change something together.
I’ve switched the comments off here because I know there will be a segment of people who will tell me I’m doing this right regardless of what I say, and I don’t post for that. But I don’t want to stop the conversation and I’d love that in my DMs which tend to be where the more real chat happens. .
And if you want my one place to start, especially for those here in the UK, buy a copy of “Why I Stopped Talking To White People About Race” by Reni Eddo-Lodge. There are many other things that could be recommended but that’s where my journey started and what started to change me. ❤️
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#blackouttuesday

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EGGS 🍳 We have more than one layer and I told everyone they couldn’t eat these till I’d taken their picture. See how eggs 9,10, and 12 are a little lighter and 9 is smaller than 8? That’s when the second chicken started laying? Different chickens lay different coloured eggs and to start with they are smaller, all of these are smaller than store average but the first one from each chicken was extra small! Alright fam, now you can have at the eggs 😉 .
Happy Saturday. ❤️

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PLANNING 📝 Such a sexy topic, but as our house gets into a more regular routine with family gone, I’m back to weekly meal planning and budgeting just for us. And at the same time, most foods are a bit easier to come by so we’re making choices closer to the pre isolation ones. I had to take a minute and think: how do I even write a meal plan?! .
1️⃣ Look at what comes in my veg box and start to think about how I can use it. 2️⃣Do a fridge and pantry assessment - what can be used? What needs to be used? Write those things down. 3️⃣ Write down a list/table of all the meals we need for the week (usually there are a few blocked off for being out or others with extra guests but right now that’s 21 mess needed.) 4️⃣ Start to put in meals (pulled mostly from a master list of meals I keep - it’s so helpful!) using the foods we have. Where there are still gaps, add in things that need shopping for and write down those ingredients needed. 5️⃣ Take a look over the plan and see if the cost of meals is balanced how I need them. (Don’t our all your most expensive meals on one week!) 6️⃣ Adjust as needed to put in some more frugal meals, or add other things in if you think you’ll have extra in your budget. 7️⃣ Double check your list has everything on it... SHOP. Right now for us this still includes a little more plastic than our norm, because of what’s available (our veggie box currently comes with bagged greens and our bulk store is shut.) but I’m trying to choose to use ingredients with minimal packaging wherever we can. *️⃣ I always love some flexible “leftovers” meals so we actually use everything up and every couple of days I do a fridge assessment to make sure nothing is going to go bad in the time before it’s scheduled to be used!

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SIMPLE SOURDOUGH JOYS 🍓 My last meal out was toast like this at @tartinemanufactory in San Francisco. The last 6 weeks at home we’ve been crazily lucky to have my brother in law baking us dream loaves ☝🏼a la Tartine that are just what dreams are made of. 🙌🏼 .
Do you still see sourdough and thing “could I ever do that, it seems so complex?!” Even after making it for a long time now, we watched a video the other night and it looked way too complicated to even attempt. 😆 But you can start SIMPLY. .
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2 years ago we just started. I had no idea but I made a loaf a day for a month. Yes. 30 loaves in 30 days. 😆 You don’t have to go crazy, but really trying and learning and keeping learning is the only way to get anywhere. I kind of like that, it sounds ridiculous but you do kind of have to have a relationship with it and listen and know that it’s a bit fluid. Its altered by the temperature, the humidity, the flour, the salt.... but don’t let that scare you. Just start. The basic recipe we’ve used for the last 2 years is on the blog (google “whole food diary spelt sourdough”) and now we alter and adapt it, but it’s a simple starting point if you want to be told exactly what to do and just follow as you get a feel for it. .
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Another’s great resource is my friend @laura.radicalroots #sourdoughsisterhood guide, Laura isn’t a pro but I kind of love that, the journey feels accessible from her, and its written from her own learning and feeling which I think is beautiful. .
But mostly, just start. Don’t be afraid, it’s something you have to learn as you go so just go! Trust me 😉

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FORGET ROSES... have you smelled tomato plants?! 🍅 Maybe cos they remind me of gardening with my granny, I don’t know but I love the smell. 🌱 I’ve been growing these little black cherry toms from seed along with peas and regrowing leeks on my kitchen window sill, you really don’t need much space to grow something! If nothing else, regrow your bought leeks/spring onion/celery in a jar on your windowsill! (Google it!) 🌱 .
I actually haven’t given the garden as much of me as it needs the last few weeks just cos: life. My bee hive is still sitting unassembled and I need to build a new cage about yesterday to keep a cheeky blackbird from our ripening 🍓😆 ... I’m looking forward to scheduling more time for the garden but for now: things are growing, our chickens are alive (even if our brussel sprouts got eaten 😭) and I’ll keep putting one foot in front of the other and doing . That’s probably a truth for lots of things right now in this strange strange time, one foot in front of the other and calculate what really matters and be ok tossing some of the other things to the side. 🦶 Anyone else? . .
p.s. When you see the garden it doesn’t look like I’m neglecting it cos thankfully we’re doing the veggies with another family who are faithful to it and the best and I’m pretty sure have greener thumbs than me. 😆 Thanks Peill fam 😘

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