Real Food for Rookies
Kelly the Kitchen Kop
House of Bread Books
The switch from processed foods to real foods can be a daunting challenge, especially for a mom trying to convert her whole family. Kelly Moeggenborg, a.k.a. Kelly the Kitchen Kop, has been there and done that—she converted herself, her husband and her children from a SAD diet to a nutrient-dense WAPF-style diet—so she knows the frustrations and pitfalls.
She begins with her Quick Reference Real Food Ingredient Guide, which gives good and best choices versus an “avoid” column for meats, eggs, seafood, nuts, dairy products, fats and oils, grain products and many more categories. This guide wisely includes protein shakes, with a warning to avoid powdered protein and powdered whey. Other chapters cover the basics on fats and oils, dairy foods, soy foods, additives, cooking techniques and fermented foods.
Then Kelly delves into the personal and practical. Why change the diet, many people ask; we are going to die anyway so shouldn’t we just enjoy what we eat? The problem, as she rightly points out, is that if we just eat anything that tempts us, and allow our families to do the same, we end up with a life in which little can be enjoyed. The biggest motivator for many families to change their diets is the hellish behavior of their children—temper tantrums, food intolerances, constant bickering, taking hours to go to sleep, withdrawn and autistic behavior—with concurrent stresses on married life. Once parents see the difference that simple changes can make—raw whole milk instead of commercial milk, butter instead of margarine, homemade salad dressing instead of bottled concoctions—they are often willing to go the distance.
Still, Kelly warns against the pursuit of perfection, which can lead to burnout. She gives the story of a gal who couldn’t get to the market one week to get her farm-fresh eggs, so rather than get organic eggs at a store, she went to a fast food drive-thru for breakfast!
Kelly provides excellent advice on finding the time, working within a budget, getting kids to take cod liver oil and getting the family on board. The best weapon of the traditional diet movement is the delicious way the food tastes—vegetables are not hard to eat when smothered in butter and breakfast is always a pleasure when it includes bacon. Comfort foods like meatloaf, gravy and mashed potatoes can and should be included in the diet. With rich, nutrient-dense foods, the cravings for junk will soon subside.
Kelly often points to one fantastic resource for parents making the transition from processed to real food—the local chapters of the Weston A. Price Foundation. And this helpful, practical book is completely WAPF-friendly. Real Food for Rookies will help you be the Good Cop in your kitchen.
This article appeared in Wise Traditions in Food, Farming and the Healing Arts, the quarterly journal of the Weston A. Price Foundation, Winter 2015
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