In my efforts to balance "good, better, best" with a budget, availability (
which is actually usually based on effort one is willing to exert = pray for strength to do your part in improving health) and practical time use, I am constantly having to make choices.
I believe that all of the foods we use here are great foods! And the possible edible nourishing creations are endless. YUM! :)
However, I have drafted a list; based on my own opinion, drawn from what I have learned of certain whole foods and their applications in our bodies as well as their value and potency in what we have available to us.
If we implement these SUPER foods in our daily meals,
regardless as to any other changes we make,
then we will have a higher quality and amount of benefit
to balance the percentage that is less ideal...
Am I making sense?
Below is my list of SUPER Whole Foods.
Using this, I have created a label called "SUPER Foods". The recipes with this label are
more super than
not because they contain a higher ratio of these particular foods than of foods that are not the.... superest... in that recipe!
:)THE "SUPER FOODS" LIST!:
(links are to where the cheapest source I know of--- A local farmer or coop/store may have a better price in your area - such as all grass-fed beef cuts/bones.)
- Fermented cod liver or skate liver oil
- Raw butter oil
- "Blend" (those two combined)
- Butter 1,2, OR (if you are off dairy) clarified butter or ghee
- Coconut oil (I use flavor/scentless expeller pressed) and/or Palm Shortening
- Broth made from Bones (or grass fed raw milk in season)
- Organs -- grass fed
- Grass-fed, in the pasture, animal fats (and gelatin) with any meats
- Eggs from soy-free, GMO-free, free ranging, omnivorous healthy birds
- Sauerkraut - naturally fermented (and other naturally fermented foods)
- Seaweed such as Kelp, (selected because they add no noticed taste by the most discerning seafood haters.) and wild seafood in general. oh, The bounty of the sea!
- Bok Choy, Kale, Collards, Dandelion Greens (any easily found greens!, but these are Calcium superstars and low in Oxalic Acid see chart in book)
- Chia (Soaked with lots of water)
- Amaranth, Buckwheat (better if sprouted or soaked)
- Sprouted and/or soaked whole grains and legumes (so many beans!), whichever ones work for you.
- A variety of every color of fruit, vegetable, herb,... of every plant you can grow in your garden or entice yourself to eat. Eat your rainbow. Try Heirloom, or even older! Our modern world has shared its variety and bounty as it has grown so small.
- Onions and garlic have to be included as their own. I think every continent's people have utilized them to make their food edible since the beginning, and when I try to count up their wonderful properties, then they are simply one of my favorite foods.
All plant foods are, of course, more beneficial if grown free of chemical 'additives' such as pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, fertilizers, etc. This is made possible, in large part, if they are grown in a soil/compost rich in nutrients and biodynamic benefits. (See
Dirt, the Movie for an introduction to soil and entertaining portrayals;
Botany of Desire:plant selection. both are on Netflix)
When plants are fed richly in an environment that does not kill either the amazing microorganisms or the visible little critters around and especially in the soil, then these
plants are fed by intricate and galactic alterations that are overwhelmingly abundant and largely still unexplored. This kind of
husbandry makes for a strong, complex plant internally that gives it a strong resistant to previously destructive pests and plagues AND give
us the amazing taste and nutritiously beneficial experience that we all wish for. (think of GGr'pa's home grown tomatoes or the best strawberry or apple you
ever had, lettuce that actually tasted GOOD, potent herbs, and good quality essential oils) One term for this is
High Brix.
Healthy animal products should be consumed by us only when they are eating 100% growing pasture or wild forage (wild seafood,...).
For the SUPER, SUPER example; A healthy cow eats grass, but during the winter may have to eat cut/stored hays. So the ideal products are those obtained once the cow has once again returned to eating grass for more than a week. These meats and organs are significant in their CLA, K2 and other notable Fat oriented nutrients as well as beautiful characteristics demonstrating other nutrients such as a delicious bright yellow butter (with a lower melting point) or splendidly flavored meat flesh. Naturally, the organs would be more desirable as well.
Spring butter has been considered sacred by the nearly by-gone Mountain Swiss people for centuries because of it's being so exceeding and particularly beneficial.
