Feeding Your Family The Wise Traditions Way

🖨️ Print post

Where to start to nourish our family well? How do we make the time and develop rhythms to feed the family ancestrally? How can we incorporate more nutrient-dense foods on a regular basis? What if the family isn’t “into it”?

How do we handle moving in this direction, when the whole world seems to be going the other way?

We posed these questions to a panel of experts at the Wise Traditions conference in Kansas in October 2023. Maureen Diaz, Hilary Boynton, Christine Muldoon, and Sally Fallon Morell were the panelists of wise women, who have much experience and over 20 kids collectively! Maureen leads God’s Good Table. Hilary Boynton is an author and the head of School of Lunch. Christine Muldoon, from the Modern Ancestral Mamas podcast, is head of Nourish the Littles. And Sally Fallon Morell is the founder and president of the Weston A. Price Foundation.

On this LIVE podcast, they tackle these questions and more. They address how to handle picky eaters, how to meal plan, and how they handle feelings of loneliness and challenge. They even share their secret tools of the trade, along with mistakes they’ve made along the way. We hope this live interview inspires you to continue to nourish your family well.

 

Check out our panelists’ websites:

Maureen Diaz – godsgoodtable.com

Hilary Boynton – schooloflunch.com

Christine Muldoon – nourishthelittles.com

Sally Fallon Morell – nourishingtraditions.com

Join the Nourishing Our Children community: nourishingourchildren.org/groups

Check out our sponsors: Paleo Valley and Optimal Carnivore

—

Listen to the podcast here

 

Episode Transcript

Within the below transcript the bolded text is Hilda Labrada Gore and the regular text is Maureen Diaz, Hilary Boynton, Christine Muldoon, and Sally Fallon Morell.

How do you deal with picky eaters in the family? How do you make time to cook nutrient-dense foods? What are the secret tools of the trade that make meal prep easier? This is Episode 453 and we’ve gathered a panel of experts to address these questions and more. As a matter of fact, we recorded this panel in front of a live audience at the Wise Traditions Conference in Kansas City in October 2023.

The panelists include Sally Fallon Morell, the Founder and President of the Weston A. Price Foundation, Maureen Diaz of God’s Good Table, Hilary Boynton of School of Lunch, and Christine Muldoon of Nourish the Littles. They each offer sage advice on how to build a Wise Traditions home. We cover everything from how to get kids involved in the meal prep process, how to handle and identify food sensitivities or allergies, and how to go about incorporating more nutrient-dense foods on the table on a regular basis.

Each panelist offers insight into the systems they use for cooking and meal planning. Some confess that they have no system at all. Regardless, we learn a little something from each one. Collectively, the panelists have 21 children so I would say they know 1 thing or 2 about nourishing them well. Before we get into the conversation, the Weston A. Price Foundation has a project called Nourishing Our Children, which launched in 2005 with a focus on timeless principles for supporting learning behavior and health through optimal nutrition.

Nourishing Our Children has an active online group for parents, would-be parents, grandparents, and adults interested in children’s health. If you are looking for support on how to nourish your children and yourself, join the Facebook group Nourished Children 2.0 and you’ll also have complimentary access to the Nourish 2.0 group focused on adults for one donation of only $5 for the calendar year. The moderators ensure that no question goes unanswered so go to the website to learn how to join.

—

Check out our panelists’ websites:

Maureen Diaz

Hilary Boynton

Christine Muldoon

Sally Fallon Morell

Join the Nourishing Our Children community

Check out our sponsors:

Paleo Valley

Optimal Carnivore

—

We are recording this panel live in front of an audience here at the Kansas City Wise Traditions Conference 2023. It is comprised of these beautiful people, Sally Fallon Morell, Hilary Boynton, Christine Muldoon, and Maureen Diaz. There is a lot of collective wisdom in this room and on this stage. These women have been in the trenches in their families and they know what works. We’re happy to share with you how to build a Wise Traditions home.

The questions that I have here are comprised of questions that the panelists themselves gave me when I asked them, “What are the questions that are most frequently posed to you by young moms or young dads who are trying to figure it out and nourish their families well?” Here’s the first question. I’m going to pose it to Christine and Maureen. It’s very simple. How do you do it? How do you feed your families ancestrally nutrient-dense foods when they’re surrounded by Skittles and Takis? Christine, you go first.

One of the things that I talk about a lot with my clients is something called Food Family Values. This is a conversation that you have with your family no matter how young they are. You have it with your spouse and extended family members. You discuss what are your food family values. You can even make a list of what your food family values are. That can be the foods that you eat and avoid. That can be your hard noes, whatever your hard noes are. Each family is going to have a different hard no. That’s one of the ways that I do it. I also believe in holding boundaries.

We live in a society where we’re inundated, like Hilda said. Sometimes as parents, we have to do the hard thing, hold boundaries, and tell our kids, “I know that that food maybe looks good or your friends are eating it but this is not a food that nourishes our body and we’re not going to eat it. I can make you an alternative.” The other is making foods that your kids love. This is so important and a lot of us are probably going to say this over and over again. It’s important to make the foods that your kids and spouse love to eat because that’s how you bring them back to the table over and over again.

It’s important to make the foods that your kids and your spouse love to eat because that’s how you bring them back to the table over and over again.

Building on that, I have two things. One is we do have a hard and fast no. As your children become older, occasionally, they bring something into the house, particularly when I’m not home. I came home and found it. They understand it’s going in the trash but there is always a replacement. For instance, my son works as a mechanic and he likes to have sandwiches for lunch every day. I came home once and there was a Hellmann’s mayonnaise. It went directly into the trash.

I talked to him about it later. I said, “I always make sure there’s mayonnaise for you before I leave but I also leave an alternative, a compromise, in the cabinet in case we’re out.” I have hard and fast rules. They understand that but they also understand why. I know that you do the same. We work hard to make sure that your children grow up with strong and healthy bodies so that they can go into the world and maintain good health. This is why.

We also have a few occasional compromises that are not the best but not horrible so that occasionally they can have a treat. The other part of that is that also we do things together. From the time the kids are little, I have them baking cookies, making bread, making stock, and things like that so that they feel a part of it and then they want to have it. The other big thing, which is short and simple, is keeping it simple. I have always kept our meals and plans simple. Occasionally, we splurge and I spend two days in the kitchen, like for Thanksgiving or Christmas. We do big things. Almost every day, our meal plans are very simple.

Thank you, Maureen. Sally and Hilary, tell us where to start. What tips would you give to a family that’s getting started on this journey of feeding their family ancestors? Sally, you go first.

As I always say, the place you start is a salad dressing. If you’re new to this and haven’t cooked before, learn to make salad dressing using real, good-quality olive oil, no mustard or vinegar. It takes a minute to make salad dressing. You can make some in advance and put it in the fridge. This is your first step to becoming a great cook. There’s so much benefit to doing this. This one little thing, make your own salad dressing because those bottled dressings have some of the worst ingredients that you can find anywhere.

 

The second thing I would recommend is to call it the two chickens. When I was feeding a very large family, every week I bought two chickens. They came home and it went immediately into the pot with good water, a couple of onions, bay leaves, peppercorns, and a little vinegar. That was it. I gently cooked the chickens until they were tender. You had your meat for the weekend. You have your meat for tacos, enchiladas, chicken salads, or curry. You have broth. That was in the beginning.

That was the only broth I made with the two chickens. You have soup or a mug of broth. That’s another way to start. The last thing I would say is to get an ice cream maker and learn to make ice cream with cream, egg yolks, vanilla, and maple syrup. It’s the four ingredients. It’s delicious. It takes a minute to put it together. The best new ice cream makers are the ones that you don’t even keep in the freezer.

They’re quite heavy. They sit on the counter and you pour the mix in there. Twenty minutes later, you have ice cream. This is sending a message that this is not a diet of deprivation. It’s delicious. The ice cream and the meals are going to be in the freezer. Anytime they want to raid the freezer for that ice cream, it is fine because it’s so nutritious. Those would be the three things that I would say to start with. The salad dressing, the two chickens in the pot, and the homemade ice cream.

Hilary?

I was thinking about how I started. I want to say you guys have all started. The number one thing that helped me start was finding the foundation. I’m so grateful to have found a local chapter leader by accident. I was trying to change the school lunches years ago before my kids were even in school. Ironically, the woman who decided to help me was a chapter leader who instantly changed my life.

Find one person who can walk this walk with you, someone to hold your hand, and someone to let you know that you’re not crazy. You may be but you’re part of the good crazies, as we call ourselves. That one meeting led to me finding raw milk, which ultimately healed my son of eczema. Sally came to speak at a local conference where the first thing she said was, “Salads are killing America.” I was like, “What? We can’t even eat salad?” At the end of it, she said it was the dressings. Take your baby steps. Find your local egg farmer. Find a good chicken, roast a chicken, and make bone broth.

I remember the first conference I came to. Blogging was very brand new. There were these bloggers that I had found on the internet and they were like celebrities. I was like, “They’re here.” They are great friends of mine. Reach out to somebody on Instagram or social media that inspires you. We’re all super accessible and have been where you may be, feeling alone and overwhelmed and don’t know where to start. The reason that we’re all here is because we’re so passionate about this mission and this message of getting people back to what we know to be true and good and how to nourish ourselves. Don’t be afraid to jump into the work. Be gentle with yourself, do one thing at a time, and remember that it’s a process.

Thank you so much. It’s so encouraging to remember you’ve already started so that’s a great word. It’s easy to think, “I’ve started in my mind here at the conference,” but once we get home and all the demands start coming into our lives, how do we make the time? How do we find the rhythms to feed our families ancestrally? Maureen, why don’t you take this one first?

The biggest key in my household is to be prepared. As Sally mentioned, make stock with two chickens and you have lots of options. I do prep work about once a week. I make mirepoix. I add garlic so it’s not pure mirepoix. I use my food processor to get things.

What is mirepoix?

It’s a base for creating about anything you would want to make. It is two parts onion, one part carrot, and one part celery. You chop and dice it up. I sauté it gently in ghee. I make at least one quarter at a time and stick it in a jar and the refrigerator. Every time I’m making a soup or a sauté, all I have to do is go and scoop it out. I do the same thing with freshly grated ginger, garlic, turmeric, and black pepper in ghee. I sauté it lightly in ghee. I stick it in the refrigerator.

When I want to do something Asian or I give some broth to my husband, those anti-inflammatory herbs are not only flavorful but very good for him and us. I do whatever I can do ahead of time. Something that you’re going to be doing throughout the week to make any kind of food, do ahead. Do it once a week and stick it in the refrigerator. That has been a real lifesaver. The other thing that goes right with that is to make everything in big batches.

Christine?

A very dear friend of mine once told me that meal schedules would save my life and she was right. Meal schedules save my life. I’m a huge advocate of them, especially if you have very young children. Young children are extremely visual and can rest in knowing what is predictable, consistent, and coming. If you have the ability to create a meal schedule, it can be for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. When your kids come down that morning, they’re not asking you, “What’s for breakfast?”

You’re scrambling and trying to figure it out. Have a consistent set meal schedule. You can change it with the seasons, which is what I do. In the fall and winter, we switch over to consuming broths in the morning. In the summertime, we’re doing liver tonics, which is tomato juice with raw liver grated into it for breakfast one day. As the seasons change, I will change my meal schedules. The other thing that I wanted to talk about is prioritizing nutrient density and making it simple.

As Maureen talked about making big batches of food, something else that I like to do is make big batches of certain foods that I know are super nutrient-dense. For example, pâté. I know that my kids can pull out a jar of pâté anytime they’re hungry and they’ll eat from it if they need something. Another example of that would be bone marrow. You could roast bone marrow ahead of time, save it in a Tupperware, have it in the fridge, and then add it. You can use it to cook your eggs, add to your soups, or anything like that. Those are two things that I do to help with saving time.

That’s important because if you’re feeling rushed, you’re likely to compromise some of those food values you were talking about like, “I’m tired. I’m busy. Let’s stop and get pizza.” I don’t know if you all are into that but sometimes you feel like you can’t help it. If you plan, then that can change everything. Sally, can you tell us how we incorporate more of the nutrient-dense foods avoiding that rush to get things on the plate, whatever it is? How do we get the best foods on that plate for our children?

I would agree that it’s good to have things in the fridge and pâté is a great one. Cheese is a wonderful snack food and travel food. Crispy nuts were a big standby for us. Don’t forget that butter is nutrient-dense super food, especially if it’s grass-fed butter. If you’re always using butter, they’re always getting that. Raw milk, of course. Raw milk is like your insurance policy. You know they’re going to eat stuff they shouldn’t be eating outside the house. There’s going to be slipups but the raw milk is giving them good, thorough, complete nourishment every day.

Hilary, what foods have been your go-to over the years?

To comment on the other question, I’m not a big planner. For those of you who look at all the bloggers with meal plans and you think it’s such a great idea but you can’t manage to do that, I’m with you. What I have done is eliminate any bad choices from the house. If you can clear out the bad stuff and stock yourself with the best ingredients you can, then the choices are only good. You’re the gatekeeper of what the options are.

 

I quote my friend, a French elder, who told me to remember that simplicity is gourmet. Keep it simple. There are many times when I am frazzled. There’s a lot going on and I haven’t thought about what we’re having for dinner. It’s 5:00 or 6:00. I can open my fridge and I have good protein, some vegetables, and good fats. I might have my sourdough bread. I can always throw together a nutrient-dense meal.

When my kids were little, it was like scrambled eggs with some avocado and a slice of tomato. It was very simple but I knew it was real food and it was the best we could do. If you can’t make everything, which we often can’t do, we want to do it all at once, find your local fermenter. Buy the ferments. Don’t get overwhelmed trying to do it all. If there’s a good bakery where you can get beautiful sourdough bread, you don’t have to make everything from scratch as Bill Schindler did for a year.

Be gentle with yourself but stock yourself with the good stuff. We rely on raw milk. My youngest son perhaps has lived off of raw milk maybe in 2022 going to high school, not wanting to eat the school lunches or take the lunch that I pack. He is downing glasses of raw milk and maybe probably more than 1/2 gallon a day. Rest assured that at least he’s getting his deep nutrition. Things like pâté, my daughter loves. The boys, I sneak it more into the meals for them. I eat plain butter every day. I love it.

Don’t forget salami. You can get an artisan’s salami. They package it in nitrogen so it’s all sliced and everything. We also get prosciutto ham already sliced. That’s instant. That’s what people did in the past. Our ancestors weren’t cooking everything either. They were buying things like salami, cheese, and so forth. Also, when you make soup. I probably make a big pot of soup about every two weeks and then I freeze serving sizes. Soup is wonderful but it’s quite a bit of work. If you’re making soup, make a lot of it at once. Things like chili and curry can all be frozen. It’s instant meals.

I’m not a meal planner, either. I never have been. I’ve tried and failed. I’m keeping it simple by having the prep work done ahead of time. When I come home at the end of a long, tiring day and I still have to make dinner, dinner’s not difficult because I always have the prep work done. In fifteen minutes, I can have a good, delicious, and nourishing meal ready.

Feeding the kids at school is a much bigger operation. Somebody told me, I don’t know whether it was Chuck or somebody, “Freedom is in the systems.” Get your systems in place, whether it’s roasting two chickens on a Sunday that you know you’re going to turn into a bone broth. I make two loaves of sourdough every Sunday so I know we’re set up for the week. Make your ferments once every two weeks or so. If you can start to set the systems, it does provide a lot of freedom.

Freedom is in the systems.

I want to say something about bread. Don’t feel obligated to make bread. I never made bread except when I was practicing for the cookbook but it seemed overwhelming to make bread. I could buy good bread. You don’t have to do it all. That’s what I’m trying to say.

Do what you love.

There are so many options. At farmer’s markets, too. I don’t know about where you live but if you connect with your local chapter leader, they’ll help you find sources of sauerkraut, bread, and good eggs. You don’t have to get the eggs from this farmer and then the meat from this other farmer. Sometimes, it can all be in one place.

I was also thinking the slow cooker could be your friend, too. It took me a while to figure that out but toss some meat, tomato sauce, or onions in there. I don’t do the mirepoix thing, whatever she was talking about. At the end of the day, you come home. It smells like dinner’s ready and it is. Make the low cooker your friend. Christine, talk to us about how you involve your kids in the cooking process because I know that makes them feel more invested in the end product.

All of my kids have been involved in the cooking process since they were about a year old, maybe even younger. It’s super easy to do this. From having one of those little stool towers that’s up at the countertop so that they can see everything that you’re doing, even if they’re not touching anything at that moment, just seeing it. Oftentimes, I would give them a little ball of dough and then they would roll it, play with it, and crumble it up into a million pieces.

Have good knives for kids. In Waldorf and Montessori, there are knives for kids. If you go to any Waldorf or Montessori website, you can find knives that kids can use and they can help you chop. I would do the same thing. I would cut off a bigger chunk for them, give it to them, and let them chop it in any size or shape they wanted. They’re peeling and mixing things.

Take your kids to the grocery store and let them choose certain fruits, vegetables, or meats that they’re interested in. All of this involves them in the process. Not only that but this is also considered an exposure to these foods. The more we expose our kids to certain foods, the more willing and receptive they will be to accept these foods on a daily basis.

Talk about it, too. It might sound a little redundant but as you are in the kitchen with your kids, tell them what you’re doing. Tell them where the food came from. Explain what it does for their body and why it’s good for them, and then do it again at the dinner table. Give thanks to the farmers and the people who helped you make the food if some of it came purchased. All of that is involving your kids in the meal-prepping process.

When you’re in the kitchen with your kids, tell them what you’re doing, tell them where the food came from, and explain what it does for their body and why it’s good for them.

Maureen, how did you get your kids involved?

With nine children, the food value is important to me, and the importance of a nutrient-dense diet. I instilled the absence of the yuck in all of the children from the time they could hear me and understand the importance of eating a good nutrient-dense diet. We had a farm, a homestead before homesteading was a thing. Not everybody can do that but a lot of people have chickens in the backyard.

Our children were involved in every facet of food production and then brought it into the house. I had them like you, Christine, up at the counter, even if it was just using a butter knife to chop vegetables or making bread while teaching them and talking to them about all of the steps. They love getting that little hunk of dough out of the oven.

“Mommy, look, I made this,” or showing it to Daddy when he comes home. It gets them excited about being part of it. I’m not talking even teenagers but I would assign different children to different days for different meals. As they got older, they could handle dinner. When they were younger, maybe it was breakfast and it was scrambled eggs and porridge, and that’s fine.

One of our children, at eight years old, made dinner for the first time. Sally, you’ll be impressed. It was coq au vin with everything. I have pictures of him beaming. He started it the day before. He was so proud of himself. He loves to cook. Two of our daughters have home businesses selling sourdough bread. They love it. They’re invested in it.

What’s coq au vin?

Coq au vin is a chicken that is marinated in red wine, herbs, and spices and then it’s roasted. It’s very French. I love everything French. I love Sally’s book about raising kids in France. That is another food that sounds exotic but it’s simple. You can teach your kids step-by-step on how to do these things. They take great pride. They take ownership of it when you are not too uptight to control every little thing.

Some of the things you were describing, I was like, “That sounds messy.” You have to let go of the clean kitchen for the ultimate beautiful goal that your children will love cooking. Did you know there’s a Nourishing Traditions Cookbook for Children? My kids are older. We look at it. We use it all the time. We’re like, “This is awesome.” It simplifies everything. Hilary, what did you do to keep your kids involved in the kitchen?

 

Much like you guys, I would say getting them involved from as early an age as possible. I even had the bumbo or whatever that thing was with the baby sitting on the counter, flour everywhere, and the kids everywhere. It was a beautiful mess. Get them cracking eggs or stirring something. Involved them in the process and the joy of cooking.

Also, whether you’re planting a garden, raising chickens, or taking them to the farmer’s market. If you do take them to the farmer’s market, don’t talk too long to all the people that you love there. I may have ruined that experience for my children. They were ready to leave hours before I left. Keep it fun, engage them, and give them responsibility.

In most cultures, everyone is involved to some degree in nourishing the family or the community. It’s important that it doesn’t fall on the shoulders of one. Giving kids a chance to participate in that is an amazing opportunity to give them some life skills. Cooking is a lost life skill that we need to bring back. It can be a little bit more work sometimes when there’s a mess. I always throw the music on and dance in the kitchen, especially during cleanup.

Cooking is a lost life skill that we need to bring back.

At school, we’re dancing in the kitchen. Music is a wonderful thing to add to the kitchen and you want that to be a warm, fun experience. Those are the memories that you’re creating. I don’t remember any conversations that we had around the dinner table as a family but I always remember that we had dinner around the dinner table as a family. Keep everybody involved and keep the kitchen a place where you gather.

—

Coming up, each guest explains how they have handled picky eaters in their home. Paleo Valley. You can get all of the healing properties of apple cider vinegar into the diet without the fuss or the burn. Paleo Valley has an Apple Cider Vinegar Complex that includes apple cider vinegar with spices like turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, and lemon for added digestive benefits. Apple cider vinegar is known to support digestion, breaking down proteins for better absorption and it improves the blood sugar response helping to fight cravings.

Plus, apple cider vinegar has been shown to decrease blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart disease. It may be helpful for pre-diabetics and T2 diabetics. Apple cider vinegar supplementation also can be helpful with muscle cramps and satiety. The question is, why not take it? Head over to Paleo Valley to receive 15% off your first order.

Optimal Carnivore. They have a new product called Brain Nourish. They have combined grass-fed beef brain and lion’s mane mushrooms in a groundbreaking formula. It is the ultimate whole-food nootropic to build a better brain. These two ancestral superfoods have been used for centuries to improve brain function and overall mental well-being. They’re available for the first time in convenient capsules.

Studies have shown that both of these ingredients are remarkable at improving cognition and brain health. The good news is that at Optimal Carnivore, they plant one tree for every product sold, which helps the environment. Go to their website and use the code WESTON10 to get 10% off all products that you order. Check out Brain Nourish and there are other amazing products like the Grass Fed Organ Complex, the Grass Fed Liver, and their Bone and Joint Restore.

—

Here’s a question that I want each of the panelists to answer because they each got asked this question so many times. How do you handle a picky eater in a family? What if your kids or your husband is not into it? Sally, you take this one first.

The first thing is if it’s something they don’t like, don’t fix it. I put up with pickiness when it came to eggs. They could have their eggs any way they wanted because I was picky about my eggs. I didn’t want any white that wasn’t congealed. I did their eggs exactly the way they wanted them and they were allowed to be picky about eggs. Otherwise, I tried to make things that tasted delicious. One thing we’ve left out here is meatloaf. The meatloaf mix makes some meatloaf and meatballs. You can make individual patties. They loved the leftover meatloaf because I fried it in butter and put cheese on top of the slices.

I want to talk about the cooking process. I have four kids. The first three, I could not get them interested in doing anything, not even rolling cookie dough. The way I got them involved in the cooking was by making them do the dishes. If they’re not going to cook, they can do dishes. My youngest was very interested from the beginning and he’s a chef. They either have the interest or they don’t. I wouldn’t force it if they’re not interested.

Hilary, what about you? What do you do when a kid or spouse is not into it?

I was going to say from the perspective of feeding a lot of children at school and there are some picky eaters. The first day that I entered the school in 2016, the head of the school said to all of us parents, “Your children need mentors other than you.” I thought, “That’s so awesome. It’s such a relief that it doesn’t have to fall all on me. It is so important because so many parents have come up to me at school and said, “My children will eat what you feed them at school but they won’t eat anything that I feed them at home.” Sometimes it takes other people. It can be very frustrating, the relationship between the mother and the child, or the father and the child.

There’s a lot going on in the house. They know how to pull your strings, pull a tantrum, or whatever it is. You can surround yourself with other people too that are making good choices and modeling that behavior. I’ve developed relationships with these picky eaters. There’s one little boy who didn’t eat anything. He was so cute and polite that he said, “No, thank you. I’m okay.” We’ll go through the lunch line and wouldn’t want anything. One day, I said, “Have you ever tried a blackberry?” He looked at me like, “No, I never tried one.” He tried it and we developed a relationship over that one blackberry. He took a bite of that and his whole face lit up, like an explosion of joy in his mouth.

Chuck brought a whole case of blackberries. I said to the head of the school, “Can you give this to this child?” I gave him his little box and said, “Tell him this is special. He has to make sure to try something else new in the line.” We have this relationship where he trusts me and he tries new things. For the home, that doesn’t necessarily apply but try to get the grandparents involved or the aunts and uncles or friends that can also help engage in a relationship around food, a healthy relationship, and inspire them to try new things because sometimes it is very hard as the parent.

What’s coming to my mind is a phrase you’ve heard me say a bunch. More is caught than taught. In other words, instead of trying to tell them, “Eat that,” you eat that or tell them, “I’m nervous about eating this. I’ve never made it before. Let’s see.” Have fun with it. They’re going to be watching you and emulating what you’re doing. Keep that in mind. Do you have any advice for handling the picky eater, Christine?

That could be an entire talk on its own. Going off of what Hilary said, there is something to be said about positive peer pressure. Positive peer pressure can happen within your home unit with siblings. It can go both ways. It can go with a younger child eating a food that the older children are maybe squeamish or skeptical of and they’re staring there gaping at the younger child, watching them devour it and curious. It can also go with an older child eating a food that the younger child is not into and is hesitant. It could also go with us. As Hilary and Hilda said, we can be positive role models for our kids and try the foods that maybe we’re a little bit hesitant about and show our kids how they’re okay.

 

The other thing I want to emphasize is exposure. There is research out there that shows that kids need anywhere between 15 and 20 exposures to a food before they even begin to accept it. Parents will stop offering food between 3 and 5 times. There’s a disconnect there. We’re only offering food maybe 3, 4, or 5 times, and then we’re saying, “They don’t like it. They’re never going to eat it again.” We give up. In reality, we need to keep making it over and over again and present these foods in different ways for our kids to eat them.

Quick story. I have one child who never liked mushrooms and I love mushrooms. They’re one of my favorite foods. For eight years of his life, he has never eaten mushrooms. I’ve never pushed it like Sally said. Each of my kids has a food that they don’t like. If they don’t like it, I don’t push it but I continue serving it. I’m okay with them picking it out of their food and putting it on a separate plate. It’s fine. He has started eating mushrooms and has said they’re the most delicious thing he’s ever tried. He’s like, “Mom, why didn’t you feed this to me sooner?”

I had a child who picked the little pieces of onion out of the spaghetti sauce.

One thing too is to say, “You don’t like this yet,” if they say, “I don’t like this,” because then you encourage that sometimes it takes a little longer.

“You’re still learning to love new foods. It’s okay.” Eating is a skill. That’s something else that we forget about. Learning how to eat is a learned skill.

Learning how to eat is a skill.

The two things that are very important to me are that it’s parents’ training. You train your children for better or worse whether or not you realize it. I never allowed my children to be picky eaters. From the time they were infants, I brought them up to try everything and learn to like things. I hated beets until a few years ago. I kept on trying them and then I loved them. Children coming into our home, I often had problems with. I learned how to train those children too. We feed people all the time.

I didn’t allow visitors coming into my house to be picky either but I also wasn’t a Nazi mama. What I do is when there is a food that I feel is very important and that I want to include in our diet regularly for the benefit of everyone, the first thing I do is dangle a carrot. I don’t have dessert. I don’t usually make dessert more than once a week. When I’m trying to introduce something, especially to outsiders but to my children as well when they are young and I know that it’s something that they might turn their nose up, I have something delicious as a dessert that I know they’re all going to want and I’m very intentional about this.

On the plate, I give them a little bite of something and say, “All that you have to do is try this. It’s not a full portion. It’s just a little bit.” Everything else on the plate has tremendous value. They’re going to eat everything else too but if they’ve tried that one thing, then I allow them that carrot, cheesecake, cookie, or something that is also clean and good for them.

It’s important to train them to utilize rewards. We talk about that a lot in other areas too. There’s a reward. “All you have to do is try this.” With my children, that has worked beautifully. With children coming into my home regularly, it has worked. One boy who used to come frequently, his mother would say, “He’s a picky eater. He’s not going to eat anything.” I did this thing. I encouraged him and he always told his mom, “Ms. Maureen is the best cook.”

I was cooking simple foods but they were nutritious. He loved them because, from the very start, he could have a little something as a treat if you tried it. He learned to love it. Another mom brought me junkie hot dogs. She said, “Garrett’s not going to eat your food anyway so here, hot dogs. Keep them in the fridge.” I kept them in the freezer and never took them out until I threw them in the trash.

Sometimes, when the kids are going through the line at school and they are picky and looking at a shepherd’s pie or a meatloaf and it’s too overwhelming for them, I will put the tiniest piece on their plate and say, “One bite to be polite. Just try,” encouraging even a dollop of dressing that they dip their finger. I said, “Try it right here, right now. We’ll see if you like it.” Often, they are so pleasantly surprised that they like it. The next thing you know, they’ve gotten more and then they’re coming back for seconds. They have this preconceived notion that they’re not going to like something, perhaps. If you show up and encourage them to try one little bite, high fives.

Adults are worse than children in this.

Normalizing these foods and stuff from an early age is so important. Sometimes, we’re the most squeamish about things like chicken feet or organ meats. When you’re plopping them in your broth like it’s your daily routine, then that’s what becomes normal. When you’re all sitting down together and eating meals together, or at school when the whole community is sitting down together and these are the options we have and everyone’s modeling this behavior, then it becomes normalized, which is what we need to do.

Your co-host, Corey Dunn from Modern Ancestral Mamas, told me one time that she tries to make sure that whatever meal she puts on the table, there’s at least one thing that that picky kid will eat. She’s like, “It’s okay. Everything’s here.” I don’t know how she manages if it’s one bite to be polite or not. She knows that kid is mostly going to have sourdough bread and milk but there’s at least one thing so that that kid isn’t excluded or made to feel bad. You don’t want the table to become a war zone or a battleground. Christine, do you want to add something?

I’m going to add two more things. The first is this concept called the Division of Responsibility, which was developed by Ellyn Satter. The concept is that we, as parents and caregivers, are in charge of what our kids eat, when our kids eat, and where our kids eat. We’re in charge of the shopping, preparing the food, setting consistent meal times, and where we’re going to sit down and eat. Our kids are in charge of how much they eat and if they eat.

This is something hard as parents to let go of but we physically have no control over our kid’s eating. We cannot force them to eat. They have full control over that. A lot of times, eating turns into a control battle. When we release control and say, “It’s my child’s responsibility to eat what’s in front of them, however much they want and even if they want to eat it,” it gives them that freedom and trust. The dinner table doesn’t turn into a battleground.

One last point is for anyone who is struggling with severe picky eating. This would be anyone who has kids and this is a daily battle for you. Every day, this is a problem. It could be that there are deeper issues that need to be resolved. There could be gut issues going on, mineral imbalances, or nutrient deficiencies. When it’s something like that, then it’s worth getting testing done and looking at it further.

That’s exactly what I was going to ask you next. What if it’s not a question of they’re like, “I don’t like that,” but they have some allergy, sensitivity, or other deeper issues going on? How do you troubleshoot that?

Pretty much what I said. Work with a practitioner who can do some HTMA testing, maybe GI map testing, or things like that to go deeper. Depending on the ages of your kids, if they’re younger and there are some food sensitivities or you have to make meal adaptations, the younger the child is, the easier it is to make that adaptation for the whole family. If one child needs to go on GAPS, the whole family can go on GAPS. It’s easier to do that for everyone, depending on the ages of the kids.

We’ve done that too.

GAPS is the Gut and Psychology Syndrome book that Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride wrote. That’s all about healing the gut. It’s an elimination diet to help heal and seal the gut so that a child or adult with sensitivities can recover and then eat whatever they like.

I’ve done exactly that several times and we’ve had to go deep with my husband and with a couple of kids after some Lyme disease issues in particular. I make the same food for everyone but I can set some aside in one pot and then add more to the rest of it so that those who have sensitivities to something that I might want in that dish can still have the dish and it’s going to be essentially the same. Maybe it’s tomatoes that I add or something like that. Everyone is eating the same. It’s easier on us. We don’t have to make a separate meal and be overwhelmed. It’s easier on the family because everyone is enjoying the same food.

Let’s talk a little origin story. What initially motivated you, Hilary, to roll up your sleeves and get cooking in the kitchen to build that Wise Traditions home?

My million-dollar question has always been how we wake people up before the wake-up call, before that frying pan to the head, the cancer diagnosis, the sick baby, the IBS, or whatever it is. I have come to realize that it is human nature to wait for the wake-up call. My wake-up call came not when I had stress fractures in both of my femur bones and tibia as a young athlete, or when I had terrible skin, or when I had infertility and miscarriages. It came when my fourth baby had severe eczema from head to toe. That was when I reached this limit where I was exhausted and depleted. Nothing was working. No solutions were given to me until I met my chapter leader who said, “You got to put this kid on raw milk.”

I put him on raw milk and cod liver oil. That healed him in a matter of a few months. That was when my eyes were opened and I thought, “Real food healed my child when everybody else said otherwise that he would probably struggle with asthma, eczema, and allergies. This could be his lot in life.” Those usually run hand in hand. He might outgrow it but he might not.

I couldn’t believe it because I was somebody who was fat-free for ten years of my life and was drinking my skin milk and all this stuff. I thought I had all the answers. I wanted to major in Nutrition in college. It was that frying pan to the head that I had this baby that was in so much pain and I didn’t know what to do. Thankfully, I stumbled upon the foundation.

Sally, what motivated you initially?

I grew up in a very interesting family. My parents traveled a lot. They were Francophiles. They loved anything having to do with France. My mother was a wonderful cook. She was a good cook. My dad, when he sat down to a good meal, he was so happy. He loved his food. That’s the family I grew up in. However, I never ate liver. We didn’t have raw milk. We did have lots of butter. I then went to school in France. If you want to taste horrible food, it’s French institutional food. I was starving.

One day, I walked down to the local cafe and they had something, it said terrine. I thought, “That sounds interesting.” I ordered this terrine. I thought it might be soup or something. It was a slice of cold fatty meatloaf and it had liver in it. When I took that bite of terrine, it was like I’d finally found what I needed. I went to that cafe almost every day. I ate terrine and then ordered pâté. I gorged myself with liver. Ever since I’ve always made pâté. That was one wake-up call.

I’m sure that’s why my first child was so healthy because I didn’t know what I was doing. I read Dr. Price’s book in 1974. That was also a real wake-up call. I realized that when I read it, we had been more or less eating the right way. I also want to say I love to cook. I always loved to cook. My mother didn’t want my help in the kitchen but we had Julia Child’s cookbook and I did the recipes. I had already been cooking in butter, eating lots of eggs and cream, and making my pâté. I realized that was the way to go so I kept on doing that.

When did you have the a-ha moment that diet and nutrition mattered? Let’s start with you, Maureen.

I grew up in a household that lived on Hamburger Helper and turkey burgers in the microwave. I am still appalled that on one trip with my dad, he talked about how wonderful a cook my mother was. I bit my tongue. My mother was always obese and she had a multitude of serious health issues. Eventually, at about twelve years old, my mother went on a low-fat diet. She lost 150 pounds and many of her health diagnoses. She was on a low-fat diet but she also threw out all of the processed foods.

We were not eating the best foods but we were eating far better foods than we had been prior. It’s the fact that her health dramatically changed by this change in diet and it wasn’t what it needed to be. My parents heard Sally speak in Wisconsin many years ago. My mother was so proud of herself. She was like, “I eat two eggs every morning,” but she was fat-phobic. She died of dementia and had a multitude of issues primarily with her skeletal system. At any rate, that stuck out in my head. I’ve never forgotten that. As I was a young mom and wife, I always knew that it was important to cook from scratch.

I was initially using I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter because it was supposed to be good for us. I thought intuitively, “This can’t be good for us.” I switched to natural foods. Eventually, one of my little older Mennonite farmer friends had been telling me for probably a year, “You need to get this cookbook called Nourishing Traditions. You need to have this.” I kept saying, “I don’t need another cookbook.” I bought it and met Sally. That changed everything.

In addition to that, I also had one son, like Hilary, who was born with severe gut issues and I didn’t know. We were eating soy. We were milking a cow, too, and eating eggs. I had to figure out how to help him correct his gut. This was before GAPS, the Weston A. Price Foundation, and the internet. The thought of my mother’s health pilgrimage, which was incomplete, inspired me to figure it out and help my son, which I did.

Christine, tell us a little bit about your story.

I don’t have a one a-ha moment. I have a lot of little smaller moments that catapulted me onto this path. One of the ones that I can think of is at some point in my twenties, I don’t even remember why but I read a book called The Unhealthy Truth by Robyn O’Brien. It was all about ingredient labels and ingredients in food. It hit me in the head and shocked me that these companies were putting these chemicals and food-like substances into our food. I couldn’t believe it. As a twenty-something-year-old, I was like, “I need to pay attention to what’s going on in the grocery store.”

A little bit maybe before that, unfortunately, my dad was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and he lived with it for two years. I saw my mom try to use food as a way to heal him. This was something new. The doctors never said anything about food. She was juicing and trying to feed him real food. I saw that. Sometime in my twenties, I don’t know why she waited so long to give me this book but she gave me this book called Nourishing Traditions and said, “You might like this.” I read it from cover to cover and asked, “What were you doing hiding this in your book closet for so long?”

It was all of those. The final straw was, on a whim, we decided we were going to go to the 2017 conference in Minnesota. I left that conference with a fire under my tail and was like, “We are starting a chapter. We have to get this information out. I cannot believe that more people don’t know about this.” That was it for me and I never looked back.

Can you tell us, Hilary, how have you seen nutrition make a difference? I know your story with your son and also what made the difference for your fertility and all the other things, too. Have you seen it out and about, applying some of these principles of including nutrient-dense foods on the table? Have you seen a difference, for example, in the kids that you work with at the school?

With my kids, we don’t get sick. I might get a common cold or a sore throat here and there but every year, I would knock on wood like, “We don’t go to the doctor.” The next year, I’m like, “We are still not going to the doctor, knock on wood.” They’re all almost grown up and out of the house. It is a nutrient-dense food. Our pediatrician had said to us, “If you hadn’t been feeding these kids this way.” I had five kids under four. I had triplets that were preemies. I had an eczema baby. We had speech delays in three of our boys. One with tics and a daughter with epilepsy. We had a lot of issues.

I was surprising myself every year like, “This works.” With the kids at school, we focus on savory over sweet. We don’t feed dessert. The first year that we started, we did a little mini-documentary, like a little twelve-minute video that’s on our site. This sixth-grade boy said unprompted, “I used to feel like this up and down all day long, and now I feel like this.” I thought, “That is our 30-second commercial right there.” I couldn’t believe it. Most people don’t know what it feels like to feel good. These kids are bouncing up and down all day long and that’s normal for them.

When you feed these nutrient-dense foods, you hit that satiety level that they are steady, even, and good to go. Nobody is moping around depressed. They’re very joyful kids that I see go through the line. It’s such a gift to be able to feed them this way and nourish them every day, see the smiles and the gratitude, and know that you’re making a difference.

We had one child who was in first grade. His dad said he was given an autism diagnosis and that he eats one grain of rice at a time. He’s new and is making the most beautiful plates. He’s asking for more sauerkraut every day. His dad videotaped this. He told his dad that he was going to steal his dad’s car and drive to Manzanita, break into the kitchen, and steal all the kraut. It’s such a joy to see. I can say with 100% confidence that it works. It lights these kids up from the inside. They can’t necessarily always express it but you see it in their vitality, smiles, and joy that comes around the lunch line.

Sally, you were in France. You’re eating terrine and pâté. You’re feeling the benefits of this deep nutrition in your body. What did you start to see as you moved from that to becoming the author of Nourishing Traditions and the head of all this?

I certainly saw an improvement in my health. My health problem was hypoglycemia. I was a sugarholic like so many people. I figured out that if I ate fat with every meal and avoided the sugar, I wasn’t hypoglycemic anymore. That’s the beginning of my journey. I feel that I didn’t choose any of this. I was pushed into it and I had no choice. I got the idea to write Nourishing Traditions and it grabbed hold of me. I couldn’t get it out of my head. It was like an obsession.

One day, I said, “There are thousands of cookbooks out there. Nobody needs another cookbook.” I decided to stop writing it. I used to have time to play the piano. I don’t have time anymore. I was sitting there on the piano stool in a reverie and I heard a voice. It wasn’t in my head. It was a real voice. The voice said, “It is very important for you to write the cookbook.” That’s all. That’s called a calling. I went back to it and one thing led to another.

Thank you for listening to that voice. I’m sure many of you are as moved as I am that she took this on, listened, and had this tremendous impact. I told her, “Sally, you’ve changed my life.” She’s like, “No, I didn’t.” I’m like, “Yes, you did.” I appreciate that humility. I also appreciate your heart for young moms and babies. You’ve told me so many times that you want to see the next generation thrive. What are some good first foods for a baby?

I’ve written quite a bit about this. There’s an article on our website called Bringing Up Baby. That’s a good one to read. I’m appalled at the advice given to moms for their babies. One of the worst books out there is Baby-Led Weaning. It is a horrible book. We want all mothers to breastfeed and if they can’t breastfeed, the second-best thing is formula made with raw milk.

That formula has been fed to at least 20,000 babies. The feedback we get is universally positive. Only when you have a baby who is very sick and compromised have problems with the formula. Usually, they’re crying and not getting weight on breast milk. We switch to the formula and it’s like out of the dock. They thrive. That’s how you start.

I am not a proponent of exclusive breastfeeding after six months. No traditional culture does this. By six months, they need iron. The babies do absorb all the iron in raw milk but it’s not enough by six months and they become anemic. Anemia is very serious. It can cause mental retardation. You don’t want anemic children. The mom goes to buy baby food. What do they find out there? It’s fruit, like naked sugar, in plastic or aluminum. It’s horrible what’s happened on baby food. That fruit is the leftover, the scrapings, and the stuff that wasn’t pretty enough to sell. That’s what’s going into the baby food.

The first two foods for babies are egg yolks and pureed liver. If you go to my blog and go to the articles on Bringing Up Baby, there’s a cute video of my grandson getting liver for the first time. It’s cute. The egg yolk, it’s even easier than I described in Nourishing Traditions. Somebody gave me this idea. You make a fried egg with a runny yolk and feed the baby from the yolk with a little salt. That’s the other horrible thing they’re saying to moms, “Don’t give salt to your baby.” Your baby’s not going to be very intelligent if you don’t give them salt. You could start by having the baby lick it off your finger and then finally, you give it with a little spoon.

You make the pureed liver. It needs to be quite watery. Poultry liver is the best because it has a mild flavor and has the best balance of fat-soluble vitamins. Be sure to add salt. You can mix it with some butter or a broth. The baby’s going to push it out at first. That does not mean that the baby’s not ready for solid food. It means that the baby’s learning how to eat. As he pushes it out, you take the spoon and put it back in. Pretty soon, he’ll be a real trooper.

Those are the two first foods. They are very high in fat and cholesterol, which babies need. They’ve got the fat-soluble activators and the baby’s going to be happy. You can then make the transition to pureed meats. A good one is gizzard. It’s inexpensive. It purees beautifully and it’s very nutritious. Don’t worry about vegetables. I’ve had moms say, “I don’t know what to do. I’m tearing my hair out. My baby won’t eat vegetables.”

It’s okay. They don’t need vegetables at this stage of life but when you do give them vegetables or pureed fruits, you put cream or butter. You don’t just want to give naked carbs. Always have a little salt. I’ll tell you something that they will love and it is mashed bananas with cream and a pinch of salt. The egg yolk and the liver are the first two foods.

Thank you, Sally. This next one is the rapid-fire, lightning-round question. What is your favorite appliance or a secret tool of the trade? Maureen, you go first.

KitchenAid immersion blender. It makes life so simple.

Vitamix and sharp knives.

I would say sharp knives and a Robocook if you’re cooking for a lot of people.

Food processor, slow cooker, and immersion blender.

You can take a little more time on this one. Maureen, I hold you all in such high regard and it seems like you do it all so well. Please tell us a story when you messed up, something didn’t turn out right and your whole family hated it or whatever it is. Tell us one story so we can all feel better.

When I was first getting rolling and I had Nourishing Traditions, we had the homestead so we were growing our vegetables, eggs, meats, milk, and all of that. I would stick stuff in the freezer to preserve it. It was clean out the freezer time and I was going to make it delicious and super nutritious. Not only did my family not eat it but it was so bad. I was still learning, Sally. I learned to cook from your cookbook but it was so bad. Even though it was full of nutrition, don’t use green beans that are way too big and should have been picked a month before. Not only would the kids not eat it but neither did the chickens or the pigs.

I feel good about myself but I’m not trying to feed chickens and pigs. You go, Christine.

Once I started on this Wise Traditions path, I decided I was going to make my first Thanksgiving all from scratch, like Bill Schindler. My in-laws were coming over. It was Thanksgiving with them that year. I had this turkey. I had bought it from my farmer in Chicago. It was beautiful. It was a big, massive turkey. I knew I had to salt the turkey for a dry brine but I didn’t know how much.

I was like, “Salt is good so we’ll add salt. More salt is better and a lot of salt is good.” I was salting the turkey and cooked it. It turned out so gorgeous, like perfectly golden-brown skin. You want to eat it. I served it and not everyone wanted to eat it. A lot of it was leftover. I had to figure out what to do with an oversalted turkey. That was my Thanksgiving disaster.

Hilary.

I can remember when the triplets were little, they were still in high chairs. They were probably fifteen months old or younger. I was going to make this nice salmon dinner. I bought this nice piece of salmon with rice and broccoli or some vegetables. I had them all lined up. I had spent all this time making this and served it all up to them. For some reason, I don’t know why, I would’ve thought maybe I didn’t cook it very well but they started throwing it off the high chairs and they were feeding off of one another. The more they threw it, the happier they got. They were laughing and I was in tears.

I’m like, “Come on. You should like this.” If you don’t have a dog before you have kids, I highly recommend getting a dog. I didn’t have a dog so I’m on the ground picking up. I don’t know how much time I spent on the floor picking up food. It’s not the 30-second rule. It was like the five-minute rule at my house. There was constant food on the floor. I was in tears, exhausted, and so sad that they didn’t like it. I can laugh at it now but in the moment, I was so frustrated with my children. It hasn’t all been a success.

Sally.

When I was working on Nourishing Traditions, I thought I needed some dishes from Africa in this book. There was this nice young man who was right off the boat from Africa working at Whole Foods. I invited him to come cook dinner for the family. As he came with his ingredients and everything, he was so happy to have this dinner. One of the things was fufu, which is taro root. It’s quite fibrous.

He made some meals. The meat was very chewy. It had a lot of knuckles and stuff in it. I said, “I’m not sure the children will be able to eat this.” He says, “It’s delicious.” He puts this great big knuckle in his mouth, chews it down, and swallows it. I did warn the children. I said, “Try to eat this.” I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. The dog did. It was a big favor that night.

Sally, did this end up in the cookbook or not?

No. I thought, “We’ll do that content another time.”

I do want to ask you, Hilary. How do you handle the feelings of loneliness that can come with feeling like it’s an uphill battle, either on the home front or community like, “I’m the only one trying to feed my family this way?” How do you handle the naysayers and the feelings of loneliness?

I read one time, “What makes the great great is that they don’t listen to the naysayers.” I’ve always kept that tucked away inside, trying to hold my head high and do what I know to be right. It can be a very lonely road for sure. I’ve stopped trying to convince people that this is the right thing to do. I go where water flows. I say those who are going to find this and want this information I’m happy to share as much as I know and give you everything I know but I spent a lot of years like a bull in a china shop trying to make change and change the world and everyone wake up.

You can die trying to do that. People are ready when they’re ready. Find your tribe, find that one person, nourish yourself through it all, and love yourself through the process. If you are joyful, you will be if you’re eating this way. I say always forward, never straight. Keep moving forward and know that it’s not always going to be a smooth straight line.

Just keep moving forward and know that it’s not always going to be a smooth, straight line.

Thank you. Sally?

I’d like to give a little praise to my mother in this respect because she was quite a snob. In this case, when you’re doing something differently from everybody else, be a little bit of a snob. You’ve got the knowledge. It’s too bad for them.

You’d be happy, Sally. My son said, “Mom, I think I’m a food snob.”

It’s time for the last question. If the audience could do one thing to improve their health, what would you recommend they do? We’ll start with you, Maureen.

Get rid of the sugars and the sweets from your household and processed foods in general but especially that. Like Sally, I also very much believe in making your own salad dressings and mayonnaise. Get rid of those awful fats.

 

Thank you. Christine.

Relationships and connection with your loved ones are one of the most important, especially with your children. Develop a strong attachment with them. Have a good relationship with your significant other because you’re going to need that on this journey.

Hilary.

I woke up one day and the first thing that popped into my head was radical self-love. It almost woke me up. I thought about committing to your well-being. Love yourself as much as you can. We’re so hard on ourselves and there’s so much information and influence on our thoughts all day long. Love yourself through the process and trust that your body is this miracle. We’re part of nature and we’re designed to work. We can build a baby inside of our bodies without telling it what to do.

We’re not like, “Today, you need to build the heart and tomorrow, you need to build the eyes,” or whatever it is. Your body knows what to do so support yourself with the food that nourishes you, the sunlight. Get out in nature as mu much as possible. Also, relationships. Love yourself. That’s the best thing we can do for humanity.

Sally.

This does not answer your question but it’s a story. I had a girl and then three boys. I was driving the three boys to school. My oldest boy, who was the inveterate, teased. He said, “Mom, we’ve figured out that you’re weird.” I said, “Nick, I’m the only mom you have so you’re going to have to live with it.” It’s important to realize that it’s not entirely necessary to be friends with your kids. Mold them into healthy, high-functioning adults. I see a lot of parents who don’t have the confidence to go against their children to discipline them, be different from their children, or say no. You have to say no.

No is a complete sentence.

You all are so beautiful and full of wisdom. Thank you so much for being a part of this conversation. For the audience, thank you for reading. Remember to keep your feet on the ground and your face to the sun.

—

Our guest came to us from the Wise Traditions Home Panel at the 2023 Wise Traditions Conference. They included Maureen Diaz, Hilary Boynton, Christine Muldoon, and Sally Fallon Morrell. For a review from Apple Podcasts. Creation Stewardess called her Review Onward and Forward saying, “After years of trauma and many near-death experiences, including withering away to a mere 50 pounds due to parasites and mold, I never have let go of my dream to travel the world teaching and learning ancient traditional ways.”

“I have been miraculously healed after years of trying everything. Through it all, your podcast has encouraged me with hope and reminded me that there are other like-minded souls around me. I have been backpacking through the world for seven months, visiting villages, learning, teaching, and observing. My dream has come true; all praise to God. I’m so grateful for all the wisdom I gleaned from you along the way.”

“I continue to listen wherever I go, whether it’s with water buffaloes in Bulgaria, baking bread off the grid in France, butchering pigs, or shepherding goats. I’m constantly reminded of where I used to be and how grateful I am to be where I am. I am committed to being the resistance and stand with you along the way.”

Creation Stewardess, this is a beautiful testimonial. Thank you so much for leaving these words of encouragement to any potential readers. You too can leave us words of encouragement. Let folks know why the show is worth following. Go to Apple Podcasts, give us as many stars as you care to, and rate and review the show. Thank you so much for reading. Stay well. Remember to keep your feet on the ground and your face to the sun.

 

About Maureen Diaz

Maureen Diaz is one of the founders, along with her daughter, of God’s Good Table, a Weston A. Price–inspired company dedicated to bringing the message of health, hope and healing through timeless principles rooted in God’s word.

 

 

About Hilary Boynton

Hilary Boynton is an author and the founder of School of Lunch, a training academy and culinary consulting company. A mother of five, Hilary underwent a transformative experience when modern pharmacology failed her family and she was able to heal chronic disease through food and nutrition. Hilary then set out to reawaken the culture to the value of preparing and cooking food through the framework of ancestral techniques and practices anchored in the observations of Dr. Weston A. Price.

Hilary documented her journey in her first book, The Heal Your Gut Cookbook. Hilary put her ancestral cooking into practice as head of nutritional services at the Manzanita School in California. After overhauling the lunch and snack programs, she shared her proven kitchen model with other schools and individuals. Modeling scratch-cooking, nutrient density, savory menus and strong connections with local food systems, the School of Lunch Training Academy hosts culinary intensives and retreats aimed at schools, chefs and individuals.

Hilary is dedicated to building a tribe of leaders to catalyze a cultural shift with its focus on future generations—our children. A steward of ancestral culinary practices and firm proponent of food as medicine, her work is both noble and critical in the face of a civilization overwhelmed by deficient diet trends and nutritional misinformation. She joyfully seeks to disrupt the trend of chronic illness in our children.

 

About Christine Muldoon

Christine Muldoon is a functional nutritional therapy practitioner (FNTP) and food educator for families. Her focus is to educate and empower caregivers to shift their mindsets and inspire intentionality and consciousness in parenting and feeding their little ones.

She is the creator and founder of Nourish the Littles, an online community that strives to nourish littles with real food, and real connection. She offers online courses, one-on-one consultations, and an e-book as resources for parents. In addition, she is the co-host of the popular podcast: Modern Ancestral Mamas.

She also serves as a WAPF co-chapter leader and board member. Christine resides in Texas with her husband, three children, and two furbabies.

 

About Sally Fallon Morell

Sally Fallon Morell is founding president of The Weston A. Price Foundation, a non-profit nutrition education foundation dedicated to returning nutrient-dense food to American tables. She is also the founder of A Campaign for Real Milk, which has as its goal universal access to clean raw milk from pasture-fed animals.

She is the author of the best-selling cookbook Nourishing Traditions (with Mary G. Enig, PhD); The Nourishing Traditions Book of Baby & Child Care (with Thomas S. Cowan, MD); Nourishing Broth (with Kaayla T. Daniel, PhD, CCN); Nourishing Fats; and Nourishing Diets.

Her latest book is The Contagion Myth, co-authored with Thomas S Cowan, MD. She and her husband Geoffrey Morell are owners of P A Bowen Farmstead in Southern Maryland, which produces raw cheese and milk from pastured cows, woodlands whey-fed pork and grass-fed poultry and eggs.

 

Important Links

• Sally Fallon Morell
• Maureen Diaz
• Hilary Boynton
• Christine Muldoon
• Nourishing Our Children
• Nourished Children 2.0
• Nourish 2.0
• Paleo Valley
• Optimal Carnivore
• Nourishing Traditions Cookbook for Children
• Nourishing Traditions
• Gut and Psychology Syndrome
• The Unhealthy Truth
• Bringing Up Baby
• Baby-Led Weaning
• Apple Podcasts – Wise Traditions

 

🖨️ Print post