Thursday, July 26, 2012

Oils & Natural Fats {Guest Post} and a Giveaway!

Have you wondered where I have been all week? I can not believe it is already Thursday! 


Life has been busy and as you are reading this I am DELAYED in the air flying to go back home for my grandpa's funeral.  My posts might not be as regular as they have been because I'm not sure how reliable my Internet will be the next few days. 


Today I would like to introduce you to Shonda. I met Shonda in high school and she has recently started a blog and opened an Etsy store. She has some lovely things in her store, so make sure you check it out!  Take it away Shonda...... 




Hello everyone, Shonda here from The Rosy Road. So thankful to my friend Andrea for letting me share with you today. I am a wife and momma to four kiddos, and I like to blog about my experiences in mothering and crocheting among other things. I enjoy crocheting so much that I sell some of my crocheted creations at my etsy shop. Necklaces make up most of what I sell, but I recently added a couple kindle cases and I try to do updates there once a week. 


Another interest of mine is living healthy and cooking healthy. About a year ago, I discovered "Nourishing Traditions" by Sally Fallon. This book was challenging, intriguing and overwhelming all at the same time. I got a whole new perspective on food and preparing it. 


One thing that particularly resonated was the chapter about incorporating natural fats into cooking. I was so impacted by what I was reading, I made the change in our kitchen that same week. Briefly, the gist of what I read is that fats are necessary for our bodies' cellular processes. Vegetable and canola oils, margarines and hydrogenated veg. shortenings are suspect in causing health problems; whereas naturally occurring fats (e.g. tropical oils) and animal fats promote healthy body chemistry. 


It is a pretty simple process to change over to healthy fats in your own home. Here's a before and now list of substitutions I made in my pantry/fridge: 
1. Before: shortening (hydrogenated veg. oil). Now: lard or coconut oil depending on the recipe (i.e. for biscuits - lard, cornbread - coconut oil) 


2. Before: margarine; Now: butter - been doing this for a while actually 


3. Before: veg. oil for stove top cooking; Now: olive oil, coconut oil or butter - depends on what I'm cooking. 


4. Before: veg. oil in some baked goods; Now: extra virgin olive oil or regular olive oil. EVOO tends to be pretty strong so use your judgment. 


5. Whole milk in my fridge for all of us to drink and whole milk cheeses. I don't buy into the whole low-fat milk push, especially for little kids. 


6. Incorporating meat, eggs, and fish into our meals is a priority. 


Have you read the book? What changes have you made as a result?


Shonda is giving away one necklace from her shop, winner's choice! Giveaway will run through Thursday August 2.



a Rafflecopter giveaway



Til' next time, 

2 comments:

  1. I generally stick with olive oil and peanut oil. I find all of my recipes work with one of these two, and I don't have to worry about the extra saturated fats in butter and lard.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love this a lot: http://www.etsy.com/listing/102464115/crocheted-rosette-necklace-creamy-white

    It's very cute.

    kiss_shani(at)hotmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete

I'm so glad you stopped by to leave a comment. Getting comments is like getting hugs from my readers, I love it!