Natural Living 101
This list is a compilation of articles, books, and resources on all topics related to establishing a nourishing kitchen and home. You will find not only articles written here at Passionate Homemaking, but a wealth of other resources on important topics from fellow enthusiasts in the blogging web community. We desire this to be a resource for you to find the answers for your questions in a simple, cataloged fashion. Enjoy and may you be blessed as you seek to nourish and provide whole and natural foods for your family and encourage a natural lifestyle for the glory of God!
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Nourishing Beginnings
Resources for Beginning a Healthy Lifestyle
Nutritional Eating: What is Most Important?
Nutritional Eating on A Budget: My Step by Step Journey
Getting Real with Food series (from Heavenly Homemakers) – where to start?
Weston A. Price – Great info about eating like our ancestors did. The cookbook “Nourishing Traditions” is based on his findings.
Real Milk - Wonderful site on the lost value of raw milk, the history of why we stopped drinking it, and local farms that sell raw cow’s and goat’s milk.
Urban Homemaker – I love this site for very helpful information for making the steps towards improving your health. She offers tips on bread making, soaking, lots of recipes, practical kitchen items and tips.
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Whole Food Cookbooks
Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon – a good resource for nutritious living. I do not support her new-age approach, but I do appreciate the wealth of recipes, information, etc.
Sue Gregg Cookbooks & Website - I appreciate Sue Gregg’s Christian perspective in regards to healthy eating. She provides a wealth of recipes that are nutritious and yummy incorporating soaking methods. I own the Main Dish and Breakfasts cookbooks, and I believe they are the best. Her Whole Grains Cooking class book is well worth using to glean information on grains, soaking and other processes. Her website alone provides a lot of information on whole foods.
More-With-Less Cookbook (World Community Cookbook)- cookbook by the Mennonities – also a ton of recipe for living simply and nutritiously on a budget.
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Sources for Whole Foods
Eat Wild – Find local, and sustainable farms that you can buy directly from. Mainly lists farms raising grass fed meat of different kinds.
Local Harvest – This is a site where you can find local farms, CSA’s (Community Supported Agriculture), which is an excellent way to go for produce. It is very reasonable and you get whatever is growing in that season. I am starting a CSA in my area this Spring, and they actually deliver the produce every week. There are many options for getting the best quality, and in the freshest possible manner.
Azure Standard- An excellent family run business that distributes all over the Northwest, Midwest, and other areas. This is a wonderful source for natural/organic foods on a budget. They have the most reasonable prices I have found. Check out here for my recommendations.
Frontier Co-op – an excellent source for herbs, spices, body products, essential oils and various food products. They have excellent low prices.
Real Milk - Find local farms that sell raw cow’s and goat’s milk.
Mountain Rose Herbs – A wonderful resource for organic oils, herbs, spices and teas! I absolutely love their organic coconut oil! They offer the best price available, especially if you go in on an order with friends. Check it out!
U.S. Wellness Meats – Grass-fed beef, lamb, poultry, butter, cheese, and wild caught fish. A great online source for these products if you do not have a local source.
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Whole Grains
About Whole Grains – article by Sue Gregg
Variety in Your Grains – all about the wealth of varieties available for your whole foods kitchen
Whole Grains -Learning the Benefits of Soaking – why fresh flour is best and exploring the world of soaking grains to break down phytates
Soaking Grains (from The Nourishing Gourmet) – Part 1 & Part 2 – Kimi’s explanation of the soaking process
The Two Stage Process – Sue Gregg shares on soaking
Q & A On Soaking – Answering a few basic questions on the soaking process.
Soaking Methods for the Dairy Intolerant
Sourdough Benefits (from the Nourishing Gourmet)
Sourdough Starter Step by Step Instructions (by Heavenly Homemakers)
Soaking vs. Sprouting – a comparison on the benefits of soaking versus sprouting your grains. Which is more nutritional?
Sprouting Grains (by the Nourishing Gourmet) – basic steps on sprouting grains
Sprouted Breads – Sue Gregg shares on the benefits of sprouting and includes her sprouted bread recipe
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Whole Foods Articles & Recommendations
Natural Sweeteners
My Favorite Natural Sweeteners – discussing rapadura, sucanat, stevia, honey, sorghum, maple syrup and the like
A Guide to Natural Sweeteners (from the Nourishing Gourmet) – including information on coconut sugar
Oils
The World of Healthy Oils, Part 1 & Part 2 – detailing the best oil choices being coconut oil & olive oil
Raw Milk
Dairy Dilemma – article by Sue Gregg on raw milk
Wonders of Raw Milk - Sue Gregg shares further on raw milk benefits
Soy
All About Soy – Sue Gregg shares why it is not recommended
The Ploy of Soy – Weston A Price shares on the harmful findings of soy products
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Natural Body Products
Skin Deep (Cosmetic Safety Database) – this site has an extensive database of beauty and toiletry products, including makeup, skin care, hair care, eye care, nail care, baby care, fragrance and oral care. Simply search for the brand or name of a product, and you can view a very detailed description of the product ingredients, and their possible health risks.
Vitacost: Very good prices on items such as toothpaste, deodorant, shampoos, etc. and includes brands such as Avalon, Burt’s Bees, Desert Essence, Dr. Bronner’s, J/A/S/O/N, Nature’s Gate, Tom’s of Maine, Weleda and many others. They offer a flat shipping rate no matter the size of your order.
Mineral Makeup – all about what I use for mineral makeup
Natural Paraben Free Beauty & Skin Products – this website is a great source of information for paraben free products!
Coconut Oil for Your Body- enjoying the wonderful benefits of coconut oil for numerous body products
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Natural Pregnancy
Prepatory Herbs for a Natural Delivery
Prenatal Supplements Recommendations
A Journey in Pregnancy & Childbirth (From Walk Slowly, Live Wildly) – helpful tips and advice on midwifery, homebirth and resources
Diet for Pregnant & Nursing Mothers (from Weston A Price)
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Natural Healing
Natural Cold Remedies for Children
Natural Healing for the Family
Nourishing a Sick Child (from the Nourishing Gourmet)
Emergen-C: Cold Solution & Energy Booster
Cold Remedies from the Kitchen (from Frugal Granola)
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Natural Household Products
The Bosch Mixer Review
Green Housecleaning – simple recipes for every housecleaning project
Cutting Boards – what are the best options for safety and sustainability?
Household Plants – learn about the benefits of growing real plants in your house
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Green Living
The Story of Stuff: An interactive and informative video on our overly focused consumeristic culture.
The Green Guide: A useful resource including buying guides for everything from cosmetics to home improvement to kids and babies, links to green blogs, tips and tools, and a wealth of information in their article library (a division of National Geographic).
Environmental Working Group: An excellent resource for information on health, toxic chemicals, farming, natural resources, and babies/children’s health and safety.
Sustainable Table – Info about shopping sustainably, and local food resources, as well as recipes. You can find info about what veggies and fruits are in season in your area all year round.
Smart Plastics Guide- a valuable guide to understanding plastics
A Call to be Good Stewards – why Christians should take the lead in practicing Good Stewardship
Serve God, Save the Planet by J. Mathew Sleeth- a valuable read on the importance of good stewardship from a Biblical perspective.
Pollution and the Death of Man by Francis Schaeffer – a solid Biblically based read on good stewardship.
The Green Kitchen Handbook by Annie Berthold-Bond (my review) – getting started on equipping your kitchen for green and healthy living!
Clean House, Clean Planet by Karen Logan (my review) – natural housecleaning solution recipes
Easy Green Living by Renee Loux-This is my all time favorite green living resource! It is a huge manual covering every topic to maintain a safe, healthy and sustainable home while taking good stewardship of the earth.
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Safe Baby Care
Super Baby Food by Karen Yaron – an excellent resource with tips and recipes for making your own homemade nourishing baby food
Baby Food – making your own baby purees
Wholesome Baby Food – this site is an excellent source for recipes, articles, and information for feeding your baby well and includes numerous homemade baby purees recipes.
Baby Food – Whole grain porridge
Nourishing A Growing Baby (by Weston A Price)
Cloth Diapering – is it worth it?
Nourishing Portable Food for Babies & Littles
Avoiding Harmful Plastic Products - a few recommendations
Safe Mama Guide & Soft Landing Blog – Two excellent websites for finding toys and baby products that do not have toxic materials such as BPA, PVC or lead. A wealth of updated research has been put into both of these sites to provide you with safe non-toxic toy and baby gear lists.
Bugaloo Kids is a small business started by my cousin selling her personal designs of soft leather baby shoes. We love them!
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