Setting Up

It's been brought to my attention I'm posting way to often on Facebook!  So I'm moving our journey to clean living onto blog form.  First of all, let me take just a minute to explain my motivations.  My family has always relied on edible convenience.  My shopping carts were filled with frozen pizzas, Kraft Mac and Cheese and Hamburger Helper.  Everyone was happy with the way things were.  Recently though, I began to question our food intakes.

Two years ago, my father was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer.  Last November, my mother was diagnosed with stage 4 renal cell cancer.  Both are genetically linked.  Both have been passed in my genetic code and therefore in my children's.  As my father's oncologist reminded us in his recovery room to make sure we got our colonoscopies starting at 35, it occurred to me- genetically, I'm screwed.

But it wasn't until recently, when visiting home, I heard from a funeral director, body preservation these days isn't even necessary.  Children especially, growing up eating processed and preserved foods, are ingesting so many chemicals it's changing the way our cells degrade.  We're surrounded by children entering puberty far earlier than we did.  People are getting larger- in every sense of the word.  For me, this was the turning point.  If my children and I are to have a fighting chance to grow old healthy and happy, a change had to occur.  Ironically, I found myself like a prodigal son!

There is nothing new about the way I'm choosing to feed my family:  it was my mother's way.  In a family of seven children, my parent's managed our food budget by growing a massive garden.  We were actually known for it.  People would say to me in school when I gave directions to my house, "oh, you're the one with the garden."  The garden I hated!  I had to weed beans before I could go swimming.  I have PTSD related to the shucking of SO much corn.  But my family was fed all year long by what my parents could harvest and preserve.  My mother made our bread, jams and spaghetti sauces- not because it was the vogue thing to do- but because it was the most inexpensive.

So as I go about changing my family's lifestyle, I'm reverting to what my Mama and Daddy did for years.  Which brings me to my blog title: Mama Knows Best.  I'm taking my family back to what my Mama knew all along- what's best for your family is what you make yourself.  I know life is busy.  Life is hectic.  That's why I'm sharing all I learn- when I get it right of course.  I hope to help find a way to feed my family clean, natural foods as inexpensively and easy as possible.  Welcome to our journey.  Enjoy the ride.

My Family