Less Perservatives

Our home is slowly trying to take out preservatives and eat foods in their natural form.  The motivation is not for any reason but to be healthy.  I want my children to be healthy and I want to be healthy for my children.  My husband got on board after he had a month of sickness.  It will not be an easy thing because our family loves sugar.

Where did we start?  By eating all of the sugar in the home and not replacing it (we are not wasteful people).  I have been trying to find healthy alternatives like greek yogurt ice cream bars or homemade all natural fruit ice cream bars, is something I give out for dessert.  When we do have real sweets, I want to make them using raw sugar and using unbleached flour and using recipes that call for ingredients in their raw form.    I also plan to make things we enjoy to be able to use more ingredients in their raw form.

The biggest switch we made is our milk.  I debated this and researched it for awhile and went back and forth and we decided to buy milk in the raw form.  We go through over 3 gallons of milk a week. WE ARE BIG MILK DRINKERS!  I found a farmer about 30 mins away that sells raw milk.  The cost is not much more than what I was paying for organic milk from the grocery store.  The initial investment was $4 per gallon in glass jars (I buy 3 gallons a week so $12), then it is $5 per gallon.  I was paying almost $4 per half gallon of organic milk.  They only milk their cows 2 a day and do not feed them any grain.  The cows are Jersey Cows and they spend their time outside not in a barn never getting to leave.  Their cows get no steroids, hormones, or any other additive.  The milk we are drinking is the actually nutrients.  Store bought pasteurized milk is boiled and all of the nutrients are killed then they added the nutrients back in that are developed in the lab.    The most helpful website about raw milk, I found was here.  We actually enjoy raw milk better than store bought.  It is such a creamier clean taste.  Not all raw milk is the same so if you try it and don't like try a different farmer.  The flavor will depend on the type of cow and what they are feeding the cow.  Another farmer that was more convenient, we did not like the milk.

Our family may not be able to ever go completely to whole foods or gluten free but we are going to take small steps that will hopefully have big results.

What are somethings in your home that you are doing to eat less preservatives and more whole foods?  I would love suggestions?