Hello and welcome back to the Gubba podcast! I’m Gubba, a first time homesteader following in the footsteps of my homesteading forbears.
In this podcast I discuss prepping, homesteading, and everything in between. Today I am going to be discussing natural kitchen swaps that you can make in your homestead kitchen.
I remember when I was first starting on my homesteading journey, I started in the kitchen and it expanded from there. I want to help you get started, so let’s dive in.
How do you homestead?
Reshaping your kitchen to be a homestead kitchen doesn’t mean you need to have a window that overlooks sprawling acreage or chickens clucking about your backyard, it just means that where you cook and prepare your food is more sacred than a Mcdonalds dining room and you are being thoughtful about what is happening to the food that will be entering your body.
Have you ever stopped to think about how disconnected we are from our food? Being disconnected from food, which is what nourishes our bodies, then disconnects us from our bodies and minds. I don’t think that it is any coincidence that the system has meticulously gotten us to trade our health for convenience.
Instead of preparing dinners in the kitchen, we are too tired from an exhausting day of work so we resort to ordering out. We didn’t prepare that food, we have no connection to it, we have no clue where it came from or what is in it.
This practice has become so common that people don’t bat an eye at ordering out a majority of the week or heading through the fastfood line for lunch. I, uh, personally don’t think the meat at mcdonalds is the meat you think you are getting, but you do you. I believe the system is more nefarious than it lets on and that it has already corrupted our food on such a massive level.
There is a famous quote that says if you control the food, you control the people. This is true. There is power in where our food comes from and how it is prepared.
That’s why you need to start taking your power and freedom back in your own homestead kitchen.
How to swap out vegetable oil in my kitchen?
A great place to start is evaluating the fats that you are cooking with. We have been deceived by the oils at the store that are labeled as “vegetable oil” and have the little heart healthy sticker on them, which couldn’t be further from the truth. They are not heart healthy. They are causing heart damage and doing your body serious harm.
I too used to think that vegetable oil was a good cooking alternative because it was derived from vegetables. This was back when I was disconnected from my food and never looked further than a simple google search to find the truth. The reality is the fats that you are cooking with are the base in your kitchen.
What are you sauteing your vegetables in? What oils are in your baked goods like bread and desserts? What are you using for your sauces? Truly, your fats are your foundation in the kitchen so it makes sense that if you are using vegetable oils to swap them out.
How are vegetable oils made?
Vegetable oils undergo extensive processing, including extraction, refining, bleaching, and deodorization. These processes can involve high heat, chemical solvents, and other methods that may degrade the quality of the oil and lead to the formation of harmful compounds.
So think about that, chemical solvents that are intertwined with something you will be putting in your body. Did you know that all you have to do to make butter is mix heavy cream for an extended period of time then just wash the butter with water a few times to get the buttermilk extracted.
So would you rather have chemical solvents to process your food or some water?
I think the choice is obvious here and paints a bigger picture. I mean bleaching is involved in creating a food? Yikes!
Are vegetable oils unhealthy?
Vegetable oils are also susceptible to oxidation when exposed to high heat, light, and even air. People like to think that vegetable oils are great for cooking in reality when you are heating up that oil, it turns from a carcinogen to a carcinogen on steroids.
No wonder so many people are struggling with cancers, heart disease, and other health ailments in our modern day. Consuming vegetable oils and cooking with them actually lead you straight to heart disease, so I can’t even fathom that some have heart healthy stickers on them. It is a blatant lie.
What can I substitute vegetable oils with?
If you want to take control in your kitchen from the ground up, throw away your vegetable oils today. Chuck them straight into the garbage. Replace with three beautiful cooking fats: butter, tallow, and lard.
I know you have probably heard that these fats actually are the heart-unhealthy fats, but that is simply a smear campaign. Picture this. If you have a nation of sick people, is that beneficial?
Some would say no but the nefarious people who run the nations realize that sick people generate profit. What is an easy way to make the masses sick? Through food. Make them sick through the food by confusing them with misleading messages and guidance then sell them the solution in the form of a pill.
Ozempic is a good example.
Recently used for people who were diabetic and overweight. Instead of fixing the problem, prescribe them medication. The system has effectively weaponized our food and healing systems.
Natural remedies have been outlawed and wiped from general knowledge and our food is straight poison. There isn’t anything that I would eat from a convention grocery store.
Vegetable oils are soooooo far down on the list of things I would even consider to eat
Can you can butter?
So swap out your rancid fats for true heart-healthy fats. That starts with butter, tallow, and lard. Butter is easily accessible and can be frozen to extend its shelf-life.
Fun fact you can also can butter to have it shelf stalbe.
I have a reel going over how I did it. Keep in mind it is rebel canning because it is a dairy product, but you just need to do what you feel comfortable with.
What is tallow?
Tallow is fat product generally from beef or mutton. It is rendered fat and does require a few extra steps after you get the fat from the butcher, but I love to use it for frying because of its ability to withstand high heat well. No more store-bought oils for frying.
You can still enjoy fried foods, just with a better oil. I make skincare products with tallow and it truly has changed my life, given me a glow, and repaired my skin. You can check out my whipped tallow balm in my gubbahomestead shop and see what people are saying about it. Yes, edible skincare—pretty neat!
What is lard?
Another great swap for vegetable oils is lard. This is rendered pork fat, so similar to tallow but just from a pig.
This is great for frying as well but really shines with baking. When you make pastries or pie crusts with lard, it helps you achieve beautiful flaky crusts.
You can experiement with butter, tallow, and lard in your kitchen and see what you prefer when it comes to baking and cooking.
All of these fats can be used to season your cast iron, I would recommend lard or tallow moerso for that but you get to decide.
What are healthy swaps for sugar?
The next healthy sub swap out overhall you can do in your kitchen is with your sugars. If you are buying straight white, refined sugar from the store, it will go through similar processing methods as the vegetable oils and nutrients are stripped out of it.
The processing method can involve bleaching and I feel like this is just another one of those things that disconnects us from our food and our bodies. We are taught that sugar is so bad, yes when it is refined and heavily processed, but sugars in fruits are good.
Honey is great, I could live off of honey and I know honey is a large part of some people’s diets around the world. There is a reason for that. Also, have you ever thought about how we are told our infants cant have honey but as soon as they are 12 months old, they can?
Like some magic happens between 11 and 12 months old. And I know we were told immune systems and botulism toxin. But really, why is honey such a contaminated and controlled food? Something to think about.
How to substitute sugar for honey?
Honey is a great alternative to sugar and you can bake and cook with it. I sub 1:1 in my baking recipes so if my bread recipe calls for 2/3 cup sugar, I use 2/3 cup honey its place. You will have to test and adjust according to your sweetness preference.
What is raw honey?
If you are going to start swapping sugars in your kitchen for honey, make sure to source local raw honey. Honey gets pasteurized, yes! It really gets pasteurized and at the point, there is no purpose in eating the honey as it has been stripped of its nutrients.
I find it interesting that two of the most nutrient dense foods, honey and raw milk, are zapped in a pasteurization process. I really don’t believe it is for our health. Milk and honey are mentioned in the Bible, too, which I find neat and interesting. For me, that goes to show how valuable they are as a food for us.
What is a good substitute for refined and processed grains?
Another wonderful food that was mentioned in The Bible, and is also on my list. Side note, this podcast isn’t meant to be Biblical. I don’t care if you believe it or not. I do, and that’s who I am so it slips into my daily life and talks as you can see here. I’m talking about kitchen swaps and then am like oh yeah!
That was in the bible. Anyway, grain is mentioned or alluded to has the staff of life. Don’t quote me as I don’t have my bible in front of me and I am just recalling from memory.
But grains are an important part of our life and there are healthier swaps you can do for them in your kitchen. I’m not saying to stop eating grain, I’m saying to stop getting cheap refined, processed, and bleached grains.
They are a large foundation in what we eat, oats, flours, pastas, and more. The flour that is in the baking aisle at your local Walmart is not the flour you want to be consuming. There are better swaps and alternatives.
As soon as wheat berries are grinded to flour then processed at the processing plant, all of the nutrient value has been depleted and junk has most likely been added in to fortify it. It is similar to the process with the vegetable oils. The more refines and processing, the nastier it is for you.
You don't need that and you don’t need to stop consuming flour and other grain-products either.
How do I find healthier grains?
You just need to source better quality grains. I know I am a broken record when it comes to this, but see what you have going on locally.
See if there are any local grain mills who grind flour that you can pick up locally. See what their process is. Maye there are some local farms who sell flour from the wheat berries they grow themselves, so you can know what their process is and if the plants are being sprayed.
I know in my local community farm share program there is an option for a grain subscription where you get different kinds of grains delivered weekly or bi-weekly that are grown on a farm locally. Quality definitely matters.
What is a grain mill?
If that isn’t an option, you can invest in a grain mill. They truly are an investment into your health because flour loses its nutrients after it is ground, so if you maintain your wheat berries in your food storage then use freshly ground flour in whatever recipe you are using, you will have a better nutrient profile than the stuff on the Walmart shelves.
If you have a Kitchenaid, you can get an grain mill kitchen aid attachment, you can get a manual grain mill, where you actually hand crank it to grind and is good to have anyway in your preparedness supplies.
You can also just get a dedicated kitchen grain mill, there are tons on the market so just research and decide what is best for you and your kitchen.
How do you store wheat berries?
A way to do this swap is to purchase wheat berries in bulk then store them in 5 gallon buckets or in Mylar bags in 5 gallon buckets for long term storage. Then, when you need flour you get the wheat berries from your stash and get to grinding.
You then get to bake or cook with freshly-milled grains that haven’t been refined and hopefully are organic and not sprayed. This, again, will give you a better nutrient profile than run of the mill off the shelf at the grocery store.
Right now, I have built up such a large food storage of high-quality flours and wheat berries that I am working through my flour then transitioning to strictly ground wheat berries.
I do a mix of both but with food storage, I want to work through what I stored first so I don’t have any waste.
What is a healthy salt alternative?
Another easy swap to do in your kitchen and cooking is your salt. The traditional table salt is again, heavily processed and refined and by the time it gets to you, the minerals have been sucked from it and it has to be fortified.
Most of the time you see salt being fortified with iodine because we are told that we need it in our salt. Personally, I want just straight salt from the source, no refining. I currently use Redmond real salt right now.
I’m not an affiliate for them, but I just enjoy their product. It is unrefined, so you get all of the natural minerals. You can also taste the difference between the traditional table salt that has the girl with the rain umbrella on it is super cheap at the stores and this.
My body will just crave salt randomly because it is necessary for us to function. I also put a little salt in my water and coffees to help with my hydration. We are told to chug water with no consideration for our salt intake.
It is easy to swap out cheap table salt for higher quality and this will help your body get the nutrients that it needs.
What to use besides a microwave?
Another kitchen swap that I have that isn’t food related but more utility is to get rid of your microwave or stop using it has much. Because the microwave heats your food up so fast, this will result in nutrient degradation and loss of nutritional value. The nutrients simple break down.
Why are microwaves dangerous?
There is evidence that suggests that using microwaves can lead to the formation of harmful compounds like acrylamide and advanced glycation end products.
These are associated with inflammation and the development of chronic diseases. So seriously, the microwave is such a convenient tool but it is a prime example where we are trading our health for convenience. I didn’t completely get rid of my microwave actually up until a few months ago.
About five years ago I realized I needed to stop using the microwave, so I took it out to my garage where it was inconvenient to get but I could still use it if I really needed it. I would heat food up on the stove or in the oven, and yes, this was a bit of a hassle because it meant extra dishes and time. I noticed my food tasted better and I felt better about the process.
The only thing I would use my microwave for was to melt butter when I was baking. So silly because I could just use my stove top, but I just kept my microwave just for that.
Then a few months ago, after I had already transitioned to mainly melting butter on the stovetop anyway, I had pulled it out of the cabinet it was in and the edge caught the side of the cabinet and the whole front of the microwave shattered so I took that as a sign and I tossed her out.
You can get little toaster ovens that sit on the counter and you can use to heat up food without using your oven. But I just found it important to me to prioritize my health and skip the microwave.
I understand everyone has different schedules, so do what works for you.
How to have a plastic-free kitchen?
My last healthy kitchen swap I have for you today is for plastic in the kitchen. A majority of tubber ware is plastic and so are the covers that we use to cover out food with and store in the fridge.
A majority of kitchen utensils are plastic as well, so imagine using a plastic utensil and heating it up while you are cooking and stirring your food around, not a good idea.
Why is plastic unhealthy?
A huge problem with storing our food in plastic and especially reheating our food in plastic (please don’t do that) is that chemicals in the plastic and the plastic itself can leach out into our food.
Chemicals in the plastic include BPA or phthalates which have been linked to various health issues, including hormone disruption, reproductive problems, and an increased risk of certain cancers.
The microplastics that chip away into our foods can also lead to things like inflammation and digestive system damage overtime. It just doesn’t seem like it is worth the risk to me, so I would suggest using glass storage containers to store your food and things like beeswax wraps to cover open containers instead of saran wrap.
It’s simple changes like this that make a difference in the long run. Less plastic, the better. You will also generate less waste. You can use mason jars to store food in the fridge and freezer too.
If you are going to store liquids in mason jars in the freezer, you will need to fill the liquid until below it curves. If you fill above the curve, it will expand and burst in your freezer.
You can get wood utensils or stainless steel utensils that are worlds better than plastic utensils that can melt or chip flakes into your food.
Well, I hope going through some healthy kitchen swaps has been helpful for you. It truly just boils down to starting small and staying consistent.
You will see the results pay off overtime as you don’t feel as inflamed and notice how your food will start to taste better when you are making better choices at the ingredients you are using.
Thank you so much for spending your time here and I hope that you have a good day! Bye!
