Natural Living

January 22, 2023

Recently, I looked around my tiny kitchen and smiled at the changes, all of which moved my family closer towards natural living, a more “homestead” mindset one might say.

Though I come from a heritage of farmers and avid gardeners (as most of us do), I grew up in the typical suburbs of a beautiful southern city. Never did I envision myself trying to live more “naturally.” Yet for the overall health and well-being of my family, I’m grateful for these simple changes.

My quart size kefir jar topped with a white coffee filter sits beside another jar of double fermenting kefir. On down the counter, my new gravity water filter towers beside the sink (I wasn’t quite sure about the aesthetics of the filter but have since gotten over it.) Hop across the sink, and my egg skelter creates a beautiful and practical display of our chicken girl’s eggs. Walk across the kitchen to my bedroom-wardrobe-turned-kitchen pantry and you will see a glass jar filled with einkorn flour, my most recent addition to natural living.

Kefir

Friends come over and wonder what in the world is sitting (or should I say growing?) on my counter. Kefir is essentially liquid yogurt, full of amazing enzymes for a healthy gut. Perhaps more than anything, the addition of kefir to my kitchen makes me feel the most “homesteadish.”

Fresh Eggs/ Chickens

Last spring we welcomed our chicken girls into our family life, and we have loved the experience! Yes, it’s work, but it’s worth it. We love the fresh eggs, and we love the opportunities to teach our children to care for animals and accomplish “farm” tasks.

Gravity Water Filter

A friend has a Berkey, and that was a top consideration for me. But now there’s this crazy shortage of Berkey filters, so what’s a girl to do?

The Alexapure and Pro One were top contesters for me. A benefit for the Pro One over the Berkey was the completeness of the filter (no extra fluoride purchase with the Pro One). I am happy with my Pro One Big+ Gravity Water Filter. Do be advised…it is big! At first this bothered me, but I’ve gotten over it. I like having plenty of filtered water ready for my family.

Einkorn Flour

Einkorn flour is an ancient grain that supposedly has not been genetically tampered with. Although it’s not gluten free, it has less gluten in it than traditional white flour. This flour has a great texture and tastes very similar to white flour but with much greater health benefits.

Another happy benefit of einkorn is soaking my kefir in it for added health benefits. I feel like a farm wife mixing up kefir and einkorn with a wooden spoon in a ceramic bowl, covering it with a white kitchen towel, and letting it sit on my butcherblock counter for a day.

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It’s taken time and yes, financial resources to incorporate these elements into our family’s rhythm, but we are grateful for the opportunity to live a little closer to what life was like “back on the farm.”

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Friend, does natural living interest you? If so, any recommendations for steps to natural living?

-Ashley

Personal Disclosure

As the author of Ashley Qurollo Blog, all opinions are my own. Any possible applications are universal in nature, not directed at any one individual or people group. My sincere desire is to help others by sharing what I am learning. Nothing stated on this blog is ever intended to hurt others. Ashley Qurollo, owner of Ashley Qurollo Blog and Website, is not held liable in any way for any application of the ideas and thoughts stated here.

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