You say, “Tahini,” I say… “I beg your pardon?”

A sea of toasted sesame seeds

The word of the day is tahini.  I had no knowledge of the word up until about a week and a half ago.  Several weeks ago, I was mulling over the definition of “health” and was feeling very dissatisfied with my grasp on the concept.  Ten years ago, I was a health nut and a diet professional, but I finally realized my concept of health was messed up.  What is healthy?  What is unhealthy?  Here is a list I used to have of “Healthy Foods”:

Low fat
Low carb
Meatless recipes

What was I eating during my professional healthy days?  Is low fat really healthy?  I was eating margarine (similar in chemical structure to plastic).  Is low carb really all that great?  I was eating artificial sweeteners, which are linked to cancer.  Is ditching the carnivore lifestyle the way to go?  I was eating soy based foods (increases estrogen levels and can lead to cancer).

At my most boastful “healthy” pinnacle, I realize in hinds sight I had no idea what “healthy” really means.  In all honesty, I still am feeling pretty clueless, and my search for answers of making informed food choices is what lead me to tahini.

A few weeks ago I was reflecting on my “healthy” past (of which this blog is a result – read more here).   A branch of my scattered thoughts lead me to reflect on the famous Hebrew, Daniel, who dictated his own royal diet and appeared to be the healthiest young man in all the royal court.  I believe his food choice was divinely inspired, and very well might be a reflection of basic biology.  Many Hebrew laws that I have come across have sound reasoning, even though it did not seem explainable several thousand years ago.  For example, pork can be contaminated by a yucky pathogen, and the Israelites avoided eating pork.  I could list and cite and investigate more examples, but that is moving away from the purpose of my blog, which is to find better ways to do things and to become a self sufficient member of society.

Since I knew that Daniel’s diet was a success in history, I decided to investigate.  In short, there are whole blogs and books dedicated to Daniel’s diet.  I poked around at the how-to’s and decided to try a few recipes.  One recipe was for hummus, I thought is sounded delicious and pretty easy, so I included it on the menu.

One obstacle for making the hummus was an unknown ingredient, tahini.  I looked it up and figured I would be wandering the aisles of the grocery store or running all over health-food-store-creation looking for this mystery ingredient, and I might as well buy some hummus.  However, in my tahini investigation (yep, I googled “where is tahini in my grocery store”), I came across “how to make your own tahini.”  Tahini is roasted sesame seeds and olive oil.  Easy.

I figured it would be much faster for me to make my own tahini than look for it in the store, so that is what I am doing.  Right now my roasted sesame seeds have cooled, and I am going to finish the process.

 

The Adventure Begins

The ideas propelling this blog have been stirring for several years.  I am on a journey to get back to the basics in life.

I’ve always been a city girl at heart.  I boast in my ability to hop through public transportation.  I gush over Starbucks.  I like fast internet.  I relish varied cuisine at my fingertips.  And to top all that off, even though I want to garden and I make a loving attempt at it every year, I have the thumb of death.

However, I am going to hike up my city britches and wade through the seemingly confusing (to myself) simple life, or as I like to think, primitive life.

I have a deep hankering to figure out how to be self sufficient, not just in navigating a big city, but sowing life and reaping a real harvest.   I want to garden, I want to be able to survive without big industries, and if I ever have to get dropped off at a deserted island (or an open span of wilderness abounding in natural goodness that I currently have no idea how to harness), I want to be able to thrive!  I want to get back to mankind’s primitive roots, and be the “fittest” to survive.

The tiny embers were first  laid in my heart about two years ago.  I joined Pinterest and discovered all sorts of neat crafts that those crafty people do.  I wanted to try my hand a being creative, and I also was in search of some good products.  I stumbled upon soap making and never even realized soap could be made in my house.  I made a genuine attempt at the process, and I did not get any exciting outcomes.  In fact, I would say my first endeavors (that I had the brilliant of idea as gifting as Christmas presents) were a big flop.

So, soap making wasn’t for me.

I then stumbled upon some other “homemade” adventures.  I have always felt rather capable as a cook, and I am pretty brave and successful when it comes to trying weird and difficult recipes.  In spite of the fact that I am not a nature girl, my mother cooked great meals for the family all the time and we never ate frozen or box-prepared dinners.  As part of a science lesson one year I decided to make yogurt.  It was so simple and it made sense to me since I am a biology geek.  I didn’t bat an eyelash at my amazing and successful feat.  However, I had and have much to learn.

Lastly, what has most shaken my world was a casual comment a friend made a few weeks ago.  We were talking about food, and probably expenses and our likes, and he said something simple like, “Yeah, well you can always just make your own cheese,”

Pause.  Make my own cheese?

I had absolutely no idea cheese could be made at home (can I blame this on being a city girl?  Or the fact that I am young?).  That night, I went home and researched a bit and became very determined to make my own cheese.  I haven’t done it yet, but it is on my to-do list.  In the past few weeks I have been having grand revelations.  Everything I consume I wonder if I can make it.  These musings, paired with some other background ideas of wanting to get back to primitive foods for health reasons have spurred this commencement.

I ate some pizza and asked myself,  Can I make this?

I I saw some yeast at the store and asked myself,  Can I make bread with this?  Without a bread machine?

I drained the last drop of my half and half cream and couldn’t get to the store for my next cup of coffee and I asked myself, Can I make this?

I scraped the bottom of the sour cream container today and asked, Can I make this?

I drank some almond milk last week.  I immediately asked myself, Can I make this?

I then entertained a related question of, Can I make almond butter?

I might end up getting all crazy and buying a cow to milk in my backyard.  I’ve even contemplated researching the Amish people (the name of my blog could change later to something like, “Becoming Amish”)

I’m getting back.  I’m getting back to how we were intended to consume foods (and let’s not forget healing herbs and antibacterial foods, etc).  I’m getting back to these roots to enjoy my life fully, and to help have a whole life.

So my adventure begins.  I will be blogging my attempts at my heart’s desires in hopes that I can make the unknown known to others out there like me.

I have lots of ambitions for this week, like making yogurt, making almond milk, making tahini for homemade hummus, and canning jam.  We will see how the adventure goes.  I am sure at many times it will be humorous.

Cheers to the journey.