The Big White Farmhouse

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“I could never…”  I’ve heard that phrase so many times throughout my adult life.  “I could never have six kids.”  “I could never homeschool.”  “I could never move out to the middle of nowhere.”  “I could never give up my streaming services.”  “I could never run a homestead.”  Although most people have good intentions, I’ve always bristled at these statements because it’s implies that I’m something special, that I have some super power that’s different from everyone else.  Uh no.  You can do anything – even things you never imagined you’d do! – if you want it bad enough.

But I’m here to admit that I broke my own rule.  I’m eating crow.  I’m currently doing the one thing I publicly said I would never do: I’m eating carnivore…and I’m thriving.

The carnivore way of eating has been in our family since January 2023, when I stumbled upon a video from Jess at Roots & Refuge Farm.  In it, she described some of her health issues and how the carnivore diet was helping.  At this time, my poor husband was also dealing a handful of debilitating health issues.  When I mentioned the video to him, he jumped on board.  What did he have to lose?  Everything he had done thus far had not worked.

And he thrived.  He lost a ton of weight (70lbs!) but more importantly, his painful and debilitating gout is gone, he no longer needs to sleep with a CPAP machine, his seasonal allergies are minimal and his plethora of gut issues have resolved.  His blood work is almost in all perfect ranges.  He is in better shape now in his 40’s than he’s been his entire life.

I’ve always been insanely supportive and proud of my husband during this process, but have always said I could never do something so extreme.  You can laugh with me now…never say never.  Spurred on my own health issues, I’ve been eating about 95% carnivore (I’m not a purist because I like my Primal Kitchen sauces) since the end of January.  And surprises of all surprises, I’m a believer now.

Here are a few things I’ve learned so far:

1. Coming off of carbohydrates might be harder than sugar. // The old me loved carbs with a special love, so the detox period was HARD.  I was irritable and angry and just a terrible person to be around.  It’s wild to me how the body reacts…I can only imagine it was like coming off of drugs.  Worth it, but that was a hard week.
2. “Wheat belly” is real. // There are books about this, but I always thought that was about other people.  I’m from sturdy stock!  Gluten can’t bother me!  Now I’m not so sure.  I almost immediately lost the embarrassing belly bloat (I’ve been terrified that people would mistake the gut for being pregnant!) and am now wondering if some of my inflammation issues from last year are because of gluten.
3. I’m satiated and rarely feel like I’m starving. // This may be the wildest result of the list.  I have a good contrast: on January 1st, I started tracking my calories.  Not only was it mentally time-consuming, but I always felt like I was kinda/sorta hungry, but constantly balancing when and how I could stretch those calories.  Fast forward to today.  I generally eat two meals, certainly not low in calories, but enough that I never feel like I’m starving.  I’m not counting the hours until I can eat again.  I eat what sounds good and it is satiating and sustaining.  Absolutely mind-blowing.
4. My brain feels calm. // If you’ve read my ramblings for the past year, you’ve obviously seen that I’ve been struggling.  Putting on a brave face and never giving up, but struggling all the same.  I could weep in thanksgiving when I tell you that for the first time in a long time, my mental health is great.  My brain feels calm.  I’m not anxiety-ridden or depressed or overwhelmed to the point of desperation.  I don’t feel emotionally dead inside.  It’s an incredible gift to feel well.
5. I may continue a slightly modified version of this after Lent. // When I started, I told myself that I just had to get through Lent.  Easter was the finish line and then I could go back to eating like before.  Now I’m not so sure.  I do think I will indulge in a few treat days, but currently have every intention of continuing on for the foreseeable future.  I feel too great not to.

But enough about me.  People tend to get really defensive about the carnivore diet and that’s just silly to me.  You do you!  But one word of advice from me: never say never.  You may embark on something you never imagined…and it might change your world.

Hoping to document the abundance around me all year long!

Around here, abundance looks like…

+ purchasing a vacuum attachment on ebay.  I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned my slight obsession here before, but I have a personal challenge to do everything in my power not to buy another vacuum cleaner for as long as possible.  So silly, but true!  We currently have the Bissell CleanView Pet Vacuum and I have taken it apart and fixed it multiple times since 2019.  Recently, I was frustrated with the amount of dog hair on the upholstery, but couldn’t find the “TurboEraser tool” to clean it up.  After looking all over the house to no avail, I decided to just buy the replacement piece on ebay.  Now the vacuum is complete again and lives another day!

+ listening to “Fast Car” on repeat.  My son has been learning to play Tracy Chapman’s song (or if you’re of a certain age, the Luke Combs version) on the guitar and the tune is following me everywhere.  I’m humming it first thing in the morning and it snakes its way into my dreams at night, ha!  Hopefully, he’ll move on to something different soon.

+ upgrading my cell phone after almost five years.  I am ridiculously proud of myself that I’ve held on so long!  The new challenge: can I keep this phone in good working condition until 2029?  We’ll see!  We also switched cell phone providers which means we’ll be saving about $65 a month.

+ using wood and metal sheeting scraps that we already have on hand to construct another pig shelter.  Max and Ruby are headed out to pasture!

Reading //

• Build a Songbird Compass: Agency, Communion, and Tech by Peco and Ruth Gaskovski at Pilgrims in the Machine // Thought provoking.  I saved their reflection questions.
• North Platte Canteen: Where The Heartland Opened Its Heart In WWII from NPR // We learned about this in history this week and it warmed my heart.  I love seeing all of the photographs.

Watching/Listening //

• OFF FOR LENT

Loving //

• these Minecraft cutouts // My littlest is really into Minecraft right now and has had so much fun making these 3D models of the characters.
• Avlea Folk Embroidery // These kits are so gorgeous.  I’d love to make a table runner some day.
• Cold Calm // In heavy use around here as we battle little colds and sore throats.
• these Money Saving Envelope Binders // After a great conversation about saving, I purchased two of these for my oldest teenagers.  They loved them!  There are multiple ways you can use the binder and they include examples to get you started.

This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission of any sale made at no extra cost to you.

I don’t have any profound reflections this week…it’s been a week of great joys (a solution to my health issues!  the passing of an important exam for my oldest!) and great frustrations (identity theft!).  I’m sure I’ll have something to say next week but for now, I’ll share a quotation that was appropriate for this Lenten season from The Imitation of Christ:

Do not despair, brother, of making spiritual progress; there is still time and the hour has not yet passed.  Why do you postpone making your resolutions day after day?  Come now, and begin this very moment and say to yourself: “Now is the time to do it, now is the time to fight; now is the right time to amend my life.”  When you are afflicted and troubled, that is the time for merit.  You must pass through fire and water before you arrive at redemption. (p.32-33)

Hoping to document the abundance around me all year long!

Around here, abundance looks like…

+ solving a piece of the hives/angioedema puzzle.  Right now, the working theory is that something unknown caused a inflammatory reaction in my body, creating the hives.  (Was it the extremely cold temperatures during the polar vortex?  Something I ate?  Stress?  Who knows.)  That overreacting histamine response created a significant allergy to cat dander (!!) which caused the skin around my eyes to swell.  The whole thing flabbergasts me!  Sadly, Pete the cat has been banished to the (very comfortable) basement for the foreseeable future so I can take a break from his dander/saliva.  I’m feeling much better already.

+ starting tomato and marigold seeds under the grow lights.  It was so nice to already have all the needed supplies (trays and grow lights, even seed starting mix) and not have to spend any money.

+ receiving so many wonderful things from my parents.  They are downsizing, going through their belongings and sharing the extras with us.  We received a dining table and chairs (which will be great for one of my kids to take when they move out someday), a Monopoly game, art supplies, clothes and more.  Such a gift to be on the receiving end of such generosity.  Thanks, Mom and Dad!

+ selling three unneeded items: two dresses and a video game.  After shipping and fees, I made $38.08!

Reading //

• Military chaplains served the ones who served from Aleteia
• These three things from Grandma Donna // “No matter how young or old or slow we are, we can make a difference if we start with baby steps and keep going. We may not get to running or even walking, but baby steps will still get us there.”
• Homer’s The Iliad and the Odyssey // I’m almost positive we never read The Iliad in high school literature class because I remember absolutely nothing about it.  Thankfully, I borrowed the kids’ graphic novel to help me keep all the characters straight!

Watching/Listening //

• OFF FOR LENT

Loving //

• Parmesan Crisps // the closest thing to a chip I can eat!  Not great enough to binge on, but I appreciate the change in texture.
• Blank Flipbooks // I bought this as an Easter basket gift, but decided to give it to my son early.  Can’t wait to see what he comes up with.
• Eczema Moisturizing Body Cream // I purchased this right as my symptoms started clearing, but found it really did help with the itching.

This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission of any sale made at no extra cost to you.

Have you ever heard a homily/sermon/talk that felt like it was spoken just for you?  We had a visiting priest say Mass for us on Sexagesima Sunday and his homily felt specifically for me.  But let’s back up.

The past month or so has been a roller coaster experience of hives and facial swelling.  The worst would mostly disappear only to come back out of nowhere again.  So frustrating and discouraging.  I’ve been like a dog with a bone, a mad woman researching everything I can find for possible solutions to make it go away permanently.  On some level, it’s been a great educational deep dive (thinking positively here!) but on others, it’s been incredibly draining and just one more thing on my already full plate.

Back to the homily.  The visiting priest’s homily was about the virtue of patience.  He said that we often think of patience as that thing we need to do when we’re stuck in traffic or our children are being crazy.  All true, but it’s so much more.  Patience is also a sister virtue to fortitude.  Seen in this way, patience enables someone to endure his/her sufferings without sadness or resentment.  The person is then able to conform their will with God’s and even accept the hardships with a kind of spiritual joy.

The perfect lesson at the perfect time when I was struggling so badly!  Like all virtues, this one requires some effort to pursue, but I’m on the right path.  Deo gratias.

Quick health update: At the time of this publishing, some of the issues have subsided, praise God!  I am still on a carnivore(ish) diet, feeling great and am much more positive about this way of eating.  (I did LOTS of complaining as I adjusted!)  I just had an indoor/outdoor allergy test done to see if I can pinpoint the origin of the issue and avoid another flare.  Currently waiting on the results.  Adventure to be continued…

Hoping to document the abundance around me all year long!

Around here, abundance looks like…

+ the tender way my children looked after me when I was feeling crummy.  Anti-histamine medicine makes me terribly tired and they were so sweet encouraging me to take a nap.  I could hear them through my bedroom door, telling the littler ones to be quiet and helping out so they wouldn’t wake me up.

+ pulling vegetables from the freezer to give to the livestock.  My winter pantry challenge quickly fell apart due to my health fiasco, but I’m back on course!  This time, I thawed a bunch of green beans and peas to give to the chickens, ducks and pigs.  A big hit!  They’ve been dying to eat something green.  I also took a frozen chicken carcass I had saved and made bone broth.  Making dents in the deep freezer, little by little!

+ beginning seed start prep for the new growing season.  Here we go!

+ giving my wooden spoons new life with olive oil.  They were looking quite sad and dried out, but a quick swipe and they look much better.  (I let them dry on a towel overnight.)

+ selling two unneeded items: a holster and a book.  After shipping and fees, I made $100.59!

Reading //

• Make Haste Slowly or Festina Lente by Christopher Perrin at Renewing Classical Education // “But festina lente does not merely focus on avoiding waste; it focuses on doing things well from the start, it focuses on mastering what is important in proper sequence.”
• When Teaching Children History, Embrace Imagination by Dr. Dixie Dillon Lane at Hearth and Field // Great encouragement.  I liked this quote:

Our children need to know the factual nuts and bolts of history before they reach adult levels of interpretation. But they also need to develop a conceptual sense of history to go hand-in-hand with this classical foundation so that when they engage with historical facts and arguments as they grow older, they will have the ability to make something of them rather than just swallow them whole at the hands of a manipulator. Neither facts nor imagination alone can lead to the kind of maturity that our kids will one day need to exhibit in both the private and the public spheres of modern life.

Watching/Listening //

• Catholics Must Fast More Intensely This Lent by St. Michael’s Abbey // Inspiring!
• Self Lymph Drainage Massage // This felt a little ridiculous until I tried it…and it worked!  I’m learning all kinds of things on this adventure to wellness.
• Going Deep in History Made this Protestant Scholar Catholic (w/ Joshua Charles) // This interview came up randomly in my Youtube recommendations.  Over an hour long but so interesting.
• Woman of the Household course from Life-Craft //  Module 2 was focused on Woman as Wife.  So good.

Loving //

• Primal Kitchen’s buffalo ranch dressing // keeping my meals tasty!
• St. Michael’s Abbey’s “virtual retreat” for Lent // I am really enjoying the daily reflections, prayers, and readings.
• this quote from Saint Alphonsus Liguori:
  

  Those whose hearts are enlarged by confidence in God run swiftly on the path of perfection. They not only run, they fly; because, having placed all their hope in the Lord, they are no longer weak as they once were. They become strong with the strength of God, which is given to all who put their trust in Him.