If you're reading this blog, you might want to know a bit more about the person behind the articles and recipes!
I'm Kelsey, a registered dietitian nutritionist living in rural Michigan. I spend my days working as a geriatric dietitian, wrangling two toddlers, and experimenting in the kitchen whipping up new recipes and herbal concoctions.
I've been a registered dietitian, credentialed by the Commission on Dietetics Registration since 2016. I've worked in many different areas of nutrition from clinical work in the hospital to community geriatric nutrition to consulting with brands on the nutritional values of their products.
Personally, I have been on a journey of leaning into the earth and our own land for the nourishment of myself and my family. Taking a look at my own personal ethics as well as the research behind what a "healthy" diet can look like, I've begun to explore a different way of planning our meals and sourcing our food.
For me, in this stage of life, I am working on incorporating more plant focused eating and choosing meat and animal products that are sustainably and ethically obtained.
What is Plant Focused eating?
Plant focused eating is not vegan, vegetarian, Whole Foods Plant Based, gluten free, or any other diet, although for some it might end up falling into one of these categories. Plant focused eating is the act of making plants the main focus of your meal planning.
Plant focused eating can still include meat and animal products, but helps you to eat less of it and need less of a valuable resource that is expensive in many ways to produce.
If you put cheese on your tofu bowl, use honey in your granola, or enjoy a Friday night fish dinner, you're not breaking rules. Anything is allowed as long as it aligns with your ethics and needs, but plants take the main stage.
Plant focused eating may align with your ethics to avoid meat or to avoid animal products. It could align with your dietary restriction or health goals. It could help you to save money by using less meat in your meals. It does make an impact on this world we all call home, significantly decreasing your own carbon footprint.
Where herbs fit in
Herbs and Graciously Nourished is a newfound love affair! Of course, using culinary herbs will bring any recipe to a new level, but it's so much more than that!
There is such a rich history in herbal use to treat ailments, improve health and wellbeing, and to protect ourselves from disease before modern medicine was a thing. In fact, many medicines are based on active compounds found in traditional herbs!
Learning how each herb can help us to live a better, healthier, cleaner, more beautiful life is such a blessing. I love sharing what I learn and the recipes, DIY projects and concoctions that can easily bring herbs into your home to help you feel better, live better, and have fun with plants!
Mother Earth and our responsibilities?
When we consider that we all share one home, and that home is undergoing massive amounts of damage on a daily basis, it's important that we consider how our own patterns are impacting the health of the earth.
How and what we eat can have a significant impact on our carbon footprint, increasing or decreasing pollution and the use of important resources. In addition to how we eat, every other decision we make in our lives can have an impact as well.
Making simple and practical swaps can add up to big differences, especially if we can share what we use and love with others who will also make changes.
To make instead of buy, you'll find a ton of DIY home, personal, beauty, food, and remedies to help you buy less and make more. For things that we just don't want to or can't make (because, let's be real, life get's busy!) you'll find sustainable options to purchase here as well.
Thank's for reading, for participating and learning, and for trying recipes and projects from Graciously Nourished, where science and nature come together in our kitchen, homes, and lives!
