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Today’s post is with a guest and friend of mine, Keri Fosse. Keri is a mother to three children. Despite being busy, she values and makes time to make many items from scratch and enjoys implementing a homestead lifestyle.
In today’s interview, we are going to be talking about the health benefits of making things from scratch and how to make time for it. You can read the highlights from Natural Living Homestead Tips interview here or you can watch the full thing on YouTube!
Do You Want to Tell us a Little Bit About Yourself?
Sure, my name is Keri Fosse, and like Amanda said I actually just moved to this area (Bend). My Husband and I had lived in Atlanta Georgia I guess for the last 18 years. Which is crazy.
I have three children. Levi is 6, Flora is 3, and baby Nahum is one. My husband and I have our own business, it’s called Lalabu and we make babywearing shirts for moms and dads.
Can you Tell us About Your Childhood?
My mom was the type that cooked everything from scratch. I learned how to make bread when I was 10, I was cooking dinner on my own probably at the same time one night a week for her. She did a lot with food and nutrition and being really intentional about making sure we were eating real food. We didn’t eat processed things or snacks really ever. We didn’t drink anything but water really growing up.
I didn’t have an example of making our own personal care products or cleaners. But I did have a pretty good example of how important nutrition is, and seeing my mom make things from scratch my entire life. So, that part about how I run my current household I learned a ton from my mother.
Is That Where Your Passion for Making Stuff From Scratch Came From?
So, when you’re a kid whatever you know is just normal, so you don’t think anything different. You just think, “this is how we eat.”
For me, into college and then coming out of college, I really started to be more intentional myself in doing my own research. My husband Brian is very picky about what he eats! Primarily because he had GI issues from the time I met him. I met him when we were both 21 and he was getting stomach aches every day. So, for over almost a decade, he was trying all kinds of things to try and figure out what was giving him stomach aches. He would be like, “It’s bananas, it’s dairy, it’s…” You know he kept trying different things.
So, I think it was maybe my past of having my mom healthily feed us, but then also marrying Brian and having him have a specific problem he was trying to solve. That led us to be even more intentional with what we were eating.
How do You Make Time to Make all These Things From Scratch?
A couple of things. One, there are certain things I can make a large batch of. and then it just lasts me six months. So, things like that might be deodorant, homemade soap, or even tooth powder. I don’t make tooth powder more than maybe a couple of times a year. there are things like that where it might take me a couple of hours or sometimes only thirty minutes, but I don’t do it all the time.
Another category, like food which you’re definitely not making then eating off of for a year! I like to include my kids, Instead of thinking of it as something I need to do on my own, I like to just include my kids with what we are doing. I like to explain to them why we are doing what we’re doing.
Things like that make it not as hard to fit in because it is an activity that we are doing together. Or, it is like a big activity we do not that often!
I think another thing too is just your mindset. If you have a mindset like, “this is going to be so much work! There’s no way I can fit this in!” You are going to approach it that way. But if you have a mindset of it not being a bid deal, then you’re just going to do it! You’re not even going to think about it.
This afternoon I wanted to feed my kids PB&J’s but I wanted to have a jam that was wasn’t gross. I just made some chia seed jam with frozen raspberries, chia seeds, maple syrup, and blended it. Then made the sandwiches. It’s not a big deal, it doesn’t take that long! If you just decide you like the benefits you’re getting from all the nutrients you’re going to have.
Does Having Your Kids Help Make it Harder?
It’s really important not to stress out when you have your kids involved, and to think about what they CAN do not what they can’t do. So, even my one year old right now, I like to put him up on a stool and give him a bowl and a spoon and I’ll put a little bit of whatever we’re making in there so he can play with it. Is he really helping me? Not really, but he feels included and it makes it so he can be a part of what we are doing.
My older kids actually are really helpful! I’ve found that if I start them off right away at practicing those things you’ll be surprised at how good they get. I think that’s also something I learned from my mom. I have pictures of my brother and I at ages like 2 and 3 literally punching bread dough down.
There’s totally things you can do, and if you make a mess it’s going to be okay, Sometimes I make a mess anyways! Sometimes I spill something, or things don’t go as planned. It’s well worth the time to allow them to be a part of that, because the more you do that the more they are going to know what they are doing. Then they are just going to take over things.
This morning, Levi and Flora did breakfast for us. It’s so cute! They can do it, it’s a little bit messier but it’s fun!
Watch Natural Living Homestead Tips
You can also check out my previous interview with Katie Voetberg, “Cozy Homemaking on a Budget” here!