Crunchy Stewardship

Your Guide to Crunchy Living: Best Resources of 2025

• Katie Jones • Season 1 • Episode 31

Share episode

In our final episode of 2025, we're sharing our favorite crunchy resources to help you continue your health journey over the winter break! From podcasts to books to websites, we've compiled everything you need to keep learning about natural living, non-toxic products, and biblical stewardship of your health.

Podcasts We Recommend:

  • Modern Ancestral Mamas
  • Wise Traditions with Hilda Latа Gore
  • Culture Apothecary by Alex Clark
  • Dr. Josh Axe Podcast

Books to Read:

Helpful Websites & Apps:

Chapters: 

00:00 Welcome to Crunchy Stewardship

00:37 Random Revelation: The Truth About Ascorbic Acid

07:35 Navigating Healthy Living and Faith

15:21 Podcast Recommendations

22:50 Book Recommendations

36:12 Resources and Websites for a Healthier Lifestyle

Plus: We share about helpful Facebook groups for crunchy living, homeopathy support, and state-specific natural living communities.

We'll be taking a break to plan for 2025, but we'd love to hear your feedback! Join our Facebook group "Crunchy Christian Mamas on a Budget" or send us an email with your thoughts on the podcast.

See you next year!



Connect With Us:

Join Our Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/crunchychristianmama

Follow us on Instagram @crunchystewardship

FREE How to Afford Non-Toxic Living Workbook: https://crunchystewardship.com/how-to-afford-non-toxic-living

Katie:

Hey, and welcome to Crunchy Stewardship. My name is Katie Fiola Jones.

Chrissy:

And my name is Chrissy Rombach. We are two cousins who are passionate about learning and sharing knowledge to equip others to steward their spiritual, mental, emotional, financial, and physical health in order to honor God in every aspect of their lives.

Katie:

In our podcast, we take deep dives into what it means to steward our lives as God originally intended for us, with the resources that he has given us. We look at topics like food, medicine, finances, mental health, and lots more through a natural lens and with a biblical foundation.

Chrissy:

Before we get into the gist of today's episode, we are going to do our random revelation segment. This segment is one that we share each week. Uh, one of us will share something that we learned this week about pretty much anything crunchy that doesn't necessarily have to be related to this episode. So Katie, what was your random revelation this week?

Katie:

Yeah, I'm actually, as you're asking that, I'm trying to pronounce it in my head. My random revelation is about, um. Ascorbic acid? Is that how you say it?

Chrissy:

As Sorbic acid.

Katie:

Is that, is that the word?

Chrissy:

Yeah,

Katie:

Okay.

Chrissy:

I think it's A-S-O-R-B-I-C. Right.

Katie:

A-S-C-O-R-B-I-C. So that's why I'm like, there's a C in there. It's like asic, but I think the sea's kind of. Silent. But anyway, I was like literally trying to pronounce it in my head right before I went on, so I'm like, hmm. Anyway, so absorbant acid is an ingredient found in lots of different food products as well as in like. Uh, different products that need something like acidic, to it, and it seems kind of harmless, except for that it depends on where it kind of like is derived from. So I'll read this, uh, fact that I copied and pasted here. So it is the most common form of supplemental vitamin C. Um. It's produced industrially from glucose, often sourced from corn. Many of, uh, popularity claims. Note that this corn is genetically modified, so like a GMO product. Though vary depending on manufacturer and region. Most vitamin C products are made with genetically modified corn and harshly processed with chemicals like acetone. They begin with corn syrup and it goes through a multiple step process, which involves, the acetone that you would find in nail polish. So, uh, theoric acid, if it's like the natural form of it, it actually like, comes from lemons or something like that, but it's like it's hard to collect in a natural form like that from lemons or it's like an expensive thing, or it's hard to find. I don't know. So what they often do to make it cheaper and quicker is that they use like genetically modified corn and then process it through acetone in order to. Get it to this form to then use in tons of food products, like anything that needs like, like a sour taste to it or kind of has like, like an acidy kind of taste to it, typically has that in it. And the tricky part is that because it is still like theoric acid or whatever. They don't distinguish between whether it's like where it's made from or where it's derived from, so you really don't know. So it's basically. In, in most products that you would find, like any kind of processed food, whether it is heavily processed or just like a minimally processed food, if you see that ingredient, it's kind of like a red flag because in most cases it comes from the not good form. So it comes from like the genetically modified corn. So it's another ingredient that I realized recently that you just gotta kind of be careful of and aware of because. It likely comes from something that you don't really wanna be eating. Um, and yeah, it's rather unfortunate because it's like another thing that when you, when you Google it, at first it sounds like a totally fine product to be eating. But then when you find out that there's like a synthetic form of it, then that's when you know it's not that great. Um, it's same thing like with vitamins, like the synthetic form of them. Is not as good for you as like the true form of the vitamin. So that's kind of what it comes down to. Yeah. Kind of interesting.

Chrissy:

That's the truth. You know, honestly, if there is any sort of ingredient that isn't a whole food. In the product, I usually just don't eat it, you know?

Katie:

Mm-hmm.

Chrissy:

I really try to stick with Whole Foods'cause at least I know what it's made of, you know,

Katie:

Yep.

Chrissy:

hopefully they merely just chopped it off the plant and called it good, but no guarantees. At least it's more likely that that's the case.

Katie:

Yeah, I, I've been finding so much lately that now the processing really matters because even, oh my gosh, here's another one I'll throw at you guys, especially for the holiday seasons. Maybe. Maybe you don't wanna hear this. I found out that. Even if you're buying like organic chicken it often, or it likely has gone through the same chemical chlorine bath as like your non-organic chicken does just because of like if it comes from a very large processing company. Hence, like if you find it in your grocery store, it very likely went through that like chemical bath because of the way that they have to process multiple chickens at once. It, they go into these big like dunk baths, and so if one chicken has salmonella and they dunk it in the bath that doesn't have all the chemicals, then all the chickens are then contaminated with salmonella, which makes sense. You're like, okay, you don't wanna all of a sudden contaminate all the chickens. But then you're left with now eating chicken that has been dunked in these chemical baths. And so the best form of the chicken is to find like a pasture raised, um, an air chilled, like air frozen like chicken versus like. You know when you like de thaw chicken and like tons of liquid comes out of it and it's just like you have to put it on a plate or in a bowl and it's just like tons of the liquid comes out. Well, unfortunately that is from like these chemical bass and like I learned that and I'm like, I'm never gonna look at. Eating any chicken the same. And we've like now switched to eating, like getting chicken, like whole chicken from a local farmer, which is like the best that you can do. But it is more expensive so we don't like do it as often. And so we, we do still like occasionally go get like chicken from the grocery store, but organic is definitely better than the non-organic, but it likely still has all the chemicals in it. So you're like, great. Cool. Ugh. It's dumb.

Chrissy:

You know what, something that I have found a lot of encouragement in lately is this is a process. You know, we've talked about it before. That gonna be perfect. And in the end, God is powerful enough to protect us from these horrible ingredients and chemicals that are put in our food. We can make an effort as stewards of the resources that he's given us to as best we can to nourish our bodies as best we can. And in the end though, if we eat something that's not good for us or accident even, we serve a God who is powerful to protect us. And he can. And he will. You know, we just have to believe that. And so I've been finding a lot of peace in that it really helps with. The anxiety that really comes over you when you find out like, oh my gosh, I can't eat anything. You know, just taking a step back and remembering like, no, I serve a God who's powerful to protect me from all of these chemicals, which ultimately are the result of sin. And in our world, if you really trace it back and so, you know. That's just one place I find a lot of comfort when I start to get overwhelmed with all of the new things that I hear about, oh, I thought I was doing it so good, but then I found out this new fact and all of a sudden this entire food group is contaminated and I can never eat it again. It's like, no. You can, you know, it's everything in moderation. And, um, well, not everything in moderation. Don't, don't eat Chick-fil-A in moderation, but, you know, um. It, it, living in America, it's not really all that possible to be perfect with your food. No matter where you are. Really, it's not possible to be perfect with your food. And so don't hold yourself to a standard of perfection that you are not gonna reach.'cause ultimately it's just chasing after the wind.

Katie:

Yeah.

Chrissy:

it's much

Katie:

Yeah.

Chrissy:

to just rest in the truth that God saves and God protects and. I get to eat the food that makes my tummy happy. So

Katie:

Yeah. Yeah, it is. It is very much a balance because I've definitely heard people use that argument to explain why they're not even like trying to be healthier or try to make any lifestyle changes and. It. Yeah, it, you can fall into the trap both ways because if you make all of this crunchy living and healthy living, non-toxic living and idle, then the stress is going to devour you just as much as the bad lifestyle choices.

Chrissy:

That makes me think I was reading in Romans today. I think it's Romans six when Paul is talking to the Romans and he says, does this mean that you should go on sinning? He

Katie:

Hmm.

Chrissy:

no means, not. Like, yes, we serve a God that saves, but nonetheless, we are still to walk in his will and in his way, and he tells us to cast our anxieties on him. He tells us do not fear. And so ultimately, when fear and anxiety are taking over, that is sinful. It is turning our eyes away from God, and we are idolizing the food and the fear and the anxiety around it. And so, yes, is okay if you accidentally eat something bad, but don't take that as a, oh, I don't have to do anything because. still is sinful. You know, Paul says, by no means should you continue going in your ways, turn from it. And, you know, filling our bodies with the resources and the nutrients that God has given us, rather than the ones that we've manufactured on our own, I believe is a way to serve the Lord wholeheartedly.

Katie:

It's good. It's good. The approach that we have taken is we've, I've, you know, learned this information. I'm going to do the best with it. As I can. And so we try to make most of our choices based around a lot of the knowledge that I've learned with healthy living and non-toxic living and stuff. So we've, you know, switched a lot of our household product. Then we've switched a lot of the way that we eat. But then obviously, I mean, you go to someone's house and they're feeding you all processed things, and I always, oh, Folger's coffee. Yes. Folger's coffee. So silly. I. I have becoming slightly more of a Karen when it comes to a lot of those things. There's a, a group of women in that we go to this coffee shop, uh, every few weeks, and I have been known to just show up with my own coffee because I'm just like, I, I also am like, I'm in the mindset right now too of like. I really like coffee the way that I like it. So why would I spend money on coffee that I know? I'm like not really gonna like that much. And I know that sounds like really petty, but I'm just like, I'm not gonna go spend$5 on coffee that I'm like, nah. You know? So I'm just like enjoying my own coffee that I've brought in my own mug. And I definitely feel like I'm gonna get kicked out one time. But nobody's ever said anything. Not even my friends. They've never said anything to me.

Chrissy:

You know what you could do is you could get a tea.

Katie:

Mm.

Chrissy:

have loose leaf tea the coffee shop, you could get that instead of the coffee. Then you're still giving the coffee shop the business, you're not getting coffee that you won't enjoy.

Katie:

Yep. And it likely is cheaper too. Well, it kind of depends

Chrissy:

Mm-hmm.

Katie:

Sometimes the loose leaf tea is cheaper, and then sometimes just a pla plain black cup of coffee is cheaper. That's just kind of like. Yeah,

Chrissy:

That's

Katie:

but I mean, like, we did really well. We went to a birthday party, like a little kid's birthday party just a few days ago, and, uh, we, the only snacks that we ate there, they of course had like tons of cookies and, you know, chips and things like that. We only ate. The grapes and ref and didn't have any cake, and both of us were like, we like were high fiving each other. When we got back in the car, we're like, yeah, we're awesome. We didn't eat any of the processed stuff and the heavily sugared cake.

Chrissy:

I love that. That's so great. Well, anyways, let's transition to the actual topic for today's episode. Since today is going to be the last episode of the year of 2025, we want to leave you guys with a few resources that you can use to continue your research and continue your journey over the winter break. Um. That way when we come back on in January, you will have learned a little bit and you will have caught up with us. Maybe, maybe not, I don't know. You might have surpassed us actually. But yeah, so we just wanted to give you guys a few resources that you can continue listening to things and reading things over Christmas while. We are not going to be publishing any episodes, so we're kind of gonna split it up in a few different sections. We're gonna start by talking about a few podcasts, then we'll look at books that we would recommend, and then we'll transition to websites. So Katie, you wanna kick us off with the podcast that we recommend?

Katie:

Yeah. I will share with you two that I've kind of been listening to, uh, the most recently. Um, the first one is modern ancestral mamas. I. Know that I've mentioned them a couple times on our episodes here and there. I like them because I feel like they have a very similar style to our podcast where it's, uh, like two friends who just kind of chit chat about certain topics. Um, they're, they're very passionate, very knowledgeable. It's really great because it, it's just really casual and I really like that. Uh, sometimes as a, you know, trade off for. Other shows that I listen to that are more like well produced like shows and productions where, you know, they have the videos and all this stuff. Actually, you know, now that I think about it, I think modern ancestral mamas might do. Video too, but it's nothing like the, the fancy productions of, you know, big shows or anything like that. So it's just very casual. Um, and they cover a lot of really good topics. They also talk about like homeschooling and obviously since it's modern, ancestral mamas, they talk a lot about like motherhood too and um, different things. So I just really enjoy that and have gotten a lot out of their episodes. And then another one that I have been enjoying a lot is Wise Traditions with Hilda Lata Gore. And I, that one is kind of a part of the Westin a Price Foundation, which is known for kind of talking about, um, making things with Whole Foods and kind of cooking from scratch. And they are very much all about kind of that natural life. Hilda herself is a person of faith as well, which is sweet, but she doesn't. A lot of her podcast episodes aren't necessarily, they're not really like about being a Christian, but it's kind of cool that she talks about that every now and then. But they're, I, I would the, the episodes or like the show itself. I don't listen to all of them. I really, there's so many episodes. They have so many episodes. It's like over 500 something. At this point. I usually go and scroll and find a topic that I'm really curious about listening to because they've definitely had some very, like out there strange things on the podcast before where I'm like, what am I listening to right now? Um, and even the one that I actually am in the process of listening at this moment. Is like kind of borderline, like woo woo. But I'm also like I, it's interesting because the guy who's talking I don't think is a Christian, but a lot of the things that he's describing is like stuff that we believe as Christians, like prayer can actually heal people. Like prayer can actually make an impact on life. And so what he's talking about is like your thoughts and your like, kind of almost like the idea of, um. Manifestation, but he hasn't used that word. But it's like kinda like your thought process and the what and what you believe and, and. What you think about something can really impact like your health and whether or not you're going to heal and all this stuff. And so, and then Hilda actually mentioned in her podcast, she's like, yeah, like I'm a person of faith and we really do believe, like, like, you know, prayer and the Holy Spirit actually move and, and create these miracles and stuff. So anyway, Pick and choose what you want. Um, but they do have a lot of just really good, wise tips. I also just like her, she's just really cute and sweet and really, she's like an older lady too. She's probably like in her sixties maybe. Um.

Chrissy:

she really? like she's probably 30.

Katie:

Yeah. She like sounds young.

Chrissy:

when she talks, I picture like a very dainty, petite, blonde

Katie:

Mm-hmm.

Chrissy:

maybe in her

Katie:

Mm-hmm.

Chrissy:

with, with a high ponytail

Katie:

And she is, she's got gray hair and she's like, just loves life and so positive. And I, I also just like, she has the, like a really cute smile. I found her on Instagram'cause I honestly didn't know anything about this woman when I started listening to the podcast. And I was just kind of shocked. Like, I was like, I just didn't expect that, especially in like the podcasting world, I feel like people are usually just younger. So it was kind of interesting seeing people who are more like my parents' age and stuff where I'm like, that's kind of cool and. She's just loving life and sharing all the good stuff, so yeah.

Chrissy:

That's great. Another podcast I would recommend is Culture Apothecary by Alex Clark. We have mentioned her a few times on here, but she interviews a lot of really great speakers, and I have to tell you, I have learned. So, so much from her. Um, at the same time though, I do have to actually be careful when I'm listening to her episodes because she is so intense. Sometimes I feel like I can get very riled up like overly emotional about some of these topics, which is not beneficial for my health. And so. Um, for me personally, I have to listen to her stuff with care and, I have to be aware of my mental state when I am listening to her stuff. But at the same time, she does interview some people who have some really, really great insight into what is going on in the health world and also politically. Um, she does lean conservative and so. Um, it's nice to kind of hear multiple different perspectives. Um, even people who don't always agree with her on, um, her views.

Katie:

I wanted to throw in one more podcast that I didn't originally write down, but I was thinking about because I do actually still really appreciate it and we talk about him a lot. But it's Josh Axes podcast, A XE. Um. He's also really great'cause he is a Christian. Yeah, he is so good. And, and we will mention a couple more of his resources too, and when we talk about books, but they, he, he does a really good job. It's a show primarily with himself, but then he brings on guests occasionally and he's so knowledgeable and has a really good understanding of so many things, but he is. Always like, you can, you can, you're guaranteed that every podcast, he will come back and talk about God. And I really appreciate that because sometimes on other shows I'm like, oh, they're Christians. But they don't always bring in like how like Christian living can be incorporated. Or how like this can be incorporated into Christian living or it's just kind of like a side thought. So I really appreciate that of his, um, as well as just in any of his resources that he creates. Um, the one thing sometimes though with him is that he talks really fast and I often listen to my podcasts on a faster speed, but his, I have to listen to it a little slower'cause he gets really excited and he just talks really fast and kind of like, it's funny because he is got this like stutter where he'll be like. And then, and and he'll like kind of like say, because he is just going so fast and it's like him processing his thoughts and it kind of just makes me laugh at this point.'cause he does it so much.

Chrissy:

Honestly, Josh Acts is one of those people that I look at him, I'm like, I wanna be like you one

Katie:

Yes.

Chrissy:

Like when I grow up, I would love to have a brain like

Katie:

Mm-hmm.

Chrissy:

It's so sharp. Okay, so moving on, gonna move on to books. A few books that I would personally recommend is, again, by Josh Axe. He wrote a book called Eat Dirt, that book I read when I started this whole Crunchy Journey. And it talks a lot about healing your gut, leaky gut syndrome, things like that. Another one by Josh Ax. That, um, I would love to get, but I don't have, it's called ancient prescriptions. It, uh, is pretty much like a recipe book with a lot of home remedies and things like that, that you can use as medicinal. Substitutions. Instead of using medicine from the pharmacy or something like that, you would use these remedies essentially do the same thing. book that has a lot of recipes in it is the Forgotten Home Apothecary. I really do love this one. It has a lot of really fun pictures, and when you're looking at the table of contents, it's like you're picking a jar off the shelf of whatever remedy you want to use. And so I've used it a few times. I've made a few successful recipes and a few unsuccessful recipes. There's some of them definitely require. Trial and error, but

Katie:

Interesting.

Chrissy:

they do work in the end. Yeah. The, the jello cough drops. I have not quite figured out how to get it to like become jello. It, it doesn't solidify for me, and I might be doing it wrong. I don't know,

Katie:

I wonder.

Chrissy:

I haven't had a cough in a while, so I have not, haven't had a need to make it.

Katie:

I wonder if you could like YouTube it and see if people have like shown their process just to see.'cause sometimes that's like really helpful for me where I'm like, what am I doing wrong? And then I'll just go on YouTube and type in that thing and then someone's like, oh, and just be sure. To, you know, only use a metal bowl or you know, something like that where you're like, that is so weird and specific, but then all of a sudden you're like, oh, now this actually really works. Or some of the temperature, whatever. I don't know. So

Chrissy:

Interesting. All right, well maybe I'll have to do that to figure out why my jello won't jello eyes.

Katie:

Yep. Well, a couple books that I wanna recommend. The first one is my first book that really tipped me over the edge into. Crunchy ness, um, and just better eating in general was called Feeding You Lies by Vanni Hari. I've mentioned it also a couple times throughout our podcast episodes. Um, this one really will open your eyes to the corruption. Inside of our big food system and, and it goes beyond just food because there are so many different industries that touch the food industry that there's just a lot of corruption and, uh, yeah, just a lot of stuff going on that. I just wasn't aware of, you know, you think an apple's an apple until you figure out all the things that went into producing that apple and what's sprayed on it and what's really going into your body, and then the impact that it has. And we're wondering, you know, why, why is everyone so sick? Or why am I getting sick or why am I not, you know, losing weight even if I'm eating really healthy? Well, it, it's probably because of the way that things, again, are processed and. Made and just all the stuff that really goes into it. So, um, yeah, Vanni Hari is like an advocate for just better food ingredients in general. And I, that was the first book that I really read and was kind of like, it opened my eyes to the whole, like Maha movement in general.'cause she's really, she's a big name in the Maha movement of, you know, make America healthy again. And that was the first time I had ever heard her name. You know, health and food and nutrition and stuff has always been something I've been. Generally interested in, I wouldn't say passionate about something that I'm like always conscious of, but that book was really pivotal in, in helping me understand like, oh, I don't know anything really about it. And she just kind of flips the whole food pyramid on its head and you're like, oh, all this is just a marketing scheme. My other book is a new one, um, that actually just came out like a month or two ago now. I actually might have only just been last month. Um, but Josh

Chrissy:

It was September. 16th.

Katie:

Oh, there you go. So September, so it's been two months. I must have only just read it last month then. Um, but the Biblio Diet is co-authored by Josh Acts, but then, um, Jordan Rubin is kind of the primary author, and actually if you listen to the audio version, he actually reads the book and the audio version,. But this book is now going to be my go-to book when I find out somebody has a chronic illness, um, especially something like cancer, this is the one that I'm going to be recommending to people because they go into a lot of information on how to. Prevent and reverse cancers and then just stay cancer free forever at that point. I actually did learn that my mom recommended it to one of her friends who she learned, um, had cancer, has cancer recently, which I was like, way to go mom, that you did that. Um,'cause she actually went and listened to the book'cause we share an audible account she's like, this is amazing and I'm gonna recommend it to my friend. And it's. It's gonna change her life. And I was like, yeah. They have a lot of really interesting information in there. So yeah, that one's the Biblio, so B-I-B-L-I-O. And actually Biblio technically stands for book, like the book Diet is, is what they go by. But obviously the book, meaning the Bible, um, is kind of what they're playing on there. So that one is, um, good. And then I'll just throw this one out there right now, and then you can share another one, Chrissy, but Nourishing Traditions, I mention it like all the time, so I, I don't even need to really go into it that much, but it's, uh. Helps you kind of take what Vanni Hari said in her book and then start to implement a lot of what she said of like. All this stuff is not good. And then nor Nourishing Traditions gives you even more in depth the science behind why a lot of this other stuff that she was saying is bad. And then it also gives you recipes, um, all in one book. And the book literally looks like a giant textbook and that is basically how I've been treating it. It's like a textbook and I love it. I highlight so much in there. There is just so much information in there and it is. So good. And there's a lot of really good recipes, so I highly recommend that. Do you have any other books you wanna share? And then I'll share a couple more.

Chrissy:

Yeah. Two that I have. I actually have not read these two, so take that as you may. But they've been recommended to me numerous times over. And these two books talk about the mind body connection and how our mental health and our mental state impact our physical health and physical state. So incredibly much. And so the two books are Mind Your Body by Nicole Sachs and that one specifically. Um, talks a lot about chronic pain and how to treat and heal chronic pain, and even sometimes acute pain with mental exercises. And so, um, I actually have a friend who read this book. She's a counselor. She read this book and. she had a abdominal surgery. She had a tumor in her abdomen, had it removed, and she was sent home with not enough pain medication to get her to her next appointment. And so she was in excruciating pain and she had 48 hours until her next appointment, and she had one pill left of Oxycodone or Dilaudid, whichever. She took and she went to this book. She did the exercise that, like the mental exercise that this book, talks about. And she said her pain vanished. It was gone completely. She did not have to take that last pill that she had left in the bottle, and she made it to her la her appointment, 48 hours, no problem. And she walked in feeling. Fantastic. just the, the power of the mind over the physical, um, is quite fantastic.

Katie:

It actually reminds me a lot about the concept of hypnobirthing. Um, there's a lot of books on that subject, but it's kind of that same mentality of like when you, when you do these mind exercises. You can get through anything like birth without, needing any pain medications or anything like that. And so, um, if anybody's wanting to learn about that, I've read a few different books about hypnobirthing myself, and it's really quite fascinating. So there you go. There's another recommendation that I didn't expect to give.

Chrissy:

I love it. Then the other book that's similar is called Good Energy by Casey Means. It again talks about, um, the energy and our, in our book. Bodies and our mental health and mental state, things like that and how it impacts our physical health. So I think that's quite a fascinating connection because in the end it's all connected.

Katie:

I really wanna read that book. That one's actually high on my want to read list right now, so, oh, maybe, maybe I'll add that to my reading list over the kinda like Christmas holiday time. On the thought of. Your thoughts and your feelings and stuff. The, the next book I actually wanted to recommend was one that I read most recently, and it's called Bad Therapy. This one, I, I don't know if it's necessarily, if it, I would consider it super crunchy, but it's definitely in the realm of like health, especially when it comes to mental health. And this book has really challenged the way that I think about. Therapy and raising kids and our society as a whole right now. And it's heavy emphasis on feelings and therapy and mental health in general. And it's really fascinating because, I mean, I, I think most of us have kind of come to this place where we're like, therapy's really good and only good things can come from it. And so a lot of parents are really quick to send their kids to therapy and to get therapy, but oftentimes, um, it inevit leads to kids not being able to become really resilient and to kind of grow up and to make decisions for themselves and to. Do things scared and do things messy. I was blown away because it challenged so many of the things that I. Had thought I believed, but then the way that they explained it in this book is really like, oh my gosh. It challenged a lot of the books that I have read in the past about trauma and mental health and therapy in general, And then the last book that I want to share for those who maybe wanna get deeper into the crunchy world and are really curious about it. Um, is the book called Turtles All the Way Down now? It's by anonymous, but it's by an, an anonymous two authors for a reason. Um, it's all about the vaccine industry and vaccine safety and efficacy and lots of stuff, it's written by anonymous because anytime that anybody, no matter who they are. When anyone speaks out against vaccines in any way, shape or form, that person oftentimes becomes. Attacked and you know, oh, they don't know what they're talking about because they're crazy or they don't have a degree, or they like live in another country. Or, you know, anything like, it's basically like, oh no, you can't take their book seriously because this person you cannot take seriously in general. But really what this book does is simply take all of the. Research and studies, and it just compiles it into one book and it breaks it down into like, what is the safety and efficacy of all vaccines. So it'll go through and talk about all of them. And it even talks about the polio vaccine in a way that I had never learned about. There's a lot of crazy stuff about the polio vaccine that I was just like, whoa. Um, anyway, it's a really. Hefty book. There's just, there's a lot of information and my mom started listening to that book too, and she's like, there's just too much in here. I get the picture, I'm done with this. So just be fair warmed. It is, it's intense. There's a lot, um, just to take in. So. Anyway, let's move on to, um, any other like, websites or resources that we recommend, um, that way people can also have like different places to go to, uh, to learn things. Chrissy, do you wanna kick us off in that section?

Chrissy:

Yeah, so the first one that I would recommend is actually a website that my functional medicine doctor refers to a lot. He hasn't technically referred this web. Site, but in their weekly emails that they send out, there are always recipes from this website. It's called the minimalist baker. You could literally just Google minimalist baker and it will come up. And the really nice thing about it is you can choose a bunch of different kinds of recipes that you want and kind of filter through, because this website, I'm not even kidding, you has like 4,000 recipes on it. So you can filter it by season first off. Then you can filter any certain diet that you want to focus on. If you want high protein, gluten free, dairy free, if you want it sweetened with dates instead of sugar, something like that. Um. They don't have a sugar free option, but they have dates sweetened, which I think is pretty as close to sugar free as you can get. Um, so lots of options in terms of specialty diets. You can also filter it in terms of what kind of cuisine you're looking for, Asian, Indian, Italian, Caribbean, and any type of recipe. So if you want an appetizer or a beverage or or a dinner or something like that. And then. Also in terms of simplicity, ingredients, and then you could even sort them A to Z, but there's so many different recipes on here. All of the ones that I've tried have been fantastic so far. I am loving all of them and they all make my tummy very happy and my body's very happy with them. They're very easy recipes to follow, so I highly recommend the minimalist baker. Website to find holiday recipes. Even they have like healthy versions of pecan pie and a like a pumpkin cream parfait, and it just is delicious and isn't going to wreck your gut. So it's a beautiful thing. Another website that I would recommend is, um, the EWG website is short for the environmental working Group. So this group. Does intentional, do a lot of third party research on products, and then they give those products a rating based on good they are. And usually they, they do a lot of products that aren't foods, so to say. They do a lot of personal care products and water. They do have a water section. Um, things like that. And so it's really nice because they break down each ingredient and why it's important and why you should be concerned about it or not concerned about it. And then it also breaks down like a harm level, so into allergies, cancer causing, um. things like that. And so it'll break down like what exactly this ingredient is harming in your body, which is also very helpful because if you don't have an allergy to an ingredient, it can be okay for you. But if you do have an allergy to an ingredient, then it, it's nice'cause it highlights it super bold so you can stay away from that. another one that I would recommend is. The Bobby approved app. This is, if you look it up on a website, it'll just send you straight to the app. So just get the app. Um, it's really nice. Bobby is, is Bobby Parrish. He is another third party. Guy who goes through and pretty much highlights good and bad food in grocery stores. He literally goes through grocery stores throughout the entire United States and takes pictures of products and posts them on his, uh, app. And you can search through. He has an entire list of ingredients that are color coded red, yellow, and green on how good or bad an ingredient is. And he tells you, explains to you why you should or shouldn't stay away from certain ingredients and things like that. Um, the nice thing about Bobby that I think is he focuses a lot on ingredient quality and he doesn't really focus much on like. Uh, macronutrient ratios. So an app like the Yucca app focuses a lot more on macronutrient ratios like protein versus carbs versus fats, whereas Bobby approved focuses a lot more on just the core ingredients. And let me tell you guys, if you are getting the core ingredients good, then you really don't have to worry as much about the. Carbs to protein to fat ratio because the ingredients are what's really going to make or break your health here.

Katie:

Yeah, I agree. I've heard some not great things about the Yucca app especially that they like oftentimes promote foods that often have seed oils. Um, I'm on, like, I, I. Another app that I've tried before, but I'm also on their, like, email list is seed oil scout. SOS is what they, they're like apps as like SOS Um, they, they actually send out a lot of really good, helpful emails I've really appreciated. So if you're looking for like an email list to join theirs is really awesome. So, um. So the kind of two-ish resources, extra ones that I wanted to recommend. First, were just simply Facebook groups. I have learned a lot, um, inside of different health focused Facebook groups. Um, there are Facebook groups for a lot of these like podcasts. In general, um, you know, Alex Clark has one, um, that is pretty good. They, they actually have like a specific one that's more for crunchy stuff. It's crunchy and cute, conservative.'cause her original group is called cute conservatives with a like cute CUTE is what I'm saying. Just in case you can't understand me. Cute conservatives. Um, but then there's like variations and break offs of her main group. And people are very active in those groups. Um, one group actually that I've been. Enjoying and I've been more active in is a homeopathy group, which is not something I really expected, but I've been kind of getting a little bit more into homeopathy. Um. And there's like a, a group that I'm a part of, I think it's called like Home Ask a Homeopath 24 7 or something like that. It if you, if you type it in, like there's different variations of this group. Um, and I really like it because you literally could go in there and they have like an active homeopath who, like a homeo homeopathic doctor in there who will. Listen to what you have to say. Like you type in all of your symptoms and different things, and then they'll recommend a homeopathic remedy and they're usually really quick and responsive. And so we've been doing that recently. Um, and I've been kind of building up my collection of homeopathic remedies mostly because it really helped Malachi, uh, when he had a little sickness a couple weeks ago and I was like shocked. And so I'm like, now what else can I. Like do with this homeopathic remedy. So I've been posting in those and um, that's been really helpful. But if even if you like look up like. Crunchy and then put in your state, like I joined a Michigan crunchy group, and people often in there will ask for doctor recommendations or chiropractor recommendations, or we'll post things about different like. Bills that are being proposed in their state that are related to health or agriculture and stuff like that. And, and I've just been like keeping an eye on those and, and that's been really helpful. So I'd recommend that. But especially too, if you are looking to get more like, uh. Engaged and involved in a lot of the just like movement of crunchiness and, and Maha specifically. Um, there's a website that I've been kind of keeping an eye on too. It's called maha action.com. Um, and they have a lot of resources on like how you can actually be involved in making our, making America like healthier actually. I've been. Going through some of their resources and learning from them and, and I'm on their email list and they send like updates on like the wins, like Maha wins of the week. And it's just really encouraging too when you get to see some of those wins and you're like, wow. Like things are actually changing and they're making improvements and it's great. And so, yeah, that's kind of the last resource that I wanted to recommend. Um, Chrissy, did you have any other things you wanted to share or say?

Chrissy:

No, that's great. I had never heard of literally all three of those, so I'm over

Katie:

Ooh.

Chrissy:

of them into my browser to see if I could join these email lists.

Katie:

Mm-hmm.

Chrissy:

Learn more because, you know, we're both constantly learning from each other. And so, um, yeah, it's just, it's good to bounce ideas off of each other.'cause I learn things. You're not learning, you're learning things I'm not learning. And so it's great to come together and be like, wow, there's so much more

Katie:

Well, this episode hopefully has been helpful so that way you can have some resources to continue your crunchy education. Um, if you ever come across like a good book or podcast or resource in general. We would love to hear about them. We also do have a Facebook group. Um, you notice I did not mention it as like a resource to come and join because we haven't been super active over there. Um, but it is still a resource that you can come and join. We do part of our like goal over the Christmas kind of season. When we're taking a break from posting episodes is to just start to revision. Like, what, what is this podcast going to look like in the next season, in the next year? And, you know, what do we wanna see change? What, what do we think we're doing well? Um, we would love to hear from you on. Some of those thoughts too, like if you have an idea or something that we could be doing differently on the podcast, um, we'd love to hear from you. So just shoot us an email or join us over on our Facebook group, crunchy Christian Mamas on a budget. Um, we, we have a lot of ideas on what we can be doing differently, but at the same time, it's like we don't wanna just go and, you know, do different things like all crazy. So if, if there's stuff that's working that you really like, um, we also don't wanna get rid of that stuff. So, um. But our goal is really to, yeah, have a plan for the next year in what we're gonna be doing and, and different things that we can be. Providing for you and to just better serve you in this, this journey that we're all on to, you know, better our health and to become closer to Christ and, um, to just take care of our family as well, and, and also take care of our finance as well. So that's, that's what we're gonna be doing over the Christmas season. We'll be planning episodes and preparing those for you, uh, for the new year. Um, yeah. Christy, any other thoughts that you wanna share before we sign off?

Chrissy:

No, I think you hit it all.

Katie:

Oh,

Chrissy:

further ado, my name is Chrissy

Katie:

name is Katie.

Chrissy:

and thanks for listening to Crunchy Stewardship.

Katie:

See you next year.

Chrissy:

Bye.