Hello, and welcome to Our Heritage of Health! My name is Lori Elliott. I live in suburban Massachusetts, but I’m a country girl at heart, and someday I’d love to live in an old, historic farmhouse with a front porch and a fireplace and enough land for animals and a big vegetable and herb garden.
In the meantime, I consider myself a suburban homesteader, and I live as much of the homesteading lifestyle as I can in the suburbs with my small flock of backyard chickens, vegetable and herb gardens, and cooking real food from scratch.
I love all things old-fashioned, and my favorite pastimes are the simple ones like taking my dog on a walk through the woods or reading a book on a rainy day. I could read all day and never get tired of it. My idea of the perfect relaxing evening would be sitting by a fireplace with a good book, a cozy blanket, and a warm cup of tea (and maybe a piece of chocolate cake too!).
When I’m not reading, I enjoy playing the piano and the violin, listening to music, quilting and other craft projects, working in my little backyard garden and learning more about herbs and herbalism. I also love browsing through antique stores and collecting old cookbooks and household items from the 19th century.
More important than any of those hobbies and interests, though, is my relationship with God. I’m a follower of Jesus Christ, and I’m involved in my local church and enjoy spending time with the people in my church. (And if you’re interested in learning more about what I mean when I say I’m a follower of Jesus, I explain in more detail on this page.)
I also started a YouTube channel for music called Olden Time Tunes where I have instrumental arrangements of hymns and other traditional tunes. These songs are ones that are either older songs or songs done in a style inspired by older songs, and this channel allows me to combine my interest in old-fashioned things and my love of playing and arranging music in a way that I hope will be God-honoring and point others to Christ as well as be an encouragement to believers.
I’m also a lover of animals, and this is my “baby,” Daisy. She’s just as sweet as she looks in this picture (most of the time), and she’s my motivation for getting off the couch and going outside for some fresh air in the winter time. If it weren’t for her, I think I would just hibernate until spring. Daisy also takes care of any of my failed recipe experiments so that no food goes to waste. And, yes, the trash strewn all over the floor is from her play time!
I’ve always had a fascination with the past, and I love learning about history and finding ways to incorporate what I learn into my daily life. While I still use and enjoy modern conveniences, I’m a very traditional sort of person, and I love doing things the old-fashioned way.
I might not be ready to give up the washing machine quite yet and go back to scrubbing clothes on a washboard, and I’m definitely not ready to give up the conveniences of electricity and indoor plumbing . . . but I do think that there is a lot that we can learn from the traditional foods, work ethic, and do-it-yourself mentality of the “good old days.”
Even though I don’t do my cooking over an open fire or even with a wood stove (although I’d love to have one of those someday!), I like to make things from scratch, focusing on using fresh, whole foods and natural ingredients rather than processed and packaged foods.
I cook the way I imagine my great-great grandmother might have cooked over a century ago. I believe that God has created so many healthy, beautiful foods for us to eat, and it makes no sense to me to destroy the natural state of those foods with modern food processing, chemical preservatives, and artificial ingredients. I do a lot of experimenting with old-fashioned recipes and with traditional methods of food preparation, and I am on a journey toward healthier eating, natural living, and a simpler lifestyle.
There’s so much that we can learn from the past, from the heritage of those who lived in the centuries before us. I want to return to the old ways of cooking a nourishing, homemade meal rather than popping a box in the microwave, of using household products made with simple ingredients rather than chemicals, and of focusing on the health and well-being of the whole body rather than swallowing a pill to mask an isolated symptom.
I think it’s about time for our modern world to remember its rich heritage of health!
About the Blog:
Our Heritage of Health is all about ways that we can let old-fashioned wisdom inspire our modern lifestyles, including topics such as:
- Old-fashioned, real-food, made-from-scratch recipes
- Natural health and wellness
- Herbalism
- Backyard chickens
- Gardening
- DIY household ideas and projects
- Household cleaning, organizing, etc.
- Random old-fashioned tips and advice
- Recommendations for books, products, inspiration, etc.
Let’s Stay in Touch!
If you have any questions or comments, you can reach me at my Contact page.
And if you’d like to stay in touch, you can subscribe to my newsletter for updates on new blog posts:
Kaelyn
Monday 18th of December 2023
Hi Lori, I came across the 1869 sourdough bread recipe. I made it really enjoyed it but now the recipe is no longer available. I was hoping to be able to get it from you. I have been on the search for a good sourdough bread recipe to make weekly and yours was it! I look forward to trying your other recipes Thank you
Lori Elliott
Monday 18th of December 2023
Hi Kaelyn, I’m really sorry for the broken link! I took the page down temporarily because I needed to update it a bit. I had been reading some more information about the original source of the recipe and the controversial history that is connected with the book the recipe came from, and so I wanted to include a note about that so people were aware. I have re-published the page, though, and it should hopefully come up fine now. I’m sorry again for the trouble, and I will leave a link to the page here for convenience: https://www.ourheritageofhealth.com/easy-homemade-sourdough-bread-recipe-from-1869/
Mary
Sunday 15th of January 2023
Hi Lori! I found your recipe For Grandmas Old Fashioned Gingerbread Cake and ABSOLUTELY loved it!! It is perfect and my boyfriend says that it tastes exactly like the cake his mom made him as a child. I went to the recipe yesterday and noticed it was no longer available. I’m hoping I can get it from you so I could make it again. Thank you so much!
Lori Elliott
Monday 16th of January 2023
Hi Mary! I'm really sorry about the recipe not being available! I will send you an email using the address you gave when you filled out this comment form and give you a copy of the recipe, so that should hopefully show up in your inbox soon!
Jennifer
Sunday 5th of July 2020
Just found your blog through looking at Type 2 Dressing your truth on Pinterest. Looking forward to checking out more of your website!
Lori Elliott
Monday 6th of July 2020
Welcome! I'm so glad you stopped by! :)
Sherie Rodrigues
Thursday 28th of February 2019
Dear Lori, I am in my 70th year, and loving it. I live in Australia. I wanted to tell you how much I love your story. We would make great neighbors. I could learn so much from you. Lots of best wishes and hugs from me to you and Daisy. Sherie
Lori Elliott
Friday 1st of March 2019
Hi Sherie, it's so nice to "meet" you! I'm so glad you introduced yourself, and it sounds like we would make good neighbors. Best wishes to you too!
Rose
Thursday 24th of January 2019
Hi Lori! We sound very related in our interests! It sounds like we have very similar goals and dreams; but I already live on a farm and thoroughly love it!!!
Lori Elliott
Saturday 26th of January 2019
It's nice to meet you, Rose! And that's awesome that you already live on a farm!