I just got back from an amazing trip to California to visit my sister Amy. It was beyond beautiful out there--sunny, hilly, green. Completely breathtaking. Amy lives in a little A-frame wooden house surrounded by rolling hills and flowers and trees and blue sky. I felt like I was at some spa retreat that you'd pay thousands of dollars to go to. Only better because the host was so awesome.
Anyway the theme of the week was healthy eating. Amy participates in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) and receives a box of locally grown organic vegetables every week. She then plans her meals around what she gets in the box. Add some whole grains and garlic and a cup of fresh-squeezed O.J. or raw milk to drink and booyah--heavenly meal. Every single thing I ate there was so delicious and felt so good to my body. Oh and the wine. Must include some good wine, hopefully from the organic vineyard you visited earlier that day.
Now that I am back I am full of enthusiasm and motivation. I want to eat this way. I want my family to eat this way. I want to feel good about my food and be able to pronounce and recognize every ingredient that goes into it. I want food to do more than just fill me up, I want it to nourish me.
So I'm letting my enthusiasm carry me as far as I can. I'm joining my own local CSA and attempting to follow the same simple meal-plan as we did in CA. In the meantime I made it a priority to use my first day home to visit the Dekalb farmer's market to pick up new vegetables, grains, and spices. Last night I prepared roasted root veggies and roasted garlic with homemade "mac-n-cheese" (really just pasta with butter and cheese). Tonight I'm making beets and beet greens over couscous.
It doesn't come very naturally to me to be creative in the kitchen or come up with meals, or to cook even (Jamie has done the majority), so this is daunting. But I am so so ready for a nutrition overhaul. I'm hoping my eagerness for healthier living will help the transition into forming a habit of this. I'm counting on my sisters and mother to hold me accountable. You too Jamie!
Oh! And in other news my little vampire-child (who accompanied me to CA) started walking at Aunt Amy's house. Everybody cover your knees!
3 comments:
good for you! your body will thank you for it. I cook that way now out of necessity, and it's taken some practice (and lots of googling for recipes), but I'm glad that we're cooking that way now. I wish we could join a CSA, but with me being allergic to things like corn, potatoes, and tomatoes, I figure half of the veggies we would get would be food I couldn't even eat. Luckily I live right by the farmer's market so I can swing by and get whatever we need. We also have gotten good at cooking larger meals so we can freeze leftovers, then it doesn't feel like such a daunting task every time we need to make food, because if we're just having "one of those nights" we can grab something out of the freezer. Oh! And crock pot meals are great for that too. I have a couple good crock pot recipe books if you wanna borrow them.
YAY! You are awesome, Melanie! And I can't believe Juliet is walking-wow! Hope to see you in the a.m. at church!
Good stuff. We did a summer and winter share CSA over the last year, and it's incredible how many new meals the ingredients will add to your family menu. I will caution you, however, that you may periodically end up with sub-par crops (especially bug-infested corn) so be careful to examine everything thoroughly.
I'm all about healthy eating, but at the same time, I still have to feed my craving for nachos, cheesesteaks, and hot wings. I believe they are for my psychological well-being, which should also not be neglected.
Phil
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