Traveling to a Food Desert

We will be heading to our cabin for Labor Day weekend, and as always, we need to bring food. Our cabin is located in an area where you can not just run to the store if you run out of something. There is a small town nearby, but the options for food consist of 3 bars (and I am not talking about good bar food) and a gas station. The gas station is a pretty well stocked one, if you can live on chips, candy, alcohol, pop (soda if you are from Wisconsin), cheese curds and beef jerky. I know, sounds like fun huh?

Unfortunately, my system would not take it, and I definitely don't want my family living off of that. I am not saying that we won't possibly pick up a "snack" there, but we definitely can not rely on it for our groceries.

The wonderful thing is that it is still prime veggie season at our CSA (community supported agriculture) Crossroads Community Farm. We will have broccoli and beans with our whole grilled chicken. Grilled corn with our hamburgers and turkey burgers. We will be making Kabobs with chicken, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers and onions. Dessert? Melons, also from the farm. Snacks? Nuts, coconut flakes, dried mango and banana chips, yogurt covered almonds for Marie, carrot and cucumbers with hummus.

After the photo I realized I was missing some very important things that will be going with us. Granola to go with Mark and Marie's yogurt. Eggs to go with our sweet potato/potato and pecan hash and avocado slices. Citrus Kombucha for my daughter and I. Most importantly for tired parents? Our coffee and my coconut milk. 

At this point you are probably asking why I am telling you our menu? Am I making you hungry? The reason I am listing out all our food is because there is not one thing in that picture that I would be able to buy at the local gas station near our cabin. This is not a tragedy for us as we bring our own food, have been for 10 years. The thing that makes me sad is that the locals either need to buy food there, or travel a distance to go buy food. The nearest town with good, healthy options is La Crosse, which is 40 minutes away, or Viroqua which is 30 minutes away. 

I feel lucky that we get to travel, and travel with good food. If you too are traveling this holiday weekend, eat well, and be safe!

I Love You....Especially When You are Sleeping

This is an old photo from last winter. I had to use this one as my husband has our newer Ipad with current photos. I love how she put her baby doll to bed by her. 

I am writing this at 10:20pm, way past my bedtime. My husband is on a business trip and I should be in bed. Instead, after a bad day (four to be exact), I have a hard time going to bed. I am exhausted. I miss my husband, specifically for hugs and support. It has been a hard week being a single parent, hence the reason I have had no creative energy to post on my blog this week. However, after a bad week I am trying to be postive. My sweetie is coming home tomorrow! I do not have to do this on my own again starting tomorrow!

Part of why I started this blog is because I feel like I have all this creative energy to share. I am amazed at how quickly it can be sapped.  I keep thinking about the people I know that do this by themselves (parenting) everyday and can not stop being amazed.  It humbles me to realize there are stronger people out there, people who can stay happy and healthy without a partner. This may by choice or chance, but they are doing it.

Tonight, before I thought I was going to bed, I checked in our daughter as usual. She was sleeping in her pull-up, no pajamas for this girl. I crawled into bed and snuggled with her. We had had our fourth bad day in a row and I sent her to bed after we had been fighting (again). I had made sure to go in before she fell asleep to make sure we were okay (we have a don't go to bed angry policy in our house). We were, but I think things were a little tense on my end. I still needed a snuggle, even if she was okay and off in dreamland. I always find it amazing how much I love her when she is sleeping. Doesn't every parent?

This is part of what makes our family happy and healthy. Even after a bad day (or four), I like to believe tomorrow will be better. It doesn't mean I may not be cranky tomorrow, or that our daughter and I will not fight (is she four or fourteen?), but at least I like to think it will be better. And at the end of the day, in some way, we will make up.  We will hug and kiss and hope for a better tomorrow. 

  

Cooking and Dining "Art"

I thought I would talk about one aspect of "conscious design" as it pertains to our house.  Of course it involves cooking and dining tools as 80% of my blog will most likely revolve around food!

When preparing to move into an "almost" 800 square foot house we had to decided what we were going to keep, what needed to be stored and what we were getting rid of. Thankfully, the storage part was already being taken care of at our cabin. When I was 7-8 months pregnant somebody finally bought our 2500 square foot house (it had been on the market for 2-1/2 years!) and we moved into an apartment. At that time everything we didn't need got stored at the cabin. We then took care of a house for a friend for 2 years while looking for, and then finally purchasing our current house. 

The house we purchased needed to have the kitchen, bathroom and breezeway completely redone. This allowed for us to really think about how we wanted to use the spaces and what we planned to have in them. As you can tell by my blogs, I love food and cooking more then anything (after my family of course). I needed to decide what things I really use in the kitchen and where I was going to put everything. My husband even had to create a pantry of sorts in the basement to store things like my stand-up mixer that I use about twice a year (I am not a baker). Even though the mixer looked pretty on our counter at first, it took up precious space. 

When my husband and I first started dating I had a lot of knick-knacks. He was not a big fan of them. Over the years I have learned to appreciate that less is more. Instead of knick-knacks, we purchase useful things for decorations. Everything has it's purpose (except maybe some of our daughter's toys, but you try taking anything away from her!). I am not saying we don't have pictures and art on our walls, but I no longer have my glass animal candle holders I saved up for and bought from our local Hallmark store when I was in grade school.

Below are a few of my favorite "art" things:

My very large cast iron skillet. This is a new favorite. We registered for this for our wedding, and eventually my dad and his wife got it for us the following Christmas. Right away they asked, "what the heck are you planning on cooking with that!" I have to admit it is really heavy and it was stored at our cabin for many years after we sold our first house. I recently unearthed it and it now has a permanent home on our stove top. Honestly, at first I was too lazy to put it away (seriously, it is a good work out). Eventually though I started cooking most things in it. Now, I just love how pretty it looks in my kitchen!

 These shelves are in our "diningroom/office". The two dutch ovens I use for everything! One friend asked me if I actually use the bowls or if they are just for decoration. Nope, I use them (but they are also nice to look at). All right, I have to admit I don't use the things on the top row often. However, instead of using decorations on that shelf, I decided to use what I already had. Part of the reason I don't use them though is because I don't really eat bread or cake, so I kind of forget about the cake stand and bread basket (sorry my two sweeties). 

Knives! If you can only afford to spend money on one thing in your kitchen, invest in a good knife set! Again, when space is at a premium, hanging a simple and inexpensive knife magnet is a way to save space. Plus, it looks nice on the wall. 

When designing our kitchen we decided to include glass front cabinets for our dishes. Fun dishes to me are like a piece of art (assuming you can keep them organized, and I do). When my husband and I registered for gifts for our wedding we did not choose fine china. Nothing against it, but it is just not us. I wanted something durable that was going to last. Fiestaware!  

Oh, the pink piggy bowls? I found them at a garage sale a neighbor was having. Our daughter loves them, and I love seeing them peek out of the glass cabinet doors at me!

The rest of our house is pretty calm as far as colors go, but using colorful dishes and servingware is a nice way to add a little pop and interest in our spaces. Also, using these pieces as decorations helps to eliminate clutter that seems to pile up quickly in a "petite" house.

Ugly Juice

Ok, it's really watermelon and cucumber juice, but it ain't pretty!

At this time of year we find ourselves with lots of cucumbers, and you can only make so many pickles and tomato/cucumber salads. We also find ourselves with the occasional mealy watermelon. These are not that great to eat, but the juice is delicious!

We use our juicer, but if you don't mind pulp (or I suppose you could strain it), you can also use a blender.

This is not a recipe exactly, just a suggestion. It is really up to you how many cucumbers and how much watermelon you want to use. My only suggestion is that you use more melon then cucumbers. Also, when juicing, it is best to drink the juice right away to get the full nutritional value, or at least within the next 24 hours. So let that be your guide for how much to make at a time.

At least our daughter doesn't care what it looks like!

Yes, it is an ugly color! 

The nice thing about this juice is that watermelons and cucumbers are mostly water, so you are not wasting a lot. In fact, when I go to compost the pulp, it is hardly anything. If you want the fiber, then by all means use a blender and keep the pulp. Our almost 4 year old does not like pulp, so this is a nice refreshing treat and a change from our usual water!

If you would like to try juicing, a great website is Juice Recipes.com.

You can look up recipes based on what you have in your refrigerator or create your own. You can then see what you are getting from your juice. Here is an example based on watermelon and cucumber juice.

(4) Cups of diced watermelon and (1) 8-1/4" Cucumber:

149 Calories

16% of your daily potassium

4 grams of protein

14% of your daily Vitamin A

45% of your daily Vitamin C

20% of your daily Iron

Riboflavin, Thiamin, Vitamin B-6, Vitamin K, Copper, Magnesium, Phosphorus, the list goes on!

My favorite? 589 grams of water, that equals 20 ounces! This should make the non-water drinkers happy!

Homemade Organic Apple Sauce

Whenever I find a bag of discounted apples at our local Willy Street Co-op, I make applesauce. These apples tend to be bruised and sometimes ugly, but perfect for applesauce! 

Ingredients:

Note: You can play around with amounts. I based this recipe on what I purchased that day. Less apples? Use just enough water to cover them.

-5 pounds organic apples- our favorite is a mix of sweet and tart 

-2 quarts water (or enough to cover the apples)

-Cinnamon (start with 2-3 tsp, taste, add more if desired)

Optional: vanilla and honey

Directions:

1. Roughly chop apples, place in large pot (there is no need to peel the apples).

2. Cover with water and start to boil.

3. Once boiling, lower to a simmer and cook until apples start to fall apart (about 15 minutes).

4. When apples are done, let cool for awhile. This makes them easier (and safer) to handle when transferring them to a blender.

5. When cool enough to handle, blend the apples in batches. I use 4 cups apples to 1 cup cooking liquid. You can pulse them quickly to leave chunks, or blend completely (especially for those picky kiddos).

6. Transfer each batch to a large bowl. Once all the apples are blended and in the bowl you can add the cinnamon. If the mixture is not sweet enough for you, this is the time to add honey. It is best done while the mixture is still warm. A little vanilla is nice too.

So, what does 5 pounds of apples make?

1 quart and 3 pint jars of sauce which I will put in the freezer, 16 ounces of apple juice (keep the cooking liquid!), plus 1 small bowl of applesauce my daughter can not wait to eat!

Why do I make it? Besides the fact that I love cooking, it is for the cost savings of course! One jar of organic apple sauce can cost anywhere from $3-$6. For $5 I made everything mentioned above. Also, I have a bonus pint of apple juice (again, feel free to add a little honey to the warm juice before refrigerating it).

Warm apple sauce is delicious topped with some vanilla yogurt and granola, or if you really want to be naughty, vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!

Because Plain Water is Boring

All right, I drink a lot of water. Usually plain, but sometimes enough is enough. I came across this recipe for 'Detox Water' on a Facebook friend's page. Does it really work? I am not sure, but it sure tastes good!



I have modified it to fit into a 8 cup Ball Jar I like to keep in the refrigerator with various homemade beverages. The important thing is to play around with the quantities to see what you like. Check out the website Everyday Roots for more information on this beverage and other suggestions.

What I use:

(1) Large lemon, peel removed in not organic

(1) Medium cucumber

Mint leaves- 10-20 depending on how "minty" you like it

Put it in a jar and refrigerate for 24 hours, then enjoy! I like to keep the lemon, cucumber and mint leaves in the jar and refill it once (let it sit 24 hours again). 

25 Minutes...

....the time it took to put up 7-1/2 lbs. of veggies.

You read that right.

Shucking the corn, cutting the corn off, washing and chopping summer squash and zucchini, coring and chopping tomatoes. There was no blanching needed. Into BPA-free freezer bags and into our chest freezer. Granted, I think I have some pretty good knife skills after cooking for so many years, but even a newbie could do it.

If I were to buys 7 bags of organic frozen vegetables at $2.49 per bag that would equal $17.43 (I have not mentioned yet that I love numbers). Think of the money I would be throwing away if I did not use all my vegetables and then turned around and bought them at the grocery store in the winter!

As part of  Crossroads Community Farm in Cross Plains,Wisconsin I receive a lot of veggies! Add to that my love of gardening, and we now have twice as many vegetables in the growing season. For anyone new to gardening or a vegetable CSA (community supported agriculture), this can be VERY overwhelming! I remember when I worked at a CSA and I had the opportunity to bring home as many vegetables as I could, especially when we had extras. I hated wasting anything! So, I would bring things home and get all stressed out about trying to eat everything. Slowly I learned about preserving food. I tried canning, but decided that was not for me. I will still can salsa in the summer, but other then that I freeze everything I can.

We decided to buy a medium sized chest freezer so that we could freeze local vegetables and meat. In the early years when I was still a vegetarian it was mostly vegetables. My poor husband yearned for meat in the freezer, but since I was the main grocery shopper and cook in our family, I kind of forgot he was a meat eater.

Lucky for him I now eat meat in addition to vegetables. I actually asked him during one of my early re-entry into meat eating dinners if he still loved me even though I eat meat now (this was a joke of course). Like a good husband he replied, " I think I love you even more!"

In our chest freezer you will now find local and/or organic meat and vegetables. You will also find frozen pesto that I make and some popsicles (because it is a freezer and it is summer, duh). When I am a nice wifey and mother you may also find a few frozen pizzas (again something I forget to buy as I do not eat them). But that is it. What you won't find is prepackaged food, to me that would be a waste of electricity. I have nothing against some of the frozen meals, and have even been know to pick up a few Amy's meals for our freezer. But those go into our regular refrigerator freezer. I won't let them take up my precious chest freezer space.

If you find yourself with too many vegetables, a quick web search will give you suggestions on how to preserve them. If you want beautiful rows of canned goods displayed on shelves, go for it! If you are in a hurry and have the space, freeze them! Make sure to do a little research on what you are preserving as some things do not freeze well or will want to be blanched first.

Oh, and what will I do with the vegetables above? The corn can be cooked and used alone or in other dishes. The tomatoes will be used in place of canned tomatoes in soup and chili in the winter. The summer squash and zucchini will be used in soup, where it will hide from my daughter who does not like it!

MUST Travel with Food

This picture is the dinner I prepared during a recent visit to my grandmas. I absolutely love the gold veined Formica in the background that has been in her kitchen for as long as I can remember. 

For this trip I brought a cooler full of vegetables, 3 melons, clarified butter, avocados, lunchmeat and a whole chicken to cook. I also brought our crockpot, because who doesn't travel with that? I am in the middle of my Whole30 diet and needed to make sure I had plenty of food to eat (not to mention something healthy I could feed my family). Bringing food is nothing new for us however.

We have been bringing food for the last 6 years. It started when I was working on a vegetable farm and was still a vegetarian. My grandmother and step-grandfather are in their eighties and do not have the energy or desire to do much cooking. We would show up for a visit and there would be a hunk of some form of meat in the crockpot and some dented unlabeled cans of veggies to heat up. Being a vegetarian at the time, I found myself quite hungry during those visits, so I started bringing food and preparing it.

Those dented unlabeled cans mentioned above? My grandma lives in southern Minnesota in the land of the Jolly Green Giant. For years she has rented out her farm land to another farmer and some years her land is planted with vegetables. From the canning plant she will get dented cans that can not be sold in stores. Our vegetable selections would be green beans, peas, corn, corn with sugar ( for the cans they ship to china they add sugar?), mixed vegetables and asparagus. As a child these were the vegetables I was frequently fed at my grandma's house. They would also send them home with us. Let's just say I will not touch a canned vegetable now. 

After years of canned vegetables, I still remember having my first fresh asparagus with my husband when I as in my twenties. I loved it! I had always disliked asparagus because I had had it from a can, or overcooked and mushy from my grandma's garden. The reason I mention this is I have learned to not bring "exotic" vegetables to my grandmas expecting them to be consumed (exotic vegetables would include a long list of fresh vegetables). On this last trip I stuck to potatoes and carrots, onion to flavor the broth that the chicken created in the crockpot. I brought some green beans to steam. The meal was a success, and I was able to then create a chicken soup out of the leftovers and broth to leave for my grandparents. 

Over the years they have grown to expect it (us bringing food and preparing it) and seem to really appreciate it. I love cooking, so am happy to do it. I love that I am providing them ( and my family) with a nutritious meal. This experience with my grandparents has also enabled me to feel comfortable bringing food other places. I do it nicely, never saying, "I can not eat your food". Instead I say, " I love to cook, I want to bring food or a dish I can share". For those who know my eating habits, I am sure this is a relief. They do not have to worry about what they are serving me, plus they have one less dish to prepare. This was especially important when I was a vegetarian. I did not want to be limited to eating bread of some form and potatoes, which then made the host of the meal and l feel awkward and guilty. 

Now that I am eating a gluten and dairy free diet it is especially important. Having added meat it is easier now, but can still be tricky, not to mention awkward. So, no matter where we are going, be it to the cabin or a friend's house, the most important thing to pack is food. Not clothes or a toothbrush, because I can probably find those if needed. But you can not always find healthy, nutritious food. This, I have ironically learned in the land of the Jolly Green Giant. 

My Absolute Favorite Food Magazine

In a previous blog I said I love to read. Unfortunately with a busy 4 year old I do not get to read the big, fat books I did before our lovely child arrived in our lives. When I don't have time to read books, I need to read something! I also want to read something where I am learning something new. You will learn quickly that I am not into sports, politics, high fashion or what celebrities are doing ( though I have been known to read People magazine on long car trips). Well, that leaves food and design magazines. Honestly, I would rather read about food. I love reading cookbooks. Seriously, even if it is food I would never cook.

But I digress. I love this magazine! When it arrives in the mail I can't wait to read it. But I do. I wait until I can sit down (or honestly, lay down in our bed) and read it in silence. Though I follow a gluten-free and dairy-free diet 97% of the time, I still love reading about all kinds of food. Though I have not had the chance to travel much, this magazine takes me to new places. Then it feeds me, visually and mentally. It is also a quick read, which is important with an almost 4 year old in the house. If you have never checked it out and love food, you should. Honestly, I am lucky (and so is my family) if I make two recipes out of each magazine. But, it takes me away to lovely and tasty places!

Summer in a Bowl

This is nothing new, just a reminder of how tasty cucumbers and tomatoes taste together. Add in some olives, sweet peppers, basil, garlic or garlic salt, oil and your vinegar of choice. Serve with some grilled chicken breasts and you have a wonderful summer meal!

Satisfying Banana and Blueberry Smoothie

This is my absolute favorite smoothie to make! I make it about once a week to break up my filling Whole30 breakfasts. Now, technically the founders of the Whole30 would not approve of a smoothie for breakfast. They do not believe in drinking your meal. Which I totally understand, especially if you are battling a "sugar dragon". But once in awhile I want a smoothie, so I "indulge".

Satisfying Banana and Blueberry Smoothie
Ingredients:
(1) Whole frozen banana in pieces
1/2 Cup frozen blueberries
1/2 Cup canned coconut milk
1-2 Tablespoons raw, creamy, unsalted almond butter
1 Tablespoon Chia seeds
1 handful of spinach or kale (in season)
Enough water to make it the consistency you like, start with a 1/4 cup

Blend and enjoy!

I had to include Herb-y in my picture, especially filled with beautiful Zinnias from our garden!

So, what makes this a satisfying and great smoothie?
Bananas- Check out this article on the Food Matters website. I could list everything good about bananas, but that would fill up another blog post.
Blueberries- Local to the midwest, and many other areas. Full of fiber, phytonutrients, vitamin C, manganese.
Almond butter- A great source of fiber, protein and healthy fat.
Chia Seeds- A great source of fiber and Omega-3 fatty acids. Also contains some calcium, magnesium and protein.
Canned Coconut milk- I use coconut milk because dairy in my smoothie is not an option. Canned coconut milk is a good source of fat. I also use it in my coffee. If you decided to use coconut milk, make sure it is canned and the only ingredients are coconut milk (water is okay if you are buying the light version). The kind of coconut milk you find in cartons has a list of ingredients containing things you do not want to drink. I should note that when I make my daughter smoothies, I use local, organic whole milk for her. She can tolerate dairy. If you can tolerate dairy, please use this kind of milk. Anything less then whole milk has had the vitamins and minerals added back in. This is silly as whole milk has the vitamins and minerals naturally, and your body will be able to digest them better in their natural form.
Spinach or Kale- I am sure you have all heard the power of greens! Calcium, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K, potassium, iron, manganese, and phosphorus. The list goes on!

When I make this smoothie it is filling and satisfying. I can make it to lunch without needing a late morning snack. Give it a try! It makes one huge serving that fills the 20 ounce glass that you see in the first photo.

Enjoy!

So What is This Whole30 Thing?

You might have heard of the Whole30. You might be wondering what it is? 

Is it the latest fad diet? Is it one of those "paleo" things? Do I need to start going and killing my own food? The answers are no, kind of by default, no again (unless you want to). 

The Whole30 is an elimination diet created by the founders of the Whole9. Check out their website to find out more about them. As for the Whole30, this is part of a nutritional program that helps people become healthier by figuring out what foods trigger bad responses in their bodies (like inflammation). 

The reason I believe in the Whole30 is because it helped me to figure out that I have a gluten and dairy intolerance. No, I do not have Celiac disease nor am I 100% lactose intolerant. What it means is that if I eat either of them regularly, especially together, I have major inflammation and GI issues. My joints hurt, especially my knees and feet. I can barely walk. I look like I am 8 months pregnant (which is hard to explain when people know we are only planning on having one child). I have headaches and become short tempered. 

For a decade I was a vegetarian. I was a good vegetarian too, eating plenty of veggies. The problem was I was not getting enough good protein. I ate eggs, cheese, nuts and occasionally tofu. Even fish once and awhile (making me a pescetarian I guess).  However, my body was obviously not getting what it needed from these sources. Even though I thought I was eating healthy, I had the list of health issues mentioned above. I had to take expensive multi-vitamins and supplements. I regularly had to take pills for heartburn, headaches, IBS, painful joints and bloating. Medicine for constipation. A friend of mine subtly kept mentioning that maybe I needed to think about animal protein. Eventually I did start thinking about it. For weeks I kept thinking about it. Then I made up my mind. After dealing with these issue for years, I finally decided enough was enough. I was ready to try anything! 

Then one day on FB she posted that she was going to do a Whole30 and I was intrigued. I knew her family followed a paleo diet pretty closely because her husband had a list of things that were cured, or at least manageable, when they followed that diet. I asked questions and then decided to start adding some meat protein. I had not eaten red meat (beef) in about 20 years, so decided to stick with chicken, turkey and pork. I also read the book 'It Starts With Food'. This book changed my life!

Once I felt my body was handling the new meat protein, I started the Whole30. I won't lie, the first two weeks were pretty tough, but then I started to feel amazing. By the end of the 30 days I was convinced, especially as I tried to reintroduce foods (like dairy, gluten, grains) and all my old issues would come back. After a few weeks of reintroducing foods I decided they just were not worth it!

Do I follow a paleo diet? Not exactly. However, they are similar. I am about 97% (just picking a percentage) gluten and dairy free. I do however still eat other grains occasionally (which is not allowed in the paleo diet). I am currently in my second Whole30 as I felt I got a little off track, mostly with eating habits, sugar and the occasional alcoholic beverage (because what mom doesn't need a glass of wine at the end of the day?). 

I have to say this time around is a breeze! My pantry is already stocked with Whole30 approved condiments and foods. I know how to grocery shop, and the side affects of the elimination diet are minimal as I have been following an almost paleo diet for the last couple of months.

So, for anyone who is interested in what I eat in a day, here you go:

A Day of Whole30 Meals

Breakfast:

    The Ingredients

                                         Sauteing the sweet potato hash and zucchini.

                                          Cooking eggs in a nicely greased pan.

                                          Add veggies

    Parsley omelet with zucchini filling. Sweet potato hash, grapes 

    and coffee with canned coconut milk.

    Note: You will have an extra serving of hash and zucchini.

   Lunch:    

    Lettuce wraps with chicken, homemade pickles, onions and tomatoes.

    Kombucha, mixed nuts with coconut flakes and a Medjool date.

                                                               

   Dinner:

    The Start of Cecil's Stew

                                         

    Sauteing the carrots, garlic and minced herbs with olive oil.

                                        

      Adding the rest of the veggies and chicken broth. 

             Dinner for Marie and I. A quart of leftover stock in the back, about 4 servings of soup left.

So there you have it. I plan to put the recipes in a separate blog and am still trying to figure out how to link recipes from my blog to my recipe tab. I will create a blog containing 'Sweet Potato and Pecan Hash' and also a blog with the idea behind 'Cecil's Stew'.  

In closing I would like to mention two other things. First, I still take vitamin D, B-complex, and magnesium supplements. We just don't get enough of these, but that is a topic for another blog posting. Second, if you try a Whole30 diet, be prepared for the positive side effects. You will lose your brain fog, have extra energy, and there will not be enough hours in the day to do everything you want to!

Local and Organic. Local. Organic. Conventional.

This is the order in which I buy our groceries. We live in Madison, WI and local food is everywhere! Wisconsin is full of all kinds of farms and local food can be found year round. Yes, we have cold winters and snow. However, you can find local storage vegetables, meat, eggs and dairy all year. 

A little background on me. After working for 8 years in the field of interior design I decided I needed a change. I was talking with a few of my coworkers about what we really enjoyed doing. I came up with cooking, gardening, reading and going for walks. Well, I can tell you no one is going to pay me to read books as I am a bit of a speed reader and honestly skip a few things while reading. Also, I usually read so many books that I honestly can't remember a lot of them. As for walking, does anyone know of a profession that pays for this other then dog walking? Long story short, I ended up working for a Vegetable CSA run by some friends. 

I can't tell you how much I loved the work! Yes, it had its ups and downs, but involved everything I loved! Being outside, labor as a form of exercise, growing local and organic vegetables (I was a vegetarian at that time), sharing these vegetables with people who had the some passion for local vegetables. At the end of the day I got to take vegetables home and cook a meal with them. 

Well, eventually all good things must come to an end. During the third year of working at the farm I was pregnant. This was planned by the way, and my husband and I were so excited! In October of 2010 we welcomed our daughter Marie into our family. 

So back to the title of this post. Once I stopped working for a vegetable farm I had to start thinking about where to buy our food. For a few years we had been receiving a winter share of vegetables from a local farm called Crossroads Community Farm .  I was able to do a worker share with them in exchange for vegetables the summer after my daughter was born. The last three years I have done a sitter share with them where I watch their beautiful daughters in exchange for a vegetable share. My daughter gets to play with the girls, we get veggies, it's a win-win!

They are a local and organic farm. To us as a family, this is very important. Since we get the vegetables for free, that's an easy choice.  We also have two gardens, one at our home and one in a community garden. Also pretty cheap. Since we try to eat in season as much as possible, vegetables are never an issue. We even get storage vegetables from the farm until the beginning of spring.

The problem comes when trying to decide where and what to purchase when it comes to the rest of our groceries. We are technically a single income family, so there is a food budget. Since we rarely eat out, our whole food budget goes to meals I prepare at home. Whenever the budget allows, I buy local and organic food. If eating seasonally, this is easy with vegetables and fruit. With other items this becomes harder. Our budget does not usually allow for organic and local meat, dairy and eggs (I am no longer a vegetarian). It does however allow for local OR organic. Whenever possible we buy local first. We do this by getting to know the farms in which our meat,dairy and eggs come from. When unable to buy local products, we purchase organic next. I know people have different views about places like Costco and Trader Joe's, but we shop there. Buying conventionally raised meats with unknown backgrounds is not an option. Buying no meat protein is not an option. I buy most of our organic chicken, organic hamburger and some of our dairy at Trader Joe's or Costco. After these various food groups, we then purchase some conventional. We go through A LOT of bananas, avocados, citrus (in season), melons (in season). Vegetables and fruits that carry a low pesticide load we will buy conventionally. Pantry items are about 50/50 organic versus conventional. 

The reason I am sharing this information is because I want people to understand that they do not have to buy all organic. In a perfect world we would, but most of our budgets do not allow for this. And quite honestly, I would rather support local farmers and companies whenever possible. Many follow organic practices, but are just not certified. 

What I want from you? Do your homework! Make a food budget and really look at what you purchase. One of my biggest pet peeves is when people say they can not afford organic and/or local food.  Yet, they stock up on unhealthy things like soda and junk food. 

For about 10 months when I was at the end of my pregnancy and when our daughter was first born we lived in a small town outside of Madison. This town's local grocery store chain was more expensive to buy food at then at Willy Street Co-op. I would drive into Madison because it was cheaper to buy organic food then it was to buy conventional at this chain store. 

I did my homework, will you?

    Our front yard garden. You can't get more local then that!

The Beauty of Summer

Food is not just about eating, it can also be art! Creating it and presenting it should be fun. I love owning fun servingware like you see above. The ceramic tomato container is from Anthropologie and the bowl is a piece of Fiestaware.  

What To Do Next?

I have wanted to start a blog for a long time. I am introverted by nature, which I guess means I draw strength from myself. It also means I have a running interior monologue going through my head at most times. Don't worry, I guess this is common in introverts. I usually have all these great ideas when I am out for a walk, but of course forget them once I am home. Are they really that great, does anyone really want to hear them? Probably not, but I feel I have so many things I want to share with people.

The problem with starting a blog is selecting a theme. Food? Love it! Who doesn't? Kid things? I have a kid, I love her, but does everyone want to hear about all things Marie? Probably not. Interior Design? I am trained in this field and love it, but do I have the current knowledge to write just about design? Honestly, no.  

So I made a list of everything I love to do:

For the Home- Organizing, decluttering, space planning, decorating, making living spaces healthy and relaxing.

For Health- Vegetable gardening, shopping for local and organic food, cooking, stocking a healthy kitchen, preserving food, selecting  healthy products for our home and bodies. Also, I am a believer in the Whole30 elimination diet for health.

After making my list I was at a loss about what to do. I thought, "man (woman), you are a Jack of all trades". So there it was. Kari of all trades. Since I am writing a blog about these subjects I decided I better be a master of some, right?

So welcome! I hope I have something useful to share. And if not, at least my almost 4 year old will still think I am the smartest person on the earth!