From my garden:
From the CSA:
Monday, August 24, 2009
Happy Foody Green Smoothie Challenge - Week 1
I thought I would be better about updating, since I am doing the challenge. Definitely not the case though :-) This first week has been pretty good. I did have a few slip ups. We went out for ice cream on Saturday night. One week of tropical weather and no air conditioning really made it a necessity :-) And I did miss a green salad Saturday and a green smoothie yesterday. I find that if I don't make the smoothie for breakfast and the salad for lunch I get all off schedule, and can't seem to work it in.
I am feeling good though. I think the smoothie gives me a lot of extra energy, which is really good. Matt has been saying how he feels a lot more energy too. He has been going for bike rides during his lunches this past week, and it has really taken hold of him :-) So I am glad that we are doing this together and he isn't thinking I am too strange for putting spinach in my morning drink :-)
Emma hasn't had much interest in the smoothies this week. I think the heat has been having a negative impact on her. Hopefully this week will be better because it is supposed to be cooler and drier.
I've been enjoying looking at the raw food books at Barnes and Noble this past weekend. There are a lot of good books out there, and I love looking at recipes and pictures of food in general. It does make me want to try raw, but as of right now we can't afford all the extra "stuff" that is needed for raw. I would end up eating mainly salads, green smoothies, and nuts that haven't been ground up into neat little dishes. And I'm not sure I could keep up with something like that. I need variety. Plus, it is slightly more expensive, especially if you are buying all the nuts and seeds. But, maybe as the challenge goes on I will have more of a desire, and make enough changes in our current life to afford it.
I am feeling good though. I think the smoothie gives me a lot of extra energy, which is really good. Matt has been saying how he feels a lot more energy too. He has been going for bike rides during his lunches this past week, and it has really taken hold of him :-) So I am glad that we are doing this together and he isn't thinking I am too strange for putting spinach in my morning drink :-)
Emma hasn't had much interest in the smoothies this week. I think the heat has been having a negative impact on her. Hopefully this week will be better because it is supposed to be cooler and drier.
I've been enjoying looking at the raw food books at Barnes and Noble this past weekend. There are a lot of good books out there, and I love looking at recipes and pictures of food in general. It does make me want to try raw, but as of right now we can't afford all the extra "stuff" that is needed for raw. I would end up eating mainly salads, green smoothies, and nuts that haven't been ground up into neat little dishes. And I'm not sure I could keep up with something like that. I need variety. Plus, it is slightly more expensive, especially if you are buying all the nuts and seeds. But, maybe as the challenge goes on I will have more of a desire, and make enough changes in our current life to afford it.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Green Smoothie Challenge Days 2-3
Just wanted to check in and say that my green smoothie challenge is going quite well. I am still doing the same recipe that I posted a couple days ago. I think this weekend we will try and get some different fruits so we can branch out a bit. I realized that I need to buy a lot more in the way of greens. I had gotten 3 packages, but they are all gone, so I guess maybe I need one package of baby spinach a day??? If only I could find a good bulk bag of organic baby spinach...maybe Sam's club will have some this weekend :-)
We got a ton of food in the CSA this week as well, so I have been snacking on raw green beans, swiss chard, and making potato salad, yum :-) I will try and get some pictures up tomorrow!
We got a ton of food in the CSA this week as well, so I have been snacking on raw green beans, swiss chard, and making potato salad, yum :-) I will try and get some pictures up tomorrow!
Monday, August 17, 2009
Green Smoothie Challenge - Day 1
My first day doing the Happy Foody Green Smoothie Challenge has gone quite well. This morning I made a big batch of green smoothie (about 20 oz each) for Matt and I. Emma wasn't interested this morning though. She goes through periods where she doesn't really want anything but her mama, and that's ok with me :-) So in my smoothie today:
5 c packed spinach
2 bananas
handful frozen strawberries
couple handfuls of frozen mixed berries (raspberries, blueberries, blackberries)
water
It was really good, although I need to find some other combinations, because I feel like I could get bored doing the same thing everyday. I think next week I might buy different frozen fruit, maybe mango/pineapple/papaya. That might be good :-)
For lunch I made a big salad consisting of organic lettuce (sam's club), cukes, zuchinni and green peppers from my garden, some onion (not local unfortunately), sunflower seeds and half an avocado, yum! Topped with a lot of black pepper and a little bit of raspberry vinigarette. It was really good.
I also was able to go for a pretty long walk this morning (since Emma was up at 6am) Overall a good day. I am feeling good too. I was feeling pretty hungry this morning and think maybe I need more green smoothie, but not sure my budget can allow for that this week, so I need to come up with some snacks to eat in the morning.
5 c packed spinach
2 bananas
handful frozen strawberries
couple handfuls of frozen mixed berries (raspberries, blueberries, blackberries)
water
It was really good, although I need to find some other combinations, because I feel like I could get bored doing the same thing everyday. I think next week I might buy different frozen fruit, maybe mango/pineapple/papaya. That might be good :-)
For lunch I made a big salad consisting of organic lettuce (sam's club), cukes, zuchinni and green peppers from my garden, some onion (not local unfortunately), sunflower seeds and half an avocado, yum! Topped with a lot of black pepper and a little bit of raspberry vinigarette. It was really good.
I also was able to go for a pretty long walk this morning (since Emma was up at 6am) Overall a good day. I am feeling good too. I was feeling pretty hungry this morning and think maybe I need more green smoothie, but not sure my budget can allow for that this week, so I need to come up with some snacks to eat in the morning.
Happy Foody Green Smoothie Challenge!
Hello all :-) Today is the first day of the Happy Foody Green Smoothie Challenge. I am pretty excited about it too! My sister-in-law and her family are joining me and my family, so it should be a good time overall...well...until the second week when Matt realizes no white sugar actually means no white sugar :-)
From Sara's blog the rules are as follows:
We will begin on August 17 and end on September 17. Here is what you are committing to:
•Drink at least 16 oz. of green smoothie per day (a quart would be even better!)
•Do some sort of activity every day. This could be an intense workout, or just dancing with your kids around the living room. It could be a 15 minute yoga session or a walk around the block.
•Add a green leafy salad to your lunch or supper (with light dressing…stay away from the creamier sauces).
•Stop drinking pop.
•Cut out all white sugar.
For me the most difficult thing will be the exercise I think. I just don't exercise. I guess I do walk most days with Emma, but it isn't very strenuous to walk. I would like to do something a little more involved, but not sure what. I might try and do some yoga, or pilates since I have the DVD's. I might try running again, but we all know I won't stick with that. So that will be the most difficult part for me. The easy part? No pop. I don't drink anything but water, and the occasional orange juice, so no soda will be an easy one :-)
In other news, my garden seems to be doing well:
See those potatoes???!!! I can't believe I actually grew them! I would have gotten quite a bit more if I had been able to hill my potatoes properly, but almost 2 months of straight rain didn't really allow for hilling. So this is what I got from 3 plants, still enough for a big potato salad though :-) I still have 4 plants in the ground which I will probably pull sometime this week. The corn looks good too, although I don't know if it will actually get dry enough for me to use (it is flour corn), I have a ton of green tomatoes as well, luckily I haven't been hit by the late blight like my CSA. But, the question is, will they turn red?! It doesn't appear that they are turning yet. But, hopefully after another week of hot, humid temps they will start to turn. Exciting times :-) I do love bringing in the fruits of my labor :-) Oh, and I did have 6 green beans, but Emma and I ate them before I took a picture...I only had one little green bean plant survive. I might get another dozen green beans off of it if I am lucky :-)
Good luck to everyone else that may be trying the Green Smoothie Challenge!
From Sara's blog the rules are as follows:
We will begin on August 17 and end on September 17. Here is what you are committing to:
•Drink at least 16 oz. of green smoothie per day (a quart would be even better!)
•Do some sort of activity every day. This could be an intense workout, or just dancing with your kids around the living room. It could be a 15 minute yoga session or a walk around the block.
•Add a green leafy salad to your lunch or supper (with light dressing…stay away from the creamier sauces).
•Stop drinking pop.
•Cut out all white sugar.
For me the most difficult thing will be the exercise I think. I just don't exercise. I guess I do walk most days with Emma, but it isn't very strenuous to walk. I would like to do something a little more involved, but not sure what. I might try and do some yoga, or pilates since I have the DVD's. I might try running again, but we all know I won't stick with that. So that will be the most difficult part for me. The easy part? No pop. I don't drink anything but water, and the occasional orange juice, so no soda will be an easy one :-)
In other news, my garden seems to be doing well:
See those potatoes???!!! I can't believe I actually grew them! I would have gotten quite a bit more if I had been able to hill my potatoes properly, but almost 2 months of straight rain didn't really allow for hilling. So this is what I got from 3 plants, still enough for a big potato salad though :-) I still have 4 plants in the ground which I will probably pull sometime this week. The corn looks good too, although I don't know if it will actually get dry enough for me to use (it is flour corn), I have a ton of green tomatoes as well, luckily I haven't been hit by the late blight like my CSA. But, the question is, will they turn red?! It doesn't appear that they are turning yet. But, hopefully after another week of hot, humid temps they will start to turn. Exciting times :-) I do love bringing in the fruits of my labor :-) Oh, and I did have 6 green beans, but Emma and I ate them before I took a picture...I only had one little green bean plant survive. I might get another dozen green beans off of it if I am lucky :-)
Good luck to everyone else that may be trying the Green Smoothie Challenge!
Thursday, August 13, 2009
oh the horror!
I saw this article this morning and laughed...a lot. Just thought I would pass it along :-)
Food Companies Warn of Sugar Shortage
Food Companies Warn of Sugar Shortage
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Catch up pictures
Well, it has been a while since a CSA update :-) I am trying to get my pictures uploaded in a timely fashion, unfortunately that rarely happens. The CSA is definitely struggling this year. We are probably getting about half of what we did last year at this time. It's definitely sad, especially for the farmers who work so hard. This week we found out that some of their tomato plants have the late blight. They pulled those up and got rid of them, but they are concerned that it may spread to the rest of their tomatoes and the potatoes as well. We are crossing our fingers that that will not happen of course. Last year they put away 100 quarts of tomatoes just for themselves, so not sure how that will work out this year. I'm thankful that we have the CSA though, and are at least able to have some fresh produce every week. A lot of people aren't able to. We won't be getting the winter CSA this year I don't believe. We don't have the cash available unfortunately. And actually, I'm not sure this would be a good year to get a winter CSA because the weather in Maine has been so horrible, I dno't know that we would get our money's worth. Although, all maine produce this winter will probably be super expensive. I'm not overly concerned though because the farmers' market will still be going strong this winter, and I'm sure we will be able to get what we need from there. Here are pictures for the past two weeks of CSA shares, as well as some pictures of what has come from my garden.
All those cucumbers have been loved by my little family this past week. I still have a few left for cucumber sandwiches today. Those little potatoes went into a potato salad for me to eat (with some fresh off the farm eggs, yum). It is so satisfying to eat something that you actually have grown. My spaghetti squash plant is now taking over the entire garden. I have quite a few squash growing...and they have sent their little feelers out to attach to things such as my flour corn...potatoes...green peppers...and the little fence surrounding my garden. I'm looking forward to eating that though as well!
I have a bunch of sewing pictures to show. The next few are gifts that I made for my niece as well as some matchy matchy skirts mama and her babe. Of course the skirt doesn't fit Emma anymore...that was short lived. Should have used more elastic in the waist.
That first one has actually not gotten to its intended recipient as of yet. It is a dress that I made for my niece Riley, however, I have absolutely no idea how to put a zipper on the back...and since the dress only came with the first page of directions (out of 3), I'm lucky it looks like a dress at all! Luckily it also only came with the pattern for size 6-7-8, not the 5T that I had been looking for. So I am hoping it will fit her next year...We shall see if she ever receives this :-) Maybe by Christmas though!
This next one is of my new hippie skirt (which is what Matt calls it). I guess it doesn't look like a hippie skirt, but I like it. I was looking for something more for this winter, and found this fabric which I loved, so I made a long skirt with a lining, it is pretty heavy, but very comfy. Jess, I think I will be wearing this to the Farmers' Market on Saturday, I should fit in quite well :-)
And finally, here is a picture of the crown moulding that we put up this week. Still have a lot more to do, such as painting, and actually getting the rest up, but it is a start!
All those cucumbers have been loved by my little family this past week. I still have a few left for cucumber sandwiches today. Those little potatoes went into a potato salad for me to eat (with some fresh off the farm eggs, yum). It is so satisfying to eat something that you actually have grown. My spaghetti squash plant is now taking over the entire garden. I have quite a few squash growing...and they have sent their little feelers out to attach to things such as my flour corn...potatoes...green peppers...and the little fence surrounding my garden. I'm looking forward to eating that though as well!
I have a bunch of sewing pictures to show. The next few are gifts that I made for my niece as well as some matchy matchy skirts mama and her babe. Of course the skirt doesn't fit Emma anymore...that was short lived. Should have used more elastic in the waist.
That first one has actually not gotten to its intended recipient as of yet. It is a dress that I made for my niece Riley, however, I have absolutely no idea how to put a zipper on the back...and since the dress only came with the first page of directions (out of 3), I'm lucky it looks like a dress at all! Luckily it also only came with the pattern for size 6-7-8, not the 5T that I had been looking for. So I am hoping it will fit her next year...We shall see if she ever receives this :-) Maybe by Christmas though!
This next one is of my new hippie skirt (which is what Matt calls it). I guess it doesn't look like a hippie skirt, but I like it. I was looking for something more for this winter, and found this fabric which I loved, so I made a long skirt with a lining, it is pretty heavy, but very comfy. Jess, I think I will be wearing this to the Farmers' Market on Saturday, I should fit in quite well :-)
And finally, here is a picture of the crown moulding that we put up this week. Still have a lot more to do, such as painting, and actually getting the rest up, but it is a start!
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Green Smoothies
So far my journey into the world of green smoothies has been a pleasant one. I have to say I was very nervous about doing it. I didn't think they would taste nearly ok. Although, I do love all greens, I was hesitant about putting it into liquid form. However, so far, so good :-) Here is the recipe I made up, it makes two large glasses for Matt and I and about half a cup for Emma (who loves it).
Fill the blender with baby spinach (I used about 5 cups of semi-packed spinach)
turn blender on high and then add enough cold water until it liquefies the spinach (about 3/4 cup for me)
Then I added 1/2 c to 1 c each of frozen strawberries, raspberries, blueberries
I also put in 2 bananas to make it sweet, but yesterday we tried it without the bananas and it was still not bad.
Of course my green smoothie is not green due to the raspberries and blueberries. It is pretty good though. Yesterday I added half a lime juiced into my smoothie to give it a little accidity. I liked that, Matt did not. I definitely recommend it though, delicious! I had this for breakfast and wasn't hungry until the afternoon, so that was nice :-)
Fill the blender with baby spinach (I used about 5 cups of semi-packed spinach)
turn blender on high and then add enough cold water until it liquefies the spinach (about 3/4 cup for me)
Then I added 1/2 c to 1 c each of frozen strawberries, raspberries, blueberries
I also put in 2 bananas to make it sweet, but yesterday we tried it without the bananas and it was still not bad.
Of course my green smoothie is not green due to the raspberries and blueberries. It is pretty good though. Yesterday I added half a lime juiced into my smoothie to give it a little accidity. I liked that, Matt did not. I definitely recommend it though, delicious! I had this for breakfast and wasn't hungry until the afternoon, so that was nice :-)
Monday, August 3, 2009
Update
I have been really bad about updating as of late! Blame it on the sun showing up in Maine for a couple days. I had to take advantage of it while it was still here :-) The no processed food challenge has been going quite well. I have had some slips here and there, but for the most part I am not eating anything processed. I have been eating tons of salad and avocado. I wish I lived in a place where I could have local avocado...but I don't see us moving to California anytime soon.
This week Matt and I are going to try and incorporate green smoothies into our diet. We'll see how that goes. I love smoothies, but I normally do fruit smoothies. I am starting out with spinach this week, and we shall see. I typically don't sweeten smoothies either, but I reserve the right to put some raw honey in the green smoothies. We will try without the honey first of course, but I'm not sure how it will be. Does anyone else out there do the green smoothies? Any favorite recipes?
I go back and forth about the raw diet. It is something that I think I would love to do, but I have an internal struggle with raw diet vs. local food. I certainly could not do a raw diet locally, not in Maine. Well, in the summer it would be easier, but since winter is about 8 months of the year...I don't think it would work. Plus, Matt is of the "I need meat at every meal" mindset.
I know I haven't updated about the CSA from last week yet, and it is already Monday again. I took some pictures and also got my first substantial picking from the garden. But, I haven't had time to upload the pictures. Hopefully this evening after I get today's share I can post a big CSA/Garden update.
Matt is home this week, it is his last vacation before he starts his new job on Monday. I am really excited about having him work from home. It will save us so much money on gas...not to mention clothes and food (he likes to buy his lunch). We are hopefully going to be able to sell one of the cars and become a one car family. I don't use the car all that much, but I do use it some. And since walking in the winter around here is pretty impossible, we do need it. Wouldn't it be nice to not have to have a car at all? Yes, I certainly would like that. I think this will bring our footprint down quite a bit though. Now if we could just figure out how to use less heating oil...
Well, this has been a bit of a jumble of thoughts. I do want to try and update more frequently, and maybe with Matt home, I will have more opportunity...we shall see if I follow through :-)
This week Matt and I are going to try and incorporate green smoothies into our diet. We'll see how that goes. I love smoothies, but I normally do fruit smoothies. I am starting out with spinach this week, and we shall see. I typically don't sweeten smoothies either, but I reserve the right to put some raw honey in the green smoothies. We will try without the honey first of course, but I'm not sure how it will be. Does anyone else out there do the green smoothies? Any favorite recipes?
I go back and forth about the raw diet. It is something that I think I would love to do, but I have an internal struggle with raw diet vs. local food. I certainly could not do a raw diet locally, not in Maine. Well, in the summer it would be easier, but since winter is about 8 months of the year...I don't think it would work. Plus, Matt is of the "I need meat at every meal" mindset.
I know I haven't updated about the CSA from last week yet, and it is already Monday again. I took some pictures and also got my first substantial picking from the garden. But, I haven't had time to upload the pictures. Hopefully this evening after I get today's share I can post a big CSA/Garden update.
Matt is home this week, it is his last vacation before he starts his new job on Monday. I am really excited about having him work from home. It will save us so much money on gas...not to mention clothes and food (he likes to buy his lunch). We are hopefully going to be able to sell one of the cars and become a one car family. I don't use the car all that much, but I do use it some. And since walking in the winter around here is pretty impossible, we do need it. Wouldn't it be nice to not have to have a car at all? Yes, I certainly would like that. I think this will bring our footprint down quite a bit though. Now if we could just figure out how to use less heating oil...
Well, this has been a bit of a jumble of thoughts. I do want to try and update more frequently, and maybe with Matt home, I will have more opportunity...we shall see if I follow through :-)
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Dairy
I can't seem to give up dairy for my 30 days no processed food. Actually, I haven't eaten much in the way of dairy, but I have had a little bit of cheese. I think that I need to make more gradual changes, unless someone *cough Matt cough* helps me...I don't think that I can keep up! I have been doing pretty well with eating tons of fruit and veggies, fish and chicken.
I slipped up with pasta last night. After I go on about how easy it is to make pasta, which it is, but I didn't have the energy to make it. It was not nearly as enjoyable eating the pasta bought from the store as my own homemade pasta, but it was slightly easier to scoop some noodles from the bag and toss it into the boiling water...
Other then that I seem to be doing pretty well. I even lost 3 pounds last week. That's pretty good I think. We'll see if I can keep it up though, 30 days is actually quite a long time. And since Matt bowed out after day 2, well, it will be a lonely road for me :-)
I'm actually hoping that once Matt is working from home it will be a little easier. I can't seem to get his lunch made in the morning for him, since he leaves around 6:45, and let's face it, I'm still in bed :-) But, if he is home, he will be eating lunch with me and it will be a little easier. So now I have processed snack foods in the house which I am trying to ignore, instead eating my nuts and seeds :-) It would be so much easier if all this crap wasn't out there though, if I had no other choices. I would like it better that way...rather than going to grab a healthy non-processed snack, only to see organic poptarts (did you know they made such a thing?) in the cupboard.
I'll hopefully get back to posting later in the week. My sister-in-law is coming to visit for a couple days, and I am hoping the weather will be nice enough for us to go OUT!
I slipped up with pasta last night. After I go on about how easy it is to make pasta, which it is, but I didn't have the energy to make it. It was not nearly as enjoyable eating the pasta bought from the store as my own homemade pasta, but it was slightly easier to scoop some noodles from the bag and toss it into the boiling water...
Other then that I seem to be doing pretty well. I even lost 3 pounds last week. That's pretty good I think. We'll see if I can keep it up though, 30 days is actually quite a long time. And since Matt bowed out after day 2, well, it will be a lonely road for me :-)
I'm actually hoping that once Matt is working from home it will be a little easier. I can't seem to get his lunch made in the morning for him, since he leaves around 6:45, and let's face it, I'm still in bed :-) But, if he is home, he will be eating lunch with me and it will be a little easier. So now I have processed snack foods in the house which I am trying to ignore, instead eating my nuts and seeds :-) It would be so much easier if all this crap wasn't out there though, if I had no other choices. I would like it better that way...rather than going to grab a healthy non-processed snack, only to see organic poptarts (did you know they made such a thing?) in the cupboard.
I'll hopefully get back to posting later in the week. My sister-in-law is coming to visit for a couple days, and I am hoping the weather will be nice enough for us to go OUT!
CSA - what week is this??
Our CSA is still holding on! I am so happy for that! With a CSA, you do end up taking the good and the bad no matter what. I think our farmers have been quite worried with all the rain we have gotten, but we had a nice week last week. When we were walking around the gardens yesterday, it looked to me like everything was growing great. Of course I am comparing it to my own garden...which isn't doing horrible...but definitely not as good as I had hoped for.
So this week we received:
celery
kale
lettuce
the first onion of the season
some type of cabbage
zukes
yellow summer squash
patty pan squash
green garlic
I also picked a bunch of basil and some edible flowers from the PYO in the gardens. They have a ton of PYO that I should be taking advantage of, chamomile, parsley, dill, cilantro, basil, different flowers for tinctures and such, plus bouquet flowers. I was finally able to get some eggs as well, they are so much better fresh from the farm rather than the organic ones I buy at Hannaford.
From this I made my first batch of pesto for the season. We had it last night over pasta (which unfortunately wasn't homemade - yes that means processed dammit - more on that later) Then I also snacked on the pesto with some red pepper, yummy. Anyways, here are some pictures :-)
So this week we received:
celery
kale
lettuce
the first onion of the season
some type of cabbage
zukes
yellow summer squash
patty pan squash
green garlic
I also picked a bunch of basil and some edible flowers from the PYO in the gardens. They have a ton of PYO that I should be taking advantage of, chamomile, parsley, dill, cilantro, basil, different flowers for tinctures and such, plus bouquet flowers. I was finally able to get some eggs as well, they are so much better fresh from the farm rather than the organic ones I buy at Hannaford.
From this I made my first batch of pesto for the season. We had it last night over pasta (which unfortunately wasn't homemade - yes that means processed dammit - more on that later) Then I also snacked on the pesto with some red pepper, yummy. Anyways, here are some pictures :-)
Matt's New Job
Matt has a new job, and we are completely thrilled about it. He will be working for a company he had worked for when he graduated college, but instead of working in Mass (since we live in Maine), he will be working from home. I am just so happy about this. Since Nov. 2005 he has had at least an hour commute one way. It will be nice to finally have him home at a normal time.
A lot of people seem to be concerned about him working from home, but I think that it will work out really well. He has such a good work ethic that doing the work won't be an issue. He will probably have to go into the office once a month, so that isn't too bad either, and will give me an opportunity to spend some time with my brother and sister-in-law (hopefully anyways).
Now we have to finish up an office for Matt to use, since he will be starting this work from home bit in 2 short weeks. We are going to be turning the middle room upstairs into the office for him. We had been planning to turn that into Emma's room, but since she seems to be happy in our room still, I don't foresee us changing anything in the near future. Although...it would be nice to have a bigger bed to accomodate us all. It seems to be normal for Emma to turn perpendicular to Matt and I and take up most of the room on our queen size bed...
We have been spending the past few days talking about our future and figuring out our next step. We aren't sure we are willing to give up the quiet life we lead in Maine to move back to Mass, however, that would obviously be better for Matt's career. Right now we just want to hunker down and try to get our debt paid off...a lot of debt. If anyone wants to buy some land from us, let me know, we have 1.75 acres in West Gardiner :-)
A lot of people seem to be concerned about him working from home, but I think that it will work out really well. He has such a good work ethic that doing the work won't be an issue. He will probably have to go into the office once a month, so that isn't too bad either, and will give me an opportunity to spend some time with my brother and sister-in-law (hopefully anyways).
Now we have to finish up an office for Matt to use, since he will be starting this work from home bit in 2 short weeks. We are going to be turning the middle room upstairs into the office for him. We had been planning to turn that into Emma's room, but since she seems to be happy in our room still, I don't foresee us changing anything in the near future. Although...it would be nice to have a bigger bed to accomodate us all. It seems to be normal for Emma to turn perpendicular to Matt and I and take up most of the room on our queen size bed...
We have been spending the past few days talking about our future and figuring out our next step. We aren't sure we are willing to give up the quiet life we lead in Maine to move back to Mass, however, that would obviously be better for Matt's career. Right now we just want to hunker down and try to get our debt paid off...a lot of debt. If anyone wants to buy some land from us, let me know, we have 1.75 acres in West Gardiner :-)
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Day 4 - No Processed Food
Yesterday, not such a great day on my part where dairy is concerned...or processed foods for that matter. Actually, I did pretty well with processed foods, but did end up getting an ice cream last night after dinner. Matt has completely gone by the wayside, no longer caring what he eats :-) Well, it was good while it lasted...for that one day :) So here is my list of food for yesterday:
scrambled eggs with salsa
mozz cheese (emma was having some for lunch and i just happened to eat a few pieces)
almonds/sunflower seeds
natural peanut butter - unsalted (all that is in it is roasted peanuts)
broccoli
roasted chicken
ice cream (weakness of mine)
So technically peanut butter is processed too, but I figure if it has 2 or less ingredients then it is ok for me to eat. I guess I didn't really think out my rules so well in the beginning. Besides, that peanut butter was pretty nasty...I would rather just eat peanuts. I don't expect to be eating much of that going forward. Now, maybe if I mixed it with some of the honey I got from the farm a few miles away...then it would taste better...oh on the honey wheat bread that I make from scratch...mmm...I think I have some baking to do this morning :-)
scrambled eggs with salsa
mozz cheese (emma was having some for lunch and i just happened to eat a few pieces)
almonds/sunflower seeds
natural peanut butter - unsalted (all that is in it is roasted peanuts)
broccoli
roasted chicken
ice cream (weakness of mine)
So technically peanut butter is processed too, but I figure if it has 2 or less ingredients then it is ok for me to eat. I guess I didn't really think out my rules so well in the beginning. Besides, that peanut butter was pretty nasty...I would rather just eat peanuts. I don't expect to be eating much of that going forward. Now, maybe if I mixed it with some of the honey I got from the farm a few miles away...then it would taste better...oh on the honey wheat bread that I make from scratch...mmm...I think I have some baking to do this morning :-)
Friday, July 17, 2009
Chickens
I think that I would like to have chickens. It seems like such a great idea, have chickens that will give me fresh eggs everyday. However, everyone (including my husband) associate chickens with smelly nastiness. I don't think that free range chickens are that gross though. The problem that we have is that the town doesn't allow chickens, or they do, but they have to be 200 yards from the neighbor's house, and since our neighbor lives pretty much on top of us, that won't happen. Unless of course we put up a fence and did it illegally...would anyone really notice? Our neighbor might not even care if we gave him free eggs...The solution that I see? Having chickens at my mom's of course!
She lives just 2 houses down from us, and has about 2 acres of open land that we could use for all of my wonderful homesteading ideas (for WTSHTF). So I am thinking that I might possibly try and get chickens and keep them down at her house. There are several problems I am well aware of with this. Though we live in town, she has a zoo's worth of animals coming through her yard all the time, racoons, fox, deer, woodchucks. All of which could potentially kill the chickens. So, I would need to make sure that they had a coop that was pretty animal proof. Not sure how that would work out of course, and I am not sure I could build something like that. Well, yes, I could build something like that, if I had the time.
It would be nice though, to have chickens and get the eggs. It would also be nice to raise meat chickens and then have them in the freezer. Apparently, it only takes about 8-10 weeks of feeding the little guys and then you can take them to get processed (no way I am ready to do that myself), and then chicken for the whole year in your freezer.
We don't eat a lot of meat in my house, once in a while I do get steak, but we tend to eat a lot of chicken. I buy my chicken from a lovely organic farm about 10 miles from my house, but it is pretty expensive. Would it be less expensive to raise my own? I doubt it, at first anyways, because of the cost of a coop/tractor etc. But, maybe in the long run it would be a good idea??? I don't know. I think the bottom line is I really want goats, and if I start with chickens, maybe Matt will eventually let me have goats :-) We do have that land in West Gardiner still...that is never going to sell...so maybe my dreams of a little homestead are possible...
She lives just 2 houses down from us, and has about 2 acres of open land that we could use for all of my wonderful homesteading ideas (for WTSHTF). So I am thinking that I might possibly try and get chickens and keep them down at her house. There are several problems I am well aware of with this. Though we live in town, she has a zoo's worth of animals coming through her yard all the time, racoons, fox, deer, woodchucks. All of which could potentially kill the chickens. So, I would need to make sure that they had a coop that was pretty animal proof. Not sure how that would work out of course, and I am not sure I could build something like that. Well, yes, I could build something like that, if I had the time.
It would be nice though, to have chickens and get the eggs. It would also be nice to raise meat chickens and then have them in the freezer. Apparently, it only takes about 8-10 weeks of feeding the little guys and then you can take them to get processed (no way I am ready to do that myself), and then chicken for the whole year in your freezer.
We don't eat a lot of meat in my house, once in a while I do get steak, but we tend to eat a lot of chicken. I buy my chicken from a lovely organic farm about 10 miles from my house, but it is pretty expensive. Would it be less expensive to raise my own? I doubt it, at first anyways, because of the cost of a coop/tractor etc. But, maybe in the long run it would be a good idea??? I don't know. I think the bottom line is I really want goats, and if I start with chickens, maybe Matt will eventually let me have goats :-) We do have that land in West Gardiner still...that is never going to sell...so maybe my dreams of a little homestead are possible...
Day Three - No Processed Food
Yesterday I was a bit hungrier than normal. I think it is because Matt hid the granola bars and I really wanted one, so I made myself feel hungry :-) I did make popcorn last night, but not the nasty stuff in the microwave, just plain old white corn on the stove top. It was really good. Popcorn is actually a great whole food to store, it lasts forever, has a lot of fiber, and you feel like you are having a treat when you make it. Sharon has a great post about it. Also, here is one about growing it. OK, these aren't hugely in depth, just sort of point out the benefits.
Matt has not been doing well at all on his no processed food diet. I guess that's because he was traveling Wednesday, and had another meeting last night. The traveling kills you I think, but he still could make better choices. But, when a client is buying, do you really want to make better choices?
Today I think I will cut up some veggies to have on hand with hummus when I want a snack...which is pretty much all I ever do. So any ideas on quick and easy snacks would be helpful. With a little one who demands constant attention (i don't spoil her, really), I can't seem to make a nice meal. Scratch that, I can make a great meal, only to not be able to eat it for one reason or another :-)
Matt has not been doing well at all on his no processed food diet. I guess that's because he was traveling Wednesday, and had another meeting last night. The traveling kills you I think, but he still could make better choices. But, when a client is buying, do you really want to make better choices?
Today I think I will cut up some veggies to have on hand with hummus when I want a snack...which is pretty much all I ever do. So any ideas on quick and easy snacks would be helpful. With a little one who demands constant attention (i don't spoil her, really), I can't seem to make a nice meal. Scratch that, I can make a great meal, only to not be able to eat it for one reason or another :-)
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Buy Nothing Challenge - 2009
I decided to join Crunchy Chicken's Buy Nothing Challenge 2009. It is for the month of August. I think that it is a good idea for us to not be buying anything new anyways, just because money is so tight these days, but also because we have become such a consumerist society.
I think the hardest part for me will be no buying coffee out. I love to go to Starbucks and get coffee, and I could justify it on my 30 days of no processed food by just getting regular coffee and not getting a latte with flavoring. But, now no coffee either...that will probably be a big savings right there. Also, no fabric will be hard. I really like to pick up fabric...although most of the time I have no clue as to what I will use it for...and it piles up and piles up. So no fabric buying either :-)
If anyone else is interested in doing this challenge just go over to Crunchy's site and sign up! Fun fun! Hmmm...how am I going to break this one to Matt???
Day Two - No Processed Food
Well, day two looks about the same as day one as far as what I ate. When I go grocery shopping I tend to just think about one meal that I can eat for the whole week as far as lunches go. I made some more linguine yesterday, it is so easy to make. I think it helps that I have the pasta attachment for the kitchen aid. I do have to say if I could only have one kitchen "gadget" that would be it. Plus, I didn't have to make anything for Matt since he was in RI for the day, so me eating a sweet potato for dinner was perfectly acceptable!
Tonight I am planning on roasting a chicken. It is pretty cold here so warming up the house will be welcome. Emma seems to be doing pretty well with eating these days as well. I try to give her veggies to chew on for snacks, and she seems to like spicy food. For example, if I give her scrambled eggs she won't eat them, but if I put hot salsa on them (like I do with my eggs) she ends up eating an entire egg on her own. The same with pasta, not a fan of plain noodles, but if I put the sauce I make on it for her, she eats it. My sauce has a lot of red pepper flakes in it, so it's pretty spicy, but she can't seem to get enough of it. I haven't seen any change in her behavior or any illness coming from it. I think she just likes spicy because I do :-) Oh, and she loves loves loves cantaloupe. She will eat about 1/8th of a cantaloupe every morning.
I have no idea how Matt did yesterday eating, because I didn't actually see him. I ended up going to see Harry Potter last night, and left about 15 minutes before he got home...then I wasn't home until around 11:30 and he was in bed. But, I have a feeling he cheated...big time :-)
Here is a picture of my pasta dish yesterday, yum!
Tonight I am planning on roasting a chicken. It is pretty cold here so warming up the house will be welcome. Emma seems to be doing pretty well with eating these days as well. I try to give her veggies to chew on for snacks, and she seems to like spicy food. For example, if I give her scrambled eggs she won't eat them, but if I put hot salsa on them (like I do with my eggs) she ends up eating an entire egg on her own. The same with pasta, not a fan of plain noodles, but if I put the sauce I make on it for her, she eats it. My sauce has a lot of red pepper flakes in it, so it's pretty spicy, but she can't seem to get enough of it. I haven't seen any change in her behavior or any illness coming from it. I think she just likes spicy because I do :-) Oh, and she loves loves loves cantaloupe. She will eat about 1/8th of a cantaloupe every morning.
I have no idea how Matt did yesterday eating, because I didn't actually see him. I ended up going to see Harry Potter last night, and left about 15 minutes before he got home...then I wasn't home until around 11:30 and he was in bed. But, I have a feeling he cheated...big time :-)
Here is a picture of my pasta dish yesterday, yum!
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Day One - No processed food
Well, day one went really well. The first day always does, right? You are all excited about a new thing, and try really hard to make sure everything is perfect. It's probably day 21 I need to worry about, or maybe that will be easy as well. I have no idea if I am eating enough though, that is the big thing. I have never counted calories in fruit and veggies, I just try to eat enough to make me full. It worked yesterday :-)
Matt did surprisingly well also, but that was because I packed all of his food, and made him dinner etc. Today I doubt he will do well at all because he has gone to RI for business. Hopefully he can find something good to eat, but I am not holding out much hope. If there is a burger place to go, that's where he will be :-)
What I ate yesterday:
Cantaloupe
Collard Green wrap with avocado/sprouts/red pepper/hummus/mushrooms/cilantro
Homemade granola bar
sunflower seeds/almonds
COFFEE (decaf of course)
homemade linguine w/ sauteed zucchini/onion/pepper/green garlic/tomatoes
Sweet Potato (yum)
Overall, lots of yummy food. I think that today will look pretty much the same, except I think I might roast a chicken...or maybe not...I think it might actually break 75 today. Sorry no pictures of food, I hope to take some pictures today though...we'll see.
Matt did surprisingly well also, but that was because I packed all of his food, and made him dinner etc. Today I doubt he will do well at all because he has gone to RI for business. Hopefully he can find something good to eat, but I am not holding out much hope. If there is a burger place to go, that's where he will be :-)
What I ate yesterday:
Cantaloupe
Collard Green wrap with avocado/sprouts/red pepper/hummus/mushrooms/cilantro
Homemade granola bar
sunflower seeds/almonds
COFFEE (decaf of course)
homemade linguine w/ sauteed zucchini/onion/pepper/green garlic/tomatoes
Sweet Potato (yum)
Overall, lots of yummy food. I think that today will look pretty much the same, except I think I might roast a chicken...or maybe not...I think it might actually break 75 today. Sorry no pictures of food, I hope to take some pictures today though...we'll see.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
cloth diapers
I'm not sure if I have written about cloth diapers here or not...I haven't been labeling my posts for a while now, so I just don't know. Anyways! We use cloth diapers with Emma. It really has been going very well. Of course we do sometimes use disposables. It seems that we used them quite a bit around the holidays and then it turned into using them at night because Emma was not able to sleep through the night. We primarily use prefolds (the cheapest way to cloth diaper) and she was not comfortable at night. So on the advice of a wonderful person, Sara, I decided to try something a little more "heavy duty."
I then made my way to the wonderful Maine Cloth Diaper Company in Damariscotta and talked to a nice woman on different types of diapers. I finally ended up choosing the Bum Genius Pocket Diaper and I have to say I love them. They are so easy to use! I never realized how easy they would be. I thought using a pocket diaper would be more work than the prefolds because you have to stuff something in them and then taking the insert out once the diaper had been soiled etc. But, it isn't bad at all. It's also nice because they are a little more trim, meaning Emma can wear her little jeans without trouble. Actually, they are good for jeans because the jeans actually stay on her instead of falling right off. Plus, the covers are a lot cuter than the plain old white that we have for the prefolds :-)
Wow, three posts in one day. Just had to rave about my not so new diaper though. I think I would completely switch to these style diapers if they weren't so expensive. So if anyone has any tips on where I can buy fabric/accessories for diapers and then an actual pattern for making them...that would be extremely helpful :-)
I then made my way to the wonderful Maine Cloth Diaper Company in Damariscotta and talked to a nice woman on different types of diapers. I finally ended up choosing the Bum Genius Pocket Diaper and I have to say I love them. They are so easy to use! I never realized how easy they would be. I thought using a pocket diaper would be more work than the prefolds because you have to stuff something in them and then taking the insert out once the diaper had been soiled etc. But, it isn't bad at all. It's also nice because they are a little more trim, meaning Emma can wear her little jeans without trouble. Actually, they are good for jeans because the jeans actually stay on her instead of falling right off. Plus, the covers are a lot cuter than the plain old white that we have for the prefolds :-)
Wow, three posts in one day. Just had to rave about my not so new diaper though. I think I would completely switch to these style diapers if they weren't so expensive. So if anyone has any tips on where I can buy fabric/accessories for diapers and then an actual pattern for making them...that would be extremely helpful :-)
No Processed Food!
Matt and I watched Super Size Me on Sunday. I had seen it before, he had not. It's on instant Netflix in case you are interested :-) Pretty much is scared the crap out of Matt. At the same time, he was really intrigued with this "30 Days" show, by the same guy that is in Super Size Me. Of course Matt wished he had thought of the idea, and now wants to do his own 30 day challenge.
We decided to do no processed food and no red meat, I'm also going to add in no dairy (i'm a big cheese eater). Don't worry I take a supplement anyways because I am nursing Emma still.
The rules are pretty easy no processed food - no frozen meals, nothing that comes in a box, no store bought granola bars, pretty much anything that isn't a whole food is off limits. That also means no tofu, not that we eat it that much (actually I can't remember the last time I had it), so for meat we will stick to organic chicken and the rest of the pork from our pig in the freezer. It also means no going out to eat which will be a difficult one for Matt and I. And no condiments (mayo, BBQ sauce, ketchup), or butter.
Exceptions are as follows, milk and yogurt and cheese for Matt, and anything that I make from scratch, ie bread and granola bars. I might try to make crackers, but not sure I am that adventureous. Emma can eat as many cheerios as she wants. Coffee and cream for me. Also mustard, olive oil and salsa are exceptions.
Overall I think it will be a large amount of fruits and veggies, and I am really excited about it. I am posting on the blog, because I hope that keeps me accountable. We'll see how it goes of course, no guarantees we will actually finish. Matt might start complaining about not having enough to eat (he seems to do that when I pile a lot of veggies in front of him).
For the next 30 days we will be on a healthy binge, if anyone would like to join in I would welcome it!
We decided to do no processed food and no red meat, I'm also going to add in no dairy (i'm a big cheese eater). Don't worry I take a supplement anyways because I am nursing Emma still.
The rules are pretty easy no processed food - no frozen meals, nothing that comes in a box, no store bought granola bars, pretty much anything that isn't a whole food is off limits. That also means no tofu, not that we eat it that much (actually I can't remember the last time I had it), so for meat we will stick to organic chicken and the rest of the pork from our pig in the freezer. It also means no going out to eat which will be a difficult one for Matt and I. And no condiments (mayo, BBQ sauce, ketchup), or butter.
Exceptions are as follows, milk and yogurt and cheese for Matt, and anything that I make from scratch, ie bread and granola bars. I might try to make crackers, but not sure I am that adventureous. Emma can eat as many cheerios as she wants. Coffee and cream for me. Also mustard, olive oil and salsa are exceptions.
Overall I think it will be a large amount of fruits and veggies, and I am really excited about it. I am posting on the blog, because I hope that keeps me accountable. We'll see how it goes of course, no guarantees we will actually finish. Matt might start complaining about not having enough to eat (he seems to do that when I pile a lot of veggies in front of him).
For the next 30 days we will be on a healthy binge, if anyone would like to join in I would welcome it!
CSA weeks 6 and 7
Wow, I am not doing that great with the updates! Although, I guess I have posted more in the past couple months than the past year...so maybe I am doing well :-) This week it was sunny going to the farm, yay! It was very exciting to see the sun...of course a very large black cloud followed me home, and then it proceeded to pour most of yesterday evening.
The farm is definitely having trouble, all the farms around here are. The ground is still too wet for the second and third plantings, the plants that are in the ground are struggling...it's definitely a tough year. I can see it in my own garden, I will be lucky to get some cherry tomatoes. My peppers seem to be completely stunted, watermelon and green beans are still just seedlings (need some heat) The potatoes look good, and I finally was able to hill them, but was it too late? At least no late blight. My tomatoes have some flowers, but unless we have some hot humid weather...and some bees...I just don't know if I will get anything. I definitely don't think I will have enough for salsa this year...so sad! Part of me wants to go and buy some more tomato plants from the green house and try to plant them, but I think at this point I would just do more damage to the roots than necessary.
This week's share was smaller than what we are used to, but it was still a good amount of food.
Lettuce
Beets with greens
White radishes
Carrots
Green Garlic
Scapes
Summer Squash
Last week was a really good week:
Lettuce
Swiss Chard
Parsley
Cilantro
Zukes
Kale
Broccoli
Peas
And pictures!
The farm is definitely having trouble, all the farms around here are. The ground is still too wet for the second and third plantings, the plants that are in the ground are struggling...it's definitely a tough year. I can see it in my own garden, I will be lucky to get some cherry tomatoes. My peppers seem to be completely stunted, watermelon and green beans are still just seedlings (need some heat) The potatoes look good, and I finally was able to hill them, but was it too late? At least no late blight. My tomatoes have some flowers, but unless we have some hot humid weather...and some bees...I just don't know if I will get anything. I definitely don't think I will have enough for salsa this year...so sad! Part of me wants to go and buy some more tomato plants from the green house and try to plant them, but I think at this point I would just do more damage to the roots than necessary.
This week's share was smaller than what we are used to, but it was still a good amount of food.
Lettuce
Beets with greens
White radishes
Carrots
Green Garlic
Scapes
Summer Squash
Last week was a really good week:
Lettuce
Swiss Chard
Parsley
Cilantro
Zukes
Kale
Broccoli
Peas
And pictures!
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