Deli and Meat counter success!

Today I was able to get deli cheese and meat for the first time without any extra packaging (well I had to get a sticker with the price on it).

I simply brought my containers, asked for the food to be put in it and they did it.

What was I afraid of?

Body for Life

Do you remember this book?

I bought it, I read it, I even followed it for quite a while.

And I bought the products.

This was about 9 - 10 years ago I think? and then I got pregnant and thought about putting those products in my body with a baby and decided it would wait.

So it has waited. And off and on I have been pregnant or nursing and still not wanting to put it into my body (most of the products had aspartame as well as too-hard-to-name ingredients). Through it all, I've had a box sitting in my pantry waiting to be used up. Because of course I paid good money and well...

The time came today. I dumped it all. And I almost cried when I saw how much I paid for this stuff. One was $39.99 on sale from $59.99

and one

was $99.99!!!!! It wasn't even opened!!!

All I have to say is WHAT WAS I THINKING? I spend how much?

Crazy! And all it really takes to take care of your body is to eat healthy foods - less (or better yet no) packaged foods, normal portion sizes (for me this means less than what I am currently eating) and regular exercise (again for me this means MORE).

Ahh the expensive lessons learned.

May Good Food Box

I picked up my May Good Food Box yesterday. As usual, a plethera of goodness for only $10.

We got:

• 10lbs potatoes


• 1 head of romaine lettuce


• 2lb bag of carrots


• 1 cucumber


• 1 bunch of green onions


• 1 bunch of asparagus


• 1 tomato


• 1 bulb of garlic


• 1 pineapple


• 1 lemon


• 2 oranges
  

Yummy goodness! This goes along well with all the reading I've been doing lately about eating local, eating fresh and eating in season.

Good Food Box April 2011

Yes - that time again. This month (all for the incredible low price of $10) I received the following:

• 10 lb bag white potatoes


• 1 head romaine lettuce


• 1 bag red seedless grapes


• 2 lbs onions


• 2 lbs carrots


• 1 small zucchini


• 2 sweet potatoes


• 3 bananas


• 1 green pepper


• 1 head garlic


• 2 beets* we were actually able to grab a few extra if we wanted so I did

It does change the way we prepare meals. Instead of choosing recipes and going shopping for the ingredients I'm finding that I have to go shopping for the recipes instead. Trying out new recipes is one of my Gotta Do items though...

Memory Monday - candy candy candy

Again prompted by Katie the Scrapbook Lady, I am reminded to think of the candy from my childhood. While my parents weren't strictly against sugar, I don't recall them being too too generous or open to it either. If I recall correctly, my dad actually had a fairly long stint of limited sugar after a bout with cancer. For holidays and special celebrations we got the typical sweets that prevailed at the time. At Easter we got the large chocolate bunny and jelly beans. At Christmas our stockings were filled with a mixture of chocolates, hard candies and fruit as well.

Random candy that I recall:

• black bart gum



• thrills gum (tasted like soap but we ate it anyway)



• popeye cigarettes (we still have them but it isn't politically correct to call them that)



• bottlecaps (especcially the root beer ones)



• gobstoppers (they seem so much smaller now!)



• astropops!



• popsicles - especially banana ones!

Random candy memories:

• getting black licorice balls from the store in Cookstown



• [gasp] I stole a package of lifesavers from the local IGA and my mom made me take them back (embarrassing but I learned my lesson!)



• mojos from the store on the way to the cottage - espeically banana ones (and now we can get them at the Superstore!



• getting our penny candy and going to the store up the street to spend it



• finding "cats tongues's" at a store in Guelph and buying them out

And what candy do I like now?

• sour soothers (as long as they are the right kind, preferably stale)



• wine gums (the right kind and preferably stale)



• Hot Tamales



• Mike and Ikes



• Sweedish Berries



• Cadbury Easter Creme eggs



• chocolate covered almonds



• caramels - chewy or hard



• hard candy - the kind that comes at Christmas



• Runts - or similar theme-type



• Jelly bellies



• solid chocolate - mini easter eggs,



• chocolate bars - Dairy Milk, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Hershey milk chocolate with almonds, skor bar, kit kat - it all depends on the mood

And candy I don't like?

• candies with malt inside



• candies with cherries inside



• most of the chocolates in boxes of assorted chocolate



• Turkish Delight or similar, Coffee Crisp, Mars Bars,

It appears that the list of likes is much longer than the list of those I don't like. That could be part of an even bigger problem if you know what I mean...

March Good Food Box

I almost missed this one! I realized at 5:10 that this was the 3rd Tuesday of the month and I hadn't checked the dates. Sure enough, it was today - and it figures I was already out and could have picked it up. We quickly got bundled up and got there with just minutes to spare.

Here is what we got for $10:

• 10 lb bag of red potatoes
• 1 large cabbage (yikes - I still haven't used mine from last month [yes it is still good], I put some in the butternut squash soup which worked well but I'm scrambling for ideas that my family will eat - there is only so much freezer room!)
• 1 2lb bag onions
• 2 small oranges
• 3 delicious apples
• 1 small bag snap peas
• 1 head of broccoli
• 2 turnip (real turnip not the rutabaga one)

Again, the great part of the Good Food Box is that you purchase it in advance (when you have cash) and you pick it up on the third Tuesday of each month (when your cash may be getting low). This is located in a downtown location on the bus route and is aimed to help those may have financial difficulty towards the end of the month and gives good nutritious, fresh food. The more who buy into it, the more spending power they have and the more variety or quantity is provided. All in all a win-win situation. It is definitely worth $10 (small version).

February Good Food Box

Just in...

Here's what I got:

• 10 lb bag of red potatoes (still about a bag ahead - got to work on this!)
• 2 lbs carrots
• 1 broccoli
• 1 Spanish onion
• 1 head of garlic
• 2 parsnips
• 1 sweet potato
• 2 beets
• 3 mac apples
• 2 kiwi

They had a delicious sample of beet soup along with the recipe at pick-up. I'm just not sure I want to buy a whole 2lb bag of beets to make it myself though - especially since probably only Cierra and I will eat it.

Anyway - all of this is a steal for only $10 supporting our local farmers. Adios!

January Good Food Box

Again I picked up my Good Food Box yesterday and this is what I got. All for $10!

• 10 lbs potatoes (although I still have 10 lbs from last month)
• 2 lbs carrots
• 1 cabbage (Yikes - I still have last months too!)
• 1 red pepper
• 2 lbs onions
• 2 macintosh apples
• 2 oranges
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 beets?

...looks like I need to do some recipe hunting...

Good Food Box - December

I picked up our bin today. Here is what we got:

• 10 lb bag of white potatoes
• 2 lb bag of carrots
• a green pepper
• a bulb of garlic
• a butternut squash
• a cabbage
• 5 macintosh apples
• 3 clementines
• 1 red onion
• 1 sweet potato
• 1 head of ???

All for $10. Paid for at the beginning of the month. Picked up at the end. Good deal. Now I just ahve to figure out what to do with the cabbage. Drew is not too fond of the cabbage roll casserole recipe - the only thing besides cole slaw I know how to make with cabbage. Any ideas?

November Good Food Box

I picked up my small good food box yesterday. It inlcuded:

• a 10 lb bag of red potatoes
• 1 cabbage
• 2 lb bag of onions
• 2 lb bag of carrots
• broccolli
• 1 bag of cranberries
• 3 sweet potatoes
• 1 head of garlic
• 4 macintosh apples
• 1 red pepper

all for $10! Good deal!

Fresh from the farm

I forgot to mention that the other day when we were at the surprise party we got talking with some older friends we hadn't seen for a while. It turns out they are living a little out of town on a small hobby farm. And they are raising chickens! Over 60 to be exact. Actually those are just the laying chickens. They just got their meat chickens harvested and will wait to that again until spring. Anyway, I made arrangements to call and then to visit so that I might get some of their "produce". I went out on Wednesday and after a lovely visit, tour of the house and farm, I got 4 chickens and 2 dozen fresh eggs. I was so excited! Marlee got along really well with their daughter at the party and was actually quite upset that she couldn't come with me to the farm but I promised that if this went well that we would all go out some weekend together. After this visit we will be sure to do so.

Thursday night I made a roast chicken and roasted root vegetables. It was so yummy! I did up carrots, parsnips, turnip, sweet potato and potato in maple syrup and balsamic vinegar. They got a little overdone but were still really good. I will be making them again for sure. It is so nice to know what we are eating and how it got there. So much healthier!

Good Food Box

I've decided to give the Good Food Box a try again. I had tried it a number of years ago and then let it go as the pick up time wasn't working for me. Someone had mentioned it a few weeks back and it reminded me of what a good deal it was so I thought I should look back into it. 2 weeks ago I paid for the months of October and November for a small box each month with a 10lb bag of potatoes. I picked it up today and here is what I got:

• 1o lb bag of potatoes (choice of red or white)


• 1 cauliflower


• 1 small bag of onions


• 1 2lb bag of carrots


• 1 red pepper


• 1 tomato


• 1 zucchini


• 1 head of garlic


• 3 oranges


• 4 apples (macs I think)


• a newsletter with info and recipes

for $10! A good deal in my book!

Turkey anyone?

Warning: graphic photos!

I like to cook with ground turkey. I got a few really good recipes from a show I used to watch on TLC called Fixing Dinner. In particular we like the Turkey Manicotti and the Turkey Meatloaf with Goat Cheese (well my kids are so-so on that one). Anyway, for some reason I can't always seem to find ground turkey at the supermarket and while I want to purchase organic and local and "where I know where it comes from" meat, practically speaking, I'm not quite there yet. Enter our Thanksgiving turkey. Every thanksgiving and Christmas and Easter we have a friend who grows organic turkeys. We like to support him and the birds are amazing. So this year I thought I'll get one and do the work myself since I knew that my mom had a meat grinder. Well here is how it went:

We (or rather Drew) went out and picked up the fresh turkey (we usually get it already frozen so he had to go when it was fresh). It is 20.5 lbs and cost $60.

My mom arrived at 9pm with her grinder, we cleaned it, got the supplies ready and started peeling the bird. Slippery stuff and it was stuck on there well!

Next we started cutting away at the bird. My knives weren't quite up to my mom's standards but after some sampling and then some sharpening we got on our way. Well she seemed to do most of it (thank you!)

Then I got to the grinding. A lot harder then it looks. For one thing, the meat just kept coming back up the holder. And then it got stuck. I had to hold it down with my hand and my fingers kept locking! Then the white "skin-type stuff" kept clogging up the holes so I would have to take it apart and pull out the piece and start over. Mom was getting way more work done then me.

Sooo, fast forward a few hours later (including 1/2 hour where I left to nurse Mitchell) and I can't say that I was getting very far. So we both agreed that perhaps just having some cut turkey meat would be just as good. Oh and mom will have all the bones for some broth! Mom ground the last of the smaller peices (much faster then me) and we bagged and put away the rest for the freezer.

End result? I got about 4 lbs of ground meat and then the rest is cut up for later meals. Cost effective? I'm not sure. It may be more expensive then the average grocery store but I think it was less expensive then the organic farm that I know of. And I know where it cam efrom and how teh birds were treated. Was it worth it? Ummm, I think that I am willing to pay a butcher for their time and effort. But as my mom said, (after admitting she didn't think I would like the process) that sometimes you just have to find out for yourself. And she is right. I'm glad I did it but I'm in no hurry to try it again. Thanks for the experience.

The Omnivore's Dilemma

I finally finished the book The Omnivore's Dilemma (young readers edition). It was really thought provoking. I earmarked a few pages and these were the things that I wanted to think more about:

• p35 - Regarding corn and how the price of corn (paid to farmers) is kept low by government policies and how in turn, in order to stay in business, most farmers receive subsidies from the government. The price paid for corn is below what it costs to grow it and yet it is the most in demand. Cyclical event that doesn't make sense.


• p56 - possible ingredients in cattle feed - yuck!!! and how cows are not designed to eat corn and yet are forced to. Hmmm.


• p83 - cheap fat - it is cheaper for the average person to purchase foods with empty calories rather then foods with nutritious calories ie potatoe chips and cookies versus carrots and other whole vegetables. Again the US government helps pay farmers to grow corn and soybeans but not the other fruits and vegetables we need. It discusses how one part of the government promotes the food pyramid and then another part makes it impossible for some to follow it. Hmmm.


• p105 - shows the marked increase in childhood obesity and the increase in the average number of calories consumed of HFCS daily


• p128 - how a chicken lives it's life before it gets to our table


• Polyface farms - I'd love to check it out some day! (egg yolks should be bright orange in colour if they have been given a grass diet)

Some resources to check out:

http://www.eatlocalchallenge.com/

http://www.100milediet.org/

http://www.eatwellguide.com/

http://www.localharvest.com/

http://www.westonaprice.org/

Videos: Nourish; Fresh by Ana Jones; Food Inc.; What's on Your Plate; King Corn

What do I want to take from this book? (Btw I read the young readers version because the other one wasn't available from the library and I had started to read this one before I realized there was another version)

It is definitly thought provoking and good for conversation. I have been wanted to try to eat more locally and certainly more grass fed meat for a number of reasons. I need to research these ideas more (they are also part of my 101 things to do in 1001 days (LOL! - maybe I will get some of it accomplished!) and actually figure out how to do it.

A number of years ago Drew and I did purchase wholesome organic meats from a company. We haven't really been able to afford it again. Or rather, we haven't really chosen to afford it again since then. Nor has our freezer been ready for it. We did get very good meat. Drew has mixed feeling on it - i think we had a lot of good friends over and shared it and it may not have lasted as long as we had planned. I know there are some local farms that sell meat that I would like to check out.

I would also like to check out a few of the fresh produce/CSA farms. Or maybe even the Good Food Box system again. I have been buying more locally grown foods through our supermarket but I need to get to the farmer's market too. I haven't really needed to buy anything there lately but I would like to be choosing their produce over the supermarket.

That being said, I know that I will still want to buy bananas, pineapple, and navel oranges to name a few fruits that will never grow around here.

Above all, no, this does not mean that I am going to become a vegetarian. Or a no-junk food person. I do not have that kind of will power. But I have been thinking of the need to make better choices regarding our food and this book only confirms what I have known in my heart; the industrial food chain is not a great one. There is something to be said about eating and buying local and I hope to do more.

BTW there are some interesting reviews here on the full version.