Isn't it Ironic...don't you think

It's like rain on your wedding day.  It's a free line when you've already paid. 

No I'll stop as I am not going to recite Alanic Morissette's "Ironic" for you instead I would like to relay a message of irony.

This past Sunday on the way to church my husband and I had a conversation about food.

We often talk about food, we love it and enjoy just about all aspects of it.

Since watching films such as:  Food, Inc., Fast Food Nation, and The Real Dirt on Farmer John we are quite a bit wiser about food.  We have made a point to learn where our food comes from and how it is treated.

I've become vegetarian since gaining my knowledge and my husband and three children now only consume organic meats and grass fed beef (that is when they eat those items). 

This past Sunday though my husband and I were lamenting that the knowledge we have gained is almost like a burden.  In the past we would have thought nothing about going through a drive through and picking up a biscuit for breakfast. 

Now we can't think about eating fast food, or conventional food for that matter, without feeling ill and guilty.  Having to take time and effort to research restaurants, if we want to go out to eat, or checking all of the ingredients on packages to make sure the dreaded high fructose corn syrup isn't present really takes an effort.

Now please don't stop reading at this point and think I am whining about having to spend extra time to eat healthy.  I gladly spend the time because I care about the food that we eat and I want to ensure, more then anything, that my children aren't filled with chemicals and that they know what various fruits and vegetables actually look like in their natural state (not in French fry form or strawberry milkshake).

Back to my story :)  My husband and I just lamented that ignorance seemed simpler.  On the flipside however we have felt that burning need to share our knowledge of food to educate others...we just haven't really figured out how (other then my blog). 

Now we agree that there is NO WAY we could revert back to the old ways.  Lucky for us a reinforcement, that eating the way we do is the right path, was waiting for us at church.  Steve Tate from Goat Lady Dairy came to speak to the adults of the church during the Sunday school hour. 

Goat Lady Dairy is a local organic farm that produces goat cheese (yeah obvious I know from the name) but they also have a thriving CSA that has 150 participants.  Goat Lady hosts dinners and weddings and at every available opportunity they share the passion for locally grown organic food saying "when you change a person's relationship with their food, you change them, and the world, forever."

Steve is an ordained minister who aptly connects the ideas of caring for the land and animals to leading a Christian life.  His point is why wouldn't you want to let animals express their chickeness (scratching the ground searching for worms) and cowness (eating grass and clover) when we are given the opportunity to express our humaness every day.  Why would you want to eat chicken that has been kept inside, in the dark, for its entire short life and fed a cocktail of drugs to keep it from getting too sick?  The better, more healthy and humane, approach would be to allow the chicken to run free (without stress of being cooped up) and enjoy life until the end has come.  In the end that produces a healthier meat that will more adequately nourish your body.

Steve left us with some pretty heavy information (pun fully intended) that a recent study stated 50% of the adult population of the U.S. would be obese by 2030.  Holy Cow!  That signals to me that we need to do something about our food and our habits.  When you hear a staggering figure like that you should feel compelled to make a lifestyle change.

My husband and I left realizing this was exactly what we needed to hear.  Irony or not we were affirmed in our dedication to eating from farm to fork.

So without sounding too preachy, and I am pretty sure it is too late for that, I leave you with this.  Take an interest in your food.  Find out where you food comes from and respect your body enough to care for it.  Nurture and nourish it as it is truly a gift given to us by a God (or whatever higher power you put your faith in).

Tweet

Back to the Grind...with zucchini

Today was the first day all three of my children were at school. 

My children go to a Montessori school and there is a schedule in which they gradually get all of the kids back into school (I think this is to ease the burden on the teachers just as much as the kids). 

So in honor of their getting back to the grind I snapped these photos this morning to capture the joy (or possibly lack there of as witnessed by my 4 year olds face):

From the grind at school to the grind(er) I made this weekend, first a little background to the recipe:

My husband and I are a great team when it comes to deciding what to eat each week.

We make out a menu, and if all goes to plan we stick to it.

The focus of our meals can be found in our weekly bag from our CSA from Faucette Farms.

This week our bag was full of yummies please indulge me a few photos to share the source of inspiration

Supplemented by our own small bounty of tomatoes from our garden

Yes that is a very BRIGHT red!

This week my intention is to show you how I used the CSA to make our meals, which in turn saves us money.

Our first dish was zucchini grinders.  As a mostly non-meat eating family this is a great choice for a hearty meatless sandwich.

1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)
2 medium zucchini
2 medium squash
1 C chopped mushrooms
1 yellow bell pepper
onion slices
1 baguette
mozzarella cheese

Chop the zucchini, squash, pepper, and mushrooms and added them to a skillet where they can be sauteed with the black beans in Earth Balance until they are tender and browned at the edges.

While the veggies are browning, toast the baguette opened faced in the over (we chose to broil for about 2-3 minutes).

Sprinkle grated mozzarella cheese on top of the bread. 

Top your cheese with your veggie mixture (we had leftover veggies from this which in turn were used in tomorrow's delish dish).

Spoon marinara, or Kitchen Sink Sauce, on top of the veggies.  If you are using the Kitchen Sink Sauce you'll need to sprinkle a little seasoning, I recommend Italian, to give the sandwich extra punch.

Followed by another layer of mozzarella cheese.

Broil in the oven until the cheese is melted and gooey.

The sandwich is delicious and filling.  It provided 3 servings for us.

I mentioned this week I would be showing you the ways I use my CSA to create meals this week.  I want to do it to show that you can eat healthy (our CSA is organic) and not spend a ton of money.  For $21.00 a week we get our CSA share.

This will be my first attempt to show people that eating healthy and having a healthier lifestyle doesn't have to be expensive.  There are ways to make it work and to make a healthier you in return. 

Stay tuned this week for some delicious veggie recipes and of course a dessert (or maybe two).

Also I will have a giveaway that I am starting on Friday...so be sure to check it out.

If you have questions please send me an e-mail through my "Contact Me" page.  I love to hear from you all!!
 

Tweet

Sad to say...

Well I am sad because I don't have the ability to upload any of my great photos.

I am at the beach with the family and just can't wait to show you Owen using a boogie board for the first time.

Andrew and Caroline running and playing on the beach while not locking me, or my husband, in a death grip around the neck.

See the two younger ones were a tiny bit afraid of the water yesterday, but today miraculously they have overcome that fear.

I also can't wait to show you pictures of the wild horses from Assateague, there is even a baby (foal) to show.

You know what else we have?

A fantastic farm stand just a few minutes from the house.

The place is the cutest! And the people are of course the nicest...

The only unfortunate part of this vacation, is that I haven't been able to do any baking...I will be back on track once we return.

I've got lots of ideas brewing (can't share though I would hate to ruin the surprise).

Tweet

CSA (Can't Stop eAting)

In an effort to be more frugal with our money and to provide our family with fresh local produce we joined a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).
We chose a local farm, Faucette Farms, which is close to our house AND their produce is organic. 

 The product manager, Polly, is SUPER nice and very accommodating.  If there is something in our weekly bag that might not be to our liking she is quick to offer up alternatives (like extra blueberries...which the kids never like wait to eat).  The only gripe Andrew, who is 4, has is that there is no red farm (meaning he wonders why there is no red barn), however there is a red tractor.

 This week this is what our haul looked like:

We got:
Blackberries
Blueberries
Tomatoes (vine ripe, German Johnson, and cherry)
Zuccini
Carrots
Green Beans
Mushrooms (shiitake and oyster)
Eggs
Spinach
Onions
Green bell pepper
Asparagus
Peaches
Garlic (one head)

To compare and see if we really are getting a good deal my husband and I checked produce prices at the grocery store and compared them to what we got from our CSA.  We estimated that we would have spent $41.00 on the above list, but our CSA only costs $21.00 a week...sounds like a FANTASTIC deal to me.

Should you find yourself in a situation where you might have leftover produce such as apples, and they are a little soft, let me suggest you make your own applesauce.  This process may initially seem daunting or like too much work...however once you do it you will never turn back to store bought again.  I make unsweetened applesauce all the time for the kids.

This week was one of those weeks where I had some extra apples

So I chopped them up, skins still on (I like to include the extra fiber)

Add them to a pot and add enough water to cover them up half way

If you would like the sauce to be a little sweet just add 1 or 2 cloves to the pot (it gives the applesauce an amazing flavor).
 Bring the water to a boil and then continue to boil the apples until they are fork tender (these 2 apples took about 10 minutes).
Spoon your apples into a blender, or food processor, with a little bit of the cooking liquid and blend until smooth (if you've put cloves in make sure you remove them before blending)
This is what you end up with:

My 2 small apples made about 1 cup of sauce.  I used 1/4 cup of it in the vegan banana bread I made here.

Tweet