This has been a long summer. Full of changes in my family--almost all for good. I am working on making my family as healthy and financially sound as possible, and am preparing to begin homeschooling in a few weeks. I have been a little overwhelmed by the responsibility being a homemaker entails, and am trying to balance that with my volunteering at church and at the fire department. I am finding that I have enough time and energy for everything if--and only if--I manage my time well. Lately with all the summer activities and traveling my time management has allowed for reading others' blogs, but not maintaining my own as well as I like.
Preparation. My summer has been all about preparation for the fall and winter, both with food and with homeschooling. It's interesting that, in our commitment to eating most of our food from our CSA at Moutoux Orchard. In the past two weeks I've canned 11 quarts quartered and 20 pints crushed tomatoes, as well as 12 pints tomato salsa; on the fruit side I've preserved loads of peach butter and some jam for holiday gifts. It's been quite an endeavor, taking up most of Friday night after our pickup. I enjoy every second of it, even the aching back that comes from all those hours prepping and watching over the kettle.
On the homeschooling front, I've finally decided on a mathematics curriculum. We'll be using Singapore Math as a base, and enriching as appropriate. We're taking this year slow, as the Rug Rat is really only beginning kindergarten. For reading we're just going to spend loads of time at the library; science happens in nature and in the kitchen; foreign language is something I feel relatively competent teaching and supervising. (We will do art and music at home until we move to California, at which point we'll probably involve an outside music teacher. The responsibility is tremendous, and I'm both nervous and thrilled that we are taking this on as a family. For us--my kids, my husband, and me--it makes sense. But woah.
Wellness. We as a family have made some major changes this year to our wellness efforts. In the spring my husband decided to make an effort to finally start working out with a long-term plan. He used to start running, then stop after a few weeks because he wasn't motivated to keep doing it. My husband is naturally thin, so didn't really feel like he needed to work on fitness. And then, he started "lifting heavy things" with the
StrongLifts 5x5 program. He's kept with it for almost four months now, and seems as motivated as ever. As a 5'7" guy who weighed 130 lbs dripping wet, he's now up deadlifting 275 and has gained almost 20 lbs--almost all muscle. About six weeks ago I joined in the program, and although I'm behind him in the numbers by quite a bit I am making progress. I can't say that I've gained or lost weight at this point, but I feel fantastic. I can squat 135lbs and deadlift 185. I have a long way to go before I reach my goals, but... I'm on my way. And I love it.
On the nutrition front, we decided to completely cut out grains and sugar (the latter except for occasional small amounts of raw honey in desserts). We've limited sugar for a while now, but the decision on grains is a result of ongoing inflammation and sluggishness over the past couple of months--even with gluten-free grains. My kids can't tolerate corn very well, I can't do gluten, and although I like rice I get extremely tired after eating it. So we're done. It's been four days since we went completely grain-free at home and the difference has been phenomenal. My kids' moods are more balanced. I'm sleeping better. It was a good choice.
And so we come to the crux of the matter. In eating mostly local, organic meat, eggs, fruits, and vegetables, along with some non-local fish, nuts, and other produce (and oils! and coffee!), we've kind of stumbled upon an, um--I can't believe as a former vegan, still 'flex' person--almost
primal diet. While I will never ever call my family "paleo"--we don't eat nearly enough meat to justify that label--a lot of the main points of our diet are exactly that. Our diet relies far more heavily on eggs, nuts, shellfish, and fish than the paleo folks' seeming focus on mammalian sources of protein... but the reality is that we do eat more meat now that we have a good, trusted farm nearby. I will say that I feel better eating this way and my recent blood draws have proven my instinct. I have not done this on purpose, more have stumbled upon grain-/dairy-/sugar-free living as being something I feel better doing. The number of food intolerances in my family has for whatever reason, made these decisions almost inescapable.
My thoughts on food going forward. We are extremely lucky to have a farm nearby that we can trust for good quality, pastured meat and eggs. We are also extremely lucky to have a source for good, sustainably-fished seafood (and sustainably-farmed shellfish). Will we be able to eat this way--affordably--forever? I don't know. I'd rather skip out on meat altogether than purchase CAFO animal products ever again. But I think eating grain-/dairy-/sugar-free is sustainable, whether or not we continue to eat as much in the way of eggs and meat that we do right now. My recipes are still predominantly veg except for the meat I make with meals, so I don't see this blog changing much except to get rid of grain recipes. Baking I've done lately has been with coconut and almond flours. New and exciting things. Except for a review of
Artisanal Gluten-Free Cupcakes
that I'll be doing soon, grains are gone. That's really the only difference. Well, that and probably some killer pickle recipes. Just saying.
My feeling regarding posting meat recipes is as follows: I'll do it if I come up with something good, but I find vegetables and fruits far more pleasing to the eye than steak. (Duh?) I get grossed out by seeing pictures of meat on other people's blogs before it's prepared. (Really? A nice photo of raw chicken? Blech.) Our plates are almost entirely filled with fruits and veggies anyway, so I don't see any reason to change how I write just because we happened to stumble upon "primal" eating. It seems so... weird to say that word, since the entire time I was vegan I thought people who ate paleo were complete nutjobs. And yet, here we are. What I have found is that there is a huge movement within the primal/paleo group advocating for eating ONLY local, sustainable meat. It's not for everyone, but it does seem to work for my family. For now.
And now, rest. I am a worrier. I worry. A lot. I have a long-standing diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder, actually, complete with panic attacks. I have also dealt with related obsessive-type disorders, mostly related to eating and weight. I am finally at peace with food, though the anxiety still wreaks havoc on my life from time to time. I am right now trying not to worry about upcoming issues like a family separation (military-related) and homeschooling, and need some rest. So I leave you all to a lovely summer. I will poke in sometime next week with a review of
Artisanal Gluten-Free Cupcakes that I owe the lovely people at
The Experiment, but am otherwise out of commission until after Labor Day. I hope all of you have a lovely August! Thanks for sticking with me.
), which makes for savings of well over 50%. It's not quite as smooth as the Artisana stuff, but I think I'll live. I've adapted Heather's recipe for larger quantities of coconut, to allow for generous consumption on toast (try this recipe) or with fruit. It'll melt to spreadable consistency at around body temperature, so feel free to place your jar in hot water before scooping some out. (I prefer it as is, eaten with a spoon.)
) makes this a quick and easy lunch, perfect for a day on which you really just crave something raw that's not a salad. Simply "peel" the zucchini lengthwise, toss with pesto, and stuff into a hollowed-out tomato fresh from the garden. Simple, healthy, delicious.
