Day 2!

I'm quitting soda again. It's sort of like quitting smoking for people who smoke, I think. I've never smoked, but I've heard from friends why it is so hard. I have friends who offer me a Pepsi. I have parents who keep the fridge stocked with Dr. Pepper, my favorite. I am surrounded by sodas when we go out to eat. IT IS EVERYWHERE! I am strong willed, but there is only so much you can take when you are fighting addiction and peer influence.

So last week and the week before I took a long, rolling tumble off the bandwagon, and now I am trying to climb back on. The nasty chemical taste, shakes, and lack of energy weren't quite enough to propel me up into the wagon bed, but then there is my son... 7 months old, he wants everything we have, and he was reaching, reaching for every sip of soda I took. I can't get him attached to this crap, too. Not to say I will ban soda; I think that I should teach him to make a good choice on his own. But my son does not need to see me downing a liter or two a day. *gag, shudder*

I seriously don't even LIKE it, but I want it. Yesterday I had immense cravings and a headache. Today I am exhausted. I could hardly get out of bed, and even though I've been up for hours, I still want to go back.

I really don't even like it, I swear! It takes away my appetite until I don't eat anything, it makes good food taste like crap, and it wreaks havoc with my body. I used to drink it all the time as a kid... I would have 5-6 cans EVERY DAY, and hardly eat anything. A doughnut for breakfast, no lunch, and some chili that was probably MORE THAN 50% cheese for dinner, or ramen if we ran out of cheese. I ate like that for months. No wonder quitting is so hard.

Veggie Boot Camp

I joined a CSA! CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture, which essentially means that local farms grow food for local people. I became a member by paying for my first 7 weeks, and then all I had to do was drive to the drop off point right here in town to pick up a box (yes, a big, huge box) of veggies. It feels like veggie boot camp, and it is slightly scary trying to figure out what to do with all of that green (and not green) goodness. The best news? I have rarely tasted food so fresh and yummy. I am totally excieted about each new week and all of the wonderful new foods that I can try.

This week:
Carrots, Salad, Arugula, Radishes, Leeks, Fennel, Agretti, Strawberries.

The carrots will become baby food. The salad was used as salad, along with a few of the radishes. We ate some ourselves, then donated the rest (about half) to my Auntie, who loves salad (I really don't like lettuce, actually). The arugula is a cooking green, as are the radish greens, so those will mostly be sateed with garlic to make a side dish (ok, a lot of side dishes - there's a ton of food!) The radishes, leeks, fennel, and agretti are a little puzzling so far, but I WILL come up with ways to eat them. The strawberries were dessert, and they were some of the best EVER.

Last week, since I was down for the count:
Celery, Parsnips, Mustard Greens , Purple Carrots, Spinach, Cardoons, Salad

The celery got traded out for more parsnips. I don't like celery, thanks. The parsnips were ok cubed and boiled, but they really shone in a scalloped potato/parsnip dish. I wouldn't mind more of that. The mustard greens were sauteed with garlic, and enjoyable that way. I added local honey once, but Sam liked them plain, better. The purple carrots were going to be baby food, but they were overlooked for two long and kicked the bucket. The spinach, on the other hand, was terrific, sauteed with the mustard greens and also as a salad green. The cardoons tasted like artichoke heart soup when cooked up for cardoon soup, which was to die for. YUM! Not bad for a veggie I had never heard of before. The salad was half consumed when I gave up and donated the last half to my mommy, who was thrilled. She will be getting more.

It is exciting and a little scary to be cooking all of these new foods. Veggie boot camp ROCKS!

~Dionne

Juiced Out

Right now I am drinking a glass of lemonade. Sure, it tastes good, but even I know that the real reason that I am drinking juice is because I want sugar. Badly. Cultural cravings like this are hard, but I know that I can do just as well without juice, so here comes the hard part… I have to get RID of the juice. No kidding. Not only is this going to wind up being healthier, it will also be cheaper for my family.

Payday (thus shopping day) is this Friday. That means that I get to go shopping… and leave my lemonade off the list. Wish me luck… I’m gonna miss my juice!

~Dionne