One Week Down, No Looking Back!

It has been a great week with the changes we made to our eating habits. Ryan has already commented more than once that he is enjoying his trimmer shape from eating less meat (after only ONE WEEK!). We definitely spent a little bit more on food this week, but we'll get that down to a science in no time. I am looking forward to taking a trip to Whole Foods alone, so I can spend some time price-shopping and perusing their inventory.

We bought way less at the market this week because we had plenty left over from last week to make it through this week. What needs stocking is the pantry with non-perishable organic foods (canned soups, beans, grains, etc.). I have not forgotten about the baking mixes, either! I plan to work that in during the next couple weeks, so any good baked good recipes that are simple when it comes to adding liquids (1 egg, 3/4 c water, etc) would be greatly appreciated.

Last week's amazing breakthrough recipe was Portobello Mushroom Marsala (I made it just for me on the side of my mom's chicken marsala).

Portobello Mushroom Marsala

1 large portobello mushroom, sliced

1 tablespoon butter

1 drizzle of olive oil

Shallow dish of flour, salt, pepper, and oregano for dredging

Handful of white mushrooms, sliced

2 parts Marsala

1 part Sherry

Melt the butter together with the olive oil in a pan. Dredge the slices of mushroom in the flour mixture and saute in the butter mixture. When brown on both sides, add the button mushrooms, marsala, and sherry. Simmer until the gravy reaches the right consistency.

Serve with steamed potatoes and green beans. Delicious!

Changes at the Casa Kitchen

After reluctantly watching the documentary films "Killer at Large" and "Food, Inc.," I've taken a radical plunge in my thinking about the food I put into my body and the bodies of my family members. I highly recommend the films, and I will be taking the book The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan from the library today to read it for more info.

The changes will include the following:

1. Only eating organic, free-range, grass-fed meat. This means we will be eating much less meat because I am sure it is not cheap to eat the new standard.

2. Eating fresh, organic, locally grown vegetables. We will be shopping weekly at the farmer's market for produce, and supplementing with produce from Whole Foods or Central Market.

3. Decreasing our intake of processed foods. Instead of packaged mixes, I'm going to be packaging my own convenient mixes to keep in the pantry (so long "blueberry muffin" mix that doesn't have blueberries on the ingredient list). Maybe I will post these "recipes" here if I get it worked out to a well-oiled homegrown machine.

4. We will be gardening. I have put this off since we bought our house. I have a few bags of soil in the garage and enough seeds to feed a village. I'm thinking that perfect is a lower priority than I've been making it, so I might just be going into the backyard, pouring the bags of soil on top of our "garden" space that is currently grassy and weed-riddled. Then I will plant the seeds... at this point I think our only crop will be Okra, but I will be looking into a timetable for planting a fall garden as well.

5. This one probably goes without saying, but we will be eating at home. The only person I can trust to care about the food that goes into our mouths is me, so I am going to be cooking more.

So there it is in writing. I will be posting updates, and I will probably not follow through on this stuff 100%. I know it is going to be more expensive, but I'm also confident that it is the right thing to do for my family. If you have some suggestions for "follow-through" on these items, please let me know. If you are in Houston and want to start a veggie co-op so we can buy in bulk and get better prices at the farmer's market, let me know that, too! Happy and healthy eating to you and yours!