September 13, 2009

Who me? Crunchy?

You know you are starting to get a little bit crunchy...

1) when you drive to two different stores at opposite ends of town, in the dead heat of August, with your infant, just to get the proper raw local honey...all of this while your sister coaches you via cell phone from the midwest while you make this all-important purchase.


2) when you skip sleeping-in on Saturdays just to pick up your box of Abundant Harvest Organics






3) when you are giddy with delight to discover coconut oil as an ingredient in your new sunscreen.

4) when you cry real tears when your 2-year old spits out his new organic yogurt...never mind the fact that he will willingly sample this mysterious green fruit/veggie from your harvest box.



What, pray-tell is this green stuff? Anyone? An onion??

5) when you swoon when your husband surprises you with some Rumford baking powder...because nothing says "I Love You" like aluminum-free baking powder!

6) when you know(and care) about the difference between cage-free and free-range eggs.






7) when your husband starts telling everyone that you eat nuts and sticks. And when he purposely mis-uses the term "free-range", just to tease you.

8) when your 6-year-old starts using the the word "organic" and says "hey mommy, Fillmore{from Cars} talks just like you!"



9. when the grocery teller at Winco asks you several questions about these odd grocery items that she has never scanned before.

10. when you cook with grape seed oil rather than olive oil.

11. when, for the first time ever, you want to make your 4th child homemade baby food.







12. when you make a special trip to Lassens just to get your sprouted Ezekiel muffins.

13. when your children become increasingly suspicious of your every single movement in the kitchen and ask, "Is this that healthy stuff again?"


14. when you ration your kids' organic milk because it's so gosh-darn expensive.

15. when your friends read this, they trade you in for a different model:)

All joking and silliness aside, I am extremely grateful for whatever bounty the Lord provides for our family, organic or not. However, where time and money allows, I am gradually adopting some of the principles that my sister Jessica is teaching me, from the book, Nourishing Traditions.

And I must say, I am loving it. At first, I wasn't so sure. I initially rejected every idea my sister proposed. It's my defense mechanism. Then, I mull it over... and usually change some of my ways, if it is feasible. I usually only try one or two new things per week.

And for the first time in my life, I am excited about grocery shopping and cooking. This way of eating is New. Exciting. Different. Fun.

I started with breakfast:
-free-range scrambled eggs
-sprouted Ezekiel muffins with organic butter and raw honey
-organic fruit

And then lunch started to follow suit.
-sprouted bread with organic peanut butter and raw honey. Or
-nitrate free meat with Tillmook cheese
-organic fruit or organic carrots

And then a few different dinners, here and there, per week. For example,
-free-range chicken thighs
-organic potatoes
-brown rice pasta
-organic bean burritos

I have yet to pre-soak my beans and flours in sea salt or whey...and I highly doubt that I will ever culture my own sprouts...and I am terrified to try kombucha(though I'm very curious).

For now, I'm doing the best that I know how, to feed my family.


And on days when this is not possible, I don't worry about it AT ALL. In fact, just 2 days ago I ate from Burger King. And I feel no guilt what-so-ever.

And if I get too carried away, I try to remember,

Matthew 6:25 Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than food?

And now, for some BLOOPERS...Ollie being strangled by Calvin,


Ollie placing his half-eaten mystery fruit back in the box for the next unsuspecting victim. Seriously, what is this green stuff???


And, careful Calvin...


Oopsie.

29 comments:

  1. Hmm...the only crunchy thing I've done is make baby food...but that's more b/c I'm the biggest cheapskate on the planet. =) What a fun list, and beautiful pics...Twain is getting so big!!

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  2. The green thing looks like a fig-what's it look like when you cut it open?

    The boys are soooo cute and Twinkie is so grown up. No longer the baloney loaf! How sad that I missed it all! He is so stinken' cute and chunky!

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  3. I'm smiling. Laughing. Shaking my head. Rolling my eyes. And I want to call you right now and tease you about all of this. WHERE HAS MY DAVI GONE??? =) but alas, it is not even 8'oclock...another hour before I'm allowed to call my bf and tease her about her "nuts and twigs".

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  4. You crack me up! You're doing a great job...seriously. Especially with 4 kiddos to watch over...all while trying to make the switch. LOVE LOVE the picture of Finn holding Twain! I think Twain is catching up to Finn weight wise. Oh and I wanted to let you know that my dad is a beekeeper. The majority of his honey is local, but he also takes his bees to the apples in Washington and the clover in North Dakota. They extract in the summertime, so I'm sure the honey is a mixture of all those places. Anywho, he brought me a BIG bucket of what he calls the BEST table honey (not for baking, it's too good). I rarely use honey, so come fill your jar up. Next spring, I'll shake the bees off a frame and see if I can't cut you a chunk of the comb and all.

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  5. um.....twain is soooo ridiculously sweet,i can't handle it!!!!!

    they are all so cute!

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  6. Well whatever you're doing is working because seriously, Twain looks like a COMPLETELY different kid from the last time you posted pics of him!! Look at those rolls...ohmigoodness LOVE! Did you trade him in for a "free-range" model?! (OK-sorry, I had to! :)

    Great job to you for try and paying so much attention to what you are feeding your precious little family.

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  7. It's a fig!! My Ella LOVES them, we also get ABG. Just bite into them like an apple, they are sweet and a beautiful redish pink inside! I think your boys will love them when they get use to the foreign look of them. And none of it makes you crunchy, you are just showing more love for your family! Just remember not to go overboard and kill/overwhelm yourself over it, little improvements over conventional are better than none at all. The hormones are what freak me out, so there is no compromising on that one! And I go off of this list as well, http://www.foodnews.org/fulllist.php. There is absolutely no circumstance that will allow me to purchase a conventional peach, apple, or apple sauce! But those are my quarks. Oh, also! I used the book "top 100 Baby Purees" by Annabel Karmel to make my own baby food for Ms. E. LOVED IT! The food was SOOOO GOOD, so much so that it made me feel bad when I gave her the jarred stuff when we were out. I'll be starting up again in a few weeks with Mr. A, I'll blog about some of my favorite ones. Your are doing fantastic! Keep it up!

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  8. LOL hes sooooo chunky! cant wait to meet you and the family tomorrow!

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  9. I dip here and there into the organic world but have found myself honestly to lazy to dive the whole way in. You'll have to give me a crash course sometime! Oh, and if you're making Twain's baby food, do you have the book Super Baby Food? It's the best, especially for lame-os like me who need to be stepped through the process. Enjoy your crunchy eats!

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  10. I too was wondering what the green things were because it totally wasn't in the newsletter! So after reading the comments I Google image searched figs and I'm pretty sure that's what they are. I tasted one on Saturday and they are nice and sweet inside. I wasn't so sure about trying the skin though so I didn't. ;) But now I'm happy to know what they are!

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  11. ohh davi, i love it! i remember you calling me crunchy and youre probably passing me up at this point! is that a fig? cut it open and show us, i bet its a fig. we are about to join a CSA and im sooo excited. weve wanted to for a while now. and i love the guilt free part!
    *very proud*

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  12. We love our box that we get. I too was wondering about the mystery fruit. :) You are amazing for doing all of this. Kurt and I go back and forth on the organic stuff, but have never been as gung-ho as you. I'm impressed. And I totally want to make Zoe baby food.

    And as always I LOVE your pictures. :) That one with Finn holding Twain is so cute. They are almost the same size. ;) Cute little Farmer Twain.

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  13. Oh and hey, at least you haven't gone completely overboard on the crunchiness like me. ;)

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  14. We get the veggie box too! I think the little green things are figs. I cut one open and squished out the insides and ate them. Sweet, crunchy. I don't know. They usually put that info on the newsletter.

    I also go out of my way for local honey. Husband has allergies and he read about local honey being helpful. The girls are convinced it works and remind him daily (they are 5 and know better).

    Crunchy is good. I think it is a good way to help your community and give your kids food. Just food. Not chemicals.

    Go granola girls!

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  15. I love it, and I love that you call it "crunchy", I use that description to describe friends and no one ever seems to know what I mean. I was planning to blog about my organic CSA share soon too. It makes me so happy! It looks like there is still a lot I could learn from you!

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  16. It IS indeed a fig! My kiddos are in love with this new fruit. Too bad there weren't more in the box... they would have eaten a dozen. Oh, and hook a sister up... where did you get your honey????
    Twain has gotten so BIG!! He's ADORABLE. What a little chunk!!

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  17. We love Abundant Harvest too, my kids had to be bribed with ice cream to try the figs though. They look so wierd on the inside and that was hard for me to get over, but they are pretty yummy.

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  18. Thanks for the sweet compliment!

    Okay, Davi...you inspire me! I am so lousy at doing my research so I end up doing everything half a*@. I WANT to feed my family healthy things free from preservatives and hormones and icky stuff, but I get overwhelmed! It is good to remember to do just a little bit at a time...and I will have to look up that book!

    And, as usual, your boys are beautiful!

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  19. oh me oh my. you ARE a true nut! maybe you should just move to oregon & call it a day already :) that's all the jokes i gots right now! ha! no, i really admire people like you! i wish i had the patience to change my nasty eating ways...still haven't tried that ezekial bread yet! i went to buy it & they all expired the next day so i was OUT! love you my nutty granola friend! oh, & those pics are so so beautiful!!!

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  20. Do you read MckMama? She is a crunchy gal too. Her husband calls her eats - woodland creature food ;)
    Your boys are too cute! Twain sure is catching up with his big brothers! Love the overalls!

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  21. Organic, free range, and pastured is the best for chicken and eggs. I also buy GRASS FED beef, milk and yogurt! Grass fed is even better than grain fed, and all organic doesn't necessarily mean grass fed. They're especially tricky about the labels on milk! Pictures of cows and grass, but NOT grass fed. How dare they?

    I need some dinner ideas....

    xoxo,
    cousin jamie

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  22. Seriously you crack me up! I am SO impressed! I try to do all of the organic and even local foods, but I am not THAT good! See ya Wednesday! Oh and that looked like a fig to me ...? Oh and A M A Z I N G pictures!

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  23. I'm DYING over the pics of Twain in his overalls. Be still my heart. there is nothing more adorable and perfect than a chubby little big-eyed boy in overalls. Sigh. Your other boys are to die for too, of course, but the overalls are what did me in. :)

    I love your attitude about being crunchy! I too am trying to be healthier and better with food, but I don't want to stress out about it or, let's be honest, deny us the fun things like the occasional happy meal. :) It sounds like you've found a great balance and are doing SO well. I'm impressed!

    ps. re: annabelle's braids: I actually thought of you when I did those, because I know your love for pippi-ish things :)

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  24. Figs! Maren loves them. So do I. It is so fun to hear someone talking about AHO and getting up on Saturday mornings. Just in case you ever want to sleep in, I would be happy to pick up your box. We are ALWAYS up, unfortunately. We have had other folks pick up our box and it's really easy. Talk to you soon. Enjoy this week's box!

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  25. Your little Twain is adorable love the cheeks soo cute!

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  26. I love the beautiful array of colors, textures and flavors of God's foods! But... true confessions, here... I love chocolate cake, too!

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  27. I can't believe how much Twain has rolly-polly-ed up since his last pictures! Such a cutie! I made Caleb's baby food using "So Easy Baby Food." It was a very simple book and worked great for us. And Caleb's pretty much on table food at 9 months--I think because the homemade stuff tastes so much like normal table food, it just wasn't a hard transition.

    How about cloth diapers?? You know you want to! :)

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  28. are you kidding me, your making me want another boy, not a kid, but boy. I want to take pictures like that with my 4 boys. Oh my gosh, youa re so lucky! God is so good!!

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