I’m just a few days away from the 60-mile walk, which for me was supposed to achieve two goals.  One, it was supposed to contribute to a cause and connect me with my late stepmother.  That goal was mostly achieved, except I do wish my stepmother could have made it to this day.  But two, I thought that having a higher goal like that would motivate me to do more exercise.  But no.  I’m not entirely sure how well prepared I am for the walk.  Up until a couple of weeks ago, I was walking 7-8 miles a couple of times a week.  But I only managed a 3 mile walk this weekend and I don’t think I’ll have time to walk much more than that before the walk.  I find walking to be pleasant enough–even the longish ones–but I am sooo aware that I’m doing it to “exercise” not because there’s scenery I want to see.  I’m looking forward to this walk being over because I won’t feel like I *have* to walk or feel guilty if I don’t manage to walk.  Which is just a sad sad thing.

Part of me wants to just chalk this up to being 40-something, eat at will, and be done with it.  Another part of me wants to not be squeezing into pants and feeling disgusted when I look in the mirror while trying on clothes.  And still another part worries that if I do eat at will, and don’t exercise, I’ll end up not 10-15 pounds more heavy than I would like, but more like 30 pounds more heavy.  And then, sigh.  I think I need to find a hobby that burns some calories but doesn’t feel like exercise.  And I can’t do it alone.  That’s one thing I’ve realized about walking.  I didn’t like doing it by myself.  I should have reached out to my teammates more and scheduled walking time.  I tried to get the family to join me, but not much luck there.  And of course, winter is upon us, so outdoor activities might be limited.  Suggestions appreciated.  Commiseration welcome.

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First, because of the challenge, I plan a whole week’s worth of meals.  Generally I plan on 4-5, knowing that one night we’ll eat out or slap together sandwiches at home.  I include in my grocery list snacks and fruit for lunches and often deli meat for weekend lunches or quick dinners.

Second, because I don’t work, I can shop during the week.  Going to the grocery store on a Monday at 1 is miles better than going any weeknight just before dinner time (which was a common occurrence back when I was working).  If I returned to full-time work, I’d do the shopping on the weekend, likely earlier in the day, and probably make it a family event, taking one kid or the husband to help.  The kids are actually great in the grocery store.  They’re 10 & 14, so I let them loose with half the list and they go hunting and gathering while I’m in the deli line or picking over produce.  I can also go to the farmer’s market when it opens at 3 instead of rushing around to find parking or picking over leftovers at 6, just before it closes.  I could easily send one or both kids with some money and a list.  And they’ve done that before.

Third, I’m not starting my cooking at 5:30 or 6, the minute I step in the door.  When I worked, I would literally throw my stuff down somewhere, grab a glass of wine or beer and start pulling out ingredients and preheating the oven (if I had something planned, which I sometimes didn’t).  If a meal takes a little longer, I can start at 4:30 so that it’s done by 6.  Or whenever I need to.  Today, for example, I need to get some meat into a marinade around 3.  I could never do that if I worked.

So those are good things.  We can eat healthier in part because I have time to plan, shop and cook.  But fourth, my grocery bill is through the roof.  Before, I bought whatever was on sale.  Some months, I could keep my grocery bill for the month around $400-$500.  According to a book I’m reading right now, the USDA recommends $650/month for a family of four.  Currently, with my focus on grass-fed met, organic everything, and buying whatever ingredients I need, I’m spending double what I used to.  Go ahead, gasp.  I did.  Part of the difference is made up from not eating out.  We order pizza once a week or every two weeks, around $30 for all of us.  Mr. Geeky eats lunch out, but I eat at home, so all the money we used to spend on that is going into to groceries.  Can we afford this?  So far, yes, and Mr. Geeky and I agree that buying the food we’re buying is not only good for us, but hopefully good for local farmers, the earth, etc.  But, there are a lot of people, even people with similar incomes to ours, who would never spend what we do on groceries.  They may have higher mortgages or car payments or private school to pay for.

Laura, and many of her readers, raised the issue of picky eaters.  When I was growing up, we pretty much ate whatever was on the table.  And my mom had a rule that even at guest’s houses, we had to take three bites of something we had never tried or thought we didn’t like before declaring we weren’t going to eat it.  My sister was a very picky eater.  She wouldn’t even eat pizza.  She survived most of her childhood on vienna sausages and ketchup.  No extra meal prep for Mom and she was pretty happy.  Mom still tried to get her to eat something, but there was always vienna sausage to fall back on.

When Geeky Girl got to be about 6ish or 7 and Geeky Boy was 10/11, we instituted a rule that if you weren’t eating the prepared meal, you had to make your own, parent-approved dinner, usually a peanut butter sandwich.  You were required to try the meal first before barging off to make a sandwich.  While we’ve had a few situations where one or both kids have ended up making a sandwich, generally the work involved is enough to get them to try whatever’s on the table and most of the time, they like it enough to eat it.  What’s also helped with Geeky Girl, who is by far more picky than Geeky Boy, is that she helps me cook every night.  Geeky Boy has helped on occasion as well.  Once you know what’s in something, you tend to be more inclined to eat it.  We made a soup the other night that had broccoli, spinach and edamame.  It was the greenest thing you’ve ever seen.  If I’d just put that on the table, no way would Geeky Girl have eaten it.  But since she helped make it, she ate a whole bowl.

It’s taken a long while for me to develop any kind of routine about cooking and really getting my head around what it takes to make more than just a piece of meat with heated frozen veggies or pasta and jarred sauce.  I think I could shift the work if I were employed, but it is certainly nice to have the time to make these meals.  I agree with Laura, though, that someone needs to write the book about how to eat the way Pollan, et. al. suggest when both parents get home at 6.  Most cooking shows and books aimed at that audience doctor jarred and canned items, which may be better than fast food, but just barely.

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There are 2 stores where I’d be likely to find all kinds of bizarre ingredients–Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s.  The problem with both is parking.  It is impossible to find parking at the Trader Joe’s.  It’s next to the Farmer’s Market and there’s enough parking, I’d guess for maybe 50 cars.  Way not enough.  Whole Foods has even less parking and the way the lot is configured means there’s a traffic jam upon exiting.  I swear my blood pressure goes up whenever I go to either place.  I think the solution for me is to actually write or call the store manager of my current store and tell him or her that I want more asian ingredients.  I’ll let you know how that works out.

There’s also the issue of seasonality.  Technically, I think, nothing is in season here as far as produce goes, so I’m buying red peppers, knowing that they at best come from California and at worst come from South America.  I don’t know which has the worst carbon footprint, but I think about it.  And then there’s the issue of quantity.  Fresh herbs at the grocery store come in huge bunches.  A recipe calls for 2 teaspoons.  You end up with tons of leftover dill or cilantro.  In my house, it gets thrown away eventually.  This has happened with lettuce and other produce that you have to buy in set quantities but of which you’re only using a small amount for a particular meal.  I’ve tried to use some of those ingredients in lunches or other meals and it’s worked to some degree, but still it’s an issue.  My solution for herbs is to plant them this spring.  I had rosemary, basil and mint.  I just need thyme, cilantro, and maybe a couple of others.  At the farmer’s market, produce comes in smaller packaging or no packaging.  I can get a sprig of lavender and not a whole bunch.  Lettuce heads are smaller and most produce can be bought singly (true in the grocery store too of most things).

This week’s recipes include some beef and pork, which I’ve ordered from the farm and I’ll be picking up on Wednesday.  Honestly, it’s not that much more expensive than the grocery store and I just feel a lot better about the product on many levels.  I wonder, once spring rolls around, how much of my shopping I can do from the farmer’s market.  If I organized my recipes by season, perhaps most of it.  Sounds like a good challenge!

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Thursday, we had a chicken salad.  The recipe originally called for shrimp, but Geeky Boy is allergic to shrimp, so I substituted chicken as the recipe suggested.  There are several shrimp recipes in the book.  I may have to substitute or make GB something separate when I make these.  It’s a challenge.  This was a tasty salad, though I’d say that it would be better in the summer since it’s served cold.  I used a store made (organic) roast chicken.  I boiled the carcass afterwards and made a chicken soup out of it for lunch over the weekend.  The salad had plenty leftover as well, and I ate it for lunch. Yum.

Friday, we ordered pizza.  Geeky Boy had a friend over, and it was Friday, good time to break from the routine.

Saturday, I made scallops with Chipotle-orange sauce.  These were really yummy.  Everyone liked them a lot.  Geeky Girl was at a friend’s house, so she didn’t get to try them, but Mr. Geeky and Geeky Boy gave them two thumbs up.

Yesterday, we had sandwiches, which were by far the easiest thing I’ve made.  They’re easy enough to make for lunch.  We skipped the tomatoes on the side, but in summer, fresh tomatoes in a salad would be yummy.

Tonight, we had pork tenderloin.  I think this was my favorite so far, but I’m a sucker for pork tenderloin.  But the pepper crust gave it a nice zing that was cut slightly by the sweet sauce.  It was a nice contrast.  One thing I noticed, though, was that I had to cook the pork almost twice as long as suggested.  It was nowhere near cooked when I checked it at the suggested time.  I cooked it for another 15 minutes and it was perfect except for one especially thick piece, which I left in for another 5 minutes or so.  The sauce, too, took longer to reduce than I expected.  They said five minutes.  It took 15.  Also, I left the shitakes out of the veggie stir fry because I didn’t have time to reconstitute them.  Plus, I don’t think the kids would have liked them.  The veggies were still tasty.

Overall, I’ve been enjoying making different things and the family is enjoying tasting them.  We seem to have food leftover at almost every meal, which can either be eaten for lunch or configured into another meal.  But, we’re not saving a huge amount of money this way, for sure.  I made a trip to the butcher, where the meat was actually quite cheap, but scallops were not.  The pork tenderloin I got from the grocery store this time, but will probably get from the farmer’s market guy next time, which means it will cost me more.  Most of the time, I’m a mess in the kitchen.  These meals are designed to cook fairly quickly, so everything is happening at once.  More than once, Mr. Geeky and the kids (who do the post-meal cleanup) have commented on the state of the kitchen after I have cooked.  I try.  I do, but I need to get better, I guess.

I hope to try to do these one at a time, so that I actually remember the meal better.  It seems like a nice way to end the evening.

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I know the picture isn’t great.  I’ve been reduced to using my iPhone since my camera got stolen back in June. Sigh.

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But, I am continuing to think about food.  I watched Food, Inc. over the break, which just added to my frustration about the food industry.  I also read Cleaving by Julie Powell and watched Julie and Julia.  And Mr. Geeky gave me a fondue pot and cooking lessons and I bought myself yet another cookbook with a gift certificate.  So food is on my brain.  I’m continuing to try to buy food responsibly, locally and organically.  But, it is difficult.  The meat producers that come to Farmer’s Market in the spring and summer allow preordering and delivery in the winter.  But, because I wasn’t paying attention, I missed this weekend’s dropoff and will have to wait until the 20th to get more.  I’m paying a visit to a local butcher this week in hopes of finding grass-fed meat.  It would be more convenient than the once or twice a month deliveries.  And, of course, no veggies or fruits are really in season right now, so at least in the winter, I’m probably breaking a few rules.

The cookbook I got is Cooking Light‘s Dinner Tonight collection, which are recipes for complete meals that are generally a bit healthier than what most of us tend to eat.  I used to have a subscription, but let it lapse and have since been visiting their web site regularly.  But I do like having a book to work from as I learn new recipes.  Usually, when I get a new cookbook, I just flip through it and pick out a few things to make.  But I wanted to be more adventurous than that, not shying away from things that I wouldn’t normally be drawn to.  So I went to a random number generator and generated a few numbers that referenced pages in the book and decided to make those recipes for the next couple of days.  Last night’s recipe was Potato, Leek and Corn Chowder, which I served with garlic breadsticks and a salad.  It was quite tasty and perfect for a cold winter’s night.  The recipe calls for fresh corn, which is impossible to find this time of year, so I went with frozen instead.  I suspect fresh corn would make this a super yummy dish, so perhaps I’ll reprieve it in the summer.  On deck for later this week is a couscous meal and stuffed red peppers.  Yes, there will be posts, and maybe even pictures.

I also want to try to eat out more, but that requires more planning and of course, more money, so I’m still thinking about that.  But there will definitely be more writing about food.  I’m nothing if not eccentric in my topics!

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Last week, I bought the store’s organic brand, which met all my real food criteria. Today the first morning anyone ate it, and no one likes it. I’m not really a cereal person, so if I have to forgo cereal, I’m good with that. But the kids and the hubby, they live on cereal. Almost all of it has crap in it, mostly sugar. Luckily, my kids have never been into sugary cereal. We have binged on occasion on Frosted Flakes, but literally, that’s like once a year. I grew up on Sugar Corn Pops myself, but can’t stand it now. It’s like having dessert for breakfast. Bleh. So I broke down and bought Multigrain Cheerios, which happens to be their favorite and aside from some monoglycerides, have natural ingredients. (In case you’re wondering, monoglycerides are emulsifiers commonly used in baked goods to add volume and smoothness.)

So I’ve added another rule to my list. We have to like it. The whole point is to enjoy eating, and by all accounts, it’s healthier to enjoy what you’re eating and to enjoy it in the company of others.

A rule Pollan mentions that I didn’t bring up before is not to buy food with announcements about how healthy it is for you and most cereal has those: things like “made with whole grain” and “heart healthy.” And now there are about to more such labels, according to this article (hat tip: Mike Smith at Change.org) The reason to ignore such claims on the front of packaging is that front of packaging labeling is not well regulated and the guidelines are set primarily by the food industry itself rather than a completely disinterested group of people. The food industry doesn’t always have consumers’ best health interests in mind. That Fruit Loops can get a “Smart Choice” label should tell you something.

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What I’d like to see is grass-fed beef and reasonably-priced organic poultry. I’ve never found grass-fed beef, and the organic poultry has been removed, replaced with Green Way poultry, which says nothing about how the chickens were raised, so I didn’t buy it.

As a bonus, I only spent $80. But I did only buy about half of what I normally do. We’ll see if it lasts.

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