Produce
I really need to get up early one Sunday and bribe my mama to take me to a local produce stand. There is a local farmer's market that delivers fresh produce, but they charge over $50 a box for a week's worth of their own choosing. Our flea market sells fresh seasonal produce, but there is a 5-lane highway to cross between the bus stop, which arrives hourly, and the flea market. The market itself is at least 2 miles with no sidewalk from the next store or stop. We have a lovely little farm on highway 14 called Tuttle's, but I'm not sure if they sell anything other than berries and Christmas trees. Maybe I'll drop them a message on their Facebook page requesting more information on seasonal produce that might be for purchase. It'd be nice to get fresh stuff maybe twice a month. I need to make a large initiative to find fresh foods and the only way I'm going to be able to assure that is to get as close to the root as possible.
Meat
My bf often mentions wanting to get freshly slaughtered animal meats. Doesn't that sound gross?! He has such a sensative tummy. If he eats anything (except ham oddly), it doesn't stay with him for more than an hour at best. That cannot be healthy! I think this movement to raw foods may be very beneficial for him. Anyway, I think its time to take him up on his offer to look for a local butcher. I always get extremely sticker shocked by the cost even though it's an awful lot of meat. Maybe we can get $200 together and give it a shot. That'd leave us $100 in the budget for the first month and the full $300 the next month for produce and other items. It's something I'm willing to consider. I couldn't imagine slaughtering an animal, but heck, I cut large roasts into steaks and cubes all the time. Is it really any different once lovely identifiable stuff like the head and skin is removed? He and his friends are talking about arrow shooting a deer if the city permits it. Could you imagine cutting the yuck sac out of a deer's tummy right out there on the street? Hey, if it means fresh meat, I'm down with that. I ain't eating no squirrel, but I'll eat Bambi's mom for sure...as gross as that sounds.
Frozen versus canned veggies
Of course fresh is the best way to go, but seasonal veggies or those not able to grow in my climate force the dele a of choosing canned versus frozen. I wash everything, especially pre-packaged fruits and veggies. People find frogs and ladybugs in their fresh salads all the time. I prefer canned veggies because of their shelf life and because I think the canning process of vinegar is safer than the dormant frozen sprays used on bagged produce. My parents prefer frozen and frozen just tastes less like a veggie to me after it's nuked. They also use tons of butter and additional salt whereas I never add salt and rarely use butter at all. They rinse their frozen veggies twice to remove pesticides, which they've definitely noticed in taste. I've just recently started rinsing my canned veggies before cooking. It never occurred to me to rinse because I worried about washing away nutrients that were meant to soak into the water. Let's face it, canned or frozen, the only nutrient you're actually getting is the feeling that you've ate something healthy.
A conversation with dad
I was discussing a "clean" diet with my father. He is very much against words like organic, free-range, EPA-free, diet, fat-free...all things that are unregulated and often falsely claimed or as he says "entices yuppies to pay more." As we discussed my dietary changes for the sake of iron absorbtion, he says, "Well I drink tons of soda at every meal and I don't have low iron." Without mentioning mensturation, I simply told him that women need more than double the iron that men need. Dad also eats tomatoes and red meat every day, whereas I do not. I'm certainly not a vegetarian, but I can't stand to consume more than 3-4oz of red meats in one setting. It's not a problem since my prepubescent teenager is more than happy to consume my portions for me. Daddy told me to just take the pill.
The iron supplement
I have major anxiety about taking this pill. I hate pills! There's little documented proof that pill form vitamins and nutrients actually absorb in the body enough to make any difference at all anyway. I've taken iron before in something like 18mg and it hurt my stomach so much. How am I going to take the 150mg that my doctor has recommended?! Because I told my parents and my doctor that I would, I will take the 64mg pill at night with water, but if it hurts me I will not continue to take it! Hopefully, trying desperately to tweak my diet will make improvements in my iron levels. The idea of taking this supplement makes me afraid of gestational distress, swelling and aching abdominal muscles, and stomach ulcers from the nasties the companies coat that pill with. I imagine mouth ulcers from orange juice, the acidic taste in my mouth from over-processed apple and grape juices that says "low-acid" with a big misleading picture of an orange on the label. I just don't want to do it! I will do it, but is do not like it one bit!
The slow process of making changes
The good news in all of this grocery talk is that we're so stinking broke that we don't get many opertunities to buy food and therefore have very little control over what we can afford to eat. We eat to avoid the feeling of hunger. That alone is a job to accommodate on a $100 per person monthly budget. The sticker shock, lack of sales, my clear ignorance of what is really healthy, and the astonishing lies from the FDA make my choices very uneducated. I eat stupidly at every meal. Haha! At least we survive. Dad says humans have survived a very long time despite ingesting salt, sugar, pesticides, and preservatives, "Everything is good in moderation."
What's for dinner
Tonight, I'm grilling the last of the steaks we previously purchased in bulk. I will also throw some red potatoes on the grill and steam my baby carrots on the stovetop. There are some white northern beans in the fridge that I'll mix with my portion of meat. I'll probably make the kid some Mac and cheese while I'm steaming my carrots, so that he can get the calcium that will lower the iron absorbtion for him and act as a filler since he will not eat as many green beans and he'd probably die before eating those northern beans. As long as he eats enough green beans to jokingly constitute a serving, I'm happy. You should see him eat them! He shoves each of the 4-5 beans in the back of his mouth like a pill. When he eats peas, he piles them all in one spoon full to eat in one big gulp. He's silly. I'll save a strip of fat from our meat from tonight to sautée with my black eyed peas maybe tomorrow or the next day. I know fat isn't good for you, but those beans do not taste good alone, so I'm experimenting wi what we have on hand.
Update dinner menu
I am never eating again! I was throwing away a soda can and...gnats! Gnats everywhere. Its so gross and embarrassing. Bf is in charge of dinner tonight and has decided to buy pizza, which I will not eat. I may steam some carrots after I water wash the counters. I've already bleach washed and water washed everything else in the kitchen except the counters. Inside and behind everything is clean now, except the counters. Bugs are SO nasty! It never occurred to me that less preservatives will mean more bugs. I think we need a smaller trash can. Ewwwww!
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