Day #7

My CSA shares started today, so I hope to be posting a lot more fruits & veggies!  Here’s today’s menu:

BREAKFAST:  2 slices of toast, organic granola, juice, coffee

LUNCH:  apple, carrots, organic chocolate bunny crackers, mandarin oranges, deli roast chicken lunch meat

DINNER:  spicy sausage linguine, salad made with CSA romaine lettuce and sweet lettuce mix, tomatoes, cucumbers, french dressing

DESSERT:  2 chocolate covered saltines, coffee

Snacks

So, in planning for the start of this project, I’ve been steadily emptying the cabinets and not replacing foods that I don’t feel would be appropriate during the 75 Days plan.  That includes canned ravioli meals (my daughter’s favorite school lunch), cookies, Little Debbie snacks, etc.  I’ve bought a few things for the kids to try — organic fruit snacks (made with fruit concentrates and no chemicals or preservatives), Amy’s brand cheese crackers, etc.  They’ve liked a few things (the crackers), hated others (the fruit snacks).  It’s a work in progress, for certain!

My husband is going to have trouble with this project, though.  He’s already been looking through the cabinets, saying things like “don’t we have ANY snacks?”  What I am going to have to do is a TON of pre-cooking.  Brownies, cookies, snack bars, etc, those things can be made ahead, stored in the freezer, and taken out for desserts or snacks.  He will eat my cooking, when I actually cook!  I guess maybe it’s time to start storing food in preparation for this project.

I’d love some ideas for homemade goodies that I can make, store and have readily available — post here in the comments if you have any suggestions!

Organic Shopping Info

I’ve been reading a book called “The Organic Food Shopper’s Guide” and found some great information I thought I’d share.  It’s hard enough to find a place to find organic foods so I thought I’d share some things that might make it easier.

Regarding labeling, there are a ton of rules and regulations a farmer, company, manufacturer must adhere to or follow to use “organic” on their product.  This list includes:

• the product is produced w/o the use of toxic agricultural chemicals,
• it has no preservatives or other man-made additives,
• it has not been genetically engineered,
• it is raised humanely,
• it has not been treated with antibiotics,
• and it has not been irradiated.

So that organic yogurt that you love has to use ingredients from manufacturers that are organic or use organic methods, including dairy from organic farms, sugar from organic producers, flavorings from organic manufacturers.

When you find products that have other terms on their labels, though, keep this in mind.  The terms “local” and “natural” have no rules or regulations or any official meaning at all.

As for those stickers that we are finding on our produce more and more, you can use those to your advantage with a little background information.  Those are used for tracking and grocery store scanning and inventory.  But the codes actually mean something.  A 4-digit code means the produce is conventionally grown.  A 5-digit code that starts with a 9 means it is organic.  A 5-digit code starting with an 8 means it is genetically modified.  I have actually found produce not shelved in the organic section (and having the higher organic price applied) with a 9-XXXX sticker!  Happy day!

I’ll share more information as I read it, but this should help for now!

75 Days of Summer

This summer, my family and I are embarking on a journey.  One at least 75 days long, hopefully longer!  I chose summer because the kids will be out of school and away from the school lunches and all the “extras” they offer.  Yes, school nutrition has come a long way, and our school corporation even boasts a “farm to fork” plan, but when they serve extra fries and no vegetables, you can’t exactly be thrilled with that.  Anyway, the kids will be home this summer.  No day care, no nanny, no all-day camps.  My husband and I will be coming home every day to fix lunch so it’s the perfect time to do this. 75 Days of Summer.  Here’s what we’re proposing:

• NO fast food.
• NO soda.
• NO chemicals or preservatives
• NO artificial flavorings or colorings.
• NO high fructose corn syrup.
• Organic as much as possible.
• Local when possible.
• Avoid too much processed food (even organic, it’s still far from its original form).

We will be straying from this plan during one week this summer.  We’ve planned a family vacation to Niagara Falls, and I don’t think it would be possible to avoid all of the above during that time.  We will be visiting my parents so that will help, but during the couple of days we are in New York, we’ll just hope for the best.  I mean, we are frugal people.  We chose the hotel because it has free breakfast!  I will push the fruit, but I can’t keep the kids away from the pastries completely.

What I am hoping for is behavior modification.  I have 3 children.  My 2 youngest are boys and they are boys in every true meaning of the word.  Wild, fun, active, loving, physical, sensitive, gorgeous, ugly, etc.  My youngest could probably qualify as ADHD if I’d ever have him tested.  I’ve read a lot about that disorder, and I refuse to allow him to be put on medicine or get labeled so we just deal with whatever comes.  One thing I did read, however, is that ADHD kids improve with better food.  Less chemicals, no artificial colorings, lots of fruit and vegetables and magically you get better behavior.  It’s a long shot, but I’m willing to try.

I’ve been trying to eat healthier for the past year anyway.  And I just joined a CSA program with a local farm.  They are not certified organic, but their website claims that they follow organic standards.  I know that certification is a thorn in most small farmers’ sides so I won’t hold that against them.  We’ll have that box delivered once a week, and we have several Farmer’s Markets that we can visit during the week as well.  We also have dozens of farm stands along the highways, and an organic grocery in town.  There’s a community effort to get a co-op here as well, which I’d love to join if it ever comes about.  In essence, it’s a great time to be trying this, and this is a great place to be for the 75 days.

We, I’m sure, will all benefit.  My parents will be doing their own version, and a friend in another state is joining me too.  Maybe I can interest all my siblings as well, make this a family affair!

I hope you all follow along!  I’ll be posting a daily journal, and I really truly hope that I see something good.