I felt so virtuous last night while preparing a potato and kale gratin. I had come home feeling SO tired, wanting nothing more than to prop my feet up in front of the oven as a frozen pizza baked inside. But I RESISTED. I had the last of the summertime CSA order in a bag on the counter and there was a voice inside my head saying, “For #@*& sake – it’s the first day of the challenge and you can’t even make it until DINNER?!?” So I found a yummy recipe and restored myself through a home-cooked meal instead.
This is something I’ve noticed about local eating. I often have to do battle with my whims. I can’t just open a bag of potato chips when I get hungry, or most other prepared foods for that matter. Food preparation takes awhile and, unless a carrot or apple will do, I often go hungry while I prepare something more substantial. It makes me realize what a culture of convenience I live in. The idea of having to wait more than 15 minutes for food is foreign to most of us.
keep up the good work! You’re in inspiration to us all.
Oh right, I forgot (hides potato chips) I’m doing that local eating thing. No really, I know what you mean. Thankfully I like apples. Apples, apples, carrots, swiss chard. The planet and I will be healthier.
Thanks for the good wishes, Aimee! Ottawa Gardener and I BOTH need them as we resist the potato chips calling to us from our snack drawers.
Excellent willpower Gillian!
In thinking of chips and local…I automatically thought apple chips! Inspired by a visit to an apple orchard this weekend. Now if you have the energy, it may help to do a batch or two at a time, so that you have plenty for those times of craving. I scouted a recipe that doesn’t use sugar at: http://www.gardenguides.com/how-to/recipes/snacks/applechips.asp.
[...] things felt, I made time to eat local as much as I could. And it did me well. I felt calm when I took time to prepare food. I felt good when I picked up local eggs and yogurt at the local health food store. I was almost [...]