Persephone Says - Eating healthy gets expensive.

Well, I hope y'all aren't totally sick of me babbling about food yet.  Even though I am following Paleo Plan right now, I am also getting newsletters and reading the blogs of people who follow the raw diet, the primal plan (very similar to Paleo), the "traditional cooking" gurus, and the "whole foods sans animal flesh" people.  I'm a firm believer that a lot of these have very valid points, and that each individual is unique.  You have to adapt and see what works for you and what doesn't.  I'm not into "exclusionary" diets on principle.  The foods I'm allowing myself to give up are because I firmly believe they are not good for me, as an individual, or it's very widely known that over consumption is harmful to everyone.

I have given up (with only slight setbacks) grains, sugar, legumes, and as much "processed" food as I can.  I have NOT given up dairy, but I've cut it WAY down.  I'm not doing this for weight loss purposes, so I eat a lot of fruit to combat the cravings for refined sugar.  Bread / Pasta has actually been the easiest to give up, which surprises me a lot.

Now, ideally, all of these food gurus are pushing grass fed meat, pasture raised eggs, & raw milk if you can get it.  (Illegal in many states unless you are part of a herd share).  No GMO food, no preservatives, no MSG, no cruel animal treatment.  They want you to get expensive water filtration systems, and go on expensive supplements of fermented cod liver oil and skate liver oil.  You can make your own butter oil, which is also highly recommended.  They want you soaking grains, fermenting things, sprouting, etc. 

It's pretty overwhelming if you take it on all at once, trust me.  And for me, who has very few applicable domestic skills, it's been a lot to take on even in seemingly small increments.

Now, a lot of you know that you can get all of this whole food fancy pants goodness by shopping at expensive grocery stores like Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, but I thought I would spend some time giving you all resources for other options.  Especially since those stores aren't really ALL that much better than the regular grocery stores.

FARMERS MARKETS:

My first suggestion, if you have the time and basic knowledge of fruits / veggies / meats is to hit your local farmers market.  Chances are you are already aware of those in your area, but here's a link to search by zip code if you want:  http://search.ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets/

For my fellow Indianapolis residents, Trader's Point Creamery has both a summer and winter farmer's market, and in the summer there are others that pop up in the area.

LOCAL CSA's and LOCAL DELIVERY

CSA's are another great way to get your produce super fresh for less money while ALSO supporting your local farms.  Some CSA's will also deliver.

This is the best resource I have for looking on a national level:  http://www.localharvest.org/

For Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky - I recommend Green Bean Delivery: http://www.greenbeandelivery.com/  I mean, what's better than fresh and locally grown?  Fresh, locally grown and DELIVERED!

GOT RAW MILK?

Have you heard about all the benefits of drinking raw milk?  Want to know where you can get it?  Click on the embedded links to learn more.  *I have not yet tried raw milk, nor am I endorsing it as safe and viable, I am simply providing information. 

MISC SUGGESTIONS:

Look around your town/city for local farms, herd share / beef share programs, local butcher shops, etc.  There are a ton of ways to get the most out of your food and your paycheck, and as I discover tricks and tips I'll keep sharing them here.  Thanks for reading!

-Seph

P.S. I will be posting on Friday next week instead of Thursday, and most likely it will be based on my new routine tracking / schedule making of DOOM.

And now for something completely different!

Abby here!

So, the one night a week for doing boring tasks idea isn't going to work.  My husband is doing volunteer work for the next 3 months, and with one car between the two of us, we're going to be real busy in the evenings.  Instead, I'm going to attempt the boring tasks in ten minute spurts.  Eventually.  LOL!

I've been getting really good at getting to work early, especially considering my amazing husband makes my breakfast and packs my lunch every day. You can be jealous, it's alright.  However, I don't like the stress of constantly checking the clock, which I have to do because of my time-blindness.

On Wednesday, I was looking through the new mp3s on my phone and noticed a set of 4 songs had a combined length of about 15 minutes.  That's how long my shower takes.  What a coincidence!  Then I thought, why couldn't I do that with my entire morning?  For this part, I need your help.

I need a soundtrack for my morning.  I'd like a song to wake up to, then 30 minutes of breakfast and reading tunes.  I have my 15 minute shower track, but after that I need another 30 minute dressing and primping set.  Then I'm out the door and on to my day!  May I have song suggestions, please?

Persephone's Skin and Bones

Hey folks -

As you know, as I go around discovering things to try, I bring them to you, and I am about ready to give "bone broth" a try.  So here are the basics that you need to know about bone broth. 

Bone broth is made from taking any animal bones (but the joints and knuckles have the best mineral profile) and simmering them in a pot for hours or days.  You can make it in batches, or you can have "perpetual bone broth" in a dedicated crock pot.

Some health benefits of bone broth are purported to be:

Treatment and prevention for colds and flu as well as treatment for mineral deficiencies.  Bone broths contain a high quantity of the vital minerals calcium, phosphorous, magnesium, sulfur, fluoride, sodium and potassium.
Consumption of bone broth can combat anxiety and insomnia, heal wounds and improve skin.

For more check this out:  http://www.livestrong.com/article/337123-bone-soup-nutrition/

So now...how to make it?  Where to get the bones?  What the heck do you DO with it?  For answers to these questions I refer you to the following posts that say it better than I can.

http://nourishedkitchen.com/bone-broth-101/

http://www.traditional-foods.com/bone-broth/

This is probably something I am a few weeks away from working on, but it's definitely on my radar,  especially since mineral deficiencies can exacerbate many "mental health" issues, and getting my body and its nourishment profile to balance and stabilize is one of my top priorities.  

So, here you go.  From the person who brought you green smoothies, I hope you enjoy this little foray into the world of bone broth.

-Seph

Abby - Wednesday night is Go Time

I have sucked at time management lately.  This is partly because my medication was thrown off when I quit smoking 26.59 days ago.  I've mentioned that in previous posts, I know, but bear with me.  It's also because I've been playing a new video game.  It's called Skyrim, and it is SO AWESOME!

Last night I picked up my new dosage of medicine, and so I must get back to my routine.  I have no excuse not to other than pretty pretty Skyrim, but that's not near good enough.

MALD suggests to designate one time a week to tackle some of the mundane tasks I hate hate hate because they're dull dull dull.  I have chosen Wednesday evening.  There's nothing exciting about Wednesdays, so why not, right?  I shall choose two boring tasks to accomplish on Wednesday night, and alternate between the two (for variety) for 2 hours.  That's tomorrow.  Ick.

Bathroom and dressers, I choose you!

Abby writes a win/fail

What is a win/fail you ask?  I shall tell you!  A win/fail is a list I make when I'm getting frustrated or discouraged with my current situation, be it the state of my home, an inability to concentrate, difficulty finishing a task I don't want to do, whatever.  It helps me put things in perspective before I get angry at myself or panicky.  Once I hit that point, I'm done doing anything for at least an hour.  That sucks.  I actually think this list would help anyone who is stuck or feeling down about their situation.  It also helps me to remind myself that very few things are that deep.

Win!

I have been a nonsmoker for 19.65 days and haven't committed a felony!

Despite my medication needing an adjustment, I am keeping on track with my most important tasks at work.

I have gotten to work early/on time so many times in a row that I've lost count.  This is really big for me.

I motivated myself enough to write a blog post tonight.

My 2 year wedding anniversary was last weekend, and we had a perfect evening and amazingly fabulous fondue.

Fail.

I haven't gotten anything done this week that I don't really like doing...because I was playing Skyrim.

House is a mess, and my husband's awesomeness is the only reason I have clean clothing.

I can't finish three sentences in a row without being distracted...oooh look, glitter!

All in all, not as bad as I thought.  It never really is quite that bad.  Hooray, I feel better!