Mamie's first juice

We picked up our CSA share this morning, so I juiced last weeks leftovers to make room in the fridge.  This kale, melon, carrot, orange blend was the first juice Mamie has ever had!

Literally cleaning out the pantry

It took two trips to the container store, two solid hours of work, and two garbage bags (the first one busted), but I have finally organized the spice cabinet and purged the pantry of all peanut products. Pardon the alliteration.

This spice cabinet project was like weeding and arranging a haphazard mess of a library (keeping my master's in library science handy). I found that turmeric and tarragon were particularly over-purchased as Nick bought at least three packages of each, thinking we had none.

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And though it's been over a month since my baby girl was diagnosed with peanut allergy, I just got around to purging the cabinets of any peanut products. Our new rule is NO ONE brings peanut products into this house. Will I search the bags of visitors on the way through the door? If I have to.  Maybe I have to feel like a jerk, reminding the babysitter every time she comes over, but I will. I'm just learning how to deal with this issue, and I need as much control over the situation as possible until we feel comfortable with it. 

I threw away a mostly empty jar of peanut butter, a can of boiled peanuts, a bag of mixed nuts, a few boxes of questionable crackers.  I did NOT throw away a box Reese's peanut butter bar mix.  Tonight after Mamie is in bed, I will make the bars, eat what I want, throw the rest away, and say goodbye to an old favorite that is not worth the risk anymore.

Mama's veggie soup

It is officially soup weather! (It's also pajamas-all-day weather, but that's a different subject.)

Yesterday, to warm up the kitchen and my tummy, I made a big pot of Mama's vegetable soup. I call it that because my Mama makes it. There is probably not a recipe, more like a concept of how the soup will come together.

For this batch, I used

• 1/2 pound of lean sirloin, chopped into small chunks
• 5 red potatoes
• 1 medium onion
• 1 can of diced tomatoes
• 1 bag of frozen mixed vegetables
• 2 cups of homemade chicken stock (aka magic chicken juice)
• Enough water to make it as soupy as you like, plus salt and pepper to taste.

Mamie approved of all ingredients, except the green beans, which she banished to the floor.

Posted by Anna B.

Procrastination

I have been writing this blog post in my head for exactly more than 18 days. It was my new years resolution to write it in at least once a day, or once a week if that didn't work out. It only took 2.5 weeks!

My life is a perpetual resolution. Every night I vow that the next day,  I will eat more veggies, laugh more, eat only clean foods, exercise, answer emails,  have more fun with the kids, be the best wife ever...on an on. Every day I fail my expectations, so I vow again. If I can root out the issues that cause this procrastination, I will be automatically awesome. Until then, I will be my own worst frienemy.

Gotta run b/c I have more resolutions to break before midnight (2 hours past my goal bedtime)

-L

Farm fresh

Actual deliciousness on my actual kitchen counter.

Today was the first delivery of our winter vegetables from Scott Arbor, an organic farm in Seguin, TX. We've belonged to this CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) for about three years. It guarantees that we eat a lot of veggies, try new things, and feel glad that we don't have to grow this stuff ourselves.

Nick and I are also chocked full of vitamins this week because we got a new super-juicer. I have been pulverizing oranges, apples, pears, carrots, grapefruits, blueberries... ZOOM ZOOM!  Have you drawn a connection between all that beautiful veggie greenery and the new juicer yet?  Yes, I juiced up a very green concoction this afternoon, but I'm afraid to taste it so far.  I'm waiting for Nick to get home and taste it first.

Coming clean in 2012

Posted by Anna Lee Beyer

I feel like any beginning to this new blog must include a quick revisit to 2011 because it was such an eventful year. Professionally, I did two internships, completed a master's in library science, and landed my dream job as a university archivist. That was the easy part! The best thing about this year was taking five vacations. We visited Portland, OR; New Orleans; Cape Cod; Marfa, TX; and Atmore, AL. Traveling is my favorite hobby and a great motivator to stay employed.

A trail in Cape Cod, August 2011

The hard part of this year was suffering from a ruptured disc and recovering from neck surgery. Though I have recovered remarkably well from the surgery, my physical fitness has taken a big hit. While I could easily walk a few miles a day before surgery, being so limited for a few months has left me struggling to get back up to speed.

Some really good lessons came from that down time too, mostly because I had so much time to think about it. I spent two months, at least an hour a day, studying books about wellness/diet/exercise, journaling, and mediating on feeling healthier. My two best lessons:

1.  I always feel better after exercising or eating something good for me.

2.  It is easier to exercise and eat good things when I devote time to working on it everyday.

Oh the miracle of epiphanies, right? It sounds simple, but it's also very easy to string together days and weeks of not working on it. Those days and weeks lead straight to feeling like crap. I'm not going to feel like crap so much anymore because, thanks to my BFF Lori's idea for this blog, I'm cleaning out the pantry, cleaning up the way I cook, and getting into better shape. Watch this space for cooking experiments, exercise goals, breakdowns, and break throughs.