Eating consciously

I recently borrowed the book "Animal. Vegetable. Miracle." written by Barbara Kingsolver from Lindsay's GIANT LIBRARY of books. Excellent read, incredibly educational, motivational, and has driven me to a new height in not only healthy eating, but also buying locally grown, organic produce and meat, all of which is raised on sustainable farms. (For a quick update on how it has changed Lindsay and I's lives, you can read her blog).

We haven't gone cold-turkey and stopped buying goods from food stores and what-not, but I will say this: if it CAN be bought at a Farmer's Market, we get it there. In the past week, we've spent a pretty fair amount of moolah on our FM finds. This is what we purchased on week one (all from Zionsville Farmer's Market).


A pretty good selection for our first outing. Included in this fantastic food purchase is one dozen eggs, 2 ears of corn, a red onion, squash,tomato, zuccini, garlic, green pepper, thai basil, one pound of bacon, one pound of bacon pork burger (that are to absolutely DIE FOR), one bag of freshly popped kettle corn, a loaf of sourdough bread, one 4oz. jar of basil MOUSE oil, and I'm sure I probably left something out. Click the picture for a better view. We got all of this for about $40.00. The quality of every product we got was unbelievable. There wasn't anything that went to waste.

With all of these goods, I was able to make us this fantastic vegetarian pizza. The only thing I didn't have a hand in making was the crust. We ended up getting that from Trader Joe's and it turned out to be some of the best pizza crust I've ever tasted. Also, I got to try out my new pizza stone from Pampered Chef. I was definitely impressed with the cooking quality of the stone, and if you bake anything I'd recommend getting yourself one. Totally worth the $30.00.


Along with this pizza, I was able to make a huge pot of cheesy potato soup that was out of this world, some basil eggs with farm fresh bacon, grilled veggies, and some grilled bacon pork burgers. It's incredible how much better EVERYTHING tastes when it is fresh, organic, and locally grown. Also, meeting the farmers who grow the food is an added bonus.

So...this weekend we made an effort to get out to more Farmer's Markets. Friday night we started out at Trader's Point with LB's BFF Heather and her kiddos. This place was great. They had a wider variety of goods, especially meat and dairy products. Since we were already out and about we meandered up to the creamery, where I sampled whole milk, cottage cheese, and yogurt all from grass-fed cows. We bought the milk and yogurt, but the cottage cheese was just a little too much for me. The texture is much thicker than what I am used t0. The taste is.....that of fermentation. Adjustment in process.

While we where there, we had to check things out so here's a couple of random pics for ya.


What a cute little place!!!



Lindsay somehow managed to sneak us into the milking barn...just in time for the tour guide to show up. HAHAAH! We watched this little lady getting milked for a few minutes and then moved on.


Next stop: baby cows!!! This little calf was pretty much my best friend. She had the longest tongue and was seriously H U N G R Y.



This is me trying my hardest to convince Ava that the cows WILL NOT BITE.



Noah didn't need any convincing, clearly.

After it was all said and done, we came home with LOTS of goodies, as you can see below.


As preciously mentioned, whole milk and yogurt made their way home with us, along with a variety of cheese, ground lamb, pork loin, spring mix, eggs, and whatever else is thrown in there.



Minus the dog biscuits, it's all fresh and was picked earlier that day. FRUIT!!!!!! YES!


A view of all of our goods. We even brought along a cooler to keep the cold goods cold. We are learning.

As if this weren't enough shopping, we made it out in the rain this morning to see what else we could get our hands on. Turns out, that was a lot.

As exhausting as it is, running all over the city (we went to 3 more Farmer's Markets this am), it is worth it for the quality of ingredients. Thus far today, we have eaten the most flavorful nectarine, a salad I made with spring mix, fresh onion and tomato, garic and herb cheese that I grated, and I also cooked up a good-sized pot of broccoli cheese soup, recipe compliments of Heather.

I have to say, it's only been a little over a week that we have been eating like this. I used to have the worst gastrointestinal issues in the world, to the point of taking a daily medication to control it. Since we started this adventure, I've stopped taking my medicine and my stomach has been fine. Coincidence? I don't think so, and I'll tell you why. Last night we ate at some Italian restaurant (Macaroni Grill??) and the GI issues were back within an hour.

If it weren't for reading Kingsolver's book, I'd surely still be continuing my previous diet. Which, actually...was not bad. It just consisted of produce and meat purchased from large corporations that don't really care what goes into your body. If you want to read more on this, I suggest picking up a copy of "Fast Food Nation."

It's the greatest feeling knowing you are providing support to local farmers and their families, all while enjoying yourself and spending time with loved ones...and maybe even making a friend or two along the way! It's easy to make conscious choices about food, it just takes a little more planning. I encourage you to give it a try. I promise, you won't be disappointed!!!

Happy eating!!!