So anyway.... things are otherwise status quo and good.
I canceled our CSA box in October of that year. I think it was supposed to go through November, but we were wasting a lot despite my best efforts. The sprogs wouldn't eat the kale, we all fought over the few beets we got in a box, and there are only so many tomatillos one family can go through before they go bad. I don't can, so that option was out the door. The CSA group was kind enough to prorate my subscription and give me a refund. I do miss the eggs.
I found out in December that a local pig farm paired with the CSA group to provide half-hogs, and we did take advantage of that. Mmmm... bacon. That's been interesting, since I rarely ever have prepared pork chops (we much prefer pork tenderloin). Younger Sprog adores the chops, since he calls himself a carnivore and loves to gnaw on the bones. Elder Sprog... not so much. He's picky and forces me to get creative.
In February, Younger Sprog got sick. Really sick. In and out of Children's Hospital sick. It was some kind of gastric distress. The first time we took him in, they did an ultrasound of his belly to check his appendix and other organs, but found nothing. Back and forth we went, with him crying and rolled in the fetal position on the couch in between visits. He saw a specialist. Nothing. He was on a medicine to prevent stomach spasms for over a month and some serious antacids. He ate almost nothing but saltines and ginger ale for a month and only went to school for six days in February. We had him completely off dairy for about six weeks. He's back to normal now, but I'm leery and concerned that they never figured it out.
As a result, I've done a lot of research on natural eating. Mr. Geeky and I have decided together that we're going to cut out as much processed food as possible. No preservatives or artificial anythings. I minimize all refined foods and cut out all "low-fat" versions, since they've got a lot of additives.
In some ways this hasn't been overly painful, because I made a lot anyway, but it's harder to convince the sprogs to make the good choices when they're on their own. We've been teaching them about red light-green light foods, which I will elaborate on in another post and I've been making nearly everything we eat. No packaged foods unless they have all natural ingredients and preferably less than five. The sprogs have been surprisingly receptive to this, and Elder Sprog has even been choosing to pack his lunch everyday instead of buying at school.
So I'll have plenty of topics to blog about.
Onto some foodie pictures!
This was the beginning of flank steak fajitas from the slow cooker. There is actually a 2-lb flank steak under the peppers and onions. Naturally, I forgot to take a picture of the finished product. It's tough when it's inhaled anyway.
This is Sprog the Younger and a loaf of French bread I made. I try to stay away from the refined flours, and this loaf takes bread flour, which is highly refined, but for a treat, it's okay. Still only a few ingredients and it goes very well with pasta.
This is a loaf of milk bread. I use primarily whole wheat flour for this.
Pumpkin-spelt muffins. These were gone in less than 24 hours.
Sprog the Younger helped me with quiche. Here he's chopping up ham (all natural, uncured, no nitrites or nitrates) after he'd grated some Cheddar cheese for me.
This is the beginning of the quiche crust. Whole wheat flour, butter, salt, and milk.
Here's my finished crust. No need to prebake.
Unbaked quiche.
Sprog sprinkles ham and cheese bits into the quiche.
Finished quiche.
Mmmm.... it was good.
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