strong? Ummm, not so much. Wanting to go strong...yes, please.
I just realized this is my 100th post and I can honestly say I am a bit surprised at my lack of posting for the last few months. I really look forward to spending more time documenting those great moments that happen in our family that I'm afraid I'll forget, the awesome deals that make my adreneline sing, and the kitchen adventures that are always happening around here. However, for the last few months I've been focused on growing a baby, raising a toddler, and being a wife. Beyond that I try and keep the house somewhat liveable, spend more time at my part-time job than I'd like and try and keep in touch with friends and family. These last three things have been pretty sad lately, too.
I know I'll get back into posting more regularly and hope that those that enjoy what I write will stick with me. I know I love reading about others I know in life and on-line...blogs are awesome and I want mine to be that way too! These days I am just doing the best I can and that has to be good enough for now. As the poems all say, the babies don't keep and pretty much everything else does.
The last couple of weeks we've been able to do a few fun things as a family that I should document here at some point. I am all about keeping things frugal as we raise our kids!
We attended the Insider's Weekend at the zoo. We were able to return a Christmas gift that wouldn't work for us and used the money to buy a zoo pass. We got in and parked for free. Most of the tours were beyond Little Guys grasp, but the two we did were very interesting. We saw the animal's winter/night quarters, heard about what they ate, how they are cared for, and got really, really close to a moose's nose and met a creature that was very curious about us. We need to look up what it was, but it looked somewhat like an anteater on steroids without the long tail. It was a bit cold and snowy, but that meant the crowd was minimal and Little Guy could get up close to see the animals that were out and about. (Savings $34.50)
We went to Neighborhood Night at Betty Brinn's Children's Museum. We just learned about this from a birth class buddy. The third Thursday of every month the museum is open from 5-8pm for free. Parking is in a city garage, but you get $2 off with a voucher from the museum making it only $4. We had no idea what to expect as Little Guy can be quite shy in unfamiliar settings lately. We met up with the other mom and her little guy and went into the 3 and under area. What a ball! After a few minutes playing at the sand table with us right behind him Little Guy was comfortable heading out all over the place. There were times we could hardly keep up with where he was! He loved the hose wheel in the potting shed, the mushroom drums by the tree, the two slides, the sand table and pretty much everything the area offered. We walked through the rest of the 'museum' on our way out and discovered some areas that he would really enjoy at this point. Technically they are for older kids, but he is into trains and train tables and also anything musical so those areas work for him even at a younger age. What a great resource this is for the community and I'm so grateful that we will be able to enjoy it often without spending much money. (Savings $20)
Tomorrow we are heading to an event at a local candy factory after church. They are doing tours, handing out there famous whipped creme eggs, and doing pictures and activities with Mr. and Mrs. Easter Bunny. Since we didn't do anything like this at Christmas we figured we'd give it a whirl. And free chocolate always interests us. They do not normally give tours unless in groups of 10 or more and children under 10 are not admitted. If not for this event, it wouldn't be a family friendly place for us at this point. However, tomorrow it will be! (Savings $10, actually more since we'd need to get a sitter too)
I love spending time as a family doing unusual (for us) things that do not cost a lot of money. The pressure is off and we can have a good time, but if things melt down we do not feel like we have to stay. Wonderful when you have a toddler!
Have a great weekend,
Heather
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Sunday Thoughts
I've noticed that Little Guy seems to be getting more interesting and more funny and I am afraid that I'll forget these moments, so today I'm going to record one of them!
With the time change and due to a late night gig with the band our family decided to go to 11 am mass today instead of our normal earlier one. Little Guy was antsy even before we left so we were pretty sure that mass would be loads of fun! We were right :)
We've gotten into the bad habit of snacks during church and he is taking full advantage of this. Today we sat down and he immediately started saying and signing for crackers. This wouldn't be so bad, but he was saying it louder and louder. We ended up feeding him crackers throughout mass in an effort to distract him. He did okay, but it was not his best day ever.
The funny part happened during the final blessing. The priest held up one hand and was saying many different parts of the blessing. Everyone was saying "Amen" and Little Guy was busy squirming and looking around. When he say the priest was holding up his hand he held his up and yelled "Dah!" Dah happens to be what he says when he gives high 5's to people. We have no idea where it picked it up, but he is very consistent with his use of the word. Of course, his choice of yelling it out came when only the priest was talking and no one understood it but his Daddy and me. We both had to fight back the giggles!
After mass we went to tell the priest what happened and (of course) Little Guy wouldn't do high 5 or anything. Figures. Either way the priest got a chuckle out of it and it made the end of mass pretty cute.
Heather
With the time change and due to a late night gig with the band our family decided to go to 11 am mass today instead of our normal earlier one. Little Guy was antsy even before we left so we were pretty sure that mass would be loads of fun! We were right :)
We've gotten into the bad habit of snacks during church and he is taking full advantage of this. Today we sat down and he immediately started saying and signing for crackers. This wouldn't be so bad, but he was saying it louder and louder. We ended up feeding him crackers throughout mass in an effort to distract him. He did okay, but it was not his best day ever.
The funny part happened during the final blessing. The priest held up one hand and was saying many different parts of the blessing. Everyone was saying "Amen" and Little Guy was busy squirming and looking around. When he say the priest was holding up his hand he held his up and yelled "Dah!" Dah happens to be what he says when he gives high 5's to people. We have no idea where it picked it up, but he is very consistent with his use of the word. Of course, his choice of yelling it out came when only the priest was talking and no one understood it but his Daddy and me. We both had to fight back the giggles!
After mass we went to tell the priest what happened and (of course) Little Guy wouldn't do high 5 or anything. Figures. Either way the priest got a chuckle out of it and it made the end of mass pretty cute.
Heather
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Catching Up
Do we ever really get 'caught up?' In my world that would be a big NO. So, now I'm focusing on catching up. Much more attainable. Or at least in the realm of possible!
We've moved our little guy's room downstairs. It is the first time that we have slept with him more than about 3 feet from us. We live in a Cape Cod style house which has an 'area' out side of our bedroom. Some people call this area a 'loft' or 'other room' when trying to sell there homes, but really it is an area. It has a sloped roof on one side, the staircase on the other and basically you just walk through it to get to the bedroom at the end. Oh, and it is not very long so I wouldn't classify it as a hall. When Mike bought the house there was a discussion about turning part of it into a closet, but with the slope and lack of handy man skills he decided against it for the time being. (Why a closet, you ask? Because the only closet in the bedroom was turned into a bathroom. The world's tiniest half bath. Seriously, no man can use the facility as they would have to duck to get in, duck to actually use it and just won't put up with the nonsense that a pregnant female will!)
When Mike decided to leave it as is for a while it became a pass through area. It held my stuff as we moved it over in preparation for our moving in together. It was where all the wedding presents got put until we could open them and find them homes. Basically, it was the only area that could just hold stuff in the little house. Fast forward to a few weeks after our wedding and we find out we are pregnant...where will we put the little one? One bedroom downstairs is Mike's office and the other is our guest room/my computer/scrapbook table/everything else we own room. And I don't think I want to be that far away from our new baby. And we'll use a co-sleeper for a while (about 4 months it turned out) but he will need a spot for a crib, a dresser, and I'd really love a glider for rocking and nursing. That area started looking promising!
Turns out a glider fits in the corner with a little table next to it. That is right up to the crib which happens to fit underneath the slope of the ceiling. A smallish dresser fits on the wall and there is even room for an older, small swing down on the other end of the dresser. Tight? Yes. Unconventional? Yes. Super cozy, lovely way to keep little guy close, make night time nursing easier and calm a new Mommy's fears about her baby boy being all the way downstairs all by himself? YES.
Now we are getting ready for Baby 2 in June. So we are rearranging our little house again. I've given up 'the stuff' room and Mike made room for my computer in his office. We moved the crib, the dresser and almost all the toys into Little Guy's room. We set up an awesome train table we were blessed with from Freecycle. We've moved the scrapbooking table upstairs under the slope for now and I'm charged with dramatically paring down and reorganizing. (UGG!) We are leaving the full sized guest bed in there (for now) and may move Little Guy into it when he decides the crib is something to jump out of, rather than sleep in.
The room isn't finished, but it is full of fun things and I see the potential for a really fun kid's room. He already loves being in there and hasn't had any issues with sleep or adjusting to being downstairs. I found myself reading (with a light on!) in bed before sleep last night. I think this is a step in our family's growth. I really thought it would be harder to make this change, but I'm finding myself really excited about the next 3 months. Mike and I will have our room back to ourselves for a bit as we prepare for this next little one. I'll be able to get things settled for a newborn again and the co-sleeper will be coming out of retirement. With Little Guy downstairs I'll be able to use his nap times (when I'm not napping after work) to get the scrapbooking stuff under control.
We are transitioning in so many ways and it is good. We are adapting our little house to our little family's needs. I just feel like life is good right now and I want to remember this feeling when life is more stressful. We've had a few things come up lately that are crazy, but in truth are just inconveniences, not catastrophes. Life is good. Life is good.
Heather
We've moved our little guy's room downstairs. It is the first time that we have slept with him more than about 3 feet from us. We live in a Cape Cod style house which has an 'area' out side of our bedroom. Some people call this area a 'loft' or 'other room' when trying to sell there homes, but really it is an area. It has a sloped roof on one side, the staircase on the other and basically you just walk through it to get to the bedroom at the end. Oh, and it is not very long so I wouldn't classify it as a hall. When Mike bought the house there was a discussion about turning part of it into a closet, but with the slope and lack of handy man skills he decided against it for the time being. (Why a closet, you ask? Because the only closet in the bedroom was turned into a bathroom. The world's tiniest half bath. Seriously, no man can use the facility as they would have to duck to get in, duck to actually use it and just won't put up with the nonsense that a pregnant female will!)
When Mike decided to leave it as is for a while it became a pass through area. It held my stuff as we moved it over in preparation for our moving in together. It was where all the wedding presents got put until we could open them and find them homes. Basically, it was the only area that could just hold stuff in the little house. Fast forward to a few weeks after our wedding and we find out we are pregnant...where will we put the little one? One bedroom downstairs is Mike's office and the other is our guest room/my computer/scrapbook table/everything else we own room. And I don't think I want to be that far away from our new baby. And we'll use a co-sleeper for a while (about 4 months it turned out) but he will need a spot for a crib, a dresser, and I'd really love a glider for rocking and nursing. That area started looking promising!
Turns out a glider fits in the corner with a little table next to it. That is right up to the crib which happens to fit underneath the slope of the ceiling. A smallish dresser fits on the wall and there is even room for an older, small swing down on the other end of the dresser. Tight? Yes. Unconventional? Yes. Super cozy, lovely way to keep little guy close, make night time nursing easier and calm a new Mommy's fears about her baby boy being all the way downstairs all by himself? YES.
Now we are getting ready for Baby 2 in June. So we are rearranging our little house again. I've given up 'the stuff' room and Mike made room for my computer in his office. We moved the crib, the dresser and almost all the toys into Little Guy's room. We set up an awesome train table we were blessed with from Freecycle. We've moved the scrapbooking table upstairs under the slope for now and I'm charged with dramatically paring down and reorganizing. (UGG!) We are leaving the full sized guest bed in there (for now) and may move Little Guy into it when he decides the crib is something to jump out of, rather than sleep in.
The room isn't finished, but it is full of fun things and I see the potential for a really fun kid's room. He already loves being in there and hasn't had any issues with sleep or adjusting to being downstairs. I found myself reading (with a light on!) in bed before sleep last night. I think this is a step in our family's growth. I really thought it would be harder to make this change, but I'm finding myself really excited about the next 3 months. Mike and I will have our room back to ourselves for a bit as we prepare for this next little one. I'll be able to get things settled for a newborn again and the co-sleeper will be coming out of retirement. With Little Guy downstairs I'll be able to use his nap times (when I'm not napping after work) to get the scrapbooking stuff under control.
We are transitioning in so many ways and it is good. We are adapting our little house to our little family's needs. I just feel like life is good right now and I want to remember this feeling when life is more stressful. We've had a few things come up lately that are crazy, but in truth are just inconveniences, not catastrophes. Life is good. Life is good.
Heather
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Where's the Beef?
Or more correctly...where is our beef going to be coming from?
I've been doing a lot of work trying to figure out the best source for our family's meat. Sounds like fun, doesn't it? We've decided to forgo meat from typical grocery store and are going to start buying farmer direct. And as long as we were taking that plunge we thought we'd give grass-fed, no grain, no hormones or antibiotics beef a whirl. Our thought is that we'll do this first. Buy the very best that we could imagine and see how it stacks up. If it turns out that we have access to a grain finished animal next then we'll evaluate how they compared in the way the animal was treated, the taste, the cost and figure out which is going to work for us. So I've been on-line trying to track down a farmer.
It sounds pretty easy to do and really if we had no budgetary constraints we would be in great shape. There are farmers that have 1/4s ready right now and some that will be coming up. Most grass fed beef does get butchered in the fall in order to have had the maximum time on pasture without the expense of hay all winter for the farmer. In SE Wisconsin you quickly find that grass fed beef is not cheap. As in so not cheap that I could EASILY spend my entire grocery budget for last year just buying a 1/4 or 1/2 from a farmer right now. There are some that charge upwards of $8/lb for their beef. No judgement, but that is so seriously expensive protein!
I'm starting to find farmer's that are more in the $4/lb range and may even have a lead on one in SW Wisconsin that may be closer to $3/lb when all is said and done. This is still a huge new pill for me to swallow, but it is one that I think is important for my family and for my conscious. We'll continue to take baby steps in other areas and I'm hopeful that I'll keep other costs down, but the chances of spending $1300 for groceries for the year are pretty low. (That's been our total the last two years, but now we are splurging on our meat and our family is growing...so's the grocery bill!)
As of now we haven't been big beef eaters. Mostly due to the higher cost of beef at the store. I'd often find great deals on chicken, turkey and pork, but beef deals (other than ground beef) were few and far between. I know my husband will like the new change to our diet and I'm confident that I'll be a good steward with the freezer full of beef. In many ways it will be like eating when I was a child. We always raised a steer when the freezer got low. He would run with the horses and was typically a big pet for a while. Then he'd get really big, get pretty unfriendly and our freezer would get bare. The next step was his first taste of grain as we got him used to coming to the barn. After a few treats there would come a day when he'd come to get a pan of grain and while his head was down there would be one shot to end it all. My friend's dad had a butcher shop and he would take the steer away to process, although we'd go on the day the meat all got packaged and help wrap the meat and tube the ground beef.
I know some would consider it crazy to have kids that involved in their food, but really I think we were lucky. We knew what it meant to have meat on our plate. We knew our steers were treated well (as were the neighbor chickens whose eggs we ate and dairy cows across the road who often provided our milk). We knew their lives ended quickly, humanely, and while they were doing something they enjoyed. I never really realized how unusual it was to have that close of a connection to our food, but as an adult I've never known the animal or even the person who raised the animal. Our family is changing that. We cannot raise our own animals right now (and Mike would prefer we didn't ever raise pigs or steers), but we can know the person who raised it.
Wish me luck as I find a farmer who is doing good work! And help me remember that it is right to pay a fair wage to them for raising the food that feeds my babies, and my husband and me :) Our budget will be okay...right?
Heather
I've been doing a lot of work trying to figure out the best source for our family's meat. Sounds like fun, doesn't it? We've decided to forgo meat from typical grocery store and are going to start buying farmer direct. And as long as we were taking that plunge we thought we'd give grass-fed, no grain, no hormones or antibiotics beef a whirl. Our thought is that we'll do this first. Buy the very best that we could imagine and see how it stacks up. If it turns out that we have access to a grain finished animal next then we'll evaluate how they compared in the way the animal was treated, the taste, the cost and figure out which is going to work for us. So I've been on-line trying to track down a farmer.
It sounds pretty easy to do and really if we had no budgetary constraints we would be in great shape. There are farmers that have 1/4s ready right now and some that will be coming up. Most grass fed beef does get butchered in the fall in order to have had the maximum time on pasture without the expense of hay all winter for the farmer. In SE Wisconsin you quickly find that grass fed beef is not cheap. As in so not cheap that I could EASILY spend my entire grocery budget for last year just buying a 1/4 or 1/2 from a farmer right now. There are some that charge upwards of $8/lb for their beef. No judgement, but that is so seriously expensive protein!
I'm starting to find farmer's that are more in the $4/lb range and may even have a lead on one in SW Wisconsin that may be closer to $3/lb when all is said and done. This is still a huge new pill for me to swallow, but it is one that I think is important for my family and for my conscious. We'll continue to take baby steps in other areas and I'm hopeful that I'll keep other costs down, but the chances of spending $1300 for groceries for the year are pretty low. (That's been our total the last two years, but now we are splurging on our meat and our family is growing...so's the grocery bill!)
As of now we haven't been big beef eaters. Mostly due to the higher cost of beef at the store. I'd often find great deals on chicken, turkey and pork, but beef deals (other than ground beef) were few and far between. I know my husband will like the new change to our diet and I'm confident that I'll be a good steward with the freezer full of beef. In many ways it will be like eating when I was a child. We always raised a steer when the freezer got low. He would run with the horses and was typically a big pet for a while. Then he'd get really big, get pretty unfriendly and our freezer would get bare. The next step was his first taste of grain as we got him used to coming to the barn. After a few treats there would come a day when he'd come to get a pan of grain and while his head was down there would be one shot to end it all. My friend's dad had a butcher shop and he would take the steer away to process, although we'd go on the day the meat all got packaged and help wrap the meat and tube the ground beef.
I know some would consider it crazy to have kids that involved in their food, but really I think we were lucky. We knew what it meant to have meat on our plate. We knew our steers were treated well (as were the neighbor chickens whose eggs we ate and dairy cows across the road who often provided our milk). We knew their lives ended quickly, humanely, and while they were doing something they enjoyed. I never really realized how unusual it was to have that close of a connection to our food, but as an adult I've never known the animal or even the person who raised the animal. Our family is changing that. We cannot raise our own animals right now (and Mike would prefer we didn't ever raise pigs or steers), but we can know the person who raised it.
Wish me luck as I find a farmer who is doing good work! And help me remember that it is right to pay a fair wage to them for raising the food that feeds my babies, and my husband and me :) Our budget will be okay...right?
Heather
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Valentine's Day traditions
The big, lovey-dovey, Hallmark holiday is coming! How do you celebrate?
I used to like Valentine's day when I was a kid. There were valentines for the class, maybe a treat and some hearts from our teacher. Pretty low key and kind of fun after a month of snow with no break in sight. Then I got to Jr. High and High school. Oh, how things change! There was the drama of wanting to have a Valentine. There were flower sales and candy-grams and balloon deliveries and sometimes even the occasional huge bouquet from the professional florist in town delivered to the office. This brought about the endless longing to be one of the people getting all of these things. Or anyone of these deliveries. Or just some acknowledgement by someone that you were special!
My friends and I tended to send things to each other, but we often spent the day dressed in black to protest all the red. Mature it wasn't, but when you have no boyfriend it is a way to get through it all. College was pretty much the same deal. Unless you had a guy who was into the spoiling you factor Valentine's day became a day to spend with your best girlfriends. We complained, we whined, we protested and we longed...call us crazy.
Now I'm married and I enjoy the thought behind the holiday (really I always have), but I do not want it to be about huge amounts of money or overly showy expressions of feelings that should be expressed everyday. Luckily my hubby and I set things up well when we were dating. Our first Valentine's day was the first time Mike cooked for me. He was going to cook dinner, but I ended up helping him along. Cooking dinner for a girl may not be a big deal to some men, but at the time my husband was living at home. His mom always did all the cooking and Mike had never made anything other than a bowl of cereal. Really, he had never cooked at all. That week he had his mom teach him how to make mac 'n cheese (the kind in a box) for the first time.
So, our valentines day menu consisted of mac 'n cheese, some boxed garlic bread, a salad, root beer, and he brought me a frosted big cookie. Fancy it was not, but sweet and meaningful it was! We've made it our tradition to have almost the same menu every year. Now I do the cooking and it is all homemade. I love the fact that it is pretty simple (although I have made some pretty awesome mac 'n cheese and salad) and that it is frugal and that it is meaningful to us. It is a meal that will be fun to share with our kids every year and they'll probably hate hearing the story over and over again, but that is just too bad! Family stories are what make holidays fun :)
This year I think I'm going to make Pioneer Woman's Fancy Macaroni. Mike LOVES bacon and this dish will probably become a new favorite for him. I still need to get some salad ingredients and make some fresh bread, but the A&W is already in the fridge, the mugs are in the freezer and I've got the ingredients to make a hot fudge cake which he really loves. We don't really do gifts, but I did get a big Hershey's kiss (a red one) after Christmas for 75% off and that will be waiting at his place come breakfast time. I'm thinking that lunch may even be a heart shaped homemade pizza. We love our pizza and lots of places are advertising heart shaped ones...if they can do it so can I!
What are your traditions? Any fun gifts happening this year? Any other great food ideas for me for Sunday? And last, but most importantly, does anyone have Mrs. Field's Original Cookie recipe? It is Mike's favorite bought dessert and they do not make them like they used to...it would blow his mind if I made one of those sometime!
Happy Valentine's Day,
Heather
I used to like Valentine's day when I was a kid. There were valentines for the class, maybe a treat and some hearts from our teacher. Pretty low key and kind of fun after a month of snow with no break in sight. Then I got to Jr. High and High school. Oh, how things change! There was the drama of wanting to have a Valentine. There were flower sales and candy-grams and balloon deliveries and sometimes even the occasional huge bouquet from the professional florist in town delivered to the office. This brought about the endless longing to be one of the people getting all of these things. Or anyone of these deliveries. Or just some acknowledgement by someone that you were special!
My friends and I tended to send things to each other, but we often spent the day dressed in black to protest all the red. Mature it wasn't, but when you have no boyfriend it is a way to get through it all. College was pretty much the same deal. Unless you had a guy who was into the spoiling you factor Valentine's day became a day to spend with your best girlfriends. We complained, we whined, we protested and we longed...call us crazy.
Now I'm married and I enjoy the thought behind the holiday (really I always have), but I do not want it to be about huge amounts of money or overly showy expressions of feelings that should be expressed everyday. Luckily my hubby and I set things up well when we were dating. Our first Valentine's day was the first time Mike cooked for me. He was going to cook dinner, but I ended up helping him along. Cooking dinner for a girl may not be a big deal to some men, but at the time my husband was living at home. His mom always did all the cooking and Mike had never made anything other than a bowl of cereal. Really, he had never cooked at all. That week he had his mom teach him how to make mac 'n cheese (the kind in a box) for the first time.
So, our valentines day menu consisted of mac 'n cheese, some boxed garlic bread, a salad, root beer, and he brought me a frosted big cookie. Fancy it was not, but sweet and meaningful it was! We've made it our tradition to have almost the same menu every year. Now I do the cooking and it is all homemade. I love the fact that it is pretty simple (although I have made some pretty awesome mac 'n cheese and salad) and that it is frugal and that it is meaningful to us. It is a meal that will be fun to share with our kids every year and they'll probably hate hearing the story over and over again, but that is just too bad! Family stories are what make holidays fun :)
This year I think I'm going to make Pioneer Woman's Fancy Macaroni. Mike LOVES bacon and this dish will probably become a new favorite for him. I still need to get some salad ingredients and make some fresh bread, but the A&W is already in the fridge, the mugs are in the freezer and I've got the ingredients to make a hot fudge cake which he really loves. We don't really do gifts, but I did get a big Hershey's kiss (a red one) after Christmas for 75% off and that will be waiting at his place come breakfast time. I'm thinking that lunch may even be a heart shaped homemade pizza. We love our pizza and lots of places are advertising heart shaped ones...if they can do it so can I!
What are your traditions? Any fun gifts happening this year? Any other great food ideas for me for Sunday? And last, but most importantly, does anyone have Mrs. Field's Original Cookie recipe? It is Mike's favorite bought dessert and they do not make them like they used to...it would blow his mind if I made one of those sometime!
Happy Valentine's Day,
Heather
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
What's Up?
I figure it is time to spend a moment with my poor little neglected blog! When even my sister e-mails me to mention that I haven't posted in a long time I know I've been MIA. I still make the time to read many of my favorites every few days, I just haven't made the time to do much writing for myself. I want this blog to be a place where I share ideas and chronicle things in my family's life and I need to remember to spend some time doing that. Of course, I'm also 22 weeks pregnant, have an 18 month old, a husband, a job, a home, and a few meals and loads of laundry that also like my attention. I do not claim to be superwoman and am learning over time that often low expectations are called for in certain circumstances. However, I do want to keep blogging!
So what have I been doing? See above.
Actually, I have also been doing a lot more learning about a subject that is important to me. Over the last couple of years I've really wanted to move towards being more self sustaining. We do not have the land to really grow a lot of our own food (someday!), but I still want to have a more active in roll in knowing where our food comes from, how it was grown/raised, and in having stored food that allows us some control over our diet. I'm really proud of the canning I did last year and cannot wait to do even more this summer. (Did I mention I got a pressure canner for Christmas? I DID! And I can't wait to try canning vegetables that aren't pickles or tomatoes.) The last two years I've been a regular at our farmer's market and we are still eating potatoes and cabbages and squashes that I bought the last Thursday they were open. This last week I've spent a bunch of time learning things that make me realize that my baby steps have been on the correct path. And that it is time to really take things to the next level. We have been pricing beef and pork that is grass fed and those that are corn finished here and from a locker we love in South Dakota. (I consider that locker to be 'local' for us because we visit the tiny town when we see my grandparents. They do not have grass fed beef, but they actually know the name of the farmer who supplies all their animals...shocking in today's market place.) I've vowed not to buy any more meat from the grocery store and we are eating through some of our freezer stash as we decide when and where we will get our meat in the future.
As a VERY frugal person this is probably going to be the biggest jump for us. I've found the farmer's market to be incredibly frugal in providing near organic food for a great price. I buy what is in season, I compare vendors, I buy seconds at times and I'll buy in bulk. For instance I bought 50 pounds of potatoes from a farmer who uses no sprays on her potatoes. She isn't certified organic, that is fine with me. Potatoes are on the 'dirty dozen' list and hers are not showered in pesticides and such. The best price I've seen on organic potatoes in the grocery store was 10 pounds for $3.89. For 50 pounds I paid $11 to a local farmer. Call me crazy, but that is pretty frugal. I've bought a bushel of green peppers for $2, two bushels of squash (acorn, delicata, spaghetti, and butternut) for $10, a peck of sweet onions for $4, and on and on. Basically the farmer's market gets me great, local, near organic produce for prices that equal or beat the price on most conventionally grown items.
However, with meat that will not be the case. I buy meat when it is a loss leader. I've paid $.29/lb for chicken quarters, $.89/lb pork shoulder, $.99/ham, $.79/lb hamburger and such throughout the last two years. It is not always that cheap, but it is often close to those prices due to shopping sales and marked for quick sale items. When buying a 1/2 pig or a 1/4 or 1/2 cow we will be spending much, much more per pound. Grass fed beef in this area often gets $3.59/lb for a quarter (often processing is in addition to that price). We can get a 1/4 for about $2/lb from the little locker, but that cow will not be grass fed. (We do not know yet if the cow is just corn finished or if it is a feed lot cow.) And if we go with the South Dakota locker we would have to wait until we go to South Dakota to get meat. And I'd have to make sure they didn't add MSG to the sausage, which the package I bought in January says is added. ugg.
There are lots of questions to answer and details to work out, but this is what I know. CAFO beef is not okay with me anymore. I do not want to support conventionally grown poultry, swine or beef operations. I want farmer's to be paid a fair wage for the work they do in raising my family's food. I want to opt out of a factory farming system. I know we will not be able to do so 100% of the time. We travel, we eat at other family's homes, we eat at restaurants from time to time. However, the vast majority of our meals are made here in our home. I want them to feature meat that is not laden with antibiotics, growth hormones, non-food chemicals, and such. I want the animals to have had a decent life and a swift death. I want the workers who took care of both aspects to have held their jobs with some respect and not be victims of an over industrialized system themselves. I just want to know what is going on when it comes to the food I give my children.
I'm sure I'll have more to say about this as it is an ongoing process of learning. I'm not saying any of this to make anyone else feel bad about their food choices. Goodness knows we are all doing the best we can. I feel about this kind of how I did about how birth is dealt with in this country. I had no idea what I knew and what I didn't know. I started asking questions and I started learning and the more I learned, the more I asked (and am still asking) and the more I asked the more I was sure that things should be more transparent and that I should be more knowledgeable than I am. Than I thought I was.
I had no idea how lucky I was to know the names of the cows we ate growing up. I want my kids to have at least some of that same experience. If that means a dramatic rise in our grocery budget than so be it. Our health is worth it, our responsibility is worth it.
Wish me luck!
Heather
So what have I been doing? See above.
Actually, I have also been doing a lot more learning about a subject that is important to me. Over the last couple of years I've really wanted to move towards being more self sustaining. We do not have the land to really grow a lot of our own food (someday!), but I still want to have a more active in roll in knowing where our food comes from, how it was grown/raised, and in having stored food that allows us some control over our diet. I'm really proud of the canning I did last year and cannot wait to do even more this summer. (Did I mention I got a pressure canner for Christmas? I DID! And I can't wait to try canning vegetables that aren't pickles or tomatoes.) The last two years I've been a regular at our farmer's market and we are still eating potatoes and cabbages and squashes that I bought the last Thursday they were open. This last week I've spent a bunch of time learning things that make me realize that my baby steps have been on the correct path. And that it is time to really take things to the next level. We have been pricing beef and pork that is grass fed and those that are corn finished here and from a locker we love in South Dakota. (I consider that locker to be 'local' for us because we visit the tiny town when we see my grandparents. They do not have grass fed beef, but they actually know the name of the farmer who supplies all their animals...shocking in today's market place.) I've vowed not to buy any more meat from the grocery store and we are eating through some of our freezer stash as we decide when and where we will get our meat in the future.
As a VERY frugal person this is probably going to be the biggest jump for us. I've found the farmer's market to be incredibly frugal in providing near organic food for a great price. I buy what is in season, I compare vendors, I buy seconds at times and I'll buy in bulk. For instance I bought 50 pounds of potatoes from a farmer who uses no sprays on her potatoes. She isn't certified organic, that is fine with me. Potatoes are on the 'dirty dozen' list and hers are not showered in pesticides and such. The best price I've seen on organic potatoes in the grocery store was 10 pounds for $3.89. For 50 pounds I paid $11 to a local farmer. Call me crazy, but that is pretty frugal. I've bought a bushel of green peppers for $2, two bushels of squash (acorn, delicata, spaghetti, and butternut) for $10, a peck of sweet onions for $4, and on and on. Basically the farmer's market gets me great, local, near organic produce for prices that equal or beat the price on most conventionally grown items.
However, with meat that will not be the case. I buy meat when it is a loss leader. I've paid $.29/lb for chicken quarters, $.89/lb pork shoulder, $.99/ham, $.79/lb hamburger and such throughout the last two years. It is not always that cheap, but it is often close to those prices due to shopping sales and marked for quick sale items. When buying a 1/2 pig or a 1/4 or 1/2 cow we will be spending much, much more per pound. Grass fed beef in this area often gets $3.59/lb for a quarter (often processing is in addition to that price). We can get a 1/4 for about $2/lb from the little locker, but that cow will not be grass fed. (We do not know yet if the cow is just corn finished or if it is a feed lot cow.) And if we go with the South Dakota locker we would have to wait until we go to South Dakota to get meat. And I'd have to make sure they didn't add MSG to the sausage, which the package I bought in January says is added. ugg.
There are lots of questions to answer and details to work out, but this is what I know. CAFO beef is not okay with me anymore. I do not want to support conventionally grown poultry, swine or beef operations. I want farmer's to be paid a fair wage for the work they do in raising my family's food. I want to opt out of a factory farming system. I know we will not be able to do so 100% of the time. We travel, we eat at other family's homes, we eat at restaurants from time to time. However, the vast majority of our meals are made here in our home. I want them to feature meat that is not laden with antibiotics, growth hormones, non-food chemicals, and such. I want the animals to have had a decent life and a swift death. I want the workers who took care of both aspects to have held their jobs with some respect and not be victims of an over industrialized system themselves. I just want to know what is going on when it comes to the food I give my children.
I'm sure I'll have more to say about this as it is an ongoing process of learning. I'm not saying any of this to make anyone else feel bad about their food choices. Goodness knows we are all doing the best we can. I feel about this kind of how I did about how birth is dealt with in this country. I had no idea what I knew and what I didn't know. I started asking questions and I started learning and the more I learned, the more I asked (and am still asking) and the more I asked the more I was sure that things should be more transparent and that I should be more knowledgeable than I am. Than I thought I was.
I had no idea how lucky I was to know the names of the cows we ate growing up. I want my kids to have at least some of that same experience. If that means a dramatic rise in our grocery budget than so be it. Our health is worth it, our responsibility is worth it.
Wish me luck!
Heather
Monday, January 4, 2010
Cuddle Time
Is there anything sweeter than cuddling with a little one? Our little guy was never a particularly cuddly kid. As a baby he was, I guess. He didn't really have a choice! As soon as he became more mobile he got focused on his independence. We'd get to hold him often, don't get me wrong, but he was often exploring or playing or just generally hanging out.
He has been walking (running) for over 3 months now. I don't know if he has finally realized that we aren't going to stop him from exploring or what, but lately he has wanted to cuddle. Not in that "I'm cranky and you have to hold me, don't put me down, I'll scream and cry like the devil if you even think about putting me down, hold me, hold me, hold me!" way, but in the "I just want to crawl on your lap and hug you for a while." way. Last night he even came over to me while I was sitting on the couch and put his head on my leg. He just stood there and let me stroke his hair and relaxed next to me. Pure bliss!
He has started giving big hugs now and is even making strides towards kissing. It sounds funny, but for the million or so kisses we've given him he's never been a kisser. He will mimic the sound of us kissing him, but he doesn't give us kisses back. Now he makes the face, puckers his lips and leans in. We have to come the rest of the way, but it is awfully cute to see! We really like our new cuddly boy. There is something so great about having our little one want to be so sweet with us and yet not be demanding or whiny about it. I tell him often that someday there will be a lady who he will love to cuddle with more than his Daddy and me, but for now I am awfully glad that he likes cuddling with us!
Sometimes there is just nothing as great as being a parent,
Heather
He has been walking (running) for over 3 months now. I don't know if he has finally realized that we aren't going to stop him from exploring or what, but lately he has wanted to cuddle. Not in that "I'm cranky and you have to hold me, don't put me down, I'll scream and cry like the devil if you even think about putting me down, hold me, hold me, hold me!" way, but in the "I just want to crawl on your lap and hug you for a while." way. Last night he even came over to me while I was sitting on the couch and put his head on my leg. He just stood there and let me stroke his hair and relaxed next to me. Pure bliss!
He has started giving big hugs now and is even making strides towards kissing. It sounds funny, but for the million or so kisses we've given him he's never been a kisser. He will mimic the sound of us kissing him, but he doesn't give us kisses back. Now he makes the face, puckers his lips and leans in. We have to come the rest of the way, but it is awfully cute to see! We really like our new cuddly boy. There is something so great about having our little one want to be so sweet with us and yet not be demanding or whiny about it. I tell him often that someday there will be a lady who he will love to cuddle with more than his Daddy and me, but for now I am awfully glad that he likes cuddling with us!
Sometimes there is just nothing as great as being a parent,
Heather
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