I'm finding that Wyoming is kind of a no mans land when it comes to locating fresh organic food, but my hunt for tasty things has gone well the past couple of weeks.
A neighboring town organized a Bountiful Baskets drop point where we can get organic bread and produce every other week, friends gardens are finally over producing (especially zuchinni, my friend calls it "drop a zuchinni on your neighbors doorstep season") and they happilly share, I'm finally figuring out which organic brands at the grocery store are good bargains, and a local mushroom farm is delivering to our town once a week.
Our "Chicken Little" is laying one egg every other day, but our other hen "Brian" (obviosly the kids named her) should start laying soon. Still not much for our family of 6, but I've found a couple of local people that sell fresh eggs from home.
We've eaten veggie dogs and soy bean mock chicken meat and decided we're not THAT "Organic"! I'm looking forward to the next few months when John will fill our freezer with elk and antelope.
My biggest hurdle has been convincing a Wyoming man that switching to Organic is a good idea- however since all of his hunting produces the most organic meat on the planet, he is excited to contribute that way. He's coming around, losing 12 pounds over the last couple of weeks is definately helping his outlook (I've lost 14)! His asthma and allergies have been less severe, maybe its the changes we're making? Time will tell.
I was completely overwhelmed by the cost, and limited resources in our area, but as a creative person, I'm enjoying the challenge. My goals for now: find a local source for honey, avoid "organic junk food" in the lure of convenience, plan more creative school lunch ideas for the kids, check out the Natural Grocer 2 1/2 hours away during our next monthly trip to Denver, and browse the NOLS store this week.
If you dont know what a "NOLSy" is, this is a brief description, hippee clothes and hair, smells like inscence and BO from extended survival trips in the mountians without toilet paper or soap, hobbies include hugging trees and eating granola- hhhhhmmmmm, I think it may be rubbing off on us! (I'm obviously joking, NOLS is a very reputable and renowned outdoor survival type school that has locations all over the globe including one in our town, and I'm really excited about checking out their store!)
Well, I guess thats it for now, I'll be posting about once a week with our progress!
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Dinner Experiments
We were able to experiment with dinners quite a bit this week thanks to our Organic Bountiful Baskets order and a roadside mushroom stand filling our fridge early in the week. Sorry, no pictures- my camera is STILL acting up! All of these ingredients are organic unless specified.
*Portabella Mushroom Pizzas -the kids LOVED this and so did John and I. Cut off the portabella stems and save them for another recipe, brush both sides with oil, bake 5minutes at 350, top with marinara sauce (from a jar, I'm not exactly a gourmet chef!),and your favorite shredded cheese, bake 5 minutes more.
*Whole Grain Spaghetti with Olive Oil, Italian Seasoning, and Parmasean (still looking for organic parmasean), in a separate pan, sautee shredden zuchinni with a little butter, then toss and serve- not a bite left in the pan!
*Chopped cucumbers and chickpeas tosssed with olive oil, salt and pepper, and dill
*Homemade whole wheat pizza, mushroom, spinach, and mozzerella.
*Leftover baked potatos and brocolinni made for a tasty skillet hash, I served it with turkey burger patties- again, not a bite left in the pan!
*Spinach salad topped with sauteed portebellas, olive oil,salt and pepper
*Portabella Mushroom Pizzas -the kids LOVED this and so did John and I. Cut off the portabella stems and save them for another recipe, brush both sides with oil, bake 5minutes at 350, top with marinara sauce (from a jar, I'm not exactly a gourmet chef!),and your favorite shredded cheese, bake 5 minutes more.
*Whole Grain Spaghetti with Olive Oil, Italian Seasoning, and Parmasean (still looking for organic parmasean), in a separate pan, sautee shredden zuchinni with a little butter, then toss and serve- not a bite left in the pan!
*Chopped cucumbers and chickpeas tosssed with olive oil, salt and pepper, and dill
*Homemade whole wheat pizza, mushroom, spinach, and mozzerella.
*Leftover baked potatos and brocolinni made for a tasty skillet hash, I served it with turkey burger patties- again, not a bite left in the pan!
*Spinach salad topped with sauteed portebellas, olive oil,salt and pepper
Lunch Box Ideas
The boys were definately begging for cafeteria junk food this first week of school, so we compromised on 2 days each week for now. They chose pizza and hamburger day, happily Benjamin told me the hamburger was "not so good" (hooray!). I'm struggling with lunch because they cant warm anything at school, and sandwiches get old after a while. These are lunches I packed this week, all ingredients are organic unless specified.
*PB and jelly sandwich, rasins, dried pineapple rings, apple sauce, juice
*Mixed nuts, yogurt, apple sauce, cereal bar, baby carrots/ranch dressing, juice
Hopefully next week will bring more creative lunches!
*PB and jelly sandwich, rasins, dried pineapple rings, apple sauce, juice
*Mixed nuts, yogurt, apple sauce, cereal bar, baby carrots/ranch dressing, juice
Hopefully next week will bring more creative lunches!
Friday, August 26, 2011
Breakfasts This Week
Sorry, my camera is acting up, so no pictures, but these are some of the breakfasts we enjoyed last week on our new organic kick!
Whole White Mushrooms (sauteed in olive oil), and scrambled eggs
Whole wheat honey zuchinni muffins
Simple Breakfasts: Organic 7 grain toast, Plain yogurt sweetened with a bit of honey.
Whole White Mushrooms (sauteed in olive oil), and scrambled eggs
Whole wheat honey zuchinni muffins
Simple Breakfasts: Organic 7 grain toast, Plain yogurt sweetened with a bit of honey.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)