Monday, April 1, 2013

the inner workings of my mind, part3

A long time ago Pete and I decided that we didn't want to, and never were going to care about, dieting. We love to eat. We love to listen to our cravings and honor them. We believe in moderation and in the moderation of moderation itself. Sometimes overindulgence is a fabulous idea! Probably why Thanksgiving is our favorite holiday and we always insist on cooking even if we are eating at someone else's on the day. We may have some unknown strain of Italian in our blood for we live as though no one can be having a good time without food or drink in their hand. We eat dishes whose recipes originated all over the world. A few favorites are Pho Tai, Pho Ga, Greek Orzo Salad, Lasagna, Pad Thai, Ginger Green Beans, Bratwursts, BBQ chicken legs, Curried Lentil Soup, Dal, Lemingtons, Scones, Fish n Chips, Popcorn and Kale Chips.

We spend the majority of our money (after rent, utilities and Sallie Mae) on food. Entertainment is really at the bottom of our budget list. We get our rental books and videos from the library and maybe RedBox if we're desperate to catch up on something.

With this love of food comes our theory that Food is Fuel. The higher grade fuel you put into your body, the longer it will run.Why spend a fortune on medical bills when we can avoid them just by eating well? So our family plan of attack: Make as much of what we can from scratch, using organic ingredients whenever possible, avoiding GMOs and High Fructose Corn Syrup. We aim to consume edibles that are as close as is safe to when taken off the plant or away from the animal. We do buy packaged food. We live in a first world nation. Its incredibly hard to avoid all packaged food while living on a tiny budget. We pick and choose which condiments we are going to make, whether we have time this week to make granola or bread, do we feel confident in our hot sauce brewing abilities (the answer: not yet). When we do buy packaged, we aim for the products with the shortest ingredients list, involving words we can pronounce and/or identify their origins. If in doubt, throw it out! (or in this case, don't buy it in the first place). We go back and forth between being able to afford a co-op produce bag and being able to cope with a less then ideal food source. We aim to avoid companies we know have a partnership with Monsanto (which is most major brands, organic and not).

I know food sourcing and waste and all this hippie talk can be a touchy subject for some, so I would like to take a second a clarify that we are not perfect. We have been known to have a box of Oreos in the house, or indulge in some Ben and Jerry's or get take out that is most definitely loaded with MSG. But for 87.26% of the time, we spend a little extra money to get higher quality ingredients and hope to keep our doctor's visits limited to prenatal exams and well-child check ups. We are constantly learning how to combat early cold signals with teas and essential oils. We eat soup weekly and are extremely adamant about spending extra, for what Pete calls The Good Stuff, when it comes to our animal based consumption.

So there it is. My philosophy on food. Food is Fuel. Spend your money on healthy Body Fuel, stay out of the hospital, off meds and live a long, happy life eating!

Anybody want a beer? or tea? or this vegan galette I just made?

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