food

I'm an eater. I love to eat, I love the taste of spices, I love different textures and temperatures. Eating is great. We all know there are things I can't eat and that often gets in the way of my general eating, which is just a bother.
Yesterday I spent 5 hours cleaning our kitchen. Taking everything off the shelves, scrubbing them down and then only returning food that I know we will eat to the cabinets. Nearly everything I tossed (really I put in a bag for our churches food drive) is non-perishable, pre-packaged food. Many of these had soy warnings and yet I still bought them because doesn't every house need a box of bisquick? Really it doesn't - all it really needs is flour and baking powder and poof - bisquick!
This past year I have begun to cook more often and with increasingly better results. I'm trying to cook with only whole, natural ingredients for two reasons:
1) I'm allergic to too many things found in pre-packaged foods - so much soy!
2) It just seems healthier and better for the earth.
Now I'm trying to take things up a notch!

EATING LOCAL!

We've always purchased local eggs from Camp Lindo Farms and now I've added local milk and butter from Shatto Dairy. There are great farmers markets in the area and it is really not that much more expensive. So here are the rules for the M. Perry's attempt to eat local and just plain better:

1. Eat what we have or give it away- We will not waste our previously purchased food but just make smarter choices going forward.
2. Ask questions - Discuss with the local grocery store where their meat and produces comes from.
3. Local doesn't have to mean next door - Local is open to Kansas and Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska - but the closer the better. To start off we are just trying to stay away from Apples from New Zealand and anything coming out of China.
4. If not Local, then Local Business - The big chains don't need our money, the little guys do. Also I doubt we will find local olive oil or frozen pizza (something I know we can't give up yet) and that it is okay to buy these things - from a local store.
5. If nothing else, cut out the fast food in our diet. That last one is important as I've eaten at Taco Bell twice and McDonald's twice in the past 4 days. Talk about a waste of money!

My goal for the summer - eating better.

Update: I've just come back from my local, independent, family-run grocery store. Our meat is "local" the produce is not. But will be in a few months. I still stocked up on some good veggies. Everything is trimmed and packed up for easy storage and eating.
I've got a pot of Asparagus Soup on the stove so I can freeze it for later and everything cut up and ready for dinner tonight. Meals are also planned for the rest of the week and now I'm thinking about baking some cookies.
Clearly I could be a stay-at-home wife with no problem at all. :) Got to love a day off!