What a sad, sad summer. Most of my CSA produce went into the compost pile. What a waste of such good vegetables! What a terrible blow on our budget!
So, here's a pregnancy fantasy: Before I got pregnant, I was quite arrogant about the CSA. I was going to eat healthy. I had invested in healthy, locally-grown, organic food. I was accused of being "preachy" about my "organics" when I didn't want to talk about botox. I stood in shock when I heard a mother openly wonder when her four year old child would start eating vegetables. I was tongue-tied when another women asked me if my husband was willing to eat such things. I was dumbfounded when my mother-in-law fretted over all the sugar in those organic fruits and vegetables that would undoubtedly do damage to my diabetic husband.
When July hit and baby came in with a bang, I started to see the crazed nature of my fantasy of nutritious food. I couldn't stomach it. Salads made me wretch. Greens seemed to me to only exist in order to wilt. Beans? Ugh. Preparing this stuff? Forget about it. Give me a burger. Order take-out. Oh, god I want a hotdog. I actually ate a Big Mac for first time in over 7 years! I broke my seven-year Big Mac fast when I got pregnant. I went to Taco Bell and ordered three different burrito items in order to scope out what I would get on my next visit. I ate tons of popsicles in which the main ingredients were a list of chemicals. Fruit bars? Nope? I couldn't stomach them. And, ok, here's the worst of it because I chided a woman for feeding this to her children on a daily basis: Kraft mac-n-cheese. But, in my defense, I didn't eat it every day. I ate it always with broccoli AND I bought the whole grain stuff, but that was mostly because I didn't want to eat the pasta shaped like Scooby Doo or Sponge Bob. But, still it was whole grain. And who the heck is Sponge Bob?
Admitting this is a frightening thing for me. But then, not many people read here, so, what do I got to be afraid of?
I was astonished with my stomach, with my body. I felt betrayed. I saw the heavy hit on our budget. I had to leave the house when the Big D cooked up bacon for a simple BLT sandwich. I couldn't bear the thought of blogging when all that seemed good locally were fast food chains. I am so glad that I haven't eaten much fast food in my life, because I felt like I ate a lifetime's worth in the month of August.
Thankfully, things started to change. Slowly. But steadily. It all began with corn.
Then came the melons.
I still haven't made my way back to cauliflower. But it looks so lovely, doesn't it?
And then came yesterday. Yesterday! Oh my, what a lovely day. I made some baba ganoush!!! I tried it for the first time and the results did turn out better than store-bought. AND, the smell of the eggplant roasting did not drive me out of the neighborhood!
What a divine day. Now I have something healthy to snack on. AND, I spent more than 5 minutes in my kitchen!
Heck! The experience was so great I moved onto roasting a chicken! I roasted a chicken. It wasn't a pretty process. I mopped the floor in case I had any Julia Child-like mishaps and pulled out a whole stick of butter to soften. It turned out great. The only problem is that I, apparently, don't know what side the breast is on because I ended up cooking it breast-side down.
The free-range chicken cost me $9 and I figured we saved $20 in that meal alone because the last time I craved chicken we got take-out from Brasa. Tonight we will have big salads topped with chicken, and I might even have enough chicken left over for a pot pie. Three meals out of one chicken. I like that. My budget likes that!
Ahhh. It's good to be back to the land of living and good eating.
Today - a chicken broth with left over carcass. Did I really say that? Yes, ma'am, I said carcass and I don't even have to go puke!
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