Eating Green

I just finished reading In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, by Michael Pollan.  It was a surprisingly quick read for me, I suppose because I enjoyed his writing style.  If you haven't heard of the book, Pollan basically argues for the return to eating "whole" foods: non-processed, straight from your garden or local farmer's market. 

I haven't joined the organic foods bandwagon, though several of my friends swear by it.  And I'm not very "green" in my lifestyle, although we've started recycling a bit more this year.  But since I do have a breast-cancer survivor in my family and I'm raising a one-year-old now, I'm becoming a little more health-conscious.  Hence, the book.

So this week when I went to the supermarket, I decided to try shopping for whole foods by spanning the perimeter of the store (produce, dairy, meats) and refraining from the aisles of packaged goods.  Believe it or not, I stayed away from the ice cream, because the stuff on sale had about 15 million ingredients in it and seemed too full of things I couldn't pronounce (I'm going to make my own out of milk, eggs, and chocolate!).  It was remarkably satisfying, and I felt healthier just walking up to the checkout stand with my cart full of good food!  AND...I saved $50 over my usual grocery bill!  (When I came home, my husband asked if we'd have enough to eat for the week!  We do!)

I'm excited for spring, as the farmer's markets will start opening back up and I can start planting some of my own herbs.  I'd like to try a few vegetables too...we'll see.  I'm not giving up completely on store-bought pasta, chips, or breads - I couldn't possibly make ALL of my own food, but I am going to try to shop a little healthier and make things when I can.  We've already grown accustomed to homemade spaghetti sauce, so there's no going back on that one.  And since I am no longer working full-time, I have the luxury of time to cook and do more of my own baking.

So for awhile, we'll try eating green!

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