Thank Heaven for Engineer Husbands

Mike fixed the comments section so now anyone can comment.  OK, no more excuses, if you read my blather you have to respond with some of your own.  Or with witty, insightful commentary.  I'll take either one.

Friday Nights

Last night we had a picnic in the living room.  We watched one of the best movies ever, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, and gorged on hot dogs smothered in ketchup and potato chips.  Ok, now before you say in a shocked voice "But Della, the Experiment!  What happened?" let me explain.  The hot dogs were from Double Check Ranch, where the checks stand for Good for You and Good for the Land.  Sophie and I made the buns and even the ketchup.  Disclaimer: although I made the ketchup I still find the stuff to be just wrong, maybe it's my Canadian heritage.  Then we sliced up potatoes from Taste of Paradise and fried them into these tasty, crispy little slices of heaven.  Now I'm not going to claim that it was the most heart healthy meal of all time but I compared our meal to a commercially bought one and the results were eye opening.  We ingested less than half the fat, a third the sodium and a fourth the sugar than we would have if we had bought hot dogs, buns, ketchup and chips.  And still felt like we had a treat.  I'm having fun experimenting with "junk food" because I know my family would revolt if I started serving bean sprouts.  Hell, I would revolt.  Next up is bagels and cream cheese.  The adventure continues!

Yup, I'm spoiled

I had to run to the grocery store today, just like most people do at least once a week.  We were out of butter, eggs and a few other sundries.  I knew I wasn't going to make it out to Superstition Farm where we normally get our eggs and dairy so we just walked over to Albertsons.  I found myself getting depressed as I bought ordinary eggs, all white, not brown and green and white like we're used to.  These were eggs from chickens that didn't have names!  Then I got grumpy as I bought butter.  Not my butter, pre-formed sticks.  Tomorrow we'll stock up at the farmers market but my attitude on food sure has changed.  What is quick and easy no longer holds the appeal it used to.  I'm relishing the work that goes into creating our food.  I just have to learn to relish a little less so that the pound of butter I made on Friday lasts a whole week instead of 5 days. 
On another note, Sophie had a play date yesterday and when I went to pick her up the mom was laughing at Sophie's conversations.  Apparently making Play Doh is a lot like making bread, and Soph was surprised to learn that not everyone makes their own jelly.  It made me realize that not only am I learning and growing, so are my kids.  They are being exposed to a way of life that is decidedly not the norm any more.  Pretty darn cool if you ask me.

Tough moments

I dislike Costco.  No, let me rephrase that, I really like Costco in and of itself.  I dislike the hordes of snowbirds that frequent Costco here in the winter.  For anyone not from around here, snowbirds are the retirees that flock to Arizona (mainly from Canada and Minnesota) every winter to escape snow, ice storms and aching joints.  By themselves they are usually lovely people but in a groups they make me insane.  They stop and chat in the middle of the aisles, they navigate their scooters like drunken monkeys and they never stop for pedestrians. 
You may be asking yourself what this has to do with the Grand Experiment and I'll tell you.  I took the kids to Costco today.  I gave them a snack but neglected to feed myself one.  After an hour of trying to navigate around groups of ambling octogenarians my blood sugar had dipped to a new low and I found myself about to start screaming and throwing 25 pound bags of lentils at people.  Orion was mad because I wouldn't let him have another sample of dried seaweed (love my kids) and Soph was convinced she needed to touch everything. EVERYTHING.  Because we aren't buying any convenience foods I couldn't grab a box of crackers or a piece of pizza from the food court, I just had to tough it out.  I got the kids home without committing any felonies, fed them lunch and got myself enough food to calm the homicidal urges. 
The lesson I learned is that I'm going to have to be better prepared.  Planning is going to be hugely important over this next year, especially when we're out and about.  It's amazing how good I feel  that I didn't grab a piece of pizza. Instead I had some leftovers from last night, thus saving money and calories.  I also stuck with the program instead of my usual justifications and excuses.
I learned one more thing today, those snowbirds can drink!  I don't know what anyone needs with a gallon of Jim Beam or two gallons of pre-made margaritas, but more power to them.  

A confession

I have a confession to make.  I know I'm this big hippie, so into cooking for my family and such, but I must confess that this is the first week in as long as I can remember that I have not consumed some form of convenience food or drink.  Not just Taco Bell or pizza but Starbucks and frozen waffles and Santiago's breakfast burritos (mmmmmmmm Santiago's).  I have become aware of just how pervasive fast food is in our lives.  And fast food equates to money and preservatives.  I examined a can of tomato soup I had in the pantry and was shocked to see that the second ingredient was high fructose corn syrup.  In soup!  There's titanium dioxide in ranch dressing.  In case you're unfamiliar with titanium dioxide, it's the same ingredient that makes sunscreen effective.  There's additives in almost every processed food on the market.  Phew, end of rant.  I know that not everyone can devote the time and energy I am to eating and living simply and I'll admit to a secret addiction to Whoppers, but I have a challenge to everyone reading this.  Go to your food cupboards and read the labels.  Find out what you're eating.  Wait,  actually I have two challenges.  I want to hear from you.  How long have you gone without buying some form of convenience food, and how long do you think you could?  There's no judgment here, I am truly curious.  It's been an adjustment for us and I'm sure it would be for everyone else.  For this question let's define convenience food as food or drink prepared by someone other than you.  I can't wait to see the responses!  And for everyone in Colorado, you know why I miss Santiago's.

Shameless Plug

It's very important to be comfortable while summitting the furniture



The second part of the Grand Experiment was to see if we could cut our consumption footprint over the next year, figure out what was really a need and what was a want.  Along those lines we decided to switch to cloth diapers with Orion.  Having experienced cloth diapers with both my little sisters I knew that I wanted to find some that didn't involve diaper pins (sorry for all the bleeding girls) and so I started researching.  What I found was a company that inspires me and makes my life infinitely easier.  GDiapers is based out of Portland and they make the cutest, easiest, most ethical cloth diapers in the world.  I balked at the cost at first but after I sat down and did the calculations I realized that in two months we would have made up the cost and would be saving on average about $50 a month.  Now I never have to worry about filling up landfills or having to go buy diapers at 9pm because we ran out.  When we traveled to Colorado last month I switched to their biodegradable inserts, which are also flushable, making the drive much simpler. I love that they support a healthy corporate culture as well.  I know I'm a hippie but I really believe that commerce and ethics can survive in the same universe.  Check out their website, this company shows that it's possible to be ethically, socially and environmentally responsible, and still thrive.  Plus, come on, they're bloody adorable.

Perfection

Do you know what this is my friends?  This is MY bread, topped with MY butter and spread with MY jam.  And yes, it tastes every bit as good as it looks.

Doh Doh Doh

Ok, I admit it, I had this image of this year being a montage set to inspiring music, me effortlessly creating beauty and showing the world how simple it can be.  Isn't that the way it works in movies?  Sure there may be a 2-second flash of a setback but then it's on to success right?  I guess this is the 2-second flash of a setback.  Sophie and I made this amazing jam this morning, fresh strawberries, ginger and lavender.  She helped me skim all the foam off so it was this beautiful ruby color.  I've run out of mason jars and since I can't buy anything new I decided to use all my baby food jars that I've been saving to can this majestic jam.  We filled the jars, lovingly screwed the lids on, placed them in my waterbath canner, put the lid on and went to make bread.  When I checked back in 15 minutes over half the lids had popped off, bleeding jam all over the place.  We saved four jars out of 14.  So I've learned two lessons.  One is don't use baby food jars and two is that I desperately need a pressure canner.  Ok maybe three, real life is not a montage.  At least the recipe rocked though.

Strawberry Ginger Jam
2 pounds fresh hulled strawberries
2 pounds sugar
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 ounces chopped ginger
1 tsp dried lavender

Cut the strawberries in fourths.  Place all ingredients in heavy saucepan.  Heat over medium heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved.  Simmer until jam jells on a cold plate, skimming foam off occasionally.  This took about 45 minutes for us but we had doubled the recipe.  Can be frozen or canned, but use real canning jars, this is way too beautiful of a jam to waste.

Unexpected benefits

Wednesday is Sprouts day.  They offer double ads on Wednesdays so it has become our custom to sail out into the world in search of produce, bulk oats and all the other wonderful goodies offered there.  Yesterday as we walked into the store there were stacks and stacks of luscious, ripe strawberries on sale.  Sophie and I instantly decided that we needed to make strawberry jam.  After collecting all our other staples we headed for the checkout.  We were discussing the merits of making granola bars with dates or chocolate chips (guess which one Soph wanted) and talking about our jam when the woman in front of us turned around and joked that she wanted to come home with us.  This started a conversation about the Grand Experiment, cooking with small children and gardening.  Turns out she has a huge backyard that she wants to turn into a garden, but has been looking for a gardening buddy to share the bounty with.  I have been searching for garden bounty, so it was a match made in heaven.  Although, anyone who has stood in the checkout line at Sprouts on a Wednesday morning may be more inclined to compare it to another place that starts with H (gotta love the snowbirds).  Did I mention she has chickens too?  And a little boy about Orion's age.  This experiment has already brought me into contact with so many amazing people.  Tracy from Double Check Ranch, Farmer Jason and Allison at Superstition Farm, Tony and Tera from Taste of Paradise(love love love the organic fingerling potatoes) and now my new friend and gardening buddy Amanda.  Not to mention that I am discovering all the hidden talents in my friends and family.  Who knew I had so many friends who knew how to make butter from scratch?  All this and we're only a few days in.  I am so excited to see what and who the future holds.  Keep up the suggestions, comments and questions, they inspire and enlighten me to no end.   Oh, and we ended up making the granola bars with chocolate chips, Sophie can be very persuasive sometimes.

Victory!

 For the first time in my life, I created bread. Beautiful, soft, chewy, slightly sweet and oh so tender, bread.  Yeast, you will no longer defeat me.  You can no longer lay claim to my dreams, turning them into nightmares of fallen dough and inedible crust.  Next up, world domination!  Or maybe strudel.

Heavenly scents, beginnings and the joy of child labor

In the past month I have driven 2100 miles with two small children, eaten at not one but two Arbys in New Mexico (never. again.) and uprooted my children from any semblance of a routine.  While we were on our odyssey my amazing husband finished painting the kids' rooms, cleaned the entire house and set up my clothesline.  I now dry our laundry next to our citrus tree, which is budding and smells like what I imagine heaven smells like.  Our clothes smell like lemon blossoms, not because I bought dryer sheets chemically enhanced with perfume, but because they have been steeping in lemon blossom scent all afternoon. 
I picked up a stray on the way home from Grand Junction.  My niece was on spring break and my sister had the brilliant idea of sending her down to Phoenix with us for a week.  So off we drove, myself and three kids headed for one really looonnnggg drive.  Two days later we made it home and I have to say that I would have left my sanity somewhere on the Navajo Nation if she hadn't been with us.  What followed was a week of indentured servitude if you ask my niece.  We harvested 120 lemons from my tree, leaving at least that many still on.  She and Sophie peeled a flat of tomatoes that we then turned into diced tomatoes and stewed tomatoes.  We spent two days peeling and juicing the aforementioned lemons.  The end result is that I have enough tomatoes to last us through a couple months of pizza and spaghetti sauce, 1 gallon of pure lemon juice, and 6 gallons of limoncello steeping.  I will take all suggestions on how to use the lemon juice, but I'm pretty sure I can figure out how to use the limoncello.  I sent my niece home on Friday, spent the weekend recuperating, and am happy to say the adventure starts tomorrow.  No more convenience food, no more high fructose corn syrup, and no more excuses.  In exchange we will gain more time together as a family, more knowledge and a simpler life.  I am excited, nervous, afraid and ready for the challenge.  Things may get dicey at times (a year without Baskin Robbins may push my husband to the breaking point) but I am so excited to see how small we can make our consumption footprint.  Here we go!

Life Changing Moments

Scarlett Rose Mehring
July 20 2010 - February 23 2012

The Grand Experiment was supposed to begin today.  Instead I am 1,000 miles away from home saying goodbye to the most amazing 19 month old girl I've ever known.  My decision to stay home with the kids seems so much more right now, knowing that life can change in an instant.  The Grand Experiment will continue, it's just going to have to wait a week as we travel through Colorado visiting loved ones and savoring moments with family and friends.  I'm aching to get back to my limoncello in waiting, my bread dough and my Thursday night farmers markets at Superstition Farm.  Mothers, kiss your babies, then go cook them an amazing dinner.  Scarlett Rose, you made our lives brighter and we are thankful for it.