Day 18 - Now We're Really Confused

One of our friends is about to embark upon a 6-month "through hike" of the Appalachian Trail, so we're helping with regular food packages along the trail (there are mail-drop locations along the way, since without a mule or llama, it would be impossible to carry a 6-month supply of food with her, and I just can't see spending 6 months with a llama). As she leaves in less than 2 weeks, this week we dragged out the food dehydrator and have begun the food preparation in earnest, but we keep catching ourselves blending experiments--she needs foods that will last for several weeks, and we're aiming for things with no preservatives whatsoever that can only last a matter of days. It's taking a lot of concentration to remember "Her Rules" and "Our Rules," though 18 days into this, "hers" are sounding a lot better than "ours." She gets Rice Krispie Treats (no part of which is allowed in "our" rules), and we get tuna salad. However, we'll have running water & a real bed for the next 6 months, so I guess I can spot her a few Rice Krispie treats.

She's using "Bananas" as her trail journal name, and her husband is "Ground Control," so we've been trying to come up with our own name. "Chuck Wagon," though possibly accurate is just too reminiscent of the dog food commercial with the tiny horse-drawn wagon being chased by a dog across the kitchen floor. "Canteen," and "Commissary" sound military & I think just guarantees that nothing will taste good. I think "Haz-Mat (hazardous materials) would be funny because once I sent them some dried fruit in a package, and when the girl at the counter asked if I was sending anything hazardous or perishable, I didn't know whether dried fruit counted as "perishable," (it is, but not for a really long time, but this is the post office, after all) so I told her the package contained dried fruit. Without hesitation, she said, "I don't think dried fruit is considered hazardous." So I emailed my friends to let them know their dried fruit was classified as "non hazardous" the US Postal Service--so you can see where the Haz-Mat joke fits in, though I'm not sure if anyone wants to be fed by "Haz-Mat" for 6 months. We're considering "The Caterers," but that's just not as much fun as "Ground Control." Any thoughts?

Day 17 - What Mr. Pollan Started

This little experiment of ours is based on an NPR interview with Michael Pollan about his book In Defense of Food. We picked up a copy of the book immediately, but I sheepishly admit that I only started reading it today--and I was actually listening to the audio book version on loan from the library while I made my version of tuna salad (every vegetable I can think of, a little vinegar, and enough stone ground mustard to stomp out any actual taste of tuna). (The urge to jump into a project without thinking it through entirely is one of my most predominant qualities, and probably explains the insanity of a month without buying anything new right at the Christmas gift-giving season and a few jobs that I went into not having the faintest idea of what the job was about. Details just get in the way of some of my best/most memorable ideas.) Even in the middle of this little experiment of ours, his book made me think.

Why don't we eat food any more?

We eat carbs, protein, complex carbs, fiber. dairy products, oat bran--I may be going out on a limb here, but I think my grandparents actually ate things like eggs, potatoes, apples, spinach, corn, beans--actual foods--rather than the nutrients, and I would bet my car that not one of them ever had a discussion about trans fats or omega 3 fatty acids (they would probably have probably thought they were new breeds of cattle or a type of automobile). They got nutrients by eating foods, not vice versa. I think they even got to enjoy food for the taste of it.

The whole point of his book is summarized on the front:

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

I think that's pretty hard to argue with, but 17 days into this little experiment, I can definitely say this has been a harder concept to follow in today's America than I ever dreamed. We have an entire industry built around "convenience foods," which are so named because nutritious food is not all that convenient. We are spending far more time thinking about food--planning meals, making lunches ahead of time, planning healthy snacks, counting the days until I can eat cinnamon bears and drink diet Pepsi (maybe even at the same time)--than I would have ever dreamed possible. And while I've become insanely boring, I feel great. Now if only one could have interesting conversations about broccoli....

Day 16 - WE GOT PIZZA!!!!!!

Last night, after THOROUGHLY checking the ingredients and nutritional information for our local gourmet pizza shops, we ordered an allowable pizza!!!! To a woman who had tuna salad for breakfast AND lunch yesterday, this was like winning the lottery!!!

Yeah baby, walking on the wild side....

Uh huh.

And update time, because I've been a little remiss...

For Valentine's Day, Andy--the most romantic man I've ever known--decorated the house with a trail of cards & gifts (constructed with YARN since I'm not buying any new yarn all year), and these were among the trail's stops:



There's a man who REALLY knows how to woo his wife! 13 more days and I can actually have those cinnamon bears!!!!

My gift to Andy included, among other things,


Ain't love grand?

And in a totally unrelated update, my dem fischer sin fru is making progress


albeit slowly. I'm still on clue one and clue 4 came out yesterday, and my goal is to only be 3 clues behind, so I need to get cracking before next week's clue. In the files section of the group there's actually a second project for people to work on while they're waiting for the next clue to come out, just in case it wasn't humiliating enough to just be behind.

To be fair, I have been working on other things (that's my excuse & I'm sticking to it). The tie-dye pi shawl is almost done and I'm just adding the edging--I say "just," because it's small in comparison to the rest of the shawl, but it's about 1200 rows of knitting. (I try not to think about that part).

Because of the strangeness of the striping effect of the yarn, I couldn't find an edging that worked (though Andy can attest to the attempts--and the swearing), I made one up. Luckily, it seems to be working--or I'm just deluding myself in an attempt to get it finished. I'm willing to go either way.

Day 14 - Happy Valentine's Day!

And guess who won't be getting any chocolate?

No, I don't try for such bad timing on purpose--it's just a gift, I guess.

Day 13 - Are We Making Any Progress?

Aside from how it seems (and feels), we didn't start this "no processed foods" project just to torture ourselves--we jokingly call that a "perk"...really jokingly. We are truly doing this for health reasons, partly because of an NPR interview about food and partly because I grew up in a small cattle-ranching town in Idaho where people seem to live well into their 80s and 90s, and seemingly without too many health problems, whereas the people I know now who are living in mostly urban areas seem to not live as long and have more health problems. There is probably an exercise factor in there somewhere, but I have begun to suspect there is something more.

Which leads us to the current month of torture--Oops, I mean eating healthy.

So, 13 days later--do I feel any different?

For one thing, I feel hungry much of the time, so I'm continually eating small amounts of fruit, vegetables, and nuts. I know it's good for me and I love fruits & vegetables, but I'm feeling a bit like a rabbit.

Secondly, I do feel like I have more energy, although that could well be tied to the amount of coffee I'm drinking now... :)

And lastly, I have fantasies about caffeine-free diet soda in a tall glass with lots of ice.

So obviously my body is improving but my mental state may be another story.....

Day 12 - A Scary Thought

In March I am going to be REALLY excited about getting to eat Grape Nuts.

I think I need to get out more.

Day 10 - For about 20 minutes, I was brilliant

Having determined that workday lunches are a big problem on our "Month of No Processed Foods," I thought I would line up some leftovers for us, and have a beef roast in one slow cooker, and "Mexican Chicken Woops" in the other one. Having never actually mastered either slow cooker, I realize that letting them gang up on me might be a serious mistake, but those who have had as much oatmeal as we've had so far this month are willing to try anything.

The roast, I actually think should be okay--I seared it on all sides with some seasoning before putting it in the slow cooker, so we're hoping it will have some flavor. As you may have already guessed, the "Mexican Chicken Woops" has already had issues. First, I found more corn syrup lurking in the diced tomatoes with green chilies I originally planned to use, so that was scrapped, and when I tried adding "just a dash" of chili powder to the chicken, I seem to have gotten "dash" and "dump" mixed up, and only part of it could be scraped out, so IF it's edible at all, it's going to be WAY too hot for my little Northern-European insides to cope with, so I have made lunch for Andy this week. How very June-Cleaver of me. If only I had been wearing pearls at the time....