ReadyMade: Instructions for everyday life

My week without processed foods has been much more interesting than I expected it would be. Here’s a look at what I’ve learned (and I’m having the same thing today for lunch as yesterday, so I won’t bore you by posting the same picture!):

1.) I feel better. I’ve had regular stomachaches on and off for years and they were few and far between this week. Maybe it’s because I wasn’t eating any soy products (soy can be hard for a lot of people to digest), which hadn’t ever occurred to me as a possible culprit. Or it could be because I stopped chewing gum and drinking bottled drinks. When I was getting really hungry around 5pm each day, I was initially very surprised (and was glad I had a container of almonds at my desk). My “normal” feeling at that time is that my stomach hurts and I hardly ever feel very hungry for dinner, let alone in need of a late afternoon snack. Or perhaps I feel better simply because I’ve been eating more produce and whole grains that I usually do.
Conclusion: I’m going to continue to steer clear of soy, gum and most bottled drinks (especially those with artificial sweeteners). I am also going to experiment with different milk %’s to find a better replacement for soy milk. I bought 2% thinking I could use it for many purposes like baking, poured over hot cereal, and with my coffee. That last one turned out to be a terrible idea as it just doesn’t taste very good. I will try whole milk next and experiment with drinking black coffee, too.

2.) This way of cooking and eating is all about balance. Claudia posted a comment on my post about time (and feminism in the kitchen), which I think is key:
“I try to buy and cook with whole foods when I can, I try to get my kids to make healthy choices and think about the environmental issues as well as our health with regards to food. At the same time, there are some days when there is no other choice than eating out or eating a frozen dinner. I don’t let it get to me.”
Conclusion: I’m not perfect and I certainly won’t be making 3-hour bread on a weeknight again anytime soon (even though it was great), but I do think that I can structure my weekends to allow time to cook foods that take longer. And I’m going to look into quicker breads (like this foccacia recipe) and perhaps save up for a stand mixer and a full sized food processor down the line to make things easier on myself. Though if you make bread from scratch and you don’t have a dough hook, you must get one! It’s the most amazing thing for stirring dough together—I would be lost without mine. I also found that the payoff of making something from scratch seems to be worth any effort involved.

3.) I need to stay out of the grocery aisles at big box stores. There is nothing sold at those types of stores that I can’t get at the farmer’s market or my local small grocery store (where the quality is likely higher and I can pick up minimally processed chocolate from Taza!). Yes, prices on packaged foods might be cheaper, but I won’t be tempted by getting a good deal on granola bars or boxed cereal if I just take the option off of the table all together. This goal goes along with my list of questions to help me make good food choices going forward:
Where was this made/grown? Who made it? If it was processed, what was the intention? And also, do I understand why the ingredients in the food are in there?
This is not to say that everything I eat will have perfect answers to these questions, nor does it mean that I will never eat another processed food (I plan on eating s’mores this weekend!) or eat meals out at restaurants,  but I think that it’s a good place to start to keep the balanced shifted towards whole foods.
Conclusion: I joined a CSA (that’s my first share pictured at the top)! I recently realized that one of the stalls I visit for their heirloom veggies at the farmers market has a fall CSA share and since I’ve been wanting to become a member of one forever, and this one started this week, I thought it was perfect timing! I picked up my first share Wednesday and I literally could not be more excited (though it remains to be seen as to whether I can possibly eat an entire share on my own, even though my farmers assure me that it’s meant for someone who eats a lot of produce). The farm, Grinnell Heritage Farm, was recently certified as organic and is owned and operated by Andrew and Melissa Dunham.  Andrew is a 5th generation Iowa farmer and the 80-acre farm has been in their family for over 150 years. (That’s where the lovely heirloom tomato that appeared in yesterday’s breakfast, and where the chiogga and golden beets that I have been eating for lunch the past few days came from.) I am excited to cook more with the seasons and to be supporting this type of a farm so directly. I’ve already committed to a winter share and I figure that with so much yummy produce around, I won’t be able to help being inspired to find new ways to cook it.

Notes & Resources:
I didn’t go into this week intending to be meat-free, but it wound up that way since I’m not in the habit of cooking much meat at home (and I’m mildly overwhelmed by making choices at the meat counter, so it’s just easier for me to skip it). And it also turned out to be a week of me deciding to recommit to supporting my local sustainable growers and saving money by cooking everything myself. So on that note, here are some helpful resources for you.

Local Harvest: Find farmers markets, family farms and other places to find sustainably raised food near you.
Pick Your Own: find u-pick farms by state to know where to go to pick your own food. Check out their recipes and tips on canning, cooking and how to make various things like tomato sauce and jam.
Paul’s Grains: this is local to me here in Iowa and I’m thrilled to live somewhere with a good source for local sustainably grown grains. A friend recently raved about their flour, so I’m going to try it out when I get through mine. Anson Mills is also a great source for sustainable and heirloom grains and flours.
Taza Chocolate: minimally processed, stone ground, organic chocolate from a Boston bean to bar company.
King Arthur Flour: they sell wonderful baking tools, including my dough hook, and ingredients. I’ve heard a lot about their Whole Grain Baking Cookbook and I’m looking forward to trying out a recipe.
The Real Food Daily Cookbook: from one of my all time favorite restaurants in Los Angeles. Their yin yang salad is heavenly.
Super Natural Cooking: The book form of 101cookbooks with excellent information on alternative grains, as well as recipes.
How to Cook Everything: Mark Bitman’s opus that I use more than any other cookbook. It’s filled with basic recipes that are clearly written (with handy illustrations) and many of them have boxes with ways you can alter the recipe.
The New Moosewood Cookbook: It’s not exactly new, but I’ve found myself turning back to this vegetarian classic a lot lately. The Brazilian Black Bean Soup is a winter staple of mine.

**Mixing Bowl: Since it was so much fun to post recipes and hear from you all about how and what you’re cooking, I’ve set up a ReadyMade group called ReadyWhip over at Mixing Bowl. Come join me if you want to talk about food, share recipes and be part of our online food community. Plus, it’s likely that I’ll ask the group to try out recipes that we’re considering running in upcoming issues of the magazine, which I hope will be very fun!