Real Foodie Mishaps & A Fuzzy Ball of Madness

Well, I know I said I would be back yesterday, but when we got home from our weekend in Lubbock, I was working on about 2 hours of sleep (followed by a good stretch of head bobbing, neck snapping, half snoozing in the car on the way home), and I frankly, had to go to sleep. So, I beg your pardon for the bogart.

As for today, I am going to bring attention to a little problem that I'm having. With joblessness & homelessness being our set of circumstances at the moment, we are having a hard time figuring out how to incorporate Real Food into...well, poverty. Having a farm or backyard homestead might help with this problem...but, alas...have you checked the stats on buying land or a house with no job? Sooooo, some creative solutions are in order...(as well as a serious attitude adjustment for me.) {Cue: I might be registering for school tomorrow!!! What!? I'll elaborate when I know more:)}

I am so ready to get started on our new lifestyle, and I have this "the way it should be" problem...which, if you were reading during the time we were on our trip, you should recall this problem, readily. I am struggling with visions of colorful, seasonal bounty dancing in my head, so food is becoming a real struggle.

The Scene: I bought 3 peaches from the grocery store, today. (I know, what was I thinking?) But, it's peach season, and I'm desperate, because I'm yearning for them, and the farmer's market is several days away. Besides, I'm one of those annoying foodie people that smells each piece of produce before I select it...and these peaches smelled gooood....very peachy. Well, I got it home, washed it, sat down to eat it, and it was tough, sour, and just plain AWFUL! Remember the Veruca Salt fit I pitched the other day?...well, Take Two. I LOATHE bad produce. Strangely, a few years ago, I would have just eaten it, wondering where along the road of my life peaches had lost their charm. Well, I now know that the charm has literally been stolen, and a bad produce experience is beginning to get equal billing alongside getting my purse snatched.

{don't be fooled by it's fuzzy cuteness. it's an imposter. an imposter, i say!}

Well, I guess that teaches me...I suppose I will just have to make friends with a local farmer this weekend at the Farmer's Market, and buy all I can carry. Maybe that way, I'll be contributing to my local food economy, contributing to a small farmers' ability to still be one next year...and I'll finally be able to have my peach...and eat it, too.

Me and My Blueberries

I realized, the other day, that my food cravings actually pattern seasonal fare. I'm thrilled about that, because as we move away from the industrialized food grid, we are going to be changing the way we see the availability of food. We will be trading in the availability of all foods at all times, for the more rewarding system of looking forward to certain times of the year when we can enjoy the tastiest and most nutrient dense version of foods we love, in large quantities.

Warning: Soapbox Sidebar... {What a novel concept...quantity and quality working in a synergistic, symbiotic way to create a feast of health and pleasure! If a big corporation was trying to achieve that level of productivity, they would hire a consultant for millions of dollars to teach them how to make that happen. Why? Because that kind of thing doesn't just happen as a result of human nature or chaos all of a sudden righting itself. Hmmm...sounds like someone really intelligent may have had a hand in designing it.}

So, as it turns out, I'm a little ahead of the game on that point...and, I think that if we all tuned into ourselves and our bodies that maybe we would all realize that we crave winter foods in winter, summer foods in summer, etc?...I don't know...just a hunch.

Anyway, so here we are in summer, and I am happy as a clam. It's due, in no small part, to the fact that blueberries are in season RIGHT NOW! Last Friday was the first blueberry picking trip of the season...aren't they beautiful?



Blueberry picking has been a part of my summer for my entire life. I'm not sure why we didn't really pick anything else...but, blueberries are like the symbolic family fruit where I come from. Blueberry syrup, blueberry muffins, blueberry pancakes...these are all wonderful. But, when the mercury starts to rise, and blueberry picking weekend approaches, there is one thing on my mind. Like a teenage girl waiting for her Sweet 16, or dew drops awaiting the dawn...I yearn for {frozen blueberries & milk}.

It's the easiest thing you can possibly imagine. After you wash your blueberries, lay them out to dry. (If you freeze them while they are still wet, they get all icy and mealy in the freezer.) After that pop them in freezer bags, and the next day you'll have the most refreshing treat imaginable. Pour some in a bowl, pour milk over them, add a touch of vanilla extract, and you have a bowl of summer yummy goodness that is better than ice cream, in my opinion. The milk freezes around the berries, making a frosty, slushy, healthy, gorgeous, just sweet enough bowl of bliss, and I am COMPLETELY smitten. When you throw in the fact that they are brimming with powerful nutrients, such as antioxidants, Vitamin C, Resveratrol, fiber, and manganese...well, it's clearly the front-runner in the race for my heart...not to mention my collagen matrix, capillary integrity, and overall free radical fighting ability:)

GO! RUN! Get some quickly!!!...you'll want to experience this as soon as possible:)

Happy Summer my dear friends:)