Eat Right!

Goal #1:  EAT RIGHT.  I don't know why I struggle with the idea... but simply saying "I will eat better" just doesn't work for me.  I have been surrounded with people that cook extremely well my entire life!  Fresh, homemade wonders- straight out of the oven- dabbed with a little butter, drizzled with sweetness or dusted with powdered sugar- either way you shake it, I can't get away from good food.  It is so stinkin' easy to reach for the bag of chips if you are in a hurry, or grab a can of soda or chow on a muffin- but I have made myself a promise to EAT RIGHT!  Not just "homemade" meals (if your family is like mine- the comfort foods my mom makes are the bomb)... but GOOD, HEALTHY, HOMEMADE meals.  So far I haven't really stuck with it (oops... now you know my secret) but I have made some major changes to my eating lifestyle. 

Goal #2:  EAT LESS.  I don't know what it is about the great U. S. of A., but what is the ever increasing need to get everything "Super Sized"?!  Come on, people!  You aren't helping those of us that have THE WORST and SLOWEST metabolisms... of course we want to have everything 24 ounces bigger, but we don't need to!  I DO NOT want to have heart problems when I am older, thank you very much.  I want to be able to run around in the yard with my kids someday and not have to say, "Wait kids... mommy needs to slow down a bit."  I'm not talking about utterly and completely cutting out every single bite of Grandma's pumpkin pie during Thanksgiving dinner, but cutting back on portion size is my goal to consume less BAD, and eat more GOOD.

Goal #3:  SHARE THE WEALTH.  Nothing beats the fresh fruits and vegetables straight from Mother Nature's fridge :)  My parents put in a garden just about every year.  I'm telling you, memories are made with every bean that's snapped, every pea that's shucked, every beet that's pulled.  It's not just about eating "organic"- it's about the family time, the preparation and conservation of food for the winter time through the following year- the FRESHNESS of it all.  You know exactly what you are putting in your mouth- every gram of sugar or pinch of salt.  YOU control what you eat.  This is the same reason why I encourage hunting.  Leaner meats- technically organic, too!  Straight from God's country.  That's the way I like it. ;)  So this season if you have put in a garden or harvested an elk, deer or other game animal- share the wealth!!  Give your neighbors and friends some of your harvest!  Share a couple of venison steaks with them and they will thank you for it!!  Natural, home-grown food is SO good! ;)  I think that most people would see the importance of hunting (TRUE hunting, not trophy hunting) if they were more educated about it!  It's NOT animal cruelty, not savage.  What do you think they do to cows and chickens before they get sent to the super market?  I don't know what they have been fed, what kind of conditions they were living in.  I prefer wild game- free roaming, organic eating- to that any day.  No questions asked. 

Experiment:
Yesterday I canned some experimental stuff.  ;)  I made some (amazing! hehe) salsa that canned up really nicely!  I'm excited to whip it out at the next lunch or dinner that it will go with.  I made a pumpkin pie the other day for the guys down at the Fire Station and that went over really well!  I decided to can some of my own pumpkin pie mix for when I need it.  I bought four cooking pumpkins from the store and after quartering, cleaning and placing them face down on a tin foil covered baking tray- baked them for an hour at 400 degrees F.  I scooped the soft pumpkin away from the rind and put it into a large bowl with ground cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves.  Blending it up... Vola!  Pumpkin pie mix.  Soooo.. now I only have to grab a can of my canned pumpkin and add sweet condensed milk and an egg!! How cool is that?! hehe I'm pretty excited to try it out!
I can't wait to can some more interesting things.. maybe soups will be next.  Either way- I'm on my way to eating healthier, better foods for my body.  By the way- curse you, white chocolate, english toffee latte that I WANT to have with whole milk!! Grrrr.