Eating all local, update

Peach and Blackberry Cobbler

Update 3: Day 5 and I caved. I can now drink things other than water and I decided to drink some iced coffee. No, it's not local (the milk was though, that's got to count for something, right?). And it was delicious. So, while I can no longer say that I've eaten ALL local, I can say that I have praised the Lord for making coffee. And I'll take praising Jesus over local food any day.

Update 2: Well, I caved in again today with the kids. They've eaten ice cream and drank juice. I figured this is my thing and why should they have to suffer with me? And I almost caved in myself. I woke up this morning to a husband gone to work early, a 4 year old complaining of an upset stomach, a 6 year old crying due to the play date being cancelled because of the 4 year old being sick, a crying toddler who was sent to time out a million times for whining, a screaming baby who was beside-herself-tired because she woke up at 5:30, and an exhausted mom because of all of the above. I needed comfort in the form of iced coffee. But, I stayed strong. I put the baby to bed. I sent the 4 year old to her bed where if she did get sick at least the toddler wouldn't step in it. I comforted the 6 year old. I got out a brand new toy for the toddler to keep her entertained for a while. And I didn't drink any iced coffee. I can thank the Lord for that strength, because it certainly wasn't me. 

Here's what else I've realized: if you eat only local, all the time - you'd get mighty sick of having the same foods over and over again. I mean, really - living without Vietnamese food? No Thai? Never again tasting chocolate cake? Crazy. Dumb. Boring. And certainly not living well. 

Which brings me back to my blog title. Living Life Well. I put this on my list so I could learn and experience what it would be like. I've learned. I've experiences. And I'm happy with that. Although I will do my best to get through the rest of the week (I have until Sat night), I will not beat myself up if I fold and eat some chocolate. Because THAT is living well.

Update 1: Read about what I'm doing here. Well, I must say. This is hard. I have to scratch cook everything. No more quick and easy lunches. No more take-it-out-of-my-freezer meals. But, here's what I've learned so far:

1. My husband is much more resourceful than I give him credit for. He is amazing with food. Saves the spinach stalk and uses for other purposes. Makes gravy on the fly for my too dry chicken. Amazing.

2. I can't do it. It's just too hard to do while homeschooling and taking care of a newborn. Take today for example. We did school all morning. Then I brought a meal to a friend who just had a baby. That was at lunchtime. Because my baby was napping in the morning. And my toddler naps in the afternoon. So lunchtime worked. However, I had to wake up the baby from her nap and didn't have time to feed her. So, we dropped off the meal at 12:00. I had 3 hungry big girls and a really hungry infant. And because lunch has to be scratched cooked, they were still at least 30 mins. away from eating. AND I had to nurse the baby before I could start making lunch. Which then put lunch at 1:15. Not going to happen. So, my pal Wendy fed my kids today. And I'm ok with that. I still came home, nursed the baby, put the toddler down for her nap, did history with the big girls, and cooked grits for me. So, I can still say that I did all local, even if my girls didn't.

3. Kudos to those pioneer women. I can't imagine cooking, cleaning the house, homeschooling kids, grinding your own cornmeal and flour, farming, etc, etc. Talk about super women. I will remember that next time I complain about how hard and tiring it is being a homeschooling mom. I will tell myself: "yes, but I don't have to also cook every meal from scratch. Nor do I have to tend to the farm. Nor do I have to get up at 4:30 to milk the cows." I really do have an easy life.

4. The water only thing sucks.