Sammy

I'll just say it - I've been really awful at keeping up with this all natural diet. I will say though that I've been much, much better at choosing healthier things to snack on. I'm more aware of what's in my food and we eat waaaaaaaay less meat. I used to have some sort of chicken crock pot dish weekly in the winter months but I haven't made anything like that in weeks....but that's not my point. My point is that I'd like to stick with blogging and in trying to keep with it I'm going to write about my dog, Samson.

Samson is one of the kindest, sweetest, gentlest beasts that God put on this planet. He is also one of the clumsiest animals ever created and frequently trips over his feet. He also has an absolutely uncanny ability to anticipate exactly where I am going to need to be in the kitchen. If I am making dinner and need something from the fridge, I can guarantee that he will be laying in front of the fridge. If my recipe calls for a tbsp of water, he'll be laying in front of the sink. I'm not sure how he does it, but it never, ever fails that I either step on his tail, trip over him, or something else that is equally as graceful when I'm doing anything in the kitchen. I swear has has some kind of built-in radar.

It's easy to forgive this big oaf. You couldn't possibly find a sweeter animal if you tried.

Photo Cards

I absolutely love receiving a Christmas card from families that I’ve known throughout the years, and I especially love the ones with pictures of the family on the front. Those are the ones that earn a place on my mantle. The Christmas season reminds me of how incredibly blessed I am and of those blessings, one of the biggest is friends and family. Getting photo cards in the mail for weeks on end is a constant reminder of the love and joy and blessings that I have in each of the people pictured on the card. Sure, it’s nice to receive a generic “Happy Holidays” card from someone this time of year, but I truly treasure seeing friends’ smiling faces and getting to see even a snapshot of what their lives are like, or have been like this past year. This year, I’m going to give these photo cards a shot! I’ve ordered prints from Shutterfly before, and last year I ordered personalized calendars for both sets of parents that include all of the family members, and have our birthdays and anniversaries already printed on them. I’ve ordered pictures from other online companies but highly recommend Shutterfly because of the quality of the pictures – they’re never grainy or blurry. Plus, I am constantly receiving emails about featured sales (like the one telling me about this deal!)

I think I have been secretly waiting until I’ve had some major milestone in life to share on the front of a card – who wants to see Andrew and I with our dogs? This year, I hope everyone on my Christmas card list does, because that’s what they’re getting! Here’s hoping we end up on your mantle….

Bison Beef

Tonight I made taco soup with bison beef! I've never cooked with it before, apparently it is really really really lean and has more protein than regular cow beef. I noticed that when I was browning it, there was zero grease. I really didn't taste a difference, although any flavor (or lack thereof) may have been masked by the tasty/spicy soup it was stirred into. I didn't tell Andrew (or my sister & her husband who came over) that it wasn't regular beef. Mwahahaha....I'll have to ask them and see if they noticed any difference.

I purchased a pound of it at Health Nut (in Wyndhurst) and it was pricier than regular beef, but worth a shot. It was $9.95/lb. Anyway, I thought it was great and it gets the Hutcheson stamp of approval!

Bee Pollen

Ok, I haven't blogged in a while because I have been really awful at keeping up with the "Eat Food. Mostly Plants. Not too Much." thing...BUT - I have come across something really great that I wanted to share. A dear friend of mine actually told me about it and I've started taking it.

Here's how it goes: you can get it in granule form, or as a capsule. I got the granules. You start by taking only a few, and work your way up to a teaspoon. At first I didn't think the taste was that bad, but now that I'm up to a 1/2 teaspoon it's not quite as tasty. Anyway, it's supposed to be full of anti-oxidants, help with allergies and give you energy. So far, so good! I think it helped clear up my 2nd sinus infection of the season (that, and my neti-pot).

I highly recommend it!


*Just a sidenote: don't take it at night. It really is packed with B12 and will keep you up.

Chicken

I can't believe I haven't written on here in 2 weeks! That's ridiculous. Maybe it's because I have fallen off the wagon and am not as gung-ho as I was in August....this is tough. And, this is expensive.

As I was saying to my dear friend Liz, it's no wonder that people become vegetarians when they want to be healthier - organic meat is soooooooo flippin' expensive! I got salmon last week that was "wild caught" (as opposed to farm raised, where they are fed and injected with hormones). I have also not been able to go to the veggie stand I normally go to because it's not open when I'm done with work. Excuses, excuses....I know. This is just proving to be much more difficult than I originally thought. I think I need to read another book about it. Food Rules really got me going in the right direction, so I suspect it might be time to watch Food, Inc. This movie looks really disturbing, but perhaps that's what it will take to make a more lasting change...?

Grass-fed Beef

I mentioned Mountain Run Farm a few posts ago. Apparently they sell their ground beef at Health Nut Nutrition for the same price that it's sold on the farm! Last I checked it was $5.20/lb. Not too shabby at all! Laura's Lean Beef is $4.99/lb and is not locally "grown" nor is it necessarily grass-fed. I'm thrilled about this!! I plan on stopping in there sometime this week. If you're in Lynchburg, you should check it out too!

Almond Milk

Almond milk is really gross. I tried it in my cereal, and in my coffee. It's disgusting no matter what you do to it. Yuck. For someone with a soy allergy, I feel stuck as far as milk goes. I don't drink a lot of it, and I have organic coffee creamer (yum!) Any suggestions for alternatives?

I went to the grocery store today and saw that the organic, free-range chicken was $7 a pound!! Holy cow. The regular Tyson's was $1.99/pound. Insane. I didn't realize there would be that large of a price difference! As a result, I didn't get any chicken...but am hoping to check Mountain Run Farm out in the near future because I believe it's cheaper there.

This week I'm trying a zucchini bake. Any other recipe suggestions, especially with zucchini, are welcome!

p.s. We found out what happens if you eat really well for a long time and then go to Biscuitville in Lynchburg, VA for lunch. Not pretty.