Bees!

These people grow bees in Jamaica Plain - I love bees!   I want to grow some (but I fear our backyard is tooooo small :(   )  

but maybe I can visit their backyard and check out how their bees are doing!

http://www.nofamass.org/articles/2013/02/addicted-bugs#.UVjUlBmd4fF

Worm Moon & a Brand New Way to Compost!

This past week marked the March full moon, also known as the "Worm Moon".
From the Farmer's Almanac website:

The Full Worm Moon was given its name by the Algonquin tribes from New England to Lake Superior.
At the time of this spring Moon, the ground begins to soften and earthworm casts reappear, inviting the return of robins. This is also known as the Sap Moon, as it marks the time when maple sap begins to flow and the annual tapping of maple trees begins.

Well, global warming or no global warming, it is beginning to feel like springtime here, with warm days alternating with raw, windy nights, and, of course, the hallmark of New England spring: MUD!

I love the feeling of this time of year, the energy shift that it brings.   The days and nights are equal length, the daylight lasts longer and the earth is coming back to life.   It's subtle, animal things that our body instinctively feels: more bird noises, more smells coming out of the wet ground.  Crocuses, daffodils and all my perennial buds pushing their way out of the ground.    Yesterday I saw a dove sitting on our front porch.  

Midwinter eating!

Well, just because it's winter doesn't mean we have to be boring, does it?

This week in Boston Organics I got a beautiful, deep, luscious-red watermelon radish.  Sweet on the outside, spicy on the outside.   And, of course, citrus!

So what to do?   Make a lightly-pickled watermelon salad with citrus dressing!  Place up the sweet/spicy/tangy flavors of the vegetable itself.   Yum.

Ingredients:
1 large thinly sliced watermelon radish
1 small white onion (thinly sliced)
Juice from one small orange (about 1/3 cup)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. fresh-ground black pepper
2 Tbs. olive oil (I used light-tasting)
2 Tbs. apple cider vinegar
splash rice wine vinegar (optional)

Mix everything together.   Store in a bowl in the fridge overnight (or for a few hours).   Eat!
Source:
http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/2010/10/meet-watermelon-radish.html

Update, Recipes for a Paleo Week + shopping list

  (Impatient people: Go to end of post for shopping list)
Well, it's been about 3 months of my modified diet...I have to say that I remain happy with the results, and have been feeling good about the balance of my life with food right now.   Still sleeping well, my skin looks good, my flexibility is still improved, muscle pain decreased, energy where I want it to be.   I did fall off the sugar wagon HARD over the holidays, but started a second "whole 30" this month, and I am keeping the sugar dragon at bay (mostly :).  I sorta miss some foods, but in a distant, "oh-yeah, I used to really like that" kind of way.    Dairy has made me feel so gosh-darn awful that pizza and ice cream don't look like fun anymore, but I am trying to add back in some cheeses, just to see if I can opt to do that without feeling terrible for days (so far, chedder & parm = OK).   I have also started to acclimate myself to the whole cooking/cleaning regimen - that's starting to feel OK, especially with help from a super-sweet partner (although I've been on break, so we'll see when work starts up again).  One more unexpected side effect is that, since I've lost almost 20 lbs. (!), the changes in me have become super-duper visible to friends and family, and this diet has been spreading like a virus.   My noble Fiancee, who loves sugar almost as much as life, agreed to try giving it up for 30 days and follow the diet; my dad, who has Type I diabetes and a milk allergy that he has spent years finding soy alternatives for, also agreed to give it a shot!

Dairy test day update

Ice cream is out.

Light/heavy cream are out

Chedder cheese and sugarless yogurt may require more testing.  

Post- Whole 30 cleanse update

Hi!  

So, it's been more than my 30 days of "The Whole 30" "clean eating" cleanse.  

I'm adopting this phrase (clean eating) from paleo eaters because in some ways I really like it - that's how it feels, clean of things that don't have a ton of nutritional value or take a toll on our bodies to process.  I think it also emphasizes a lesson from this diet: although in the past I've thought that simply eating a lot of healthy foods constituted healthy eating, I think at this point I've noticed that all the other, less-healthy stuff was actually taking a toll on me.   So it's not just about trying to "eat more" of the healthy stuff and "less" of the unhealthy stuff - it's actually just rejecting ALL the foods that are stressful on our bodies.


But I digress.   I wanted to write an update about how my "Whole 30" went. 

Persephone Days

Elliot Coleman calls these days the "Persephone Days."    The Persephone Myth is the story of a mother who loses her daughter to the underworld, and a daughter that comes close to being trapped by death but escapes....but must return for three months each year.   Although our New England winter is longer than three months, these three months, from Nov. 15 to February 15, are the months when there is so little daylight plants literally cannot grow, no matter what the temperature.    They sort of freeze where they are and wait for the days to get longer.

So celebrate the Persephone Days by taking a walk during your lunch break on sunny days - your body will appreciate the extra vitamin D.  

Or eat a Pomegranate.