This Week

This week I've been working on a better plan for shopping. I have to switch my shopping days now too because I usually make a meal plan for the week and go shopping on Monday morning. But now that my Greenling basket comes on Friday and I go to the Cedar Park Farms to Market on Saturday morning, I need to make my plan on Friday for the upcoming week. I'm working on a new system...let's hope I get it right the first time around!

I found a product called Skoy. They are reusable, washable cloths that dry quickly and therefore are less likely to grow bacteria. They can replace your kitchen sponge and paper towels. (They say that each one saves 15 rolls of paper towels.) I figure that's a good thing to try out and I got 4 for $6.99 so that's cheaper than 15 rolls of paper towels.

On Thursday night we went to Promise Pizza in Round Rock for an organic pizza experience. I liked it and will definitely go back...and Connor got a cookie so I know it ranks high on his list too! They also deliver, in their Smart cars, so that makes it a definite keeper.

On Friday I made homemade chicken and dumplings soup. I used all organic products except for the dumplings, but I used Bisquick Heart Healthy for those so I was still on the right track. It turned out pretty well. Then today I made homemade bread and we had organic cheese sandwiches with veggies from the farmers market. So I think I'm doing pretty well with cooking the food I'm buying. What I'm trying to do is only buy enough for one meal. Usually I buy a big bag of stuff and it goes bad in the fridge because we never eat it. So since organic is more expensive I figure I'm offsetting that expense by actually using what I buy. Yes, I'm sure I'm still spending a bit more, but we are eating at home more and eating yummy things so I figure it's worth it.

I've also been thinking about the reasons for eating organically (and locally). I've started out by wanting to give my children the best/most natural foods I can find for them. Then I moved on to doing it for Dave and I too. Now I'm starting to try to buy more locally grown food to help my community while still doing what's best for my family, but it's also starting to sneak in that I need to "eat ethically" and think about how the animals are treated. I know when I had Connor a couple of years ago I started doing a better job with going green and eating organically, but then life got hectic...I got pregnant again, we moved, then suddenly I had two small children and I was just trying to survive the day. I think for the last year I've done what's easiest instead of what's best. I really think that by investigating organic/local foods I'm trying to force myself to think about what I'm bringing into my house. I need to become a conscious consumer and really think about not just the food, but all the products that I buy/use to make sure I'm being smart about it all.

This week I also talked a lot to my friend Laura and a mom I met in MOMS Club, Marci, about eating organically and resources they've found. They were both extremely helpful! Thanks so much for chatting with me ladies!