Farmer's Market Co-op

HOW WE GOT HERE...

Ok, June 2012 Yvonne began to talk to me about her going Paleo.  Honestly, I rolled my eyes.  You're not getting me to do your latest craze.  I'm not giving up my ice cream and pizza and I'm a family of 6 -- now 7 -- and I have enough people to worry about just "getting fed."  That isn't going to work.  But with open ears and eyes, I took it all in whenever she talked about it.

By October, to make a long story short, Julio and I had a couple weeks' vacation and we thought w/ all the learning we had to do, that this was a great time to give it a whirl.  We had a fantastic vacation...in the kitchen, learning Paleo :)  And followed it for two months religiously. 

What you ask?  Yes, we are NORMAL.  And we fell off the wagon when the Holidays rolled around. But the cool thing is that the hardest thing about going paleo the first time was our creamer in our coffee.  Julio has maintained drinking black coffee since last Oct.  Never went back go putting as he calls it "the chemical shit storm" back into his coffee.  And me, I loved the coconut milk and honey in my coffee so much, that I never went back to the "chemical storm" either in my morning drink.

So, when June rolled around, we were knowing we wanted to give this a more successful run than the last time.  And ya know, it was easier this time because some of our favorite paleo recipes never left our house, and we already drank our coffee paleo.... So here goes another start.  Hopefully this one more successful.  We both want this to be our way of life. And for our kids to see how we're eating is a plus too.  (I'll come back to that in a moment.)  And Julio and my's goal in life is to be here on this beautiful earth as long as God allows us to.  So being healthy is doing OUR part on keeping us here for the longest time possible.  I want to grow old and be able to retire w/ my best friend/husband of 19 years.......and being healthy enough to ENJOY it. 

Yes, I have four kids that know daddy and I eat paleo. Sometimes it's a pain in the ass cuz they ask, "Is that Paleo?" all the time, but whatever.  They see the healthy stuff we're eating and some of it they like too.  I chose not to feed them all paleo, but however, the meals I make at night, ARE paleo and they do have to eat them.  But they enjoy their cereals and waffles in the mornings and sandwiches for lunchtime.  And they do LOVE some of the things I make paleo and the majority of the kids will try anything and give me their opinions.  I will be happy enough if at one point in their life when they're making decisions on their own, look back at the recipes and meals we have eaten and go, that was one of my favorites, and then ask how to make it.  I will show them through example how to eat healthy and they can chose that when it's fitting for them.  But for now, they're being kids and eating all that good junk that you KNOW we all loved as kids!!!  With the caveat that I don't keep too much really bad stuff for them in the house anyway....my kids favorite snacks are icecream, apples, carrots and icey-pops!  I think they could be eating worse, right???  I've always said, I wish icecream was a vegetable - cuz I'd be the most healthy person in the world!!!

GOALS

I have a couple personal goals w/ the paleo that over time I'll be able to share w/ you. 
Charolette's goal - lose some weight :)  #every girl's dream.  But No. 2, I have high triglycerides I'm trying to fix. And Julio's goal...lose weight and get off his CPAP machine....

NOW, TO CURRENT TIME :)

After doing paleo for just a short while, you realize how much produce you eat.  So when a friend told me about this farmer's market co-op thing where you pay during the winter and starting June 1st, you receive a bushel every week till Sept/Oct, I was all over it!!!  So here's my second bushel I received.  And I was quite proud of myself because after Week 1, I let nothing go to waste.  I threw what was left on the last day into a delicious egg scramble!!

 I froze strawberries.  I cut up the mint and froze in ice cubes.  I learned to eat greens off of stuff that I normally wouldn't eat.  And Julio and I invented a couple recipes w/ colroby!!

 After trying to wash everything off in the kitchen on Week 1, my mother-in-law Miriam (who we are blessed enough to have living with us) thought it would be a better idea to wash it all off outside this time!  Much smarter idea!!  We used an old screen door as a giant colander!!

 There were a few items on week 1 that I didn't know what it was, so I had to put them up on FB to try to find out if anyone could help me out!  FB to the rescue!  It was Rainbow Chard I didn't know, and some type of Kale I wasn't used to seeing.  And the other was a fresh spice, parsley!  Duh, I know.  Who doesn't know what it looks like fresh - I buy it in the store, but for some reason I wasn't sure what it was.  Oh, I guess I have another excuse...I have no sense of smell, so it's not like I could take a whiff and see what it was.....

And my husband realized he loves the long green onions.  It was a new twists to his salads I make him for his lunch....

- Char