Thanks A LOT College

Who thought it would be a good idea to bring people from all over the world, put them in a really intentional community for 4 years, have them grow, laugh, fight, cry, BE together...and then rip them apart, sending them all over the world again?

GREAT idea.

(Miss you JBU kids)

Please Don't Die.Please Don't Die.Please Don't Die.

Tomato on the left.
Arugula on the right.

Come on Chicago, work with me here.

Huh, YOU look nice…weird.

I think I need to dress up more...

Cooking 101

Reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and working with such cool people have inspired me to eat less processed food. While there are still times that I've thrown a frozen burrito into the microwave, I'm much more intentional about cooking the majority of what I eat...instead of buying processed food in boxes and jars (which mostly contain things I can't even pronounce).

While more time consuming than the 1 1/2 minutes the burrito takes in the microwave, this has been a fun journey- especially when others have been over helping. It's definitely a communal activity- and can be cheap evening entertainment!

So far, some fun, vegetarian, non-processed, extremely yummy dishes that my friends and I have made:

Empanadas- that's right, even the dough!


Lentil, Chickpea, Apple Curry


Vegetable Lime Orzo


Stuffed Peppers


With just one new recipe a week, I've already learned so many new ones! Knowing what's in my food has helped me enjoy eating even more than I already do!

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

I started reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle this morning. After just the first chapter, I'm already blown away.

'We're consuming about 400 gallons of oil a year per citizen- about 17% of our nation's energy use- for agriculture, a close second to our vehicular use....Each food item in a typical U.S. meal has traveled an average of 1,500 miles. In addition to direct transport, other fuel-thirsty steps include processing (drying, milling, cutting, sorting, baking), packaging, warehousing, and refrigeration. Energy calories consumed by production, packaging, and shipping far outweigh the energy calories we receive from the food.

A quick way to improve food-related fuel economy would be to buy a quart of motor oil and drink it. More palatable options are available. If every U.S. citizen ate just one meal a week (any meal) composed of locally and organically raised meats and produce, we would reduce our country's oil consumption by over 1.1 million barrels of oil every week. That's not gallons, but barrels. Small changes in buying habits can make big differences. Becoming a less energy-dependent nation may just need to start with a good breakfast.'

'The multiple maladies caused by bad eating are taking a dire toll on our health- most tragically for our kids, who are predicted to be this country's first generation to have a shorter life expectancy than their parents. That alone is a stunning enough fact to give us pause. So is a government policy that advises us to eat more fruits and vegetables, while doling out subsidies not to fruit and vegetable farmers, but to commodity crops destined to become soda pop and cheap burgers.'

'At its heart, a genuine food culture is an affinity between people and the land that feeds them. Step one, probably is to live on the land that feeds them, or at least on the same continent, ideally the same region. Step two is to be able to countenance the ideas of "food" and "dirt" in the same sentence, and three is to start poking into one's supply chain to learn where things are coming from.'

Finally

It made the news. :)

Really?

I'm still mesmerized by the fact that I have been brushing my teeth incorrectly for the past 23 years. That's a long time to be doing something in the same way- and in the same wrong way at that. It's a hard thing to break...to learn a new way of doing something and undoing the old. Especially when it's something so elementary- something you didn't think you could do wrong.

But you can.

And this will happen if you do.