Our (mini) Food Revolution, Part 4

Continued from Part Three: The Setbacks

Part Four: The Sustainment

Fifteen months into our (mini) food revolution, despite the challenges posed by family meals, hectic work schedules, limited budgets and the universal phenomenon of positive entropy, we are, if only by a miracle, still going strong.  I have learned a lot of lessons and adapted a great deal to numerous setbacks. The lessons I have learned and adaptations I have made will help us sustain our culinary changes, healthy habits and someday (hopefully) help us embrace new ones.  

For instance:

~Because our meat is more expensive, I learned to prepare many meals with less of it and learned to use every part of the meat that I had.  One organic chicken eventually became up to three meals and from the carcass came oodles of organic chicken broth that I wouldn't have to buy.  Not even my meat loving T seemed to notice or mind.  Plus, we loved the amazing steaks that came with our cow, and they have been a great treat to enjoy every few weeks.

~I FINALLY got in the habit of meal planning (thank you, Grocery Bag, you are my saving grace many weeks).  This allowed me to survey what needed to be used in our fridge (less wasted produce), be more specific and frugal about what I bought at the store each week, and helped me avoid the panic-stricken moments of returning home from work without a dinner plan and only time-consuming raw ingredients on hand.  A few hours of prep over the weekend yielded success after success at dinner time and in the grocery check-out lane.  

~Small changes can make just as much difference as major overhauls, and probably more, because the sanity they allow fosters fewer failures and greater sustainment.  Small changes also better accommodate the natural learning curve that comes with making changes in the kitchen.  Hey, dude, if you are like me and took Intro to Islamic Art in college rather than Cooking Healthy Family Dinner 101 (which, by the way, wasn't even offered!) then we may have a lot to learn and we can cut ourselves some slack.

~There are more options everyday for buying free-range, grass-fed, organic and whole grain.  Many farms offer meat and vegetable CSA packages (CSA stands for "community supported agriculture") which offer the pricing savings of buying in bulk, but don't require you to absorb a whole half cow into your freezer at once like I did when I first bought ours.  Most require you to pay for several months up front and then the product is delivered or picked up on a monthly basis.  Also, more specialty and regular grocery stores are stocking free-range, organic and local products, and generic versions of whole grain products in response to demand and have started adding those products to their weekly price deals to attract interested consumers.  

~Bread makers are awesome, sourdough starters are needy, homemade chicken stock is amazing,  a freezer full of farm-fresh meat is a blessing, and homemade tortillas take extra time but never go to waste in our house.

NOTA BENE: Our kids still occasionally McDonalds.  We have not found some holy grail of food, our kitchen is not (and does not aspire to be) perfect, nor do I think that any grass-fed, free-range, organic, etc is without counter argument or blemish.  If you have me over for dinner, I can assure you that I will not be scrutinizing the meal, wondering what carb your meat ate, or picking out the non-organic ingredients in the casserole;  I will be so giddy with gratitude over not having to plan and prepare the meal myself that I will be the first one to have seconds, and I will be licking my plate as I get up to buss my dish.

Thanks to all of you who have encouraged me to both stretch myself and be realistic along our (mini) revolutionary path.  Thanks also to all of you who have inspired me and taught me your tricks (T especially thanks you).  Skeptics, remain skeptical, just keep an open mind (I am glad I did; I also think scrutiny is warranted and beneficial in many cases).  To those of you who are on the sidelines dying to get in the game, join us as we continue to take one baby step at time.  And to you, our first grass-fed cow and pig, we are thankful for the past 15 months of meals and all that God provided to us through you! 

The end,  I mean, onto plan my meals for the week.