No, I don't have whooping cough. Neither does Trisa. But I did get a booster vaccination for it today along with my Tetanus and Diphtheria boosters as well. My doctor practically frog marched me to injections to get it done. I thought there was a chance I'd had it in the past 2 years, but he said I had to have it in writing, or else. So, down to the crotchety nurse with the needle I went.
I've since come to find out that California, Illinois, and Alabama might all have Whooping Cough (also known as Pertussis) epidemics. Vaccines for Pertussis only last through childhood, so right now many states are recommending adults go get their shots again. My doctor takes vaccines very seriously, evidently. I'm in for a sore left arm for the next few days.
I went in to have my right elbow looked at. With little poking and prodding, Dr. Mac pronounced me afflicted by the ever-so-serious repetitive motion injury known as tennis elbow. I went to Rite Aid and got me the rather inexpensive cure - a large, glorified, rubber band that I'm to wear for the next week or so. If that doesn't do the trick, I'm back to the clinic for a cortisone shot.
Yesterday, we went to the Ballard Sunday market. To say the least, it was a spectacle that everyone should behold. There's music, weirdos, and TONS of "farmers" peddling their wares.
Trisa and I purchased Deborah's famous meat pies. We presume that they are not full of people as they are known to be on Fleet Street in London. But only time will tell if we presume correctly... We also bought a strawberry rhubarb pie from Deborah. We took home some goat patties, pears, cheese, cheese, and more cheese, and couldn't find BUTTER anywhere. What cheese maker hasn't got enough milk to make a little butter? Sheesh. We picked up lunch at some "world famous" veggie Quesadilla stand. We found out it's world famous for the WRONG reasons. Fool me once. We also bought a CD form a street musician playing haunting, somber cello melodies. He's called the Gypsy Cellist. I didn't see any Gypsies, but what would be the fun and mystery if they were seen? So they all must've been hiding somewheres.
Groceries for the week from the Ballard Sunday Market came to $50. We spent a little more than that on lunch and the CD. Parking was $2.
I can't wait to try the peasant's meat pie this week. I'll write up my full review when we do and post it here. I'll also review the strawberry pie. I love pie, so it'll be VERY hard for me to criticize it at all. If you all knew how much I love pie, you'd say "WOW! You love pie an awful lot!" I'd have to agree.
I'm waiting, praying, for the day that we find a cobbler maker at a farmer's market. If we don't find one soon, I'll have to make my own cobbler after we go to the u-pick berry farms. Maybe cobbler is the only food I love more than pie. I'm decently sure that when God was sitting around making Eve, he took a break at some point for cobbler. Seriously. Cobbler is heavenly. It's a well known fact that most angels carry the stuff around with them wherever they go. Anyway, I digress. Digressing is not good for tennis elbow, so I'll shut up now.
Peace out,
Mike
Monday, June 28, 2010
Sunday, June 27, 2010
It's about time
I know, it's been a bit more than a week since my last blog. Trisa has been keeping up weekly and more.
I got busy last week doing a landscaping project that was way bigger than I'd thought it would be.
These keys are sticky.
Let's begin with the tallies of the farmers market grocery shopping for the last two weeks.
Week 2 - our first week shopping at farmers' markets we went to Pike Place.
We bought, cheese and mac and cheese from Beechers. Bread from La Panierre. Milk from the sanitary market dairy section. Veggies and fruits from the corner produce stand. The total for our groceries came to $46. The biggest expense was the processed food items - mac and cheese. But we can't walk away from Beechers without it. It is truly the universe's best mac and cheese.
Week 3 - we found ourselves on Mercer Island trying out a new market (new to us). The MI market prides itself on being a no-trinket, no gimmick, no resale market. There's JUST FOOD and beverages. We bought bread, cheese, fruit, smoked tuna and tuna jerky, two muffins, and a but load of apple ciders. We wanted to try out the cidery's wines and hard ciders so we spent $56 there.
The cheese monger has only 2 cheeses and 2 cheese spreads. I know for a fact I'd get tired of their cheese if we shopped exclusively at MI. The fish monger was great. She was knowledgable, friendly and wicked awesome at sales. Plus there were canned, fresh, smoked, kippered, and bagged varieties. We will be going back to the tuna girl. We bought some kippered tuna and tuna jerky.
All told we spent $108 on everything at the MI market. If you take out the $56 for all that cider and wine, then groceries for week 3 cost $52. I forgot, we also got some great pasta. There's a pasta maker there and he makes friggin awesome pasta.
So, for those of you that only read the bullet points:
Week 2 = $46
Week 3 = $52
There you have it. I'll blog again later.
Peace out,
Mike
I got busy last week doing a landscaping project that was way bigger than I'd thought it would be.
These keys are sticky.
Let's begin with the tallies of the farmers market grocery shopping for the last two weeks.
Week 2 - our first week shopping at farmers' markets we went to Pike Place.
We bought, cheese and mac and cheese from Beechers. Bread from La Panierre. Milk from the sanitary market dairy section. Veggies and fruits from the corner produce stand. The total for our groceries came to $46. The biggest expense was the processed food items - mac and cheese. But we can't walk away from Beechers without it. It is truly the universe's best mac and cheese.
Week 3 - we found ourselves on Mercer Island trying out a new market (new to us). The MI market prides itself on being a no-trinket, no gimmick, no resale market. There's JUST FOOD and beverages. We bought bread, cheese, fruit, smoked tuna and tuna jerky, two muffins, and a but load of apple ciders. We wanted to try out the cidery's wines and hard ciders so we spent $56 there.
The cheese monger has only 2 cheeses and 2 cheese spreads. I know for a fact I'd get tired of their cheese if we shopped exclusively at MI. The fish monger was great. She was knowledgable, friendly and wicked awesome at sales. Plus there were canned, fresh, smoked, kippered, and bagged varieties. We will be going back to the tuna girl. We bought some kippered tuna and tuna jerky.
All told we spent $108 on everything at the MI market. If you take out the $56 for all that cider and wine, then groceries for week 3 cost $52. I forgot, we also got some great pasta. There's a pasta maker there and he makes friggin awesome pasta.
So, for those of you that only read the bullet points:
Week 2 = $46
Week 3 = $52
There you have it. I'll blog again later.
Peace out,
Mike
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Plastic bags should never be used as barf bags
This week, we went on our first fishing adventure in hopes to return home with a cooler full of fresh fish! On the way to Westport, we realized that we would have to stop at a grocery store to pick up lunches for the next day. In the checkout line, the cashier (upon seeing the Dramamine), shared how his father was sick on the entire trip of their first fishing experience. I should have known this was a warning….
Later we arrived in the sweet town of Westport, which should really be called Motelport. Of all of the motels we could have chosen, we stayed at the Holiday Motel. Aside from the smell of cigarette smoke and the 80s motif, the Holiday Motel was the perfect fisherman’s motel. We unpacked our things, said “hello” to my parents, and went looking for a place to eat. We ended up at the Knotty Pine pub next to our motel – another non-smoking facility that reeked of cigarette smoke…. The bartender’s smoke break won over my drink order.
The next day, we awoke at 4:30 am, crawled into our fishing wear, and popped some Dramamine before heading to the charter. Once we arrived, Michael realized that he forgot his checkbook and ran all the way back to get it-- thankful that he wore his running shoes and not his rubber boots. When he made it back, he paid for my fishing license with our very last check.
After chatting for a while with our friendly Skipper, it was time to head out to sea. I knew that the ride would be bumpy at first, but I figured it wouldn’t last too long. About 10 minutes into the ride, I started to feel queasy. About 5 minutes later, what I had left of the” Knotty” pub food, was now in a plastic bag.
Throughout the hour long ride to the first fishing spot, I wasn’t alone. Just about everyone on the charter, with the exception of my mom and Michael, lost their breakfast. Finally, after about an hour of rough waters, we “stopped.” The motor was all that really stopped. The boat continued to rock and rock and rock and rock….
I attempted to join my family outside and to begin fishing (the whole reason I went on the boat). But every time I stood up, I lost a little more of that “Knotty” food…. until, of course, there was no more. So, needless to say, I didn’t do any fishing on this trip. I will, however, always be thankful for the beautiful salmon and sea bass, caught by my dear husband, Michael. From now on, I will stick to lake and river fishing!
Lessons Learned:
1.) Plan ahead- pack lunches with fixings from home so as not to have to stop at a grocery store!
2.) Just because you took Dramamine, doesn’t mean you can’t experience motion sickness.
3.) There is no end to sea sickness once it starts.
4.) A charter may be the one place where public vomiting is considered acceptable.
5.) Plastic bags should never be used as barf bags.
-Trisa
Later we arrived in the sweet town of Westport, which should really be called Motelport. Of all of the motels we could have chosen, we stayed at the Holiday Motel. Aside from the smell of cigarette smoke and the 80s motif, the Holiday Motel was the perfect fisherman’s motel. We unpacked our things, said “hello” to my parents, and went looking for a place to eat. We ended up at the Knotty Pine pub next to our motel – another non-smoking facility that reeked of cigarette smoke…. The bartender’s smoke break won over my drink order.
The next day, we awoke at 4:30 am, crawled into our fishing wear, and popped some Dramamine before heading to the charter. Once we arrived, Michael realized that he forgot his checkbook and ran all the way back to get it-- thankful that he wore his running shoes and not his rubber boots. When he made it back, he paid for my fishing license with our very last check.
After chatting for a while with our friendly Skipper, it was time to head out to sea. I knew that the ride would be bumpy at first, but I figured it wouldn’t last too long. About 10 minutes into the ride, I started to feel queasy. About 5 minutes later, what I had left of the” Knotty” pub food, was now in a plastic bag.
Throughout the hour long ride to the first fishing spot, I wasn’t alone. Just about everyone on the charter, with the exception of my mom and Michael, lost their breakfast. Finally, after about an hour of rough waters, we “stopped.” The motor was all that really stopped. The boat continued to rock and rock and rock and rock….
I attempted to join my family outside and to begin fishing (the whole reason I went on the boat). But every time I stood up, I lost a little more of that “Knotty” food…. until, of course, there was no more. So, needless to say, I didn’t do any fishing on this trip. I will, however, always be thankful for the beautiful salmon and sea bass, caught by my dear husband, Michael. From now on, I will stick to lake and river fishing!
Lessons Learned:
1.) Plan ahead- pack lunches with fixings from home so as not to have to stop at a grocery store!
2.) Just because you took Dramamine, doesn’t mean you can’t experience motion sickness.
3.) There is no end to sea sickness once it starts.
4.) A charter may be the one place where public vomiting is considered acceptable.
5.) Plastic bags should never be used as barf bags.
-Trisa
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Friday, June 11, 2010
OJ
Just sat down to blog and managed to spill orange juice (bought prior to this project at a grocery store) all over the keyboard. So if Mike complains about sticky keys later, you'll know why.... Now, on to blogging.
On Wednesday, we stopped at the Mukilteo Farmer's Market. The market is located right near the water next to a lighthouse. Great location except for one drawback- the train. I usually like trains, but the sound coming from this one left my ears feeling very unhappy. There were only a few vendors (perhaps due to the train... or the rain). We had hoped to leave with some olive oil (made from olives from New Zealand), but we didn't have any cash. Good news- we can find this olive oil at both the Mukilteo Market (on Wednesdays) and the Snohomish Market (on Thursdays). We didn't buy anything this time, but we now have contacts for grassfed beef and a vegetable stand that sells year-round.
We plan to buy this week's groceries either at the Edmonds Farmer's Market (open on Saturdays) or Pike Place Market. We'll have to track what's sold where and when and work out a specific plan to meet our weekly needs. I know Pike Place sells just about everything we need, so at least we'll have that to fall back on.
Thanks to my earlier mishap, we're nearly out of orange juice. Maybe we'll buy some oranges at the market and squeeze them ourselves this time..... -Trisa
On Wednesday, we stopped at the Mukilteo Farmer's Market. The market is located right near the water next to a lighthouse. Great location except for one drawback- the train. I usually like trains, but the sound coming from this one left my ears feeling very unhappy. There were only a few vendors (perhaps due to the train... or the rain). We had hoped to leave with some olive oil (made from olives from New Zealand), but we didn't have any cash. Good news- we can find this olive oil at both the Mukilteo Market (on Wednesdays) and the Snohomish Market (on Thursdays). We didn't buy anything this time, but we now have contacts for grassfed beef and a vegetable stand that sells year-round.
We plan to buy this week's groceries either at the Edmonds Farmer's Market (open on Saturdays) or Pike Place Market. We'll have to track what's sold where and when and work out a specific plan to meet our weekly needs. I know Pike Place sells just about everything we need, so at least we'll have that to fall back on.
Thanks to my earlier mishap, we're nearly out of orange juice. Maybe we'll buy some oranges at the market and squeeze them ourselves this time..... -Trisa
Monday, June 7, 2010
From Mike - Day 1 and some answers
Thanks for following the blog and for asking questions. I love the facebook questions. Since we're just starting out there's still lots for us to figure out.
Today, I got reactions to telling people of our experiment ranging from "Wow" to "Are you crazy?"
Yep, we're crazy. And we love adventure and HATE grocery shopping.
I thought I'd answer all your facebook questions here, instead of facebook to keep the blog a little disconnected.
Chocolate, we'll get from some local chocolatiers. Meat, we will be getting from a farm. I'm hoping one that'll let me come out there and pick the cow, maybe feed her some hay, pat her on the head and say, "Hi cow. Pretty soon I'm going to eat you." Cows are cute. And yummy. For now, a local butcher will satisfy all the rules. Spices we're going to have to research and look hard to find them at a farmers market or somewhere. If we can't, then we'll be stuck buying them at a supermarket. For now, we have plenty to get us by for a few months. Wine we'll get from distributors since I won't drink only local. I'll still run the wine biz which means I'll have to get some wine from overseas. Sauces, I'll mostly be making from scratch.
This afternoon, we spent 3 hours in the yard even though our farm consultant had to reschedule. I harvested some Bok Choi and Trisa grabbed some radishes. I made stir fry with sesame oil, canola oil and chili powder and added the bok choi, radishes and chicken to it. I boiled some egg noodles in chicken broth and chili powder. It was tasty. We're going to run out of our frozen store bought chicken in a couple of weeks. Then we'll be going to a butcher or a farm, or some of our backyard ladies we'll be having for dinner.
Tomorrow will be our rescheduled farm consultation and our 3rd planting. We're planting more lettuce, spinach, cilantro, carrots and radishes. And we'll be planting for the first time Oregano, corn, cherry tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, sweet peppers, pumpkins, winter squash (that we're replacing), potatoes (2nd planting), pole beans and CORN. I can't wait for the corn.
I'm taking orders at work for fresh 100% organic veggie delivery. 1 lb of salad mix is $9 and 5 oz is $6. We harvest on Wednesday nights and I bring it in on Thursdays. We're not stingy so most people end up with about 1.25 pounds and 8 oz for the $9 and $6 tubs.
Pics of the garden will be posted in less than 48 hours for those of you who are curious to see what we're doing on the "farm."
Word up,
Mike
Today, I got reactions to telling people of our experiment ranging from "Wow" to "Are you crazy?"
Yep, we're crazy. And we love adventure and HATE grocery shopping.
I thought I'd answer all your facebook questions here, instead of facebook to keep the blog a little disconnected.
Chocolate, we'll get from some local chocolatiers. Meat, we will be getting from a farm. I'm hoping one that'll let me come out there and pick the cow, maybe feed her some hay, pat her on the head and say, "Hi cow. Pretty soon I'm going to eat you." Cows are cute. And yummy. For now, a local butcher will satisfy all the rules. Spices we're going to have to research and look hard to find them at a farmers market or somewhere. If we can't, then we'll be stuck buying them at a supermarket. For now, we have plenty to get us by for a few months. Wine we'll get from distributors since I won't drink only local. I'll still run the wine biz which means I'll have to get some wine from overseas. Sauces, I'll mostly be making from scratch.
This afternoon, we spent 3 hours in the yard even though our farm consultant had to reschedule. I harvested some Bok Choi and Trisa grabbed some radishes. I made stir fry with sesame oil, canola oil and chili powder and added the bok choi, radishes and chicken to it. I boiled some egg noodles in chicken broth and chili powder. It was tasty. We're going to run out of our frozen store bought chicken in a couple of weeks. Then we'll be going to a butcher or a farm, or some of our backyard ladies we'll be having for dinner.
Tomorrow will be our rescheduled farm consultation and our 3rd planting. We're planting more lettuce, spinach, cilantro, carrots and radishes. And we'll be planting for the first time Oregano, corn, cherry tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, sweet peppers, pumpkins, winter squash (that we're replacing), potatoes (2nd planting), pole beans and CORN. I can't wait for the corn.
I'm taking orders at work for fresh 100% organic veggie delivery. 1 lb of salad mix is $9 and 5 oz is $6. We harvest on Wednesday nights and I bring it in on Thursdays. We're not stingy so most people end up with about 1.25 pounds and 8 oz for the $9 and $6 tubs.
Pics of the garden will be posted in less than 48 hours for those of you who are curious to see what we're doing on the "farm."
Word up,
Mike
Sunday, June 6, 2010
The Beginning and the Rules
After little deliberation and even less thinking, my wife and I decided to begin a journey and a blog. For one year we will live by a few simple rules regarding our food. This idea came to both of us at the same time: in our hot tub, drinking Gin Bucks and waiting for our store-bought frozen lasagna to get done.
Our biggest rule, rule number 1: The following seven (7) rules will apply for 1 year.
Rule 2: ZERO food may be purchased from a grocery store. No food that passes our lips from this point on (after our lasagna and what we bought at the grocery store today, or have in the cupboard already) will be from a grocery store.
FYI: We did not prepare for this journey. We have some things that will last a year in our pantry already that we will eat or cook with from time to time, but we in no way stocked up for this. Chicken stock will come from a chicken carcass that is what'll remain form our farm-bought chicken.
Rule 3: Only items that are non-food, like beverages and household cleaners and shampoos and various and sundry other items may come from a grocery store. This only applies to beverages that are not produced locally or by a farm (i.e. milk is NOT to come from a grocery store, but Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice cocktail may).
Rule 4: Effort must be made to source all grocery (food or otherwise) items locally and/or from a farm. In other words, we will search for locally made milk, olive oil, cranberry juice, soap, tooth paste, etc. Since we can't spend all day every day on the internet or in a library some items may be brought to our attention by others, or after some time of us buying them from a grocery store. The intent here is to work diligently toward finding equivalents to what we have bought in the past from a grocery store at a farm or a local producer knowing full well it'll take time to find and to get. So if we end up buying SOMETHING at a grocery store that we later find is available at a farm or farmers market or from a local producer, we'll let you know that we did and that we'll purchase it there going forward.
Rule 5: The grocery list and costs for food items must be posted at least monthly. We will make every effort to post weekly, or when we go to a farm or market, but we want to give ourselves an out just in case we don't feel like it.
Rule 6: Both of us will hunt, fish, slaughter, grow, harvest and produce as much food as we can with literally zero preparation (except our already built home garden) than we have done already. In other words, I will take a basic hunter's course when I can and get a hunting license. The both of us will go fishing from time to time. We will (and already do) grow vegetables and fruits in our garden. We will (and already do) gather eggs from the chickens we keep in our backyard.
Rule 7: We both must blog about our adventures at least once each week other than to post our grocery bill and neither may read the other's blog (or tell what they are going to write about) until after both are posted that week. This is to encourage us to both write weekly and to not sway the other to write or not to write about a particular event. Some blogs of our may be about the same event, but from different perspectives.
Rule 8: It is not imperative to turn down food purchased by others from a grocery store, but we may not ASK for it. In other words, we may from time to time go to a party and eat a chip or fifty. We might go to a pot luck or to dinner at a friend's house and we will not turn down their hospitality. What we must not do for one year is ask our friends to buy us stuff at a grocery store to get around our rules.
We hope you enjoy reading about our journey as much as we are about to enjoy living it.
Mike and Trisa
Our biggest rule, rule number 1: The following seven (7) rules will apply for 1 year.
Rule 2: ZERO food may be purchased from a grocery store. No food that passes our lips from this point on (after our lasagna and what we bought at the grocery store today, or have in the cupboard already) will be from a grocery store.
FYI: We did not prepare for this journey. We have some things that will last a year in our pantry already that we will eat or cook with from time to time, but we in no way stocked up for this. Chicken stock will come from a chicken carcass that is what'll remain form our farm-bought chicken.
Rule 3: Only items that are non-food, like beverages and household cleaners and shampoos and various and sundry other items may come from a grocery store. This only applies to beverages that are not produced locally or by a farm (i.e. milk is NOT to come from a grocery store, but Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice cocktail may).
Rule 4: Effort must be made to source all grocery (food or otherwise) items locally and/or from a farm. In other words, we will search for locally made milk, olive oil, cranberry juice, soap, tooth paste, etc. Since we can't spend all day every day on the internet or in a library some items may be brought to our attention by others, or after some time of us buying them from a grocery store. The intent here is to work diligently toward finding equivalents to what we have bought in the past from a grocery store at a farm or a local producer knowing full well it'll take time to find and to get. So if we end up buying SOMETHING at a grocery store that we later find is available at a farm or farmers market or from a local producer, we'll let you know that we did and that we'll purchase it there going forward.
Rule 5: The grocery list and costs for food items must be posted at least monthly. We will make every effort to post weekly, or when we go to a farm or market, but we want to give ourselves an out just in case we don't feel like it.
Rule 6: Both of us will hunt, fish, slaughter, grow, harvest and produce as much food as we can with literally zero preparation (except our already built home garden) than we have done already. In other words, I will take a basic hunter's course when I can and get a hunting license. The both of us will go fishing from time to time. We will (and already do) grow vegetables and fruits in our garden. We will (and already do) gather eggs from the chickens we keep in our backyard.
Rule 7: We both must blog about our adventures at least once each week other than to post our grocery bill and neither may read the other's blog (or tell what they are going to write about) until after both are posted that week. This is to encourage us to both write weekly and to not sway the other to write or not to write about a particular event. Some blogs of our may be about the same event, but from different perspectives.
Rule 8: It is not imperative to turn down food purchased by others from a grocery store, but we may not ASK for it. In other words, we may from time to time go to a party and eat a chip or fifty. We might go to a pot luck or to dinner at a friend's house and we will not turn down their hospitality. What we must not do for one year is ask our friends to buy us stuff at a grocery store to get around our rules.
We hope you enjoy reading about our journey as much as we are about to enjoy living it.
Mike and Trisa
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