Day 5: Farmer's Market Fun

Last night involved no game playing, but it did include watching the saddest and cutest movie about some Irish guy who owned an otter named Mij. It was real cute. That, combined with my aunt's kitten, made me realllly want something furry to play with (besides Michael). ;-)

Total party bonus: My aunt is letting us use her Jack Lalane juicer! It's fabulous! We don't have to chop everything up so much (whole lemons and limes fit in the chute just fine) and clean up time is about the same. Oh, and it produces sooo much more juice! The pulp is bone dry. That was not the case with our poor outdated Betty Crocker model. We had to rejuice the pulp sometimes and still got just enough. I feel good about maximizing our fruits and veggies.

Michael tried it out last night when we got home and it was awesome!

This morning we slept through Michael's alarm to get the studio by 8 (we woke up at 7:40 instead of 6:30). I was tempted to just say use our pre-bottled juice, but Michael was certain we had enough time. We made the best juice yet- fresh locally grown strawberries (about 3 cups), 1 kiwi, 1 lemon, 1 lime and about a cup each of green and red grapes. It was fantastic and with that we got 2 huge glasses.

We proceeded to the studio. I dropped Michael off and headed to the Broad Street Market in Harrisburg. I called my grandmother and let her know we are venturing down there for a week with my brother Eric. She was glad to hear it. It's a lot of time and money to travel down there, but I just don't want to ever regret not seeing her as much as I can... We were talking about our disgust with the American government in what they allow us to eat. It's two-sided, honestly- the FDA shouldn't approve certain things for ANYONE to consume, but we, as consumers (a very powerful position that many don't realize- how you spend your money is casting a vote on what you allow) need to be more deliberate in our spending. I would like to solely purchase foods from local farmers and butchers from here on out. Knowing how little we need to be sustained has motivated me. While it's more expensive, we really need less anyways. One pound of grass-fed beef with no hormones or other crazy only-God-knows-whats is about $8. That's a lot, but when you think about the serving size of meat being a deck of cards- that's one-maybe two meals. That's not bad at all... Especially when I've spent $15 at Texas Roadhouse on some sort of meat, that for all I know has tons of crap in it. I've got to keep changing my mindset about money and food. I think I'm on the right track.

Broad Street Market didn't really have much to offer. There was a little Amish stand that I'd like to visit again when we are eating whole foods. They had a nice selection of grass-fed meats and cheeses. I still had time to kill before picking up Michael around lunch time, so I went to the West Shore Farmer's Market. That was fun! My goodness was it a struggle though! They had 2-inch high sticky buns with 1-inch of frosting. Gosh... My sugar and carb addiction is still in full swing. The difference today was that I was able to say NO to myself, which I rarely did. I'm not sure I'll ever reach a point where I never want sweets, but I'm hoping I'm better able to control myself. Once in a greaaaat while desserts are okay, not at the end of every gluttonous meal. Anyways, what I did get was ground psyllium husks and natural soap- and two "Garden Guzzlers" for Michael and I. Can't say I loved it, but I know it was the healthiest option in probably all of the Farmer's Market. That made me feel good.

I dropped off Michael's "lunch" at the studio, as he and Conrad are gonna try and crank out the rest of the mixing of these songs and is probably going to be there until "dinner" time. I didn't want him to go that long without food.

I came home, watered my plants and "treated" myself to psyllium husks... I'm about to watch a movie and continue my on-going research of all things juice, FDA sucking, whole foods, what your body needs and wherever else it takes me!