Anyone who knows me, knows how much I love food! I love trying new restaurants, bakeries, grocery stores, coffee shops, breweries, wineries, you name it....I'll try it! However, my tastes have evolved quite a bit over the years. I grew up in a small town where there were not many fresh produce options. This was mostly due to the long, cold winters and short growing period. I mean, northeastern Montana winters are not what you would call a gardener's dream. Therefore, the fruit and vegetables delivered to our grocery store (yes, we only had ONE grocery store) traveled hundreds and thousands of miles before hitting the shelves. They often arrived looking waxy or discolored and maybe even a little wrinkly at times. I ate a lot of iceberg salads, cucumbers, and carrots but didn't branch out much because the produce was dull and majorly lacking in the flavor department. Thank goodness my mom was a gardener and during the summer we would have an array of delicious vegetables to try. Yet, as a youngin' I didn't really appreciate this at the time.
In the summer of 2003, Dane and I moved to Bozeman together. This opened up a whole new world of food for me. There were farmer's markets, health food stores, and get this....restaurants that didn't rely on a deep fat fryer to cook most of their meals!!! I was in heaven! I soon started to pay more attention to where my food came from, buying local as often as possible. Half way through school I took a class on sustainable food systems where we actually learned about our food system and watched a few good documentaries that got my brain turning. I decided I wanted to learn more. What did our animals go through in the food system? What were they fed, where were they raised, and how were they slaughtered? So naturally my final research project compared large scale factory farms to small scale local farms. I won't go into details here but I have not touched beef, pork, or poultry products since. But I do proudly purchase local and organic meats for my hubby whenever possible. Cutting meat out of my life did make things tough at first since Dane is a die-hard meat lover. However, after he watched a few of these documentaries he fully supported my decision and loved buying from our local farmers. At first, I struggled with finding meals we both liked and often found myself preparing two entirely different dinner entrees. However, both of our tastes soon began to evolve and we found ourselves actually liking a lot of the same food. The kicker for us, we can actually split entrees when we go to restaurants again!! Woohoo!
Finally, in 2010 I graduated with a degree in Food & Nutrition with a dietetics option. Dane and I got hitched in June and moved to Washington. I'm working in clinical nutrition at the children's hospital and he's working as a tax associate. As a relief tech, my schedule varies and I have found myself slipping into the trap of convenience. It's fun going out and trying new restaurants at first but it starts to take a toll on your wallet and sooner or later on your waistline. The exercise has been put off as the temperatures have slowly dropped and when you put the two together, weight gain is guaranteed. Lucky for us, it's the perfect time to jump back on the healthy eating and exercise wagon. 2011 is just around the corner and we have already started our list of goals for the new year. I need to get into a routine of working out again and am going to start putting my cookbooks to good use. I challenge you to do the same! Everyone deserves to be their best self. You deserve to be happy and healthy! Fight for it!
You'll notice I'm a bit of a quote queen but I'll spare you the quotes for today and end with a little laughter. Check out a few of these clips on YouTube. :)
Patty Cake Cats: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3iFhLdWjqc
David After the Dentist: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txqiwrbYGrs
Cassie & the Monster: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUYdO-YxYtg
Charlie Bit My Finger: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OBlgSz8sSM
Peace & positive vibes. <3
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