Crunchy

Today Dave and I realized we've become very, um, crunchy. It started slowly. First we became frugal. Then we became fans of recycling, repurposing and Freecycle. We switched to canvas shopping bags and water bottles that can be refilled. (We do keep a stock of emergency water in bottles though.) We're moving away from paper towels and napkins in favor of cloth too.

When I started dieting and running and taking care of myself, we began frequenting the outdoor farmer's market for produce. Free range eggs found their way into our refrigerator too. I started making whole wheat breads of various types and pasta. I haven't baked in a while but I'm so keen to get my hands busy again. And, really, who doesn't enjoy the smell of freshly baked bread?

As parents, we've somehow fallen into attachment parenting. I didn't even know what the hell attachment parenting was until a few days ago when someone mentioned our style fits that definition. Uh, okay. Whatever. We just sort of did what felt natural to us. We breastfeed, baby wear, co-sleep and cloth diaper. (That co-sleeping thing happened by accident but I'll post on that sometime this week.)

Dave and I have decided we're going to start to slowly wean our diets of processed foods. Now that we have a freezer we can purchase a quarter of a grass fed cow. We have access to grass fed and free range pork and poultry too. This spring, we'll plant a small garden. My mother-in-law has offered to teach me to can which will enable us to purchase fruits and veggies in season from the farmer's market or harvest them from our garden and save them for the long-term.

Are we going to go crazy and swear off all fast food and the occasional bag of Oreos? Nah. We'll still make use of some convenience foods and enjoy yummy tasties like chips and such. But I think for our overall health and to reach our long-term goal of self-sufficiency and possible homesteading this is a good start.