Whole foods trip

So, today I took the kids and went to pick up our second ever basket from the Bountiful Baskets Food Co-op. It went a lot quicker this time. There wasn't any waiting and we came home with another beautiful basket of fruits and veggies. I worked all morning on getting the veggies ready to be eaten and all of my food storage that I bought at a case sale put and away.

Then after Dwight got home we went and picked up my mom and went down to The Whole Foods store in Salt Lake. It was a lot of fun. None of us had ever been there before. It was fun to see all of the things that they had. I was a little lost as to what I really needed to buy there, but I settled on some exotic grains and a few other things and am feeling quite excited about the possibility of cooking with them. We got quinoa, millet, amarynth, spelt flour, red lentils, pumpkin seeds, ginger, shitake mushrooms, and pearled couscous. I wouldn't even know that half of these existed if it wasn't for my wonderful sister-in-law. She has always got something new for me to try, Thanks Tor. You should check out her cooking blog - http://www.iwanttobedomestic.blogspot.com/. It rocks!

I also got a chance to go with a friend of mine, Kelly, to the ballet last night. It was so fun. I can count the times I've been to the ballet on one hand, but every time I've gone I have really liked it. They performed Balanchine's America. It was beautiful. They danced purely effortlessly. I can't imagine ever being that strong. They did a great job and it was fun to have an outing away from the house. I have a great husband for those of you who don't already know. He encouraged me to go out while he stayed home with the kids. They all had a big race off on Mario Cart. What a peach! I am very blessed.

Netflix and Food

We just got our Netflix disc in the mail that allows us to watch movies instantly on our Wii. It is AWESOME- Not just in my best 1980's lingo. I mean awesome as in I am awestruck by the technology. I just couldn't believe it. I had hundreds of movies at my fingertips to watch at a moments notice. I thought to myself that this is going to be one of those "back in my day" moments. " Back in my day we actually had to GO to a store to rent a video and sometimes THE MOVIE YOU WANTED WASN'T EVEN AVAILABLE! Times were tough in those days.



The first movie we rented was Food, Inc. This movie scared the pants off of me. Not just because of the terrible things that are done to and put into the food that we eat, but also because of the spectacular amounts of power that these large corporations have. They have pretty much absolute power to crush any competition and to hush any critics. It was terrifying to learn some of this stuff. We need to change the food system we have set up for ourselves - for our health, security, environment, and freedom. I recommend this movie to anyone, but "Hold on to your butts."(thanks Jurassic Park.)

Robin Hood

It has been a long, but productive week. We rented a Chevy Silverado truck over the weekend to help us get our yard, screen porch, and garage under control. After 5 trips to the local dump and one trip to Deseret Industries, we DID IT. There were tired backs and hands full of slivers, but we did it. It feels so much lighter. A great weight has been removed from me. I feel like I'm walking around on a cloud. I hope we can keep it up.
I also went and got our first fruits and veggie basket from The Bountiful Baskets food Co-op. It was fun and I am really excited about the food. I was so surprised at the amount of people who were up early on a Saturday morning for fruits and veggies. It was exciting to see. Power the veggie people! It will be interesting to try to find yummy ways to cook and eat them all. We have been trying to get the kids to eat more vegetables and to think about them positively. I decided to try giving them a quarter to put in a jar each time they ate a serving of vegetables and didn't complain. It seems to be working pretty well so far. I don't if that seems silly or not, but I figure anything to get them starting healthy habits. I didn't want to be the parent who is always nagging and yelling at the kids to "eat your vegetables!" I want them to think of healthy food as exciting and good for them. I want them to be different from me in that way. I want them to be healthy and happy.
Last week we also put together our new "Food rotation system" shelf from Shelf Reliance. Let me tell you. It is a sight to behold. Sheer beauty! It is a good deal more empty than I would like, but you have to start somewhere, right? It can hold a TON! I just love it. I am excited to get more prepared with our food storage. We have a good start, but there is now room to grow. Yeah!
One last piece of news from the Green Hamsters, Lily got to go to her first birthday party today. She was SOO EXCITED. She was even telling everyone in Walmart last night about it. "I get to go to Ezra's birthday party!" "He invited me!" "I am so excited that I could just scream!" They went to the Gateway Children's museum and then had a picnic lunch. It was a Robin Hood themed birthday so she came home with this cute Robin Hood hat that our neighbor had made. (Way to go Kinsie!) She looked adorable and she had a great time. Fun, fun, FUN. Good times. Noodle salad.