It has been almost a week since we started our challenge and I’m feeling great! I think it’s the absence of sugar and caffeine that has really improved my mental clarity and my overall energy. I’m not crashing in the afternoon, nor am I feeling as fuzzy headed. Whenever I heard of people giving up sugar and caffeine in the past I always thought that they were some health nerds, but I am astonished how much of a difference it makes. I feel like an entirely different person.
Now, it hasn’t been all peaches and cream (though we had some a few nights ago and it was soo good, local white peaches with Mapleline Cream and Warm Colors Honey). I hadn’t expected how long it would take to prepare foods every day. Part of that dilemma is that my food repertoire, or what I know how to make, has completely changed. I’m forced to use new foods and to really learn how to prepare foods in different ways. For example, a few days ago I prepared wheat berries like rice and they turned out great (go to the main page for a recipe). And a lot of my food prep is completely experimental, which fortunately has been going pretty well (check out my pumpkin soup recipe).
It has also been interesting to see how much I crave sugar. Frequently I’ve just eaten a spoonful of honey to tide me over. I’m hoping to get some local ice cream from Beth Cook in the next week or so. She will make a batch of ice cream for $40 per tub (2.5 gal) with local honey if you bring her the honey. Apparently it only takes 5 lbs of honey for 4 tubs (10 gal).
Last night was great. The GreenHouse Mod is SO farmey. We had folk music playing, we were grinding wheat with a stationary bicycle, we were boiling tomato sauce and clarifying pig fat for lard. It was quite a site, especially seeing all of us in our Carhartts and overalls.
Thats all for now
-Tobin
