The Flour Debate.

So, apparently we're just going to have to let it slide.  Because we live in Canada, it is against food regulations to sell un-enriched flour or anything made with it.  In some ways I am relieved.  The idea of having to get some crazy/expensive/hard to find ingredient to do the majority of our cooking was daunting to say the least.  I'm still in a bit of panic mode, but at least a main ingredient isn't off the list.  Before you tell me that Laura and Mary Ingalls ground their own flour in a coffee maker...  I know.  Ain't gonna happen.

Husband amused me.

"Suzie...  this is just like that Pioneer show...  you know, except without the farming, and raising livestock and living in a shack you built yourself through a Canadian winter"

So...  not like it at all? 

(He's refering to the show called "Pioneer Quest" which offered families $100,000 if they gave up real life for a year to live like early settlers.  My all-time favourite episode was when one family had their barn catch fire and burn down, killing their giant pig.  They subsequently buried the entire pig.  I figured...  pre-made bacon!)

Luckily, we have something early settlers didn't have (other than modern appliances, refrigeration, grocery stores, cars, etc)...  THE INTERNET.

It's a valuable research source, and I think by using it, I'll be able to make the majority of things we used to eat.  Minus Kraft Dinner of course, but I could likely make a Mac'n'cheese that is pretty darn good.

The panic is setting in.

T-minus 4 days until D-Day and I'm starting to panic.  I'm having second thoughts, third thoughts and fifty-fourth thoughts. I decided to make a loaf or two of bread ahead of time, so that I have a few things to eat before Monday, and the first thing I need to do is learn how to read a recipe apparently.  After try #1 went into the trash, I made the sponge for try #2...  it's waiting for me in the kitchen to make the dough and knead this morning. before Girl wakes up.

I've discovered my first hitch.  Enriched flour.  It's full of ingredients I don't know.  Can you buy flour otherwise?  I was personally willing to let it slide, but of course husband (who let him be part of this anyway) said "that's part of the experiement!  You HAVE to find something else!".  I guess it's off to the store again.  I dread the idea of having to buy organic flour or something...  mainly because I'm cheap and if I have to be making all my own bread...

*sigh*.  Maybe I should go to bulk barn and see what I can find.  They have plenty of flours and grains, maybe I'll get lucky and find something that won't cost me $5 for a tiny bag. 

On the plus side, my local grocery store JUST started carrying greek yogurt.  High in protein, low in fat and nothing in it but cream and bacteria.  YAY!  I was planning on making tzaziki to eat in place of mayo-based things (dips, chicken salad, etc), so that was exciting to see.

Who came up with this anyway?

Someone in this house came up with a bonehead idea today.  I'm not naming any names, but it will result in a whole heap of a lot of work for me and quite possibly in complete failure.  I won't point fingers because frankly, I don't like being pointed at. 

It was a rash decision, a whim, and before I thought it through fully, I told Husband.  Now, to be fair, normally Husband is pretty good at shining light on my dumb ideas and sending them back to whatever fantasyland they came from.  Unfortunately, he did nothing as my sober second thought.  He thought it was brilliant.  Who is this guy?

Here's the idea.  For a year, the three of us will not eat anything that isn't "real food".  My personal definition of real food is stuff that doesn't have unpronouncable ingredients on the label.  Basically, whever we eat will be made from scratch, using only "normal" ingredients.   Any convenience food is out.  Salad dressings, bread, yogurt, salsas, tomato sauces, and everything else we typically buy pre-made will be made at home. 

Kraft Dinner is out.  So is cereal, soda, chips, chocolate (unless I bake something myself with cocoa powder). 

Before you all think I've wandered off the deep end, indulge me.  I'm sure it's no secret that the "western diet" sucks.  Period.  Pretty much every other culture in the world is healthier, thinner and live longer.  They don't pay attention to fat grams, or carbs, or calories.  They just eat real food.  So, that's what we're going to do.  It's our little experiment. 

To clarify, this is NOT:
- The Hundred Mile Diet
- Organic
- a Cleanse/ Toxin-free diet
- Vegetarian/Vegan

It's purely trying to eat like our grandparents did.  I am also curious to see how much time it takes, and if there are any financial or health benefits.

I will be journaling our progress, explaining what I made and how I made it.  I'll detail the time it took and the cost in comparison to what we pay for groceries now.

Before anyone freaks out and abstains from inviting us to dinner, I assure you, as guests we will partake in whatever is served.  We're not crazy after all.  If you do come here, you will eat as we do (and by that, I mean "really well").

Start Date: Monday, August 16th
Typical current grocery bill:  $110/week
Starting weight:  I decline to answer on the grounds that I am a woman, and it's none of your business.
Time spent cooking:  varies.  A regular day - 1 hour...  on average perhaps 1-2/day

Wish us luck!  Stacey, I'm going to need to borrow your yogurt maker...  and mom...  your pasta maker.

Sew Expensive.

I've been toying with the idea of making my own clothes lately (in the winter of course when I only have a million things to do, not 2 million).  I grow so weary of buying clothes that once washed, turn boxy, shapeless or too short.  I already find most shirts too short (however, I have been loving the recent long-shirt trend, unfortunately I have a feeling it won't last forever).  So, simple things, here and there.  T-shirts, tank tops and the like.  I think I'd be able to manage, provided I have a bit of help along the way.  Then, I could modify clothes to suit my exact preferences and tastes, and not have to rely on what the stores decide is the must-have colour or style. 

I was at the fabric store, flipping through the pattern books, scoping things out for the next time the patterns go on sale, and I stumbled across this:

I've never been a huge fan of dolls, but I'm warming up to them now that I have Girl.  She does seem moderately more interested than I am, but my plan is to try to avoid having masses of pink by carefully selecting her dolls.  (The ones I can control at least). We'll see how that works out for me.

Anyhow, I saw this pattern and nearly died.  They are the cutest dolls I have ever seen, and really cute clothes.  I thought (in my naive mind) "These are the dolls I must get for Girl.  She will have cool dolls and there won't be a mass of pink feathers and glitter around the house".

I ran home to google this doll and nearly had a heart attack.  A cheap one sells for $180. 

*Disheartened sigh*

Oh you tease me so!  Apparently these dolls are for grown-ups...  you know, the people that won't touch them with sticky fingers and who have so much disposable income that they could buy a pair of $40 glasses and $80 shoes for their doll. 

Call me crazy, but as much as I love them (and for me to like a doll is a VERY big thing)...  I'm gonna say no. 

I guess I should get used to the feathers and glitter.

Spoiling and It's Downside.

I love entertaining.  I've said it before and I'll say it again.  There is nothing that gives me greater joy than spoiling the ones I love.

I however, am cursed with the inability to do things half-heartedly.  I can't seem to manage it.  Recently, I've been taking the extended family on a cultural tour...  Mexico, Greece, Italy soon, I think.  The idea of doing the same things over again is foreign to me.  (Other than the requisite yearly turkey dinners, of course).

Parties are fun.  There was a point where the only times I was calling people this summer was to invite them to another party, but really?  Where is the harm in that?  We should celebrate everything!

My SIL got the "GIANT PARTY" for her 30th birthday (to complete the cycle from the miniature baby shower I threw last year.)

We had Giant Pizza...

Giant Chicken Wings (drumsticks with a few turkey wings thrown in)...

Giant Sandwiches...

and a bunch of Giant Cake...

 
It was a great time! 

The only complication, in my mind, is trying to figure out how to reassure people that I don't expect the same when I'm invited to a party.  I have heard on a variety of occasions, from many people, the sheepish "but mine won't be like yours", or "You'll have to forgive me, I'm not a cook, so I'm ordering pizza". 

What is there to forgive? 

Think of it this way.  If I was a piano player who invited you to concerts on a regular basis...  would I fault you for not being musical?  No.  You are my loved ones, and this is my thing, what I do.  I do it because it's fun for me, and something that I can share with you!

Feel spoiled and don't fret.  I love KD too... and delivery!

Now, who's ready for Husband's birthday?  It's gonna be a good one!

Tales from the side of the road.

Girl makes my heart swell with pride sometimes, as I'm sure all parents can attest to.  She knows her letters, and her numbers up to 10 and now, at 18 months, she is daytime potty-trained (I decided to keep her in diapers overnight, since she sleeps 12 hours and is unable to use the toilet alone).  This is great!  No diapers to change during the day and constant, incessant trips to the washroom from the farthest conceivable distance. 

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad we took the plunge.  My theory is, no matter what age we decided to potty-train, we'd be doing the exact same thing, so might as well get it over with.  But really, do you need to wait unti the least convenient time?  My mom says it's payback for the years of cold food she ate because I'd always need to go right when the food arrived.  I think parents wait for payback.

I suppose I could avoid going places until Girl is able to go on her own, but that would be a boring life.  I'd rather do fun stuff and spend part of the time in the washroom than do nothing and spend part of the time in the washroom. 

My all-time favourite stories happen on the side of the road.  Husband, Girl and I, together with my mom, decided to go to the beach.  It's an hour drive and I had hoped that going during naptime would mean Girl would sleep.  No such luck.  45 minutes into the trip, not a restaurant or gas station in sight, comes the inevitable cry.  Luckily, on a whim I had thrown a small plastic potty into the trunk.  Girl had never used it before, but I had it, and thought it might come in handy.   Husband pulled over, I got Girl from her seat and there she sat, in the sun, on the highway. 

Why just pee when you can do it all?

My mom thought it was hysterical and after we were on our way again asked: "What did you do with the poop?"

"I put it in a ziplock and into the cooler.  What do you THINK I did with it?!"

These are the things memories are made of.  Though, now, whenever Girl is in the car and feels the call of nature...  I hear the same words.  "Little potty.  Road"

Sorry hon.  We can't do that at the mall.

That's Mrs. Homemaker to you.

I've been kind of stuck lately.  I waver back and forth and have yet to make any kind of decision.  I can't decide if society is evolving in a good way or losing respect for our elders. 

As an adult, a mom and a wife, I have many names.  I need to brace myself for the day when people (other than telemarketers) will start to call me Mrs. Homemaker.  I also need to figure out how to deal with the Mr. & Mrs. deal with Girl.  As her vocabulary expands on a daily basis I am torn as to how to deal with this idea.  I am a big believer that we need to respect our elders, but as one of those elders, I'd really rather just be called Suzie. Girl will call the elders in the family by "tante" (aunt) or "uncle", and "oma" for her grandmothers, She will also use the proper address for teachers, etc, but I don't know where the line falls with other people.  I'm not a huge fan of calling people aunts and uncles if they're not related, and I have some friends who might have a coronary if they became Mr or Mrs.

As a chid I remember that there were always some people who went by their first names, regardless.  They were older than my parents, but I don't ever remember calling them Mr. or Mrs.  My friends' parents were a mish-mush.  Some were Mr and Mrs, and others were just first names. 

Of course, I asked my mom how this all worked out.  She told me that for the most part, she let us decide.  If people introduced themselves by their first name, I was under no obligation to call them Mr. or Mrs.  However, if they didn't introduce themselves at all, I was supposed to default to the more proper name. 

I'm not sure how I'm going to deal with it.  I may just do as my mom did and let the chips fall where they may.   I understand the whole respect thing, but as someone who would rather be addressed by her given name, I don't see how addressing me as Mrs. is respecting me.  Maybe I secretly don't want to grow up, or maybe I just prefer people to be a bit more casual around me. 

Granted, this is coming from the person who usually just makes eye contact and starts talking when her mother-in-law is in the room.  I've been trying to cough out "Mom"...  I really have. 

I guess if I still have a ways to go in this respect, I can't expect to have Girl get it all right, at least not right away.