Friday, December 31, 2010

A grain-free New Year?

I've decided that I really need to go back to grain-free living for awhile. After having illness after illness, thanks mostly to my daughter being in daycare, I've been eating too many convenience foods, many of them having wheat in them, and my gut has responded...poorly. So I need to get back on track and just eat better.

I'm choosing a period of two weeks to start with, as I have about that much time left until I go back to teaching. So I plan on eating meat, eggs, dairy products, with liberal amounts of vegetables and some fruits, but no grains. If I want sweets, they will be minimal, without processed sugar or grains. So no wheat, corn, rice or any other grain to cross my lips. I'm hoping that after two weeks, I will feel the improvement, and reassess my situation.

This coming semester, I will be working 4 days a week instead of two, so I think that as long as I can cook myself breakfasts in the morning (instead of gluten free cereals), I will succeed. I just need to get myself back in the habit of doing that.

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

It's December already? And thoughts on s510...


Teaching has really kept me busy, so I'm sorry I have had time to update the blog in awhile. I'm thinking that because it'll be Hannukah tonight, I should bring out my husband's grandmother's potato pancake recipe. she makes them completely differently, so when I do, I'll be sure to post about it!

On to s510. There's been a lot in the blogosphere about this particular bill, and I know that I am not completely in lockstep with other Traditional Foodies on this issue, so I'm treading carefully here. Let me preface by saying a few things:



  • I do think that big, industrial farms NEED to be regulated and inspected carefully, as I feel that we are falling into The Jungle territory.

  • I don't think that small family farms should be completely absolved of all regulations, but they need not be onerous, including those for raw milk farms.

  • I don't, however, completely trust the FDA to do a good job, but I certainly feel that we can't trust corporatons to do it either, though it seems these days that they might as well be one and the same.

So what do we do? Clearly, something needs to be done. Food products can and do become contaminated, and if stricter controls are in place, I'd feel better about the issue, quite honestly. But I don't want small family farms to be unfairly victimized, which has been the big fear. At least there is the Tester Amendment, which does make it a bit better.


Am I against the bill? I'm really of two minds about it.


Of course,the breaking news is that the bill had fees in it, which is not kosher for the Senate to do and therefore may be held up from becoming law: http://p2.to/14u2