I guess it's a comment on my life that its been nearly two months since I've posted here.
I've discovered that I don't want to commit to only what is produced within 100 miles - mostly because of the spices that must be imported, but I am doing much much better in eating locally than I was before I started this.
My flour, dairy, meat is all produced locally now - and these are large items that would have taken a lot of room to transport. I hope that limiting these things to local production will reduce my carbon footprint a good deal. I still have two bins of winter vegetables to make into soups or cook and freeze before I've truly dealt with the fall produce. and my trips to Costco have virtually ended - who knew there meat came from Alberta?
I've discovered that Celeriac makes a wonderful substitute for celery in my turkey dressing, and in my post Christmas turkey soup. Briwood market in St. Thomas has become a great resource for local produce and baked goods (wraps, etc that I haven't mastered yet), and McSmith's has a ready supply of eggs. But, time can easily become the limiting factor. I have to plan these trips into my life.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Friday, November 6, 2009
Sourdough Success!
It's day 6. I've made several interesting discoveries. After my first failed sourdough I was curious to find out what happened, and my first suspect was the water, since I used citywater. I divided the remaining starter into two lots- using warm bottled water to feed the starter in one half and milk in the other. Surprisingly (to me), both did just fine, bubbling and frothing soon after I added the liquid and flour. So I tried making bread again and it was perfect. Three glorious loaves of risen bread and two pans of rolls. So, chlorinated city water is out (That's my theory of why the first batch didn't rise). Good to know. Imagine what it does inside my body when it kills hardy yeast so easily.
Here's the recipe I used (from allrecipes.com); I got the results above by doubling this:
Sourdough Bread
1 cup sourdough starter
1 1/2 c. warm water (not chlorinated!)
1 1/5 tsp salt
1/2 c white sugar (next time I'll try honey)
1/2 corn oil
6 cups bread flour (I actually used whole wheat, which worked great)
1. Mix all but the flour together, then add the flour slowly to the mixture. Oil the dough (I sprayed it with oil), place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover and let rise overnight.
2. Next day knead the dough for 10 minutes, divide in half and place into 2 loaf pans, allow it to double in size (I did this step overnight).
3. Bake at 350degrees F for 40-45 mins. Turn out to cool onto wire rack.
Tomorrow I search for oils, dairy and local flour. I know dairy and flour will be easy, a matter of just making the trip, and I don't expect cooking oil will be difficult either, it's just a matter of finding it. I'm lucky to live in Southwestern Ontario.
My fridge and cupboards have fewer bottles and boxes now that I'm no longer purchasing anything new, and my freezer's filled with bags of soups, breads and homemade muffins to replace store-bought "granola" bars filled with additives and empty calories. I'm proud of my success so far and curious (with a hint of trepidation) to see what comes next.
Here's the recipe I used (from allrecipes.com); I got the results above by doubling this:
Sourdough Bread
1 cup sourdough starter
1 1/2 c. warm water (not chlorinated!)
1 1/5 tsp salt
1/2 c white sugar (next time I'll try honey)
1/2 corn oil
6 cups bread flour (I actually used whole wheat, which worked great)
1. Mix all but the flour together, then add the flour slowly to the mixture. Oil the dough (I sprayed it with oil), place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover and let rise overnight.
2. Next day knead the dough for 10 minutes, divide in half and place into 2 loaf pans, allow it to double in size (I did this step overnight).
3. Bake at 350degrees F for 40-45 mins. Turn out to cool onto wire rack.
Tomorrow I search for oils, dairy and local flour. I know dairy and flour will be easy, a matter of just making the trip, and I don't expect cooking oil will be difficult either, it's just a matter of finding it. I'm lucky to live in Southwestern Ontario.
My fridge and cupboards have fewer bottles and boxes now that I'm no longer purchasing anything new, and my freezer's filled with bags of soups, breads and homemade muffins to replace store-bought "granola" bars filled with additives and empty calories. I'm proud of my success so far and curious (with a hint of trepidation) to see what comes next.
Monday, November 2, 2009
My first few days
Well, my 100 Mile diet commitment started officially yesterday on a Sunday. That was on purpose because I knew I'd need to do some research to even start to get started. I went to Crunican's in North London and found peanut butter made in SWOnt. I had thought I'd need to give that up.
My other adventures weren't quite so successful. I made my first loaf of sourdough bread- I had let it rise overnight and baked it even though it hadn't doubled to twice its size. The flavour was wonderful but it's about a quarter the height it should be. More research needed there, for sure. I also started baking using honey to replace sugar, starting with carrot and then morning glory muffins (I have lots of carrots to use :).
The morning glory muffins were OK, the carrot muffins too moist- I had decreased the heat to 325 from 350 as recommended by an online site on cooking with honey, I think next time I'll try it at 350. My daughter was unimpressed with the not so sweet muffins, perhaps that will mean she'll eat more fruit?
I can see some challenges ahead - my first will be meat- its not so much that meat will be hard to find but instead that my freezer's already full from summer produce. I'll have to think on that.
Next challenges will be things like vanilla, baking soda and powder. I wonder if I can find substitutes in my 100 mi radius?
I'm still excited about this and anxious to explore my 100 mi area to see just what I can find. At the very least, after my initial month experiment ends I'll have found local sources for my most often used meats and vegs. And that has to be good.
Today I'm back to work. My morning cup of tea was from my current stock, I'll see how I feel when that runs out and whether to opt for Fair Trade instead of giving it up. I think that's most likely. One project this week is to research Fair Trade options for spices, tea, coffee and flavour extracts like vanilla.
So far, I'm enjoying this challenge, and thinking of it as adventure at this point. Also wondering about the feasibility of making my own yogurt. I used to many years ago, I don't want to become a zealot with this, but I do want to change everything I can that's reasonably doable, y0ghurt seems like a possibility.
My other adventures weren't quite so successful. I made my first loaf of sourdough bread- I had let it rise overnight and baked it even though it hadn't doubled to twice its size. The flavour was wonderful but it's about a quarter the height it should be. More research needed there, for sure. I also started baking using honey to replace sugar, starting with carrot and then morning glory muffins (I have lots of carrots to use :).
The morning glory muffins were OK, the carrot muffins too moist- I had decreased the heat to 325 from 350 as recommended by an online site on cooking with honey, I think next time I'll try it at 350. My daughter was unimpressed with the not so sweet muffins, perhaps that will mean she'll eat more fruit?
I can see some challenges ahead - my first will be meat- its not so much that meat will be hard to find but instead that my freezer's already full from summer produce. I'll have to think on that.
Next challenges will be things like vanilla, baking soda and powder. I wonder if I can find substitutes in my 100 mi radius?
I'm still excited about this and anxious to explore my 100 mi area to see just what I can find. At the very least, after my initial month experiment ends I'll have found local sources for my most often used meats and vegs. And that has to be good.
Today I'm back to work. My morning cup of tea was from my current stock, I'll see how I feel when that runs out and whether to opt for Fair Trade instead of giving it up. I think that's most likely. One project this week is to research Fair Trade options for spices, tea, coffee and flavour extracts like vanilla.
So far, I'm enjoying this challenge, and thinking of it as adventure at this point. Also wondering about the feasibility of making my own yogurt. I used to many years ago, I don't want to become a zealot with this, but I do want to change everything I can that's reasonably doable, y0ghurt seems like a possibility.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
One Hundred Mile Diet
Today I decided to commit to something I've been toying with for a while. The environmental impact of importing most of our diet is reason enough, but my rural upbringing and my love of history makes me long to return to a more local diet. So, 1Nov, 2009 will be my official first day.
My prefirst day was busy enough - a batch of squash soup to freeze (I've made three batches and froze them already) and a new sourdough starter to experiment with - the first batch of bread is rising now as I sit down to write.
Honestly, my biggest challenge will be caffeine. I may opt to limit myself to FreeTrade coffee rather than eliminate caffeine altogether. Spices are another uncertainty- we've been importing spices for several hundred years, long before there was an environmental crisis. Perhaps my version of the 100 mile diet will be "those things that originated within a 100 mile diet OR have been imported for more than 200 years". Hmmm. Would that be cheating? That would mean I could still have chocolate.
The first big issue will be determining what really is local. I went to the Covent Garden Market today, looking at bread - a vendor insisted that the ancient Kamut bread with Kamut from Germany was a local bread. I'll need to ask lots of questions.
I'm glad I live where I do - there actually is a lot within 100 miles of here (I must remember I said this once, after I've been at this for a few months). But, there will be no bananas, no oranges, no refined sugar, no ALEXANDER KEITHS! for a year.
Stay tuned!
My prefirst day was busy enough - a batch of squash soup to freeze (I've made three batches and froze them already) and a new sourdough starter to experiment with - the first batch of bread is rising now as I sit down to write.
Honestly, my biggest challenge will be caffeine. I may opt to limit myself to FreeTrade coffee rather than eliminate caffeine altogether. Spices are another uncertainty- we've been importing spices for several hundred years, long before there was an environmental crisis. Perhaps my version of the 100 mile diet will be "those things that originated within a 100 mile diet OR have been imported for more than 200 years". Hmmm. Would that be cheating? That would mean I could still have chocolate.
The first big issue will be determining what really is local. I went to the Covent Garden Market today, looking at bread - a vendor insisted that the ancient Kamut bread with Kamut from Germany was a local bread. I'll need to ask lots of questions.
I'm glad I live where I do - there actually is a lot within 100 miles of here (I must remember I said this once, after I've been at this for a few months). But, there will be no bananas, no oranges, no refined sugar, no ALEXANDER KEITHS! for a year.
Stay tuned!
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Juggling My LIfe Blog Begins
Tonight I decided to have a semi-permanent, possibly public record of some of my day to day thoughts, writing them down seems like a really good idea
- Sometimes the combination of working nearly fulltime in an emotionally demanding and rewarding career, singleparenting an adolescent daughter part-time, running a household and all that entails, trying to life healthily including good food and exercise and maintaining some social contacts is practically overwhelming. It's no wonder I'm tired.
Something I've been working on is attending a conference in Scotland next August and spending another week exploring the country. I think the idea is a good one. I've emailed a Medical School Classmate to see if she'd like to go too. My daughter will likely be going with her Dad to Winnipeg at the same time so It would be a great time to go. And Oscar has an offer of a playdate too. Seems like it could work out.
- Sometimes the combination of working nearly fulltime in an emotionally demanding and rewarding career, singleparenting an adolescent daughter part-time, running a household and all that entails, trying to life healthily including good food and exercise and maintaining some social contacts is practically overwhelming. It's no wonder I'm tired.
Something I've been working on is attending a conference in Scotland next August and spending another week exploring the country. I think the idea is a good one. I've emailed a Medical School Classmate to see if she'd like to go too. My daughter will likely be going with her Dad to Winnipeg at the same time so It would be a great time to go. And Oscar has an offer of a playdate too. Seems like it could work out.
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