Local foods in New Hampshire

Blogger is so good to let me know that it has been a month and a half (nay, almost two months) since my last post to this blog.  Thank you, blogger, I'm on it, okay?


We have been up to the usual busy nothingness of summer: moving, water parks, free bowling, kids' dollar movies, etc.  The first week of July we got to sneak away just the two of us for a week to New Hampshire, and I think I'm in love.  However, my dear husband tells me I haven't experienced a New England winter, and we have four kids who are required to live in a small area of Texas, so maybe we'll stay put for a while.

My DH hiding in the shadows in front of part of the farm

We stayed at a Bed and Breakfast on a farm that practices sustainable farming.  If you ever find yourself wanting to get away up north, I would highly recommend The Inn at Valley Farms. Our hostess, Jackie was wonderful, (and no, she didn't pay me to say that.) 


Our first full day there, after a delicious three course breakfast, we ventured down to nearby Keene to pick up some goodies at the Farmer's Market and do some window shopping.  In the afternoon we stopped by an alpaca farm and learned about alpacas and maple syrup from the farmer.  (And yes, we bought some goodies.)

Community Pizza Night-the oven is in front of the building on the right

That evening, we drove out to a bakery which hosts community pizza night every Tuesday night, donating all the profits to a local charity each week.  Everyone brings toppings to share and for five dollars you are given a lump of dough to stretch and form into a crust which you then take to the sauce table, the  cheese table, and finally the toppings table.  After this point they cook your pizza in a large outdoor fire oven, and you find a place to sit on the benches or the grass.  I would so love to do this with my church group, but I don't know how we'd cook all the pizza!


The following morning we went to a small town's Fourth of July parade over the border of Vermont.  Their local Farmers' Market marched in the parade and passed out carrots!  After the parade, there were different merchant tents set up and food vendors.  I found a lady selling jewelry made from beads through beads for life, a nonprofit organization that benefits impoverished women in Uganda, which I had just read about before our trip.  How cool is that?


Our final day on the farm Jackie, the innkeeper (how often do you get to use that word in everyday conversation?), took us on a tour of the farm.  She discussed how they garden, without tilling to preserve the layering of the soil, rotating crops, adding compost, and how they now use high tunnels to extend their growing season.  We saw their baby chicks that grow to be egg layers and that grow to be used for meat.  She discussed how they pasture the animals, rotating them on a timetable to get the most benefit for the soil, plants, and themselves out of the animals, and to provide the healthiest conditions for the animals.

Yes, I am holding a baby chick.

We left dreaming of becoming farmers.  Who knows, maybe when we retire that dream will become a reality.  For the present time we have a renewed interest in eating local foods, knowing our farmers and where our food comes from, and growing what we can in our little corner of the 'burbs.

The Detour Edition

Yes, I know I promised Part II of The First Step. And it's coming. Soon. 

However, this past week my family took a road trip to Colorado to visit family and so I decided to write about eating real food on the road.  I'm going to be up-front and let you know we relax our norms a little while we're traveling, but still try to eat a good portion of fruits and vegetables, overall make good choices, and drink plenty of water, etc, etc.

This one takes a little preplanning.  If you leave yourself to the mercy of Billy-Bob's Truck Stop and America's Favorite Drive Thru, your options are going to be very, very limited. And you will pay a fortune for those items.  Our solution for car trips has been to pack a cooler, along with reusable water bottles, and a bag of snacks. (If you're flying you can still pack a couple nonliquid snacks in your carry on.)

The way there is always easier, because you're at your own home to prep.  My husband and daughter made peanut butter balls.  (Oh. so. yummy. You can find the recipe here. We substituted the coconut and currants for chocolate chips and almonds.)  The kids made individual snack bags of trail mix from ingredients in our pantry.  We packed fruits and vegetables, homemade ranch, granola and yogurt, Bunny crackers, water jugs and walla!  With some fruits and vegetables, it is better to cut them up and pack them in a hard container first.  Can we say smushed kiwi?  The trip out was a success, the only hitch being that I forgot to pack the lettuce for salad on day 2, so we feasted on trail mix, cantaloupe, and baby carrots at the park.

If you plan to eat out, it is a good idea to do a search on the internet first of to turn up healthier options.  These may not be visible from the highway.  Confession: we planned to eat at Jason's Deli in Amarillo, but ended up at Texas Roadhouse instead.  In my book, not a big deal.  We had eaten sandwiches for lunch, and you know, if you're in Amarillo...  At least we didn't attempt to eat the 72 oz steak.

The day before heading back home, we stopped at a local grocery store to stock up for the way home, and bought the following:

Breakfast                                       

Granola Bars

Raspberries

Blueberries

Lunch

Lettuce (for salad)

Cucumber

Avocado

Grape Tomatoes

Organic Ranch

Kashi Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Izze Blackberry Sparkling Juice

Dinner

Pita bread

Mustard

Turkey

Monterrey Jack Cheese

Snacks

Organic Yogurt

Popcorn (didn't actually eat it, I'll explain later.)

Salt and Pepper Potato Chips

A couple of gallons of water to refill water bottles

Total cost: $65.  Add up the costs of eating breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and drinks or bottled water on the road, and we estimated our savings to be $35 at a minimum. Although a few of the items we bought were more prepackaged than we like to eat, all of the food was either "natural" or organic, and it fit our no high fructose corn syrup or hydrogenated oils goal.  Plus, still better than truck stop food. 

Speaking of which....

Somewhere around Amarillo our 115,000 mile state-of-the-art Chrysler minivan decided to give up the good fight.  The AC broke. For the third time this year. In over 100 degree weather.  With five hours left to go. In the interest of family harmony and cooling off the troops, the kids were allowed to pick out a cold treat at a gas station.  And I didn't even read the label.  Because it's not about doing it "perfectly," it's about doing it better.

(This is just how we did it.  Your version of "better" may look totally different than ours based on where your family is at.)