Sunday Morning in February

The Beatles in Chicago, Jan. 2011

I am happily in the midst of the Wellness Challenge and am very interested in how I have just stopped eating eggs and cheese. I am intrigued by this as these were two of my main staples. It is funny how I don't really miss them.  I am eating plenty of food, so I do not feel deprived in any way. Once in a while, I miss salt. I LOVE salt. My sister always says she would like to put a salt lick in her living room! Yesterday, with the delicious white bean/vegetable/sage soup that I made in the crock pot, I ate a LOT of Riceworks Sweet Chili chips. Oh man, they tasted so good! This is a gluten free snack food, which sounds like a good thing.  However, I don't think devouring the entire bag with one other person in a single setting is a good idea!

One of my favorite parts of the Challenge is the pedometer that we were given. This small device clips right onto your waistband and counts the steps you take in a day. It has been suggested that 10,000 steps in a day is a figure to strive towards. On days when I exercise, I am averaging between 6000 and 7000 steps. Yesterday I parked a bit further than I had to from the library and sloshed through some funky, sort-of-slippery sidewalks to get there. I know if I hadn't been using this pedometer, I would not have been motivated to do this. So the Challenge is already working; my thinking and behavior is changing.

On my journey of learning about food, I am foremost interested in the growing of food. Farmers and gardeners earn the highest level of respect from me. They have taken tiny, hard seeds and have nurtured them into delectable, nutritious sustenance for us. It never amazes me, this mysterious way of the world; without it we would not be here. And so, I want to share a stunning photo documentary project that I discovered: The Migrant Project.  Give yourself the time to take a look at this in-depth photo essay. It is full of superb photographs and staggering facts about the lives of migrant workers....the people who bring us much of our food.

Expect good things.....