So it's been a while since we've last posted. A lot has changed since our last posting here. After three weeks on a 100% organic lifestyle, we have realized some important truths.
1. Eating organic has been and continues to be a fun and fulfilling lifestyle change.
2. As a general rule, it is more expensive to buy and eat organic.
3. Bringing organic food to every friend and family outing is difficult and potentially rude.
4. We recommend eating as organic as possible without breaking your budget or appearing to be rude.
The list can go on and on, but we have some changes we'd like to mention. Because we have experienced the above list, we have decided to make tw0 important developments in our lifestyle change.
1) Because eating 100% organic at home is nearly impossible and very straining on our tight budget, we have decided to eat as organic as possible, as often as possible at home. This means we will only not buy organic products if they are out of our price range (example- organic heavy whipping cream to make organic whip cream is very expensive) and/or if organic options greatly affect the taste of food created (example- organic butter changes the taste of bread, pancakes, and other baked items so greatly that we will buy other butter products). This small change will help us stay on the organic lifestyle without it becoming a burden or chore.
2) As it is extremely difficult to bring organic food or ask family or friends to make organic options for us when we go out, we will eat vegetarian when out of the house. You may say, what happened to organic? We have done the research and found that meat products are the biggest violators of the organic lifestyle. Take, for example, chickens. Mass producing poultry companies have genetically engineered chickens to grow fatter and faster, destroying their natural biology while simultaneously bankrupting any and all small family farmers who they employ. Our decision to eat vegetarian outside of the home still contributes greatly to nationwide protest against factory farmed meat.
Sorry there were no pictures in this post. Don't worry though, there will be plenty of cool and funny photos of our organic lifestyle in future posts shortly! Stay tuned!
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
This Week's Update!
Hello everyone! We apologize for the long wait we have put you through before this post. Let's see, it the last few days we have cooked many new recipes, continued to shop organic, visited friends and family, and ate at an organic restaurant! Let us tell you all about it...
But first, an important and difficult decision we've made. From this moment on, we will make our own coffee beverages at home. We know this may sound strange, what with the last post and all. The main reason we are switching to homemade drinks is we are able to better control the ingredients used. Of course many of the major coffee shops so near to our house offer organic options; however, we feel better with attempting to make our drinks at home. Besides, it will be fun!
Speaking of fun, we just finished a great video on making organic cookies!
Bad news folks! We're having some very minor technical difficuties with our blog right now. So if you want to check out any of our videos, go our Facebook pages!
This week we attended our local farmer's market again. We had a great time! For us, this is the best place to local produce. We also went to Trader Joe's to pick up most of our baking supplies ([all organic] sugar, brown sugar, eggs, milk, butter, nuts, and bread).
Oh, great news! It's called Follow your Heart! A great restaurant for vegetarians, vegans, and organicians (yup, just made that up). Check out the amazing completely organic food:
Organic carrot, apple, celery and beet juice blend!
We wanted to mention all of the great support from all of our family and friends (which include all of you reading this blog)! Going down to our dad's (Moore) birthday party this Saturday really showed us that organic lifestyle is going to be possible at family events. Everyone was so encouraging and great about us simply bringing some organic food with us.
So, what is on the agenda for the week ahead? Tune in to see!
But first, an important and difficult decision we've made. From this moment on, we will make our own coffee beverages at home. We know this may sound strange, what with the last post and all. The main reason we are switching to homemade drinks is we are able to better control the ingredients used. Of course many of the major coffee shops so near to our house offer organic options; however, we feel better with attempting to make our drinks at home. Besides, it will be fun!
Speaking of fun, we just finished a great video on making organic cookies!
Bad news folks! We're having some very minor technical difficuties with our blog right now. So if you want to check out any of our videos, go our Facebook pages!
Oh, great news! It's called Follow your Heart! A great restaurant for vegetarians, vegans, and organicians (yup, just made that up). Check out the amazing completely organic food:
Organic carrot, apple, celery and beet juice blend!
We wanted to mention all of the great support from all of our family and friends (which include all of you reading this blog)! Going down to our dad's (Moore) birthday party this Saturday really showed us that organic lifestyle is going to be possible at family events. Everyone was so encouraging and great about us simply bringing some organic food with us.
So, what is on the agenda for the week ahead? Tune in to see!
Friday, March 19, 2010
Our Second Day and Our Great News
Today we learned some great news! But first, we want to mention how appreciative we are of all of your advice and support. You all have given us valuable tips and suggestions that will make our choice to go organic simpler and easier.
Okay, now for the good news...we can drink Starbucks as part of our organic change!
As it turns out, not only is Starbucks Fair Trade Certified, they sell organic coffee drinks. Hooray! So today we tried our first iced coffee and are impressed with how great it tastes. Anyway, that's our good news, it may not seem like a big development, but we're excited.
Ohhh, almost forgot, did you know Von's offers a whole range of organic products? Yup, so today we bought organic eggs. They are smaller than commercial eggs and are brown instead of white, but they taste great!
Sorry for the lack of pictures on today's post, there will be more to come!
Okay, now for the good news...we can drink Starbucks as part of our organic change!
As it turns out, not only is Starbucks Fair Trade Certified, they sell organic coffee drinks. Hooray! So today we tried our first iced coffee and are impressed with how great it tastes. Anyway, that's our good news, it may not seem like a big development, but we're excited.
Ohhh, almost forgot, did you know Von's offers a whole range of organic products? Yup, so today we bought organic eggs. They are smaller than commercial eggs and are brown instead of white, but they taste great!
Sorry for the lack of pictures on today's post, there will be more to come!
Our First Day...We Can Do This
Alright, so here we are, just finishing the first day of our organic journey. It's been an exciting day, Nina was at work all day and told all of our co-workers of our choice. Surprisingly to us, all of our co-workers are supportive, a few even suggestions for us. In fact, almost all of our friends and family have great advice and resources. That includes everyone reading this blog. Thank you all!
A little while ago, we ate our very first organic dinner. Ready for the surprise? We are actually full! I never thought that a meal composed out of potatoes, red pepper, avocados, green onions, onions, and cactus tortillas would be so filling. Tomorrow we are planning to buy even more organic food tomorrow. Can't wait!
Until the next posting, please enjoy some pictures of our lovely meal:
A little while ago, we ate our very first organic dinner. Ready for the surprise? We are actually full! I never thought that a meal composed out of potatoes, red pepper, avocados, green onions, onions, and cactus tortillas would be so filling. Tomorrow we are planning to buy even more organic food tomorrow. Can't wait!
Until the next posting, please enjoy some pictures of our lovely meal:
Looks Good!
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Our First Farmer's Market and our Last Good-bye to Past Living
Please scroll down to the bottom to read from our very first post. =-]
Today marks the start of a brand new way of living! We are eager, ready, and excited. Today has been a very eventful day. First, Nina and I went to our first farmer's market today! Hooray! We were blown away by the wide array of produce available to buy.
The farmer's market at the Northridge Fashion Center:
Guess what we bought? Ready?
- four Fuji apples, one lb. of peanuts, one onion, twelve potatoes, four honey sticks, one head of lettuce, one celery (branch?), three containers of strawberries, a loaf of organic cheese bread, one red bell pepper, seven avocados (the guy threw in a few extra), organic salsa, and thirty-six cactus tortillas.
All for only roughly $30 dollars! We were definitely surprised at the little amount of money we ended up spending. As per the rules we have set up for ourselves, we will only eat this food. For example, tomorrow Nina is going to have strawberries for breakfast, an awesome salad (lettuce, green onions, bell pepper, avocado, and more) for lunch, and a combined dinner with Brian of an avocado, lettuce, bell pepper sandwich on cheese bread. Yum!
So, in proper fashion, we had to say good-bye to our past lifestyle. What better place to do that than Outback. After a hearty blooming onion,
We chowed down on a very nice chocolate cake (no picture provided, but I'm sure you can use your imagination on this one). Our last farewell was almost finished. But we needed to say good-bye to one last friend. Our white chocolate mocha and java chip frappaccino have never tasted so good. Your frothy coolness and sweet texture will be greatly missed.
Please join us on our journey from processed foods, factory farm meat, antibiotic laded and genetically engineered produce, and other farmer exploited foods to local, farmer supported, natural, healthy food. It will be fun. It will be difficult. You can be with us every step of the way! =]
Today marks the start of a brand new way of living! We are eager, ready, and excited. Today has been a very eventful day. First, Nina and I went to our first farmer's market today! Hooray! We were blown away by the wide array of produce available to buy.
The farmer's market at the Northridge Fashion Center:
Guess what we bought? Ready?
- four Fuji apples, one lb. of peanuts, one onion, twelve potatoes, four honey sticks, one head of lettuce, one celery (branch?), three containers of strawberries, a loaf of organic cheese bread, one red bell pepper, seven avocados (the guy threw in a few extra), organic salsa, and thirty-six cactus tortillas.
All for only roughly $30 dollars! We were definitely surprised at the little amount of money we ended up spending. As per the rules we have set up for ourselves, we will only eat this food. For example, tomorrow Nina is going to have strawberries for breakfast, an awesome salad (lettuce, green onions, bell pepper, avocado, and more) for lunch, and a combined dinner with Brian of an avocado, lettuce, bell pepper sandwich on cheese bread. Yum!
So, in proper fashion, we had to say good-bye to our past lifestyle. What better place to do that than Outback. After a hearty blooming onion,
We chowed down on a very nice chocolate cake (no picture provided, but I'm sure you can use your imagination on this one). Our last farewell was almost finished. But we needed to say good-bye to one last friend. Our white chocolate mocha and java chip frappaccino have never tasted so good. Your frothy coolness and sweet texture will be greatly missed.
Please join us on our journey from processed foods, factory farm meat, antibiotic laded and genetically engineered produce, and other farmer exploited foods to local, farmer supported, natural, healthy food. It will be fun. It will be difficult. You can be with us every step of the way! =]
Monday, March 15, 2010
The Christian Argument
Before we begin this quest, I have been debating whether eating meat or being a vegetarian is preferred by God for his followers. We have Christian brothers and sisters who are vegans and others who could not live a day without chomping down on juicy hamburgers. You know who you are ;-). I have done some research and I like what is out there. There is one essay, (though simplistic and brief) that I feel sums up the debate nicely:
http://gospelpolitics.tumblr.com/post/282867259/vegetarianism-what-would-jesus-do
http://gospelpolitics.tumblr.com/post/282867259/vegetarianism-what-would-jesus-do
The Day Approaches...
As March 18th comes closer and closer, we are more and more excited, nervous, and expectant. Sure, we have decided to have better lifestyle changes in the past, but nothing as dramatic as this. But we are ready and excited. I mean, how cool is it to go to local farmer's markets and find enough food to eat for the whole week? 
But then neccessary questions are raised. What do we do when we eat at our friends' and families' houses? Can we still have our treasured coffee or other treats we love so much?
Probably not, but that's just part of the adventure. Fortunately, we have found that living the organic and green life has grown in popularity over the last few years; so much so in fact, that we have found a multitude of resources to aid us along our journey. This is good news.
But then neccessary questions are raised. What do we do when we eat at our friends' and families' houses? Can we still have our treasured coffee or other treats we love so much? Probably not, but that's just part of the adventure. Fortunately, we have found that living the organic and green life has grown in popularity over the last few years; so much so in fact, that we have found a multitude of resources to aid us along our journey. This is good news.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Why We Are Beginning This Journey
We know most of you must be wondering: why? Those of you who know us well are probably very surprised by our decision. In the past, eating out was our form of entertainment. We searched for the cheapest meat, milk, cheese, and other foods when grocery shopping, with no concern for the consequences of such low prices. Given the choice between driving and walking even across the street, walking would always lose out.
Fortunately for us, the environment, and our local community, we have realized the truth. In order to get cheap groceries, like milk and meat, we have exploited farmers, animals, natural resources, and the ecosystem. Today, we watched Food, Inc.
Finally, we learned of the horrors, deceit, and exploitation needed to maintain the American lifestyle. No longer do we want to support a system based on greed and lies. It is difficult to understand where we have based our decision from without seeing this movie. In a nutshell, Food Inc. shows exactly how food companies make those low prices Americans crave.
Our decision is simply this: we believe it is time to pay slightly more for high quality and safe food products. Also, we know there is more we can do to help minimize our polluting footprint in our society.
It will not be easy. We both love fast food, restaurants, and processed junk food. But, we must say good-bye to these. So too must we say good-bye to the cheap frozen chicken tenders which had made up the majority of our home-cooked meals. Only natural and local food will enjoy our company.
It starts now...
Fortunately for us, the environment, and our local community, we have realized the truth. In order to get cheap groceries, like milk and meat, we have exploited farmers, animals, natural resources, and the ecosystem. Today, we watched Food, Inc.
Finally, we learned of the horrors, deceit, and exploitation needed to maintain the American lifestyle. No longer do we want to support a system based on greed and lies. It is difficult to understand where we have based our decision from without seeing this movie. In a nutshell, Food Inc. shows exactly how food companies make those low prices Americans crave. Our decision is simply this: we believe it is time to pay slightly more for high quality and safe food products. Also, we know there is more we can do to help minimize our polluting footprint in our society.
It will not be easy. We both love fast food, restaurants, and processed junk food. But, we must say good-bye to these. So too must we say good-bye to the cheap frozen chicken tenders which had made up the majority of our home-cooked meals. Only natural and local food will enjoy our company.
It starts now...
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