August 2009 Summary

Santa Barbara County Fair - 2009 by puliarf, on Flickr

Cost of food per person per day: $3.50 I haven’t put up as much food as I’d like for the coming months. This total is blessedly low compared to the lean months of grocery shopping ahead. I surely will miss the summer’s bounty!

Relevant books read or re-read: Mindful Eating: A Guide to Rediscovering a Healthy and Joyful Relationship with Food by Jan Chozen Bays, Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods by Sandor Ellix Katz and Sally Fallon, Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home by Julia Child and Jacques Pepin

Energy Level: High

Visible health improvements: My knee pain has started up again, but it’s very different than what I have experienced the last 30 years. Instead of the deep ache that would keep me awake at nights and the sharp stabbing that would accompany my every step, I’m experiencing a shallow discomfort that is more like a twinge than anything else; and then only occasionally. From time to time, the joint will “jump out” like it did when I was a child, but unlike those days, it will almost immediately “jump in” again. It hurts, to be sure, but also unlike my younger days, it stops hurting after a few minutes. There is no three day recovery period of limited mobility, pain meds and ice packs. Curiouser and curiouser!

Other notes: My weight held steady again this month. Kate is reading Nourishing Traditions as part of her 9th grade Health and Nutrition class (we homeschool) and has started asking all the right questions. It’s easier for her, not having heard all the misinformation of the past four decades. There’s less un-learning in her learning process than there was for me.

After being on the waiting list for six months at the library, a copy of Wild Fermentation finally became available. I have one or two blog posts planned on what I gleaned from this book, and one or two recipes I’m wanting to try. It is a real leap of faith going from a germphobe—every surface wiped with Clorox wipes, food covered and refrigerated fifteen minutes after dinner is completed—to the idea of leaving honey and water out on the counter for several days to harvest free-floating yeasts from the air and then drink it. *shudders*

Remember my recurring nightmare? It’s stopped. I haven’t had it since May. I suppose that means my subconscious has come to grips with the information I’ve been learning and is comfortable with the transition. Does my conscious still struggle with it? Oh, yes. But it’s a journey.