Had a salad off the lawn today inspired by Shazzie's video. I washed up a nice head of red lettuce our neighbors gave us from their garden. The lettuce, a bit of avocado, and salad dressing were the only ingredients that weren't from my lawn. I found some dandelion leaves, wood sorrel, and red clover, washed, then tossed everything together. I added some maple balsamic dressing, definitely not my first choice for a healthy raw lunch, but I wasn't in the mood to make dressing, and this was left over from a salad we had bought from a local restaurant. I often like to forgo the dressing completely and just squeeze some fresh lemon or lime on top of my salad; I didn't this time because I wanted something to help mask the bitterness of the dandelion. The avocado helps in this department a little too. If I'm in the mood for making dressing I like to chop up a clove or two of garlic, put this in a little bowl, add a couple pinches of cayenne pepper, ground up milk thistle seed, and/or sunflower seeds, hemp seeds etc., and then mix it up with some olive oil, and apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice).
Today I began the day with a basket of blueberries from a local farm, shared with Liam and Jasper. Liam had his own basket of "organic" raspberries from California, and not half as good as the blueberries. He insisted though and I was just happy he was asking for fruit instead of candy.
Days like today are seriously lacking in my life. What does it take to get back on track with raw food? I can only answer based on my own experience. When I start to feel really dragged down, super cynical, negative, and crabby much of the time, I know I need a change.
Not only do I want to get back to more pure, basic foods again, I am yearning to simplify all areas of my life. A small house in the country is where I'm headed next. Above is a photo of our land in Craftsbury, a tiny town in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. As soon as we can make it happen, we plan to sell our Victorian, and build a little house up in Craftsbury. For the first time in my life it's clear to me that I could be happy in a quieter and less populated place. Having grown up in New York City, it's taken me time to adapt to Vermont. The longer I live here, the more I want less. The more I want less. What an interesting sentence. Even in New York I was a minimalist, never feeling good about waste or having too many possessions. It's just easier to find alternatives to the daily grind here. Most everyone who is in New York ultimately landed there (either by choice or circumstance) due to one motivating factor...money. Money is what makes New York tick, and you can taste the drive for more in the air. But I imagine most cities are like that, at least thriving cities. Cities house large concentrations of people who have a desire, or have set up their lives so that they "need" to be close to their jobs. What would it look like if each of these people woke up one day and decided it was okay to downsize? Whether it's cars, boats, houses, clothes, toys, electronics, cosmetics, even food, most everyone of us has at least a little too much of it. So why not have lunch on the lawn today?
A lunch on the lawn sounds lovely! as does your choice to move towards a more simple life. Three cheers for you!
Posted by: Angela Thomas | August 19, 2008 at 10:45 PM