Life Thoughts and Food

Where to begin... this morning I made my lovely cup of chai and sat down at my desk to read morning blogs as usual. One blog I read is indigirl and her post today was about the recession. Of course, this isn't the first time I have thought about the recession or buying local, but it did cause me to make a new decision.

I have always bought from our local farmer's market, and from our natural food co-op when I could. Recently I started purchasing my (and David's) groceries separate from the volunteer house shopping (for those of you who don't know David and I are full time volunteers with an organization called MVS). We are still on the joint budget with the house, but I was just realizing that though I only have $40 a week (which is for one meal for 7, three suppers and packed lunches all week) I can still choose to buy natural and support this small grocery co-op. I may have to spend a little more on some things, but since it will only be a portion of my groceries I think it is doable.

And so since today was so nice I took a little break from work and biked over to the co-op to get our snacks for climbing Pike's Peak this weekend - honey stix, fruit leather, and sesame cheddar sticks. Yup, we are heading up to RMMC, volunteering for a day and then hiking a day. Also, I am super excited to visit the "real world" and REI.

Anyhow, those are some of my thoughts and the photo shows some of the results from pickling hot peppers with onion, garlic, herbs, carrots, green beans, and cauliflower last Friday. Aren't they pretty?