Scratch mac n' cheese

Tias asked if we could have mac n' cheese for lunch. Well, the old stand bye of KD no longer resides in our home. And I haven't re stocked our "Annie's Organic White Cheddar" mac n' cheese. So, I boiled about two cups of elbow macaroni in salted water. Meanwhile I realized I was completely out of butter so I poured about two to three tablespoons of olive oil into a pot on medium heat. I grabbed my whisk and slowly whisked in two to three tablespoons of flour into the oil. I let it bubble for a quick bit and then I slowly started pouring some milk into it while whisking. After adding about a cup or so then I added about a cup to a cup and half of grated cheese into it. Then after it was melted and bubbly, I added some sea salt and fresh cracked pepper. I strained the pasta and added the cheese sauce! And YUM YUM! The children all enjoyed it and actually, it was REALLY tasty!

Roast chicken dinner

So I had a whole organic chicken defrosted in the fridge from the night before. I took off the wrapper and gave it a good wash. Then I chopped an onion, some carrots and celery and threw them into the bottom of a roasting pan. Then I smashed some garlic and threw it and the neck in too. Then I rubbed olive oil all over the bird and sprinkled some freshly cracked pepper and sea salt. I set the bird on top of the veg, poured in a little water, put the lid on and threw it into the oven at 350 for just under two hours. Meanwhile, I peeled and chopped the potatoes and half a yam and put them in a pot of water on top of the stove. Once the chick was near done, I boiled the potatoes and heated up the frozen peas (organic bagged ones from Costco are great) in some water. Then I took the chicken out of the oven, let it set on a cutting board and poured some of the hot potato water into the roaster. Then I took my hand blender and pureed all the veg with the water and it made a nice gravy! There was no need to thicken it or season it. I mashed the potatoes with some BUTTER and sea salt and fresh cracked pepper and VOILA! Dinner was served and there were no leftovers! Well, there were bones that I used to boil in water to make a broth to freeze for a future recipe!

So a journey begins...

I grew up with a mom who cooked...in the kitchen...and made things from scratch. I lived my entire childhood not knowing that stuffing and mashed potatoes could actually come from a box! It always disturbed me to know that such things were allowed to be made and worse, consumed by unsuspecting people who had no interest in what food SHOULD taste like and how it was made to sit on a shelf for years at a time.

As a teenager I stopped eating meat and only ate organic. Then at the ripe old age of 20 I got married to my high school sweetheart and started our journey of building our home life together and it's expectations. Two years later and seven moves later, we welcomed our first born son into our small two bedroom apartment. With not much money, time, or sleep, soon cooking the best, most healthiest way was of less importance and just filling our tummies with whatever was quick, easy, and cheap was put to the front of the line. Eight and a half years of marriage, three beautiful children and 17 moves later, we have made our way back to the roots of my childhood. I read ingredients on the food labels and have no clue what most of them are. I question the constant headlines of another person who has just been informed they have cancer or are dying of cancer. I wonder how it is I can read recipe book after recipe book and find very few recipes that don't require "packaged" ingredients.

When did this become the norm? Was it after the "woman's rights movement"? After woman went to work outside of the home and there was no longer "time" to cook REAL food. Was it after fast food restaurants became more and more popular? And in turn, causing the number one health concern in north america to be heart attacks and obesity related diseases? Or was it trying to make everything "healthy" and cutting out the fat and replacing it with who know's what? Or maybe it's the "big wigs" who want to make the most money with as little loss and cost as possible?

Either way, I've started thinking for MYSELF and not believing the media and "averages". I am wanting to know what I am putting in my and my families bodies! I am trying to cook with ingredients that are as close as the way God intended them to be. I want to know that what I'm eating, isn't staying in me for who knows how long? And that what I'm serving my children isn't going to cause my children to die before me.

This is my journey....