Local Thursdays: Eatin’ good in my hood

We made it back from Savannah Tuesday night and now I'm just getting things back in order around here. Slowly, I might add. Today is my scheduled blog event: Local Thursdays a day where all of my meals consist of foods that are grown right here in Floyd. I thought about my rules, what would be considered local?

Sure I could buy a bunch of groceries at Food Lion and technically it is a local store, but the food did not come from here. I've looked around, there isn't anything grown locally for sale at Food Lion. But for me local means: grown within 100 miles to where I live. In most instances, almost everything I need can be found well within 20-50 miles, except for grain mills. I was most excited to find food as close as seven miles away.

I did leave room for bending the rules a bit, I would allow butter (but, organic and purchased locally,  will continue to hunt down a local variety), olive oil (again organic and purchased at a locally owned shop), salt (organic sea salt, i use the sandy colored variety), pepper mill, one spice of my choosing, and limited amounts of organic milk, yeast, baking soda etc.

I started my shopping yesterday afternoon at the local Good Food-Good People and purchased the following: 2 lbs 10 mile grown potatoes (95 cents a #), 1 peminto pepper (15 miles, about $1.25), 2 lbs. green granny smith apples (approx. 20 miles, 1.25 a #), 1 bag mixed greens (10 miles, $4.00 for 1/2 #), watermelon (approx. 15 miles $4.00), elephant garlic (local, $1.15) and 1lb. small tomatoes ($3.00). And then I went to Sweet Providence Farm after work and purchased local green concord grapes for $1.99# and over 3 lbs. of fresh chicken $10.53 total. Today I quickly went to Harvest Moon to pick up a dozen eggs for $4.19 (can typically find them for $3.75 elsewhere) and local goat feta (about 15 miles away) for $5.30 and a 5lb bag of flour from a mill about 30 miles away ($3.50). Total: $44.86 for 9-10 meals (not including chicken at every meal or the cost of oil and butter)

I forgot my eggs at home so for breakfast I decided on watermelon. Prep time: 10 minutes to cut into wedges. This was pretty filling and I did not get hungry again until noon. I ate this around 8am. The watermelon was fresh and delicious.

For lunch I decided to have an egg, potatoes and salad. For the potatoes I simply cut them into cubes and cooked them until soft in a skillet with butter, pimento pepper, minced garlic, salt and pepper. I fried the egg until no longer runny. The salad had a little goat feta on top, tomatoes, minced garlic and a drizzle of olive oil. Cracked pepper on top. And a few slices of a granny smith apple.

For dinner I decided to roast a chicken with salt, pepper, garlic clove and olive oil. I just heated the oven to 375 and rubbed the chicken liberally with sea salt, pepper and garlic and then drizzled a thin coat of olive oil on all sides of the chicken. It took about two hours to fully cook. With the remaining potatoes, I boiled them with garlic and mashed them with about 3/4 C of potatoes water (what the potatoes cooked in) and 2 T butter, salt and pepper to taste. I had another salad exactly the same one as lunch. With the remaining pimento pepper I sauteed it in olive oil and garlic until tender.

For  a dessert I made a cardamom and honey apple tartlette. I made this recipe up as I went along so my recipe is not exact. I made a simple pie crust with flour, butter, salt, raw organic sugar and ice cold water and pulsated in the food processor until a dough formed. I let it cool in the freezer whileI prepared the apples. Peeled and cubed apples and cooked on medium heat (in a cast iron skillet) with butter, cardamom, honey, raw sugar, and a dash of salt. I let cook until soft, but still slightly firm. Lined a muffin tin with the dough and filled with the apple filling. Topped with a small patch of pie crust and baked at 350 for about 12-15 minutes. Drizzled with honey. Honey used: sourwood from savannah bee company (locally made in savannah.)

All in all, I had a really delicious day. It was hard at times because I had to take time to prepare food, plan ahead and couldn't just quickly grab what looked good. Having these rules made it easier for me to stick with throughout the day. I wasn't even tempted to stray, and why would I? This food was delicious, I was satisfied and I was never starving.

I loved that I was never tempted to overeat or to eat junk food. Having set rules made it easier for me to focus, which is a small lesson in itself. I even had dessert after dinner and felt satisfied with the portion I ate. I have leftovers in the kitchen and I'm not even tempted to eat them. I know this is so basic, but for me not eating them until they are gone is huge. The act of baking and cooking is very soothing and stress relieving. It is comforting and pleasing in a way that overeating food has never been despite countless times doing so. I trusted myself today, and I followed through.

My portions were smaller than normal and I allowed myself to have what I wanted and how much I wanted. I just didn't want to eat a lot after taking the time to prepare this food. It wasn't disposable like a box of thoughtless donuts, or a sleeve of hard boxed cookies. This food was thoughtful and satisfied me beyond the feelings of full, but emotionally and mentally I felt good with what I ate today.

I didn't feel guilt over anything I ate and didn't feel the need to stuff myself with leftover potatoes, meat or dessert. When I was done, I put the food away and moved on.

I used websites like www.localharvest.org to help me local outside sources for locally made food and will continue to use that as a resource.