sunday catch up: eating locally, tracking poorly

As you may recall, I was very ambitious a month or so ago about my eating habits.

I pledged to eat one local meal a day for the month of October. Even if that means just eating an apple for breakfast from a local orchard, I'm committed to doing it. And I truly do hope to keep this blog more active with updates.

Unfortunately, I was a really bad pledge keeper. I guess that's not entirely fair to myself, but I just haven't kept good track. I've definitely made mostly local food and eaten it. I just don't think it's been a conscious effort of making one local meal a day, writing it down and sharing it with the world. This really hit home this week when the organizer (Jennifer Maiser, who must be just a fantastic human being for running this whole show) of the Eat Local Challenge posted a blog with a list of the many bloggers participating in this movement. By alphabetic fate, yours truly heads up the Midwest Blogs.

The great thing was that the majority of bloggers had the same challenges I had after awhile, especially the ones that didn't live in the most bountiful of fall climates. A lot of folks had the same frustrations about making the extra effort to get local grains, dairy, etc. And of course a huge factor for most participants (surprise in this economy) was the cost of going that extra step. A CSA is one thing (and such a cost-effective way of getting produce), as is a farmer's market, but once you get into that meats, dairy, grains category it gets trickier.

I added the bulk of the participants' blogs to my Google Reader, which I suppose will be a great takeaway from this experience. In addition to common challenges, I've found a lot of great recipes and learned about eating locally in other regions. It's actually kind of fun to take a roadtrip off the beaten path of the blogosphere.

At any rate, to prove to you that I have certainly been eating locally, just not 100%, I wanted to share some photos from my kitchen over the last few weeks:

Locally baked bread; Sauce made with CSA tomatoes

From Cooking with Meghan

CSA Sauteed Delicata Squash over non-local grains

From Cooking with Meghan

CSA Stuffed Red Pepper (mostly local)

From Cooking with Meghan

Pan-Fried Farmers Market Egglplant with CSA Tomatoes (unbelievably tasty) (thanks Phil!)

From Cooking with Meghan

My attempt at another Beet Cake for Phil's Birthday. This did not turn out as well as the one in August and unfortunately I had to toss it. (But I used local beets!)

From Cooking with Meghan

Tonight's dinner -- Curried Cauliflower and Purple Potatoes (both CSA) and homemade Applesauce (from my apple picking trip). I even sweetened it with CSA honey! This meal was 99.8% local (butter unknown, spices accepted)

From Cooking with Meghan

And just because we need to giggle at food sometimes, here's a rather anatomically correct carrot I got in my CSA last month. The beauty of farm shares, you don't get the "pretty" food like at the supermarket. I'd rather have the weird food any day!

From Cooking with Meghan