100 Mile Diet: Installment 7

A Little Update.

Hello everyone. Sorry for the long break! It's the end of summer and I'm struggling to catch up with there being tomatoes and melons at market, and the fact that our very short summer feels like it's on the way out already. Too bad.

I thought I'd give you all a little update on how the 100 Mile Diet is going these days. In truth, it's on and off. We were very disciplined for the first few weeks of this experiment... disciplined to the point of going hungry instead of grabbing something to eat. And it was great! We learned how to do this thing--how to plan meals and go to farmer's market and cook amazing 100 mile meals. And while we still do that, lately we've been making more exceptions.
For example, one of Erik's cousins was randomly in Portland the other night... and we went to Voodoo Doughnuts. It was her first time really spending time in Portland! We couldn't deny her that experience. Also, we've grabbed a pitcher of beer and caught up with a friend (the beer was 20 Mile [at Golden Valley-check it out!], the nachos with guacamole were not). And I've started drinking coffee again. I'll admit that I missed my hot morning drinks and long hours hanging out in coffee shops. The major motivation behind these infractions has been social--and while we love cooking with our friends too, sometimes going out for a beer or a coffee is just what you need.

That said, Erik and I have decided to continue with the 100 Mile Diet beyond our initial month-long commitment. Partly that is to make up for leaving town for a long weekend. The other part of that is that we really have enjoyed doing this. We go to farmer's market every week and come home with tons of delicious produce. We get to splurge on items like local line-caught salmon or Oregon-grown lentils because our grocery bills have in fact gone down. Not buying those easy processed foods/junk foods we secretly love has in fact saved us a lot of money! We also feel a lot healthier. It's all that fiber! And we also love knowing where our food comes from. For us, the 100 Mile Diet has become more about giving our money directly to farmers than anything else. It feels very different than handing your money to a big chain grocery store.

So that's a little tiny update. Have you tried a 100 Mile Meal yet? Tell us how it went!

Beth