I'm Hungry

I'm hungry. I've tried to be very positive about this experience up to this point. Focus on the positive effects of eating local. The community. The environment. The farmers. Right now it sounds like a lesson from Charlie Brown's teacher, "Wah, wah. Wah-wah, wah, wah-wah..." Luke has been growing, growing which means he's been eating, eating, which means I've been feeding, feeding this growing little boy. My body wants food all the time. And I'm craving the craziest food. The most non-local food. To quote a fellow breast-feeding friend of mine, "If I had a chocolate cake at home right now I'd eat it. All."

But of course chocolate is off-limits. So are most of my eat-it-fast-because-I'm-so-starving foods. Rice cakes with peanut butter. Bran flakes with cold cold milk. Granola bars and energy bars. Muffins. Between the local eating project and the no-dairy project imposed by Luke, some days I'm desperate to find something to eat. It's not because there is no food, it's because I'm used to being able to grab food without making any effort. I'm not in the habit of thinking ahead. There's plenty of food in the house. Squash, turnips, beets, and a rutabaga the size of a large softball. Frozen blueberries and plums, canned pears. Flour could be made into bread, crackers, pie crust. Oatmeal and cornmeal could be made into lots of other things. But all that stuff requires me to think far enough in advance to anticipate that I will be hungry and make something to eat in that moment. It shouldn't be too hard to anticipate that I will be hungry. It happens at least two or three times throughout the course of nearly every day. More often lately. But I'm used to buying and having on hand all sorts of prepared foods so I don't have to think when the moment strikes. The result is that I'm hungry a lot lately.

Having made this realization, I am trying to cook and bake in advance. Always be prepared. Like a good boyscout earning her local food badge. I've made granola and I have it in a zip lock bag. I've baked some bread. And I've roasted some squash and put it in the fridge for future snacking. Hopefully having these things on hand will prevent me from gnawing on the crusty old tootsie rolls left over from Halloween...that's right, I've been desperate.