Ever since about the middle of December, I’ve been eating all sorts and varieties of sugary things. When we came back to North Carolina, I was toting a new mixer from the in-laws, so I decided I’d make two batches of cookies (and of course I had to try to make these lovely Brigadeiros that Becki’s boyfriend introduced us to–heavenly little caramels wrapped in chocolate sprinkles, yum!). Orange-cranberry-almond cookies made with tangerine juice and oatmeal-chocolate-chip-hickory-nut cookies with nuts from the tree in my parents’ West Virginia backyard. The small group was coming over for New Year’s, and we were providing desserts. And then Jesse found Ferrero Rocher half price at the store. And ice cream was buy-one-get-one. And then, even though we all stuffed ourselves, we didn’t manage to finish anything off during the party, and now we’re here with a house full of sugar. (I haven’t even mentioned the amount of soda still in the fridge.)
I feel…blech. I have no motivation. I’m grumpy. I’m tired and achy. I feel queasy and hungry at the same time. And I know exactly why–it’s the sugar. I’m not sure if I would have so quickly pointed the finger at sugar before doing the diet, but after feeling so clear-headed and full of energy, I can see the difference plainly. I can’t wait to start the diet again, but at the same time I want to finish off all this stuff we either bought or made, and this is supposed to be my week of slowly transitioning to the diet! Aaahh!
Well, first things first. I need to get out of the office and accomplish something. Getting something done always helps me feel more motivation for getting the second and third and fourth things finished. I’ve got cat food to make (more on this later) and I’ve got a shopping list to create and I’ve got errands to run. Stay tuned; a real blog is also on my to-do list.
11 Comments
Making cat food? I would like to hear more about this. Next you’ll be making your own detergent (or are you already?)! When I was little and we lived in Ukraine, there was no manufactured cat food. We fed our cat mostly people food. She ate cream of wheat and other milk-based meals, runny mashed potatoes, and fish that we bough specifically for her and boiled. I can certainly appreciate not having to spend time on making my cat’s food now, but I suppose that making it creates a closer relationship between human and animal.
Wow–I am fascinated by your story of making cat food in Ukraine. I’d love to hear more about that and what your childhood was like there.
We used to make food for both our cats but had to stop because of the time and money involved. But now with all of Gracie’s issues, we’re spending plenty of time and money already so we might as well be making her food. Plus the regular dry food at the store is atrocious and has no resemblance to what a cat would naturally eat. There’s a whole movement around feeding pets the “raw diet”–the idea is to try and replicate the animal’s natural diet (without having to buy cute little mice and birds!). So, it’s a combination of meat, some grains and veggies, and vitamins to replace the bones. We used to grind up whole chickens in a meat grinder and add veggies and vitamins. That was a little too labor-intensive for us, but it certainly was good eating for the cats.
Two things: 1) Bring some of that sugary stuff to small group Sunday, and 2) would you like me to try and trap some sparrows for the cats? Sparrow traps are easy to make, and there’s no limit on how many you can harvest!
Your first idea is an excellent one. Your second one, however…
1) You should definitely give sugary baked goods away anywhere you regularly see people. I give my surplus baking to my next door neighbors.
2) I look forward to the cat nutrition blog!
3) I, too, would like to hear more about Yana’s childhood in Ukraine….
4! I don’t know about detergent-making, but you CAN get bulk dish and laundry soap from Orlando’s co-op, along with all the local produce and dairy!
I keep hearing wonderful things going on in Orlando as far as green living goes! My mom is now buying grass-fed meats and raw dairy from a co-op over there. I have heard of people making their own detergent–we have friends who started buying all-natural detergent once they had a baby. They use cloth diapers (the ones they have now are so cool and are nothing like what I imagined cloth diapers would be–Velcro and the whole nine) and typical detergents gunk up the diapers.
http://www.holisticlivingschool.org/
Oh, aaaaand, I just got an email newletter in which I read that one of our local tea houses will be having a cloth diaper workshop later this month. The following was a link they provided: http://www.weewilliewinks.com/store/Default.asp
Great links–thanks! I think cloth diapers are awesome. They aren’t of any use to me right now, but conceptually speaking they rock. Also, my most recent library run resulted in coming home with (the giant!) Worldchanging. Thanks for the recommendation.
Didn’t mean for the last sentence to be italicized. Oh well!