First CSA box of goodies

I have my first box of produce coming from Full Circle Farm tomorrow. Organic and wholesome potatoes, spinach, beets, carrots and more. I am really excited and my family - well - my family sat in wary silence contemplating what this might mean to them. More vegetables? Different vegetables? 'What in the world will you do - god, i hate to ask - with all those beets?' I just smiled with the patience of a saint (not really - I think it looked a bit more, er, manic) and rattled off a couple ideas that made them blanch. At least they didn't ask any more silly questions.

The point is, I don't care if they eat beets. I love beets - pickled or mashed with some sour cream or steamed and added to a salad - and I am content to eat my beets all by myself. And if I want to try something new, I'll ask my friend B. for some ideas since he loves trying new things. (I still have to try that pumpkin soup recipe!). I'm just happy to have found an organic, local farm that I can eat fresh and seasonally from.

It is becoming more and more important to me what I put in my body. The mind/body/spirit connection of how I sustain myself really matters. I was amazed at how important it became over the last year. I honestly thought that the stress and work would throw me off into unconscious eating habits of years past - grabbing what was convenient, eating out too much, ordering too many french fries. I found myself bringing my own food with me. I made sure that I had healthy snacks to offset hunger so I wasn't ravenous when I did got home. I cooked up meals on the weekend for the week ahead. My slow cooker and I became good friends.

So, somewhere along the way, staying conscious on many levels of my life certainly helped me stay healthy as well. And carrying that forward into the new year is exciting to me. I'm looking forward to fresh new choices and finding new ways to cook. I don't need the family to jump on the band wagon - they are all old enough to make their own choices. I like giving them choices, however, because you never know when someone might try something new. Okay, I don't have a lot of hope for my crew around that statement - especially when J is telling me how she would prefer for me to cook up spaghetti the next time I prepare it (relaxing clenched jaw now) - but that's choice and that's change - and they can always cook for themselves.

I wonder what I can make with kohlrabi....