My allergy sent me on a life journey to avoid preservatives. I have had this serious allergy for 40 years. As the use of preservatives spread, I have had to become more and more diligent over the years. Attila and I have been together for 30 of those years, and together we have evolved into a household that makes almost everything from scratch, from fresh, preservative free, ingredients. Other dietary restrictions have been added to complicate putting a healthy meal on the table, such as strict sodium and cholesterol restrictions.
This journey hasn’t always been easy. We went through periods of time when preservative free ingredients were difficult to access. When we lived at the country house I opened my own business, to purchase bulk foods, that were shipped to us, servicing only one customer, myself. When we moved to Mist Cottage we found access to bulk ingredients a three hour drive from home, which we travelled once a year to buy our supplies. This past year we ordered our supplies online, from a Manitoba distributor, which was far more expensive than travelling three hours to make our purchases, but it was convenient.
Another aspect of the journey has been the sodium and cholesterol restrictions. This almost totally eliminates pre-cooked foods from our grocery cart, even if they don’t contain preservatives. It is shocking how much sodium, cholesterol, and/or sugar is loaded into pre-cooked foods, not to mention chemicals.
Ingredients are not meals. Many of our ingredients are processed here at home. We buy wheat berries and I mill all of our flour. We buy produce and I can it. The garden produce is either dehydrated, canned, or frozen. We are busy all the time, processing our ingredients, and then cooking or baking with our ingredients.
Living this way is labour intensive, and extremely time consuming. There are no quick meals with fast food restaurants, no take-out, no pre-cooked meals from the grocery, store such as frozen pizza. With rare exceptions, we conjure up what we eat from raw ingredients.
For instance, Attila wants to make a green salad for dinner this evening.
We found a good price for romaine lettuce during a shopping excursion to Costco, which is an hour away. We were in that area for my follow up visit for PVD with ophthalmologist, where I received good news that there has been no further damage in my one eye, and the other unaffected eye is looking healthy. Since we were in the city anyway, we went to Costco, which is always a pricey affair. The lettuce was a luxury item for us, as it is not in season here in Ontario.
Green salad calls for salad dressing. This is made from scratch. I am using the liquid from a 500 ml jar of Cowboy Candy to make my salad dressing. To this I add canola and olive oil, apple cider vinegar, dried onions and garlic (store bought), blackstrap molasses (store bought), and dried herbs from our garden. At the moment I am letting the liquid drain into a 1 litre mason jar, in which I will make the salad dressing. It doesn’t take a lot of time, but when I have three or four items to prepare in anticipation of a meal, the time commitments add up quickly.
Our diet has great variety. We make soups, casseroles, sometimes serve fish or meat with a vegetable side. We enjoy our pasta with homemade pesto. Sausage patty burgers are a favourite, served with our home canned coleslaw. This list goes on. We also enjoy trying new dishes, and finding interesting ways to prepare our basic ingredients. I have four binders of recipes that are frequently used.
All this to say that food takes up almost all of our time, in one way or another. When we both worked full time it was exhausting. With me retired and at home we no longer have to push ourselves hard, to get food on the table. My educational background in human food and nutrition (Toronto Metropolitan University, formerly Ryerson University) has served me well, navigating my own food restrictions, and the evolving food supply industry.
We both love the way we live, both take a keen interest in growing, preserving, preparing, and eating homemade meals. I cannot imagine a pleasanter way to spend time!
He has taken a real shine to Attila. The sit together on the couch, Ginger resting his head on Attila leg, expecting to be petted non-stop. If Attila stops petting him, paws deliver gentle taps until the service is resumed.
Ginger is sleeping on the back of the couch, with his head resting on a pair of Attila’s pants that are waiting to be mended.
Ginger is desire driven.
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Quote
“Peace is when time doesn’t matter as it passes by.”
Maria Schell
1926 – 2005
I am in awe of you and Attila! I enjoy hearing about your gardening and canning, etc. but I get exhausted just reading about how much work you both put into your food supply. Ginger is such a sweetie. Seems when we get cats which we get in pairs one always attaches itself to my husband and one to me. How are your sewing projects coming along? I am just starting to dabble a bit in felt/wool applique. Great news about your eye exam. Hope your eyes continue to do well.
Good news about your eyes. I hope your brain is doing a good job of ignoring the floaters.
What a delight to see Ginger in all his glory. He really is a handsome fellow.
Eileen, sometimes our gardening and preserving feels like work, but mostly it feels like play. I think it would be a very hard slog if we didn’t love what we do!
Ginger is a cat of opportunity. I sit in my easy chair, and having him on my lap is lovely for a little while, but he is fifteen pounds and with his head just under my chin, his feet reach my knees. My arms and legs go numb after a while. Attila sits on the couch, and Ginger sits beside him, so that arrangement is more conducive to relaxation for both parties. I don’t sit on the couch because it is not comfortable for me. So Ginger has gravitated to Attila and the couch, very pragmatic. Ginger relies on me for food, water, squash, and sessions of play with piece of ribbon. During the day he sleeps and sits on the couch, and if he is awake he is staring at me. When I talk to him he purrs and makes eyes at me, he is a great companion.
I am just starting on my sewing again. My first project was repairing the waistband on a pair of pyjamas, replacing the elastic. I am currently working on two pairs of pants, replacing the elastic in the waistbands. These two pairs of pants were stored away in a tote, and I had forgotten about them completely. When I was rummaging around looking for materials for the pyjama repair, I found those two pairs of pants. They are around twenty years old, and in perfect condition, but for the waistbands. I had set them aside to be mended before we moved to Mist Cottage, over eight years ago, and have just now found them. They are made in Canada, and of very high quality, so it is a real disappointment that the manufacturer used cheap elastic for the waistbands! I have a few pairs of pants that re over 30 years old, and the elastic waistbands are still viable.
That sounds interesting, felt/wool applique! I don’t know anything about it, intriguing!
Thank you for the good wishes about my eyes!
Thanks Wendy, my brain is improving slowly, in dealing with the floaters. There is one very, very large one that blocks the vision in the eye from time to time, but the floater is less prominent now than it was a month ago, and it may cease to affect my vision in a few months time, or possibly not at all. It is something I can live with though, either way.
Ginger thanks you for you keen observations, he really appreciates people who recognize his handsomeness. 🙂