A Little Detour.....

On Friday, March 19, my husband and I attempted for the second time to take a little honeymoon trip. That evening, after arriving in southern Louisiana, I was admitted to the hospital and remained there for 9 days. I only returned home this past Sunday.

Hospitals do not serve much "real food". I quickly realized that the fried egg resembled a real egg more than the scrambled egg, which seemed to be an egg-like substance. Other than fresh fruit and some of the raw veggies available in the "salad" section of the menu, I did not have many "real food" choices. I did the best I could with what was offered. All in all, it wasn't the end of the world and my health issues (which were not food or diet related) were paramount, so I did what I could to eat well.

I will say the food I was served seemed to be better than the fare at the cafeteria that my family "enjoyed". The portions were reasonable and even on the small side, which was helpful. Milk, coffee, and iced tea were available with all meals. I went easy on the salad dressing, if I used any at all. I tried to have raw/fresh fruits and/or veggies at each meal.

The hubby was not able to stay with me and had to return home for work. He fared much better. He continued the real food lifestyle at home and without my prompting. He has determined that no one sells organic yellow squash - it just doesn't exist. I assured him that I'll grow some in the garden so we will have our own. He has also compared selection and prices to discover that our Super Target has most of what we want to buy at good prices.

Before being admitted to the hospital, I had lost about 8 pounds. I gained about 4-5 in the hospital. I've lost 1 since being discharged. Hubby says his pants are fitting better but he thinks he has hit a plateau. Exercise will be our next lifestyle addition, I suspect.

West Wind Farms

I found West Wind Farms on the internet while searching for locally raised and grass-fed beef, pork, and chicken. The farm is not really close to us, but they do deliver to a location about a mile from our house. I took that as a sign! Today I placed my first order with them for boneless pork chops, a boston butt roast, a whole chicken, split chicken breasts, salted cultured butter, organic grassfed medium cheddar, one dozen farm fresh eggs, and smoked pork bacon.

West Wind also offers a veggie CSA, along with other CSAs for their meat products.

Since I do not know if I am ready for the financial commitment of a CSA and I know I don't have any storage for that much meat (yet), I am glad West Wind sells meat in individual cuts. It also allows us to "try before we buy". We can sample the various meat products and decide if signing up for a CSA is right for us.

I'm looking forward to trying the sure-to-be tasty items from West Wind - delivery is this Saturday! I can't wait!