Welcome

  Welcome, I am new to “blogging” and I have lots to talk about, especially parenting, using our money wisely and keeping chickens in your backyard.

Trish at Local Matters found me volunteering with my children’s preschool on a planting project last spring.  We helped plant fruit trees at the Early Childhood Leaning Center (ECLC).  She then saw me volunteering with Local Matters, Food is Elementary program at Indianola Informal K-8 and she could see I was an involved parent.  Little did she realize I am also a passionate parent about foods, health and our environment.   Trish asked if I could blog for local matters and I agreed because I have so much to tell you aboutour commitment as a family to improve ourselves and the environment.

I live in Columbus, OH with my husband, two children, a cat and some chickens.   My husband is a carpenter (we are also renovating our home).  My previous career before children was a ceramic Artist.   I chose to stay at home and raise the children until they went to all day kindergarten.  My youngest will be going to Kindergarten in the fall; I guess it’s time to get a job.   For the last 7 years we have lived on a meager income.  We went from a 2 income family with no children to a one income family with 2 children on a carpenter’s salary.  Talk about a life changing experience!   It has been difficult at times but I tried not to compromise the quality of food that my family ate.  We just did without other things, like cable TV, eating out, and especially those drive thru coffees.   We also get creative with meals.  I hope to share with you all sorts of ways to have good food at the table and make it fun to sit down as a family.  We are not a perfect family and cooking everyday can be, well… boring at times.  But it has been worth our sacrifice.  The alertness of my kids and knowing what goes into our foods, most of the time, makes me feel good and our bodies benefit as well.

I have been involved and aware of the quality of foods since I could shop for myself which happened to be 17 when I went to college in Athens, OH -there I was involved with a fantastic food Co-op.  I am now 47 and I am just as zealous about what goes in my body and what my children eat as I was 30 years ago.  I learned how to bake bread a few years back using the "5 minute no knead" style which anyone can do.  This saves us lots of money weekly and the bread is fresh and fantastic.  We also eat fruits and veggies in season- they are cheaper and have more flavor when in season.  And we don’t eat much packaged, processed foods.  I try to buy in bulk at the local food Co-op.  Our newest ambition is to find a resource for local hormone and pesticide-free meat and store it in bulk in a freezer chest that we don’t have yet.  We have a garden behind our house which started in clay pots and each year add more space to grow veggies, fruits and herbs.  We have a few chickens (in the city limits) and have fresh eggs every day, and really good fertilizer for the garden. Our lifestyle sounds ideal!? Sometimes, but it takes time and energy to pull it off.  It’s also been very therapeutic for me…I guess we are saving money on a therapist too.

As I said in the beginning, I have lots to talk about and hope you will continue to log on and read.  We may all learn a few things together.  Toni