First day out!

I woke up this morning and my diet started. I had my final tastes of food from the outside last night. I almost took a sip of my dads tea, but I came to myself as I was raising the mug. I made an omelet with two eggs for my morning meal and I prepared a salad for lunch at school. The salad was composed of produce from the farmers’ market and The Ann Arbor Community Farm. The dressing consisted of melted Calder Dairy Butter, garlic from The AACC, and oregano from my front yard. Next time I will clarify the butter to have a smoother texture.

After school, I ventured over to Bella Vino on Plymouth Rd. They have their own farm off of M-14, called Bella Vino Farm, which supplies some of their produce. Mark, the manager, said they try to have 30% of their produce to be local--some of which come from the farm. Mark also told me that they raise their own goat and lamb on the farm. They were out of goat at the meat counter, but I did purchase one pound of ground lamb. Also, the summer squash they had was from a Amish farm located in Homer, MI. I will check back in to see what other local produce they have coming in.

In preparation for the diet, my dad and I went to the Ann Arbor Farmers’ Market and purchased a large amount of food. The biggest find, besides the two foot diameter head of lettuce for two dollars, was a source of flour. Archie Jennings operates a farm 97 miles away near Kalamazoo, MI. On this farm he grows a variety of wheat and corn. We got one bag of wheat mix and a bag of cornmeal. He threw in a me a bag of bran also. Not having flour this summer was my biggest concern. Now we can make breads, pancakes, pasta…ect.

Tonights dinner consisted of sauted red skin potatoes, with green onion, garlic, carrots and herbs. Steamed green beans, coated with Calder Dairy butter and lamb patties with garlic, hot pepper and herbs. I piled my plate high with food and ate while I watched the movie Sideways. This meal was delicious and didn't take very long to prepare. The lamb patties were very moist and tender. I am nervous and excited going forward with this adventure...

-Aren