Homemade Honey Butter Ambrosia

A few weeks ago I visited Autumnwood Farm as part of the Local Bite Challenge. For 100 days, the challenge is to eat locally. Each week there is a new mini-challenge; and one of the first ones was to try something new. This could be done one time or for all 14 weeks of the challenge.

Homemade honey butter that we put on top of 

homemade blueberry muffins.

So, at Autumnwood I found gourmet honey butter that was made with five ingredients and no preservatives. It was incredibly good. Rather than pay $6 per jar for the honey butter, I was curious to know if I could make something similar at home.

So, I searched on Pinterest and found a pin on Pinterest for Honey Butter Ambrosia that led to One Good Thing.

Just like the honey butter that I purchased, there were only five ingredients: sugar, heavy cream/whipping cream, honey, butter, and vanilla. Since I hadn't tried this recipe before, I wanted to see if it was similar to the purchased one so I made only half a recipe.

After making the honey butter and letting it cool in the refrigerator there was no question that we had found either the exact recipe or one that was very similar and tasted identical to the purchased one. From now on, I'll be making full batches and keeping some and sharing with others.

To make the honey butter, you'll need:

1 cup sugar
1 cup heavy cream/whipping cream
1 cup honey
3 sticks butter (or 3/4 lb), softened
1 tsp vanilla

To make the honey butter, combine the sugar, cream, and honey in a sauce pan. Heat on medium high heat and stir until it comes to a boil. Boil for 1 minute.

Put the softened butter in a blender or food processor (I used a Vita-Mix mixer), and pour the hot mixture over the butter. Blend on medium speed until mixed well. Add vanilla and blend again.

Pour mixture into a container, cover, and let cool in the refrigerator. Keep refrigerated since this is a dairy product.

The honey butter looks frothy on top, 

but can be stirred in once it cools.

Half the recipe above makes enough to fill two half-pint/jelly jars with some left over. The full recipe makes enough for two pint-size jars or four half-pint/jelly jars also with some left over.

Honey butter on a homemade blueberry muffin.

The blueberries were hand-picked from a pick-your-own farm and frozen.

We have used the honey butter on blueberry muffins, English muffins, crackers, and toast. You could also put it on freshly-made bread, yogurt, oatmeal, bagels, waffles, French toast, or pancakes. In terms of calories, the honey butter is about 19 calories per teaspoon.

Local Bite Challenge Update - Week #4

Over on Ever Growing Farm there's a 100-day Local Bite Challenge. It’s an experiment to see how much local food a person can live on within certain parameters (e.g., distance, budget). The first four weeks of the challenge are now complete, and this week we already are in Week 5.

The first few weeks of the challenge our enthusiasm was high and we were committed to trying to eat as much locally-grown and locally-produced as we could. We tried new food, planted seeds for peppers, cucumbers, and tomatoes in a seed-starting greenhouse, and had some meals that were made with 100% local ingredients.

And then Week 4 happened. There was too much going on between homeschooling, caregiving, house re-construction (due to an ice dam that happened in early-March), volunteering, and the girls' activities.

Finding the time to consciously and deliberately choose locally-made and locally-produced food simply was not high on my priority list. Because I was pressed for time, I simply went to the grocery store and Autumnwood Farm with Sophia and Olivia and we picked what we needed to get through the week.

That being said, we did find some locally-produced cheese and meat products that we enjoyed during the past week such as beef snack snacks and cheddar cheese curds.

Clearly the beef sticks were a hit. 

The cheese curds we limit to 2-3 curds per serving so they last longer.

Both products are from Wisconsin which is relatively close to where we live.

A product we tried that was new to us was Velvet Bees gourmet honey butter. We have used this on homemade biscuits that are hot out of the oven and the honey butter just melts into them.

We're trying to make this last, but clearly this has been something 

that we've enjoyed during the past week.

The honey butter is different than what I've tasted before. Perhaps it's the addition of cream and vanilla that make a difference. We looked online for some recipes for honey butter that use the five ingredients noted on the jar and came across a couple that we will be trying. It would be nice to be able to make our own butter rather than having to purchase it.

The label on the honey butter jar.

I also went to another grocery store to get some food for a quick dinner. It had been a long day and I just needed something easy to make. As I was walking past the bakery section, I saw there was bread that was on sale.

Even better: it was locally-made bread!

The price was $3.39 for the loaf, but it was marked down to only $1.69. It is great for toasting, but a little too fragile for making sandwiches. The honey butter on this natural grain bread has been a simple, locally-made meal that we have enjoyed on several mornings.

We also bought skim milk and chocolate milk from Autumnwood Farm as we have been doing since the start of the Local Bite challenge.

The seeds that we planted during the second week of the challenge are so tall that we had to take the top of the table-top greenhouse off. However, the plants seem real spindly and small compared to ones that are available in stores now. It probably would have been better to start the seeds several months ago so they were ready to be planted outdoors now. I think we'll just be purchasing some more sturdy plants that are a bit further along so that we get some produce out of our garden earlier in the summer.

Nonetheless, the seedlings we planted still can be planted outdoors and we'll see if they produce vegetables. Either it will take the whole season for the plants to grow or we'll have a super-huge crop of vegetables late in the season.

So, it's been a mixed week for us. We had some successes in terms of trying new locally-grown/produced products and enjoying the ones that we have since the beginning of the challenge. At the same time, we had some challenges with being able to thoughtfully choose locally-grown/produced food when presented with limited time due to the demands and responsibilities of daily life.

Freezer Organization

During March and April, I did the 40 Bags in 40 Days challenge. Because there was still work left that I wanted to do, I have been doing 35 Bags in 35 Days that covers the time period from Easter to Memorial Day.

One of the projects I wanted to work on was organizing my refrigerator and freezers. So, I looked on Pinterest for some ideas about how to create a more orderly system in a freezer. I found a pin that lead to iheart organizing about doing just that.

My freezer after I was done cleaning and organizing it.

On Saturday, I unplugged the freezer and then quickly unloaded everything from it.

This is what the freezer looked like before I began 

the cleaning and organizing process.

 I threw away anything that had been in the freezer too long and/or that had freezer burn.

I got rid of one bag of food that was either freezer burned or

things we would no longer eat.

Next, I began to chop away at the ice and frost, and took baking pan after baking pan filled with ice chips to the sink. (By the time I was done, the entire sink was full of ice.)

Then I used a hair dryer on high/hot air to help remove the rest of the ice while I chopped away at it. Once that step was done, I used a lavender essential oil spray and wiped down all the shelves and walls.

The freezer cleaned out and ready to be re-loaded with food.

Next, I filled several bins with like-items. For example, crushed bananas (for banana bread) was put in one bin. Different types of peppers and vegetables went in another. Applesauce went in another.

This is so helpful as I go into the summer season when produce is more readily available and less expensive. I know what I have on hand and what I need to freeze for the upcoming year. This will ensure that we are eating healthier; have organic food at a fraction of the cost on hand; and help us eat locally throughout the year.

Top shelf: fruit; second shelf: crushed bananas (for banana bread), 

different types of peppers, and vegetables; 

third shelf: homemade chicken broth, ready-to-eat meals, and applesauce; and 

bottom shelf: ice packs and Amish friendship bread starter.

I am so happy with this new system! This should have been done a long time ago. It sure would have made things much easier.

Local Bite - Update #3

Over on Ever Growing Farm there's a 100-day Local Bite Challenge. It’s an experiment to see how much local food a person can live on within certain parameters (e.g., distance, budget).

The first three weeks of the challenge are now complete, and starting tomorrow we are going into Week 4. As we have been for the challenge so far, we are not eating 100% locally yet. Instead, we have been eating more local food at each meal - such as cheese and milk from a local organic dairy farm, and pears, peaches, and applesauce that I canned last summer.

I also have continued to use up what I have on hand. As I looked in the freezer this week, there was a turkey that was from Minnesota. So, many of our dinners and lunches revolved around the turkey (e.g., turkey sandwiches; turkey dinner with potatoes and gravy; turkey casserole with brown rice, mushrooms, green peppers that I had cut and froze from a previous summer, and a homemade gravy).

During the second week of this challenge, I focused on looking online and in a past Minnesota Grown Directory for a list of farmers markets. I also ordered a free 2014-2015 Minnesota Grown directory. From that, I came up with a schedule for visiting 13 different markets throughout the summer - 12 within the Twin Cities and one in Duluth when we will be passing through on our way back home after a stay in Grand Marais.

Our seeds that we planted during Week 2 are doing very well. The cucumbers have reached the top of the small table-top greenhouse; the tomatoes seeds have all sprouted and are about an inch or so tall; and some of the peppers (sweet and hot) now are beginning to emerge.

We attended the dreamXchange event on May 1st (a fundraiser for the Ann Bancroft Foundation) and one of the appetizers was fresh mozzarella balls, a basil leaf, and cherry tomato.

Sophia and Olivia at the dreamXchange event.

Sophia and I enjoyed this appetizer, and she asked if we could make this at home. So, on our list of things to purchase at the farmers market will be a cherry tomato and basil plants. We also will be trying our hand at making fresh mozzarella this summer!

On Friday, after volunteering at the nursing home we went to the Osceola Landing (a park and camping area on the St. Croix River). There was a group of fishermen there - two local men and two men from out-of-state. They were trying to catch some fish that they have never caught before.

One of them caught a silver redhorse which I guess likes to be in the river at this particular spot. We had never seen one before, so it was interesting to have the opportunity to learn more about this species of fish.

The man who caught it says he has smoked this type of fish before. There are other species like it and each has a slightly different taste, he said. Here was someone who was definitely eating local!

On Saturday, we went on an art studio tour along the St. Croix River. One of the studios we visited had a wood-fired oven. They invited us to make pizza using the variety of ingredients they had on the table.

The oven baked the pizza in under five minutes. I could only imagine how great pizza like this would taste in the middle of the summer with pizza sauce made with tomatoes and herbs grown in the garden, and topped with fresh vegetables from the farmers market and cheese from the dairy farm.

At some point, I would like to have one of these ovens in the backyard to make pizza and bread. Until then, I can gather the ideas and instructions to make one, and hope that this can happen either this summer or next summer.

Local Ingredients Purchased This Week

I went to Autumnwood Farm again on Monday and purchased organic skim milk and organic chocolate milk.

Then I went to the grocery store and found cheese sticks, mozzarella cheese, and cheddar cheese from a dairy farm in Wisconsin.

I also went to the co-op and purchased a loaf of multi-grain/seed bread that was made at New French Bakery in Minneapolis.

Local Ingredients on Hand (Preserved During Summer 2013):

We continued to use several items that I canned last summer and fall: applesauce, pears, and peaches.

Looking Forward to Week 4

My goals this week are to:

1. Call the customer service numbers of local food companies and ask where the products are grown and manufactured. I keep putting this off...maybe because it seems so overwhelming to do. Yet, by doing this I will find more products that are readily available throughout the year.

2. Create another meal plan. This worked very well for the past two weeks, and I plan to do this again for the upcoming week. I'm finding that by using what we have on hand that I am not purchasing things that we don't need. There is an increasing amount of space in the freezer, refrigerator, and cupboards which is nice to have and is better preparing us for the transition to more vegetable- and fruit-based meals this summer.

3. Do the Local Bite Mini-Challenge. The challenge this week is to enjoy a meal in a cafe, coffee shop, or restaurant that sources at least some of their ingredients locally. It will be interesting to see what places use locally-grown and/or locally-produced items at this time of the year.

4. Find a new locally-made or locally-produced item to try. During the first week of the challenge, the mini-challenge was to try something new that is locally-made or produced. During the first week we tried elk sausage which everyone enjoyed.

During the second week we tried two pounds of butter and a small bottle of cream from Autumnwood Farm (a local, organic dairy farm). Sophia used the cream to make fresh butter which tasted very good. We used it on crackers as well as multi-grain/seed bread.

During the third week, we tried locally-made multi-grain/seed bread that was made at the New French Bakery in Minneapolis. It was delicious and perfect for toasting and making sandwiches. The grilled sandwiches that we made with locally-produced cheese and the bread was delicious, and everyone wanted to have it again.

Perhaps when doing the mini-challenge this week I'll find another new item to bring home and have everyone try.

Local Bite Challenge - Week 2 Check-In

Over on Ever Growing Farm there's a 100-day Local Bite Challenge. It’s an experiment to see how much local food a person can live on within certain parameters (e.g., distance, budget).

The first two weeks of the challenge are now complete, and starting tomorrow we are going into Week 3. As we were last week, we are not eating 100% locally yet. Instead, we have been eating more local food at each meal - such as cheese and milk from a local organic dairy farm, and pears, peaches, and applesauce that I canned last summer.

During the second week of this challenge, I've learned the following things:

1. The novelty of changing the way we eat wore off for some family members after the first week. We are using up what we have on hand - canned goods, frozen food, and items from the pantry. As the items are used, I am either replacing them with healthier, local versions or not at all (e.g., chips, sweets).

The latter situation - where items aren't being replaced - was a tough pill to swallow when it came to potato chips and pickles. These are some favorite foods of my daughters, so to encourage them to eat crackers or another vegetable didn't sit as well this week as it may have the first week.

2. Local food is very difficult to find in Minnesota in April.  I went to a meat market earlier in the week with the expectation that there would be a variety of meat available. What I found out surprised me: the majority of the meat that was available was not from Minnesota or Wisconsin - it came from about 550 miles away or over 9 hours to the southeast in Nebraska or about 266 miles and 4 hours to the south in Iowa.

The only meat available at the meat market was from a buffalo farm that is 12 miles northeast of our farm. So, the meat market was simply re-selling the meat, not processing it on site there.

The other place I went hoping to find some locally-grown produce was the co-op that's about 17 miles away. I was pleasantly to see that the produce department had signs that noted where each item was from.

However I was disappointed that there were only two items that were available that had been grown in Minnesota: microgreens and alfalfa sprouts. I had hoped that there would be some farms that had greenhouses or hydroponic systems set up so that fresh produce from Minnesota would be available to consumers. No such luck.

3. Local food is very expensive compared to conventional food. When I looked at meat at the co-op, the prices were way more than what I can afford to pay per pound. Seeing $11+ per pound for meat...even $7+ per pound for ground beef makes the reality of purchasing organic and/or grass-fed animals not possible for our family.

The way that the cost can be greatly reduced for meat is by purchasing a quarter side or half side of an animal (e.g., cow, pig). In that way, the butcher works with a local farmer in Minnesota, and the price per pound of the meat is substantially less than purchasing small packages at the co-op.

4. Having a meal plan is helpful.  I did a meal plan for the week on Sunday and followed it for the most part. This helped make decisions when I was at the grocery store and the co-op because I knew exactly what ingredients I needed for making meals.

Mini-Challenge - Sow Some Seeds

The mini-challenge for the week was to sow some seeds. On Monday, I purchased some roots and sets: rhubarb, asparagus, onions (two types), and garlic. In addition, I purchased some mesclun (which will go into the garden once the threat of snow is gone), tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers.

Also, I bought a miniature greenhouse with individual peat pots.

Peat pots without water.

The first step is to use warm water to fill the base.

Sophia pouring warm water into the holder.

Gradually, the peat absorbs the water and the little pots grow taller.

The pots are increasing in size.

Once they are full size, we opened the top of the wrapping and fluffed the peat a bit.

The planter tops opened a bit and peat fluffed.

Next we looked at the seeds that needed to be germinated indoors in Minnesota. For this climate, cucumbers, tomatoes, and peppers should be started indoors so that there is enough time for the plants to grow and produce.

Each seed packet had two columns of planters 

into which the seeds could go.

The girls each took 2-3 seeds and put them into the each planter.

Olivia and Sophia placing seeds in each pot.

 Once the seeds were in the planters, I placed some peat on top of each one.

Seed packets by the columns of planters 

where the seeds were planted.

After labeling the plastic top, the miniature greenhouse was placed on the counter where it is warm and out of direct sunlight.

Labels on the outside of the miniature greenhouse.

Our 72 pots of cucumber, hot peppers, sweet peppers, and three varieties of tomatoes are steaming up the greenhouse. Because we used warm water, the heat is trapped in the container. Hopefully this helps germinate the seeds quicker and our plants will be ready sooner than anticipated.

Local Ingredients Purchased This Week

I went to Autumnwood Farm again on Monday and purchased organic skim milk, organic chocolate milk, cheese curds, two pounds of butter, and a small bottle of cream. The bill came to about $26.

My older daughter wanted to make homemade butter which she did on Friday evening. We enjoyed the butter on crackers on Friday and bread on Saturday.

Local Ingredients on Hand (Preserved During Summer 2013):

We continued to use several items that I canned last summer and fall: applesauce, pears, and peaches.

Looking Forward to Week 3

My goals this week are to:

1. Call the customer service numbers of local food companies and ask where the products are grown and manufactured. Hopefully by doing this I will find more products that are readily available throughout the year. I didn't have a chance to do this during the second week of the challenge, so I'm hoping to have some time to dedicate to this goal during the upcoming week.

2. Find a list of farmers markets and determine a schedule for visiting them. Look for either the Minnesota Grown farm directory and/or online to create a weekly schedule for visiting different farms for food preservation as well as our regular meals.

3. Create another meal plan. Using what we have on hand, I want to create menus that will limit what we purchase. In this way, the food in the freezer, refrigerator, and cupboards will continue to dwindle. This will better prepare us for transitioning to eating locally-grown and produced food.

Local Bite Challenge - Week 1 Check-In

Over on Ever Growing Farm there's a 100-day Local Bite Challenge. It’s an experiment to see how much local food a person can live on within certain parameters (e.g., distance, budget).

The first week of the challenge is now complete, and starting today we are going into Week 2. Although we are not eating 100% locally yet, we have been eating more local food at each meal - even if that means milk from a local organic dairy farm or pears that I canned last summer.

After seven days, I've learned the following things:

1. Introducing local food slowly works for my family. I was happy to see that by today (one week after I went to the dairy farm) that both the skim and chocolate milk are almost gone. We have limited the amount of milk everyone drinks otherwise both would have been gone much quicker.

Choosing the elk sausage was the result of the mini-challenge during Week 1. No one in the family had ever tried it, and we were all pleasantly surprised. I was so happy to hear my youngest daughter say when asked, "What type of meat do you want for lunch?" and hear her reply, "Elk sausage." That's exactly what I had hoped for: a decision on each person's part to eat locally.

The elk sausage that my daughter likes a lot is 

on the lower right-hand corner of the plate.

2. We have a lot of food on hand that we need to use up before we could eat 100% locally-grown and/or locally-produced food. One of the things I had a habit of doing was purchasing food whether or not we needed it. I would create menu plans and try new recipes - all without looking at what was already in my freezer, refrigerator, and/or cupboards. Needless to say, we had full cupboards, freezers, and a refrigerator.

So, last month on March 5th I began another challenge called 40 Bags in 40 Days in which I worked on the kitchen - each cupboard, the freezer, and refrigerator. My goal was to purchase only the essential things we needed, with the ultimate goal of using what we had on hand so we could start fresh by the summer.

We are in the process of using up canned foods, dry goods, and frozen items. When we need essential items (e.g., milk, butter, cheese, bread) we are now buying locally-produced and/or locally-grown food.

3. Winter and early spring are very challenging times to try to find locally-grown and/or locally-produced food in Minnesota. I am looking forward to planting a garden again this year as well as visiting various farmers markets. The farmers market season begins in mid-May...so less than a month to wait before fresh vegetables and fruits are ready!

4. Eating locally in winter is possible if one has planned and prepared well during the summer and early fall months. Regularly visiting the farmers markets in the area and buying locally-grown produce in the summer and preserving it (e.g., canning, freezing, drying) is essential to being able to eat locally year-round.

We do have a variety of fruit (e.g., peaches, pears, strawberries, blueberries) and vegetables (e.g., tomatoes, green beans, yellow beans) that we still have on hand that I canned, froze, and dried from Summer 2013, but it is not nearly enough in terms of quantity and variety to sustain us throughout the off-season.

I'm planning on doing a better job this growing season in terms of preserving food so we can use it throughout the rest of the year.

Local Ingredients Purchased This Week

I went to Autumnwood Farm on Monday and purchased organic skim milk, organic chocolate milk, smoked colby cheese, cheese curds, and elk sausage.

The bill came to about $33 which included a $4 milk bottle deposit. (I don't believe I have to pay the $4 charge the next time I come back with the two bottles from Monday's purchase.)

Local Ingredients on Hand (Preserved During Summer 2013):

We used several items that I canned last summer and fall: applesauce, tomatoes, pears, and peaches.

Looking Forward to Week 2

Because I live in a rural area, the number of stores and co-ops is more limited than if I lived in the city. My goals this week are to:

1. Find more locally-grown and/or locally-produced items available in nearby stores, meat markets, and co-ops. When I went to the grocery store last week I was pleasantly surprised to see that the dairy section had some cheese that was produced within 100 miles of our home.

I have not visited the co-op yet, but will be doing so later this week. I'm looking forward to seeing what locally-made options are available there.

Last, I'm going to call three different meat markets that are within 15 miles of my home and ask where the meat is purchased from (locally, sources within the state, and/or national sources). This should better help us make decisions about where we spend our food money.

2. Call the customer service numbers of local food companies and ask where the products are grown and manufactured. Hopefully by doing this I will find more products that are readily available throughout the year.

3. Create a meal plan. I did not have a meal plan this past week. Rather, we used what was on hand and ate leftovers as a way to ensure that we were not wasting food that would simply sit in the refrigerator.

I'd like to more carefully look at what meals I am able to prepare with food that I have in the cupboards, freezers, and refrigerator. Whatever meals need to be supplemented and/or are missing ingredients, I would like to purchase local ingredients to complete them.

Local Bite Challenge

Over on Ever Growing Farm there's a 100-day Local Bite Challenge. It’s an experiment to see how much local food a person can live on within certain parameters (e.g., distance, budget).

The creator of the challenge (Melissa) is doing the Local Bite Challenge for 100 days. Her goal is to purchase items within 100 miles of her home and spend no more than $100 per week. She acknowledges that there can and will be exceptions to the challenge - things that people are unable to source locally and/or don't feel that they want to give up.

Also, anything that is already in one's pantry can be used. The goal isn't to create food waste by tossing what's in one's cupboards and refrigerator into the garbage.

After reading about the Local Bite Challenge, I thought it would be something worthwhile to undertake. It comes on the heels of the 40 Bags in 40 Days challenge that I've been doing since March 5th. In that challenge, I have let go of possessions that I no longer need or want.

Much in that same spirit, the Local Bite Challenge is letting go of unhealthy eating habits and beginning some new ways to view and prepare local food.

Organic milk from Autumnwood Farm.

 So, for our family, I've decided that our goals for the Local Bite Challenge are to:
=> Do the challenge for at least 100 days. (Hopefully by that time it will become a new way of eating and living, and we will continue on indefinitely.)
=> Replace items that I'm using up with those that are grown or produced within 100 miles of our home. (Since we live almost on the border of Minnesota and Wisconsin, the mileage is more applicable than saying that we want to use food only grown in Minnesota.)
=> Spend no more than $75 a week while I'm replacing food; and $100 a week during the growing season (May through September).
=> Learn to use and prepare at least 80% of the 40 items on the produce available from May-November list.
=> Plant a garden with some of our family's most regularly-used and enjoyed items (e.g., tomatoes, peppers, onions, beans, carrots, herbs).

Exceptions for our family include:
=> Food that is already in the home.
=> Staples (e.g., spices, salt, pepper, sugar, oils, vinegars).
=> Miracle Whip (not the healthiest...but I haven't yet parted ways with this product).
=> Hot chocolate with marshmallows.

In addition to the overall challenge, there are mini-challenges that are announced each Monday. This week's challenge is to pick one new-to-you, locally grown item from the local co-op, farmers market, road-side stand, or u-pick farm and enjoy it however you see fit.

Breakfast with locally-produced items: eggs with cheese, cheese curds, 

elk sausage, and chocolate milk.

The new item my family and I are trying this week is elk sausage (also available at the organic dairy farm). It's from a place that also is about 50 minutes from my home to the southwest. The package says the meat is "All natural, gluten free, no MSG, no hormones, steroids, or chemicals."

One of the things that I've enjoyed about the Local Bite Challenge is that I've been reading some interesting links that have been shared on the Facebook page.

For example, there was one that listed the 10 best and worst states to eat local. The link led back to Strolling of the Heifers which has a chart that details each state's ranking.

Minnesota ranks #13. Its rating has improved over the past couple of years. Last year it was #16, and the year before that it was #17. So, it's headed in the right direction.

The list was based on four factors per state:

• Number of farmers markets.

• Number of CSAs.

• Number of food hubs (e.g., “facilities that handle the aggregation, distribution and marketing of foods from a group of farms and food producers in a region”).

• Percentage of school districts with farm-to-school programs.

Strolling of the Heifers also listed its top ten reasons why it is good to eat locally. Out of their ten reasons, there are five that resonate with me and motivate me to eat locally.

Eating locally:

Supports local farms: Buying food locally keeps local farms healthy and creates jobs at these farms as well as in the local food processing and distribution systems.

Less travel: Local food travels significantly less distance to consumers than processed or fresh grocery store foods, therefore using less fuel and generating fewer greenhouse gases.

More freshness: Local food is fresher, tastes better, and is healthier since it spends less time in transit from farm to consumer. Therefore, fewer nutrients are lost and there is less spoilage.

New and better flavors: By purchasing local food, consumers discover new vegetables and fruits; new ways to prepare food; and promotes a greater  appreciation of the pleasure of each season’s foods.

Preserves open space: Buying local food helps local farms thrive and survive; and keeps land from being developed into suburban sprawl.

So what have I done so far? The first step was cleaning out seven cupboards in the kitchen. After cleaning and organizing the remaining items, I know what I have on hand and what needs to be purchased.

I believe that the food we have on hand will last us until the farmers markets open for the season (the middle of May) and have limited produce. Until then, the options are limited for both the challenge and mini-challenge. Being that there's still snow on the ground in some areas in Minnesota, and more is forecasted for three days later this week, there are significantly fewer places to purchase local food than there will be in a month.

However, yesterday I went to Autumnwood Farm in Forest Lake, Minnesota. There is a small store on the farm that sells milk from their pastured cows. The all-natural, low-temperature pasteurized milk is from cows who have benefited from rotational grazing and carefully-managed nutrition. The cows never receive growth hormone (rBST); and every measure is taken to ensure that Autumnwood milk is free of any antibiotics.

This dairy farm purchases cheese products from another dairy cooperative that's about 50 minutes northeast from my home. So, I also bought cheese curds and smoked colby cheese.

Items from Autumnwood Farm's shop: eggs, cheese curds, 

cheddar cheese, and elk sausage.

The shop has a variety of locally-grown/produced items from

other farms within 50 minutes of the farm.

Between the organic skim milk and chocolate milk in glass bottles; cheese curds; smoked colby cheese; and elk sausage - I like the changes that are taking place in the refrigerator. I am so happy I'm doing this challenge, and am excited to see the changes that we will make together as a family during the next 100 days.