Old Macdonald had a farm...

So, I joined a CSA. That's not a political group - well, not directly anyway. It stands for Community-Sourced Agriculture. The idea (if you're unfamiliar with it) is to get produce from local farms and growers, as well as (sometimes) other locally-produced foodstuffs. You generally pay a fee (usually $20-40 a week) and get a Box of Stuff.

This week's Box of Stuff has: apples (6, and they're really sweet), lemons (2), pears (7, bartlett type I think), arugula, collard greens, 3 "sticks" of lemongrass, a couple largish onions, a handfull of russet-type potatoes, a bunch of rosemary, what I think is a huge rutabaga, a couple of turnips, and an acorn squash.

I also got a dozen eggs and some uncured bacon added to it.

I have no idea what to do with most of this. Well, not really true - most of it is pretty typical. Things like the collard greens and arugula I'll probably put into a salad, and if nothing else potatoes make good hashed browns.

It's the turnips, rutabaga, and acorn squash I'll have to get creative with. But that's part of the point: I tend to be slightly unadventurous when it comes to day-to-day meals, so the idea was to end up with random things I probably would never have bought on my own to see what they're like. And I need to eat better in general, so the apples and pears are definitely great snack-type items (I had one this morning, with my breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast).

We'll see how this works out longer-term, but I think it's a fun way to change up the diet a little.

To-Do Lilst (Revisited)

* Pay off all debt (should be around February / March)
* Move closer to L.A. (April-ish)
* Visit at least one country to which I've never been - likely something in the Caribbean for my birthday
* Get back into my workout routine - I fell out of it with all the stress and traveling this last quarter


Well, #1 is a "go". I paid it all off, and basically just have "maintenance debt" now (a few hundred dollars that gets paid off as I go).

#2, done, if a little late.

#3, nope. The consulting job went way longer than it should have. So, still ned to work on that.

#4, since I was in the gym earlier today, I'd say it's done. It's off and on, but especially with the gym here in the building, I've been a lot more consistent. I've actually gone the last 6 days in a row.