I'm Not Toyon With You

Well, it is Feb 1 today, and we have completed one whole month on our 100-mile diet!!!

Today, Joanne (left) went with Kathy Nolan, one of the loving core members of ELOY (Eat Local One Year), up to Matilija Canyon to pick Toyon berries. Local and expanding our diet! Both good! The ladies also had our documentary film crew with them. We are so grateful to Steve and Briana Beebe (Quarter Mile Films) for documenting our journey!!! We also really like them and Eva and Sadie!

I should probably tell you that I screwed-up this morning. I ate 3 tablespoons of of non-local pinto beans. But, I can tell you how it happened. For January, my 3 exceptions were brown rice, pinto beans and coconut. Well, yesterday, the last day of January, we ate pinto beans, and had a few left over that we put in the fridge. This morning, I mixed up some brown rice, potatoes, and a few pinto beans for my breakfast. I wasn't thinking of today being a change to new exceptions, and I was thinking of the pinto beans as something that was OK to eat. Wrong. Joanne came into the kitchen and gently said, "why are you eating pinto beans?" While I may not be perfect, I am forgiven; and not just by Joanne.

I don't believe that the ELOY core has had a discussion of how to handle such transgressions, as my pinto bean transgression, but I have gotten the sense that the group favors being gentle with such mistakes. We will surely be discussing it now that I have made it an issue.

We have found local organic beans (limas, great northern, pinquitos), so we don't need to use pintos as an exception for February. My 3 exceptions for February are brown rice (we didn't plan ahead enough to order 25 lbs of millet - we'll do it for March), quinoa, and coconut.

Lucy Martin make the connection for us with Buttonwood Ranch, and picked up local almonds. These ones come with the husks and the shells. I bought 10 lbs and haven't had a chance to open any yet. Thank you Lucy! The almonds are yet another of our finds of local foods that expand our diet and make this project SO do-able!