May 3

I guess May 1 and May 2 were in the big ol' photo dump below.  Lightroom is set up as the default for taking photos off my camera chip, and I should really change that b/c once they are in the catalog it's a pain to move/delete them.  So everything got put into my April folder, apparently, as my May folder starts with May 3.

Anywhooo...

Today I went to the little produce place and bought a big bag full of plum tomatoes and made tomato basil soup from scratch.  I've only made it from canned tomatoes before, so this was new for me.  I also made a quick loaf of artisan bread and dinner was a scrumptious bowl of soup and a grilled cheddar/smoked turkey sandwich on the fresh bread.

Cooking like this, while very rewarding, is very time consuming.  Not to mention messy, b/c I'm not an organized cook.  However, I feel like it's the best for us, and quite frankly I think a everyone would be better off if they want back to basics.  Just today I read an article about the new concerns regarding chemicals in our bodies and the cancer risks, as they aren't tested as stringently as they probably should be and people would be prudent to avoid them where possible.  Those canned tomatoes?  Cans are coated in a sort of plastic layer inside, with the same chemicals in it which are now being banned in many plastic baby bottles (http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine-archive/december-2009/food/bpa/overview/bisphenol-a-ov.htm).

So many of our conveniences that have simplified our lives and provided us so much free time are turning out to be dangerous and harmful.  "Oh, I did it that way all my life and I/my family/my kids are JUST FINE!"  Well yeah, maybe they are.  But it doesn't mean that they aren't harboring some issues that could crop up down the road, or be passed on to their kids--toxin buildup, DNA damage, etc.  Sometimes these things take so many years to surface, and by then the damage is pretty widespread.  Newborns are already being contaminated in utero, with up to 300 chemicals/contaminants being found in cord blood.

I'm tempted to run off and build a hut next to a fresh water supply source, plant my own garden and raise my own cows and chickens.  But that's not realistic...and I know I will intentionally buy, eat, and feed my kids some things that could be considered 'risky' simply because there is no feasible way that I can turn a full 180 degrees from the way society is right now, and still function.  However, I will do my best whenever I can to find the healthier, safer way to do things.   Because my boys are depending on me to keep them safe.  And as I continue to learn, I will continue to change the way I do things, that's just the nature of life.