Life without chicken (but everything else)

It would appear that the quickest way to rid your diet of chicken is to begin raising chickens. Ridiculously i find myself pretty unable to eat chicken since i have gotten the girls (mother clucker, kentucky, jesus christ, byrd,(pictured in the header) henny penny and della-also referred to as tweedle dee and tweedle dumb), but i remain completely happy to eat beef, lamb, pork, fish, etc.

i should clarify. Chicken was already on the dietary outs before i adopted my small brood. After reading animal, vegetable, miracle for the umpteenth time (amidst a bunch of other sustainable, slow food, organic gardening books) i had finally decided that there was no true reason for me to become a vegetarian IF I made some other changes to my life. These included growing a lot of food and eating meat and food that was raised well and locally - thus reducing my carbon foot print and not supporting grossly unhealthy agricultural and farming practices that wipe out so much while producing such unhealthy food (what a smug ass i am, right!).

Since i have enough land i thought i might as well start work on that small farm, grow organic food, swear off pesticides, build compost, start shopping almost completely at the farmers market, support local food, forsake safeway, build a shrine to Michael Pollan etc., etc., blah, blah, blah. This led to buying organic farm-raised meat, which is a bit pricey, which means less meat. Sooooo why waste a bit of my meat budget on chicken-the absoutely least exciting meat you could really ever cook with. All of the sudden i have reason(s)to experiment with lamb and eat more fish, so that's what i do, AND i can hang with my girls without feeling that i might be eating their cousin. Somewhat twisted logic, but my logic never the less. Most of my friends are still insisting that it is fine to eat chicken since it's not MY chickens-that's a slippery slope for sure. Now i have a slight inkling how all my vegetarian friends feel when people question their choices (not really, but....)

Now don't get me wrong. i'm new to this. i make mistakes all the time. i make exceptions and i compromise. i eat food (and meat) at restraurants that aren't supporting local or sustainable. i baulk at the price of organic lettuce, my "farm" is a TOTAL work in progress with tons of work involved, fast food is easier and i am addicted to white sugar (seriously). i also freak out when i accidently kill snails by stepping on them and i thank heavens that i don't have to kill my own meat because then the "decision" about whether to be a meat eater or a vegetarian would likely last about six seconds. BUT i also recognize that one way or the other things are dying to feed me, and that any step i take to improve my impact on the world is a step worth taking.

peace

Eating real food

Why oh why must Janel start another blog?

My goal is to put together a spot that chronicles my adventures trying to have more fun for less money with people i really like, and for other's (friends, followers, whoever) to also help supply ideas and feedback about places to go, people to see and things to do. Ideally my focus will revolve somewhat around all the odd things i like to do, i.e. hang out with chickens, eat out a lot, ride my bike, drink beer, create random things out of whatever comes to mind, etc., etc., etc. That being said, i'm open to other things too.

With this in mind i was trying to start the blog with a dinner party I had on Saturday the 20th. The party was a potluck, but all the items had to be homemade -no store bought food. I have news for you. This is an excellent way to get fed well if your friends are decent cooks. Apparently all of my friends are really good cooks because the food rocked. Please be sure to ask Chris about his vegetarian jamaican "adult-style" shepherd's pie. A total hit, including the coconut mashed potatoes-who would imagine this would taste good?

If you're not a cook your other option was to bring alcohol, so it's fair to say that nobody at this party was suffering from hunger or thirst. i think the following link will get you to photos taken by Lupe, but I'm not tottally sure this is true. I promise to learn how to post things better. http://www.flickr.com/photos/37344445@N07/sets/72157622300549911/

Anyway, i'm thinking that his was pretty easy and am considering a Dia De Los Muertos dessert and drinks party. Interested? let me know