When: February 22, 2012 to
April 8, 2012 – the 46 days of lent.
Why: Well I'm always asking
folks to buy local and eat seasonally. Do I always do it? No. The
challenge is, can it be done? Of course! Will it be difficult? I
expect so, but I am hoping to be surprised. I'll have to rethink
where I buy my food, how it is prepared, what ingredients are in it,
etc., but what better way to truly know what is going in my mouth.
Who will be participating: Shannon Rau, Joannée & Perry DeBruhl and our kids Troy & Reid (when they
eat at home).
The rules: Ingredients must be
things grown/raised/processed in Michigan. Shannon's are more stringent.
Exceptions: Coffee, olive oil, spices,
chocolate, and yeast. I admit, I am weak. I will need my coffee
and chocolate for comfort on the long journey ahead. The coffee will
be roasted in Michigan and must be certified organic, and certified
Fair Trade. The chocolate – well I am hoping to find some locally
made chocolates, but any extra ingredients will have to be from
Michigan – so dark chocolate covered cherries will fit the bill if
they are made in Michigan and the cherries were grown in Michigan.
Food Sources: I will be sharing
sources for Michigan food as I find them. Here are a few that Shannon hasn't listed yet.
Colasanti's – Milford Rd, Milford, MI
Got an oyster mushroom kit from there 2
weeks ago and should have my own oyster mushrooms in a week or two.
Easygrow Mushrooms, Ann Arbor, MI -http://easygrowmushrooms.com/
All kinds of mushroom kits to grow your
own.
Smelter Orchards, Frankfort, MI -
http://smeltzerorchards.com/2011/
Chocolate covered dried fruits and
dried fruits (cherries, blueberries, etc.)
Paramount Coffee – Has their own
label and roasts and makes the coffee blends for some of Bigbee's
coffees too.
Eggs – we have a few chickens in our
backyard, so luckily we will have fresh eggs available every day.
The weekend before
the challenge starts - Went to Costco and VG's today to see what I
could find that was from Michigan. Shocked at how far the food
travels. I know this, but still shocked. Also found out it is tough on some labels to find out where
the ingredients come from, mainly just the distributor and
manufacturer listed, not where the ingredients are from. If unknown,
then will not be acceptable for the local food challenge. Found some
apples at VG's that are from Michigan. Didn't do an extensive
search, but looked at foods I would normally purchased and had to
leave them all at the store. Hummmm…what will we be eating?
Learned how to make bread last weekend
and pasta. Bought organic flour from Westwind Milling which is grown
and milled in Michigan, so will bake bread tonight in preparation for
the first day – tomorrow. No-Knead bread recipe below.
Challenge for you – try to eat
locally just one day. Read the labels, where did the ingredients
come from? Who prepared it? If one day is easy, try another, and
let me know what made it easy for you. All ideas will be greatly
appreciated!!!
Joannée
No-Knead
Bread
INGREDIENTS
½
t yeast
1
½ t salt
3
c flour
1
5/8 c liquid
Mix
yeast, salt and flour together. Slowly add liquid (water, beer,
pickle juice- whatever you want!) and stir while adding. Cover bowl
with plastic bag and set aside for at least 10 hrs, and as much as 24
hours! When ready to bake, preheat oven to 425. When heated, put
dish and lid/cover in oven to fully heat (at least 10 minutes).
Remove dish and immediately put dough into dish, and cover. Bake for
20 min. Take lid off, and bake for 15 more minutes. Let cool before
trying to remove from pan. (About 15-20 minutes if you want to eat
warm bread and melted butter.)
Have
fun with this! Experiment with adding all kinds of things from herbs
to olives to garlic. Sprinkle coarse salt on top before baking for a
soft pretzel sort of thing.
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