Whole Foods Dinner Club

No, this is not going to become a food blog, but I am excited to share that I've joined 5 like-minded friends on a food journey to start cooking more healthfully for our families. For us that means eliminating as much processed foods from our diets. No more refined sugar, artificial sweeteners, colors, or flavors, no "cream of crap" soup either. We also want to be more eco-conscious, using local and organic meats and veggies whenever possible.

Basically, the six of us have created a dinner club. Each month, we meet up to exchange freezer meals (based on a preassigned category that rotates each month). This month, I'm responsible for the chicken dish. I'll need to create 6 of the same chicken dish that meets our health requirements and can be frozen and prepared later. I'll come home with my chicken dish and 5 other recipes: soup, beef, pork, vegetarian, and breakfast.

Baby steps.

I'm not going crazy and tossing everything in my pantry (although I'd really like to). And I'm not buying all new stainless steel and cast iron cookware. However, I will be replacing junk with healthy food when I go food shopping and replacing my poisonous Teflon cookware one piece at a time.

Last summer, I did a lot of once-a-month meal planning. I'd like to get back into that again. I think it will be a lot easier once we get our upright freezer. We're planning to split a local, grass-fed cow and a pig with the other families. Then all I'll need to buy each week are veggies, eggs, and dairy. Oh, how I can't wait for the farmers' market and the veggie CSA to start up again!

What does this mean for the blog? Not much. I want this to remain a mostly crafty blog. But it is about my life, and healthy cooking is going to be taking a much-needed front seat in my life for good. So, I'm thinking about adding a once-a-month food related post, including our monthly menu, and anything exciting going on with our dinner club. Maybe I'll include some recipes if I find some really awesome ones that are worth sharing. What do you think?