Recently I finally got a chance to watch Food, Inc and even though the information provided wasn’t new to me, it’s a good documentary to watch. In this day and age it’s unfortunately difficult at times to know exactly where your food comes from. It’s not impossible to buy local and sustainably grown products, but I can understand how it may not be affordable for everyone. The point that really got me in the movie is how affordable it is to buy soda and not good, local fresh food in this country. It boggles my mind how far removed we are from good, real food. No matter if you’re a vegetarian or omnivore or what have you, I see the horrible eating habits with everyone. I’ve gotten into some ridiculous arguments about my choices (i.e. I do eat meat and animal products) with vegans who think eating overly processed “meat-like” substances make them better than me. Whatever, everyone has a right to eat whatever they want, but still… it baffles me.

This post wasn’t meant to be preachy… but I hope that everyone tries (as much as they can) to learn more about where their food comes from. I’m not perfect and I doubt many people are when it comes to their eating habits, but who doesn’t want to eat stuff that’s actually tasty and good for them? Granted every so often I get a craving for McDonald’s fries, but I think that stems from my childhood. I didn’t grow up eating a lot of fast food. My grandmother took me to McDonald’s as a treat and their fries are sort of a weird comfort food for me. Cheeseburgers from McDonald’s are always a guilty pleasure when there’s nothing else to eat while on a road trip or stuck at an airport. Unfortunately, my body seems to always reject that fast food… and I guess I should be glad for that, right?

Anyway, recently I was craving those fries and instead of going out to get them… I made my own. They were not the same but seriously potatoes are tasty no matter what. From time to time I crave a burger and I have one. Not always homemade, but they are always better when you know where that meat comes from. A few days ago I also made a quick meal that I adore. Braised cabbage with spinach and shiitake mushrooms and a poached egg. Not exactly a classic “fast food” but definitely satisfying. I can’t say enough how fortunate I feel to know some amazing people who produce amazing products: our local farmers. I miss the farmers’ market here and boy… I can’t wait until it starts back up again next year. I’m also trying to decide on which CSA we could possibly sign up for. But for now, I’m glad we are able to get the products that we buy now.

I love my cabbage braised in some ghee and onion with caraway seeds and some apple cider + apple cider vinegar. I don’t have an actual recipe for it, but I can highly recommend this one.