Mom’s need sick days and our Winter CSA

I fell ill on Sunday and thankfully Ryan was cool with me retiring to bed at 6:30; little did he know I wouldn’t get up until the next morning 🙂 It was well needed rest but I still couldn’t sleep because I was developing the world’s worst cold ever (ok I am being dramatic here). I basically had two days straight of feeling like someone was literally plugging my nose; it was horrible.

It’s felt like a long week. I think it is because I was sick for a good chunk of it with a bad cold so I slept horribly most of the week. Not sleeping makes for long days because they feel like they never end (reminds me of being a new mom again).

Then Tuesday night, I decided to use my nasaya oil (i.e. nasal oil, it’s a yogi thing) and like one minute later I could breathe! It was AMAZING! I was kicking myself for not doing that sooner. I will be shoving that stuff in my nose the first time congestion comes on next time!

So being sick when you are a mom seriously blows. You can’t call in sick for that job. The kids still need to be fed, clothed, picked up from school, etc. At least my four year old understands when I say that I am sick, but the 18 month old just wants me to read “Little Blue Truck” for the 50th time and get her more snacks. Thankfully Ryan has some sympathy for me and I was able to go to bed early at night and just rest while he entertained the girls (I think I’ll keep him 😉 ).

My week was turning around by Wednesday because I was finally feeling well enough to participate in the world again AND we got our first winter CSA! CSA isn’t a financial investment, it is an investment in our health and the environment.

CSA = community supported agriculture

This basically means that we buy into a farm’s crops for a period of time. We do this because it supports local business and it reduces our carbon footprint. There are several health benefits we get from a CSA as well:

1. We know where and who our food came from so we can be sure that we aren’t consuming any unwanted chemicals or ingredients.
2. We can consume the most fresh produce available, which as a bonus, always tastes better than what you would pick up at the grocery store.
3. It adds variety in our diet and it forces us to try new things and find new recipes.

We’ve been participating in a summer CSA as well but this is the first year we’ve done a winter CSA. Our summer CSA farm was able to continue growing in greenhouses in the winter which means we received fresh produce in January! Winter CSA was also fun because it included eggs, meat, chicken stock and granola. Basically I won’t need to spend much time at the grocery store this week.

Now that I was given all of this produce, I had to find some recipes to match what was given to us for next week. In keeping with my two vegetarian meals plan of 2019, here is what I am making next week (links in the blog names):

• Honey Mustard Chicken & Veggies Sheet Pan @Brit+Co
• Potato Corn Chowder @ Taste of Home
• Root Vegetable Power Bowls w/Garlic Tahini @Vegonicty

To keep up my 2019 vegetarian goal, I am going to need a LOT more recipes, what are your favorite vegetarian recipes?