2012 roundup

S took this photo of me cooking dinner.

Craving Fresh took a bit of a backseat this year as I devoted more time to adventures with my girls. Because of that, I haven't always followed up on the posts I've written and some things have changed without me mentioning it to you.

Here's an update on some of the topics that seem to be most interesting to my readers...

My weight loss journey

Ugh. This was going so well! I was feeling great, enjoying my morning runs, not feeling the cravings for sugar and even food in general that I usually do.

Then I somehow popped my knee out of whack and couldn't run on it.

It took a couple of weeks to come right and I was just gearing up to resume running when I popped it out again. 

Without the morning run, my appetite for sugar came back in force and it's pretty much been a downward spiral since. 

You will be the first to know when I pull myself out of this funk and get back into a good exercise regime. 

On the positive, I am reading the book Rushing Woman Syndrome by Dr Libby Weaver and learning lots of interesting things about the role of hormones in the body. So far my take-home message is to get into a good sleep pattern (I'd like to aim for a 10pm - 7am sleep), actively seek ways to reduce stress, breathe more, and focus on the positives in life. 

I also bought a liquid magnesium supplement yesterday because I keep reading good things about magnesium. It tastes pretty gak, but I swear I felt more awake after drinking it yesterday.

Raw milk

We still have our herd share which allows us to get raw drinking milk from our own cows. Just recently we changed where we pick up our milk from. 

The new pickup point is closer (saving petrol) and is also used by a couple of Playcentre families we know so we've been able to share pickup duty with them. I now get to pay online, which means I'm not scrabbling around each week for the right change. 

All in all, I'm loving the new pick-up spot.

We also increased our order to 4L of raw milk a week and 1L of raw cream. Since L stopped drinking bottles on her 3rd birthday, she drinks a lot of milk now, which is why we've doubled our weekly milk order. 

I really love knowing that the milk she's drinking is enzyme rich and nutritious.

Last week we were staying in Te Puke at my sister-in-law's house and I drove out to a local farm to pick up 5L of raw milk. It was pretty cool chatting to the farmer about what's happening with raw milk access in New Zealand.

Spinach and silverbeet

After all the controversy over whether it's safe to eat raw spinach or not, our spinach consumption has notably reduced. 

I used to always put it in our smoothies and now I hardly ever do. Even though Jessica's research showed that it's probably fine to eat it, that little inkling of doubt was enough to take the joy out of it for me.

Also, our spinach didn't do as well this year so I physically didn't have loads of it to use up like I have in the past, otherwise I would have had to find more ways to use it.

I still like to use baby spinach instead of lettuce in salads and on burgers. And when I remember to, I throw in a few leaves to our smoothies. I also add it to mince-based dishes like Asian Mince on Rice and Lasagne.

What's your take on the spinach debate?

Anything else?

Are there any other questions that have been niggling away at you? Something I mentioned once and never followed up on? Here's your chance to ask away and I will do my best to answer them for you.