Re: Worklife

[Guest guest]

>***Hi Heidi,

>I'm self-employed too and work from home I'm a web designer as you can

>see from my sig line, but if programmers can afford cooks, I think I should

>consider a career change

Hey, programmers unite! I get the impression programmer salaries vary a

lot. The Microsoft area has (until the dot com bust, anyway) been really

competitive. But being self-employed I'm my own worst enemy in that regard.

>I'm really awed by all the stuff that you do - feeding 5 for lunch and

>feeding your son through a tube, plus keeping your business going. In fact,

>you really put me to shame! I only have myself and two lapdogs to feed, yet

>I still don't seem to find enough time in the day to do NT recipes. Maybe

>it's because I spend too much time talking on lists. <G>

I never really cooked much by myself either. Having kids and being

gluten-sensitive is what did me in. I get to thinking, what kind of

memories are my kids going to have? My nephew was shocked to hear that you

could make cookies at home. At least growing up I knew it WAS possible to

raise and freeze a bunch of rabbits (even in LA) or grow some veggies, and

Mom made most meals (in those days premade meals were unheard of, and going

out was for very special occasions). We didn't get sweets much, but when we

did, it was some super-scrumptious homemade dessert.

And, do I really want to spend the next 20 years having eaten mostly for

convenience? One thing: in Europe the meals were an occasion, to talk, get

together, and really enjoy the food. But it's difficult to do that by

yourself or after hours. That's why I started the lunch at work: at least

everyone here gets one home-cooked meal a day, and we get to sit and talk.

Dale and I DON'T do that generally for dinner: I'm too tired by the end of

the day, so leftovers it is!

>Reading your story makes me ask myself- why can't I implement more NT meals

>into my daily schedule? Part of my problem is I'm not a planner just tend to

>eat whatever's around - whatever I bought on the weekend. Even when I do

>plan, like this weekend I got a couple bunches of carrots and some fresh

>ginger in order to make the ginger carrot recipe, but now it's weds and the

>ingredients are still sitting in my frig untouched I guess, when I think

>about it, one of my biggest problems is that my kitchen is *tiny.* I live in

>a small (approx. 700 sq. feet) worker's cottage built in the 20s. (It came

>out of a Sears and Roebuck catalog.) I'm not sure exactly what kind of

>'workers' it was built for, but probably ones who didn't cook because

>there's no room in the kitchen to do much. I have about 1.5-2 feet of

>counter space to work with, and part of it's covered in mold. It's wooden

>and water has seeped in over the years.

I can sympathize! I lived in a very similar house for years! Mold does me

in too. Our previous house was way too small for us: the one we have now

has a really big kitchen that is part of the living area, which is great

for having kids (you can keep an eye on everything). The family that built

it had 6 kids, so it's family-friendly.

>Let's see...is my rambling leading anywhere...oh yeh, I guess after reading

>about how you manage to implement NT with all the other stuff you've got

>going on, I'm asking myself - why can't I? I'm in charge of my own schedule

>so it's not like I'm returning home late and exhausted. Even with my space

>limitations, I should be able to explore the book a little more thoroughly

>and try out some recipes. Hey, thanks for inspiring me!

I think a lot of it is algorithms. Once you know how to do something and do

it a lot, it gets quick and easy. All this stuff is new for me, and it

takes forever. But I've gotten real quick at some things, like whipping out

a steak dinner. The kefir idea seems like it will go quick: most of the NT

ideas are about soaking and fermenting which don't take a huge amount of

time, but they do take more planning.

>***Hmmm, I guess I missed that thread because I do lay my lettuce down in

>the sink when I've run out of counter space (which is often). Although I'm

>sure it's not the most sanitary thing. Also, I've actually *had* food

>poisoning before - salmonella typhi (and typhoid fever), but that was in

>another part of the world, and not a result of *my* food preparation

>hygiene. As far as I know I've never gotten sick from *my* food preparation

>here in the U.S.

There was no thread I know of: it's just that my sink gets used for so much

yecchy stuff that I won't use it for anything eaten raw. People's defenses

for food poisoning vary greatly: I gave it my husband once from

not-reheated-well leftovers, and my office manager had it 6 times last year

(mostly from leftovers: thankfully not here). I would guess that people who

are exposed to raw meat a lot, and farm animals, and fermented foods,

probably have very good defenses. But yes, when it comes to other people or

kids I'm a lot more careful.

>***I think this one of the major contributing factor as to why Americans eat

>so poorly -we have gone from a society of generalists to one of specialists.

>And our specialized skills have us leaving the home, going to an office or

>other type of work place, spending 8 or more hours doing that one thing

>we're really good at. For many people, the work day is longer than 8 hours,

>so by the time they get home, there's little energy left for, grinding

>grains in a grain mill, making bread, churning butter, etc. I mean we're

>trying to implement some food preparation methods that were integrated into

>a completely different lifestyle than most folks lead today, which makes it

>that much more challenging.

Actually life back then was more specialized in some ways too: the men

worked out of the home, the women worked in it, and there was a larger

group involved. The " communal house " or the n/farm lifestyle was in

a lot of ways more humane. One big huge house: single people live in as

relatives or servants or boarders. Back then most people worked at home or

within walking distance. My grandfather said he worked 16 hour days (he was

a servant in a castle, for the most part, before he started his own

tailoring business), but the days were very easy-going and they didn't have

to work fast or hard, and he was well-fed.

>***Ah...that's how it works. I guess I need to find a commuting counterpart

>who earns lots of $$! LOL

Is that like " marrying a rich guy " ? ;-) You could start an NT commune ...

>Thanks again for sharing your story of how you are able to implement NT to

>the extent that you do. Even though our situations are somewhat different,

>It helped me realize that I can definetly put more effort into it than I'm

>currently doing.

You are welcome, though I don't *even* claim to be doing this successfully!

(Though probably better than a year ago) I appreciate any and all insights.

-- Heidi