Worklife

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>>>>>Now our meals are SO complicated I don't think I could get anyone to do

them right. I do work from home: and 3 employees and my husband are here

too. We all have lunch together, which I cook. We have to cook something,

because programmers otherwise tend to skip meals or eat nothing but pizza,

and now with the kids they really need better nutrition.

***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

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>

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've told my dad (the landlord) that

we need to redo the surface because the mold is just creeping in and taking

over what little space I have. I'm not really squeamish about bacteria, but

I really, really don't like mold. So, most of the food I prepare is on top

of my cutting board, which is medium sized. That makes it difficult for me

to cook anything that involves more than a few bowls

My other problem is that I cook for myself only, since I live alone (except

for the dogs, of course) and I've never been very interested in cooking just

for myself. I do enjoy cooking when there are others there to enjoy it with

me. I used to cook more often when I was married years ago, except after a

10 hour workday, which, come to think of it, *was* my workday for all the

years I was married. (Imagine doing NT after 10 hours on your feet.) Except

for a few months when I quit my job (as a Philly cab driver!) and stayed at

home for that brief period. Then I was cooking a lot and really enjoyed it.

But later on, when we had a small business and were returning home at 9 p.m.

there was just no way I was going to cook. I lived on Outback steaks at that

time in my life!

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 worry a lot more about food-poisoning

issues than I would otherwise, and most people who have worked in the

kitchen don't meet my sanitation standards (like, you do NOT lay down

lettuce in the kitchen sink!). Which is where NT (and you-all) have been

very helpful.

***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. Although I don't yet eat fully raw meat, I do prepare raw

meat daily for my dogs, but I don't do anything special to clean up after

handling it - just rinse my fingers and the cutting board in soap and water.

I know of people who *sterilize* the heck out of their prep area after

preparing raw meat/bone meals for their dogs, but I personally don't think

that's necessary. But then I'm not preparing meals for *employees* as you

are. So I'm the only one who'd get sick. I

>>>>I agree -- and at home is the way to go! Work hasn't been hard to get

(knock on wood), and our first retail product will be for sale this year

(an airline reservation system, how's that for timing? It's for small

charter plane operations though, and they seem to be doing ok).

***Good luck with that! I hope you sell so many that you can hire a special

NT cook

>>>>The average woman/man though, has to deal with a lot more pressure, and

what I'm hearing is that people have pretty much given up on " the home

cooked meal " . I mean, I can put some beans on to boil and go back to work

-- my office is next to the kitchen -- but how does one fight traffic at 5,

get home by 6, then cook a dinner? Even a packaged dinner is difficult. The

whole " normal American life " seems seriously skewed to me.

***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.

>>>>The only way I can figure to do NT and be a working woman is to do a

community concept: where the " at home " people do the gardening/cooking part

and some other people do the commute/earn lots of money part.

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

who earns lots of $$! LOL

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.

Suze Fisher

Web Design & Development

http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze3shjg/

mailto:s.fisher22@...