What Happened to Our Chocolate Chip Cookies?

As a supplement to my previously-started blog (http://www.journeytotheknot.blogspot.com/), Sam and I wanted to start another blog specifically designed to document our way through a new goal we have for ourselves: to buy, prepare, and taste every vegetable and fruit sold at our local fresh food markets. Yes, we are inspired by the recent movie Julie & Julia where the young Julie cooks her way through Julia Child's famous cookbook and blogs about her experiences with the recipes. However, this blog and, more importantly, this goal are triggered more by the desire to be better eaters - healthier eaters. We recently bought the book entitled Food Rules by Michael Pollan and had some epiphanies even before reading the book. Our main goal is to get back to basics - back to our roots. Basically, we want to remember why humans eat (to survive!) by eating more plants, more whole grains...more intelligently.

When we started dating, as many couples do, we indulged in the fun, cuddly nights together without a care for calories, fat, carbs, or any other "no-no" foods. Our favorite treat became baking chocolate chip cookies (including a few sneak tastes of the dough) while hanging out on the couch snuggled up together. YUM! But, those days are over (well, not the snuggling) - as our bodies no longer have the metabolisms that they once did (even if that was already lower than we wanted in the first place!). So, we have a new mission: ditch the crap our ancestors would not have been able to enjoy and eat foods that are created by nature and not by test-tubes, big machines, or engineered chemicals.

In order to fulfill this goal, we have a unique challenge for ourselves - one we have decided to blog about in order to help force ourselves to be true to the plan! So, without further delay, starting this week, we will learn how to select, store, prepare, and taste every vegetable and fruit we can get our hands on. So far, this is our list, which can also be broken down into other subcatetories (like kale under leafy greens and hubbard under winter squash). . . I know we will add to it as time goes on:

Artichokes
Asparagus
Beets
Bell Peppers
Broccoli, Cauliflower
Brussels Sprouts
Cabbage
Carrots
Chile Peppers
Corn
Cucumbers
Eggplant
Fennel
Fresh Beans
Garlic
Leafy Greens
Leeks
Mushrooms
Okra
Onions, Shallots
Parsnips
Peas
Potatoes
Pumpkins
Radishes
Rhubarb
Summer Squash
Sweet Potatoes, Yams
Turnips
Winter Squash


Apples
Apricots
Avocados
Bananas
Blackberries
Blueberries
Cherries
Coconuts
Cherries
Cranberries
Dates
Figs
Gooseberries
Grapefruit
Grapes
Lemons
Mangoes
Melons
Nectarines
Oranges
Papayas
Peaches
Pears
Persimmons
Pineapples
Plums
Pomegranates
Raspberries
Strawberries
Tomatillos
Tomatoes

Some of these (many of them) we already eat regularly, so this challenge may have its very easy weeks, and then again, it will have its very difficult weeks (as my stomach does not tolerate onions well at all!). But, a challenge is a challenge - so starting this week, we're trying artichokes and apples (not together of course, unless we get some really weird recipes). Here's to hoping this challenge makes us better, healthier eaters and not asking ourselves, "What happened to our chocolate chip cookies?"