Too much information can make you...

never buy chicken at the grocery store again.

The kids are napping/watching a movie, Chad is writing our Christmas thank you's to family and friends and I am here at my lap top with the intention of looking for new recipes to try next week.

A while ago I watched the HBO movie "Temple Grandin". It's the story of Temple Grandin, an autistic woman who becomes one of the top scientists in the field of humane livestock handling. It was really interesting and got me thinking about what happens to the animals before their meat ends up in our freezer. Not long after I watched that movie, Chad started reading a book about the world of factory farming and such and has felt compelled to fill me in on all of the filthy, disgusting, vomit inducing details. So, we are cutting back on our meat consumption and what meat we will be eating we are going to do a little research as to where it's been, who it's been with and how it was treated.

I really don't like thinking this much about my food but it's good to understand what you're putting in your body and it will be really great knowing that Wednesday night dinner won't make us ill. So, that being said we are in need of an almost complete menu revamp. We'll be doing more vegetarian dishes which will be interesting considering I don't really like many of the foods from that section of the food pyramid. I guess I'll learn to.

I'm excited to get more involved in our food. I look forward to getting to know our local butcher and learning more about where they get their meat. I'm excited to find new dishes that will test my cooking skills and my taste buds (and probably my patience with the little ones in the house). I think I might even share recipes that I find once they receive the Newman stamp of approval. And if any of you have recipes you like, please share. :-)

It's going to be interesting and a big challenge for me, but I think I'm up for it. Now, on with the search.