Things I Learned from my Trip to Vermont
Did you know I spent last week in Vermont with my family? If you’ve been following me at all, then you’ve probably noticed! I’ll stop talking about it, but first, a few things I learned…
Nothing beats local food. I mean, I knew this – but it was nice to experience the local food scene in a new place. We were lucky enough to have a chef prep and cook some excellent meals for us, using as much fresh local produce and meats as possible. Listening to her go on and on about how amazing the local farm scene is, I was just like: yes yes yes! This is exactly how I feel about where I live. It’s a lovely feeling, being connected with the earth around you. There’s not much that gets me more excited than that!
I also learned about a few new foods!
- Switchel. Our chef made us a big batch of switchel. She told us it was created by the farmers in Vermont to help them stay strong and hydrated during the growing and harvest season. I’m not sure it actually came from Vermont, but she did use all local ingredients to make it – and she made it especially ginger-y and not-too-sweet. I’ll admit, most of the family were not fans, but myself, my husband, and Genevieve loved it!
- Mint and Mizuna Pesto. Our chef picked this up from a local natural market, and I’m pretty sure I was the only one that ate it! It was so good, the mint was unexpected, but delicious. I spread it on toast, mixed it with some sautéed carrots, and dipped raw veggies in it. If you know me, you know pesto is one of my favorite ways to get some greens.
- Turkey burgers with blueberries?! Ha – this is more of an inside joke for the family, but seriously…the chef made us turkey burgers, with a few random blueberries mixed in. Only a lucky few people got a blueberry or two in their burgers. They weren’t necessarily good or bad, just unexpected and we were extra curious because it was only a handful.
Life lessons from a 3-year-old, “If you don’t try, you’ll never learn.” Genevieve came up with this one day while we were chatting about something, and I loved it. You can always count on these tru-isms from preschoolers, right? She totally demonstrated this by the progress she made with swimming and her confidence in the water. She has always been very hesitant and fearful in the water, hating when water is on her face, but by the end of the week she was super confident and even swam quite a distance (from the dock in the picture below back to shore) with only help from her Puddle Jumper. I was SO proud of her!
Apparently every picture I take with the kids, they are eating, always. Here’s an example.
Lastly, I learned that Bradley still cannot tolerate eggs. Womp womp. He had been doing pretty well without eggs, so we thought he may be able to tolerate the organic, pastured, local eggs that the chef provided. That was not the case and he is still recovering a week later. This lesson has been my final push to get him on a protocol to truly heal his gut once and for all. Hopefully one day he will be able to tolerate eggs, but no matter what – I just want him to be healthy and comfortable.
If you are interested in hearing more of Bradley’s story, how I plan to heal him once and for all, and want to learn more about my healing protocol for babies and toddlers with food sensitivities, eczema, or GI issues – comment below and I’ll make sure you stay in the loop!