One Potato, Two Potato, Three Potato, Four

The Weisenheimer and I bought shares in a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), Full Circle Farm. We used to get a box of produce every week from Pioneer Organics before they got bought out a year or so ago. I figured after several years of getting a big box full of goodies from Pioneer I would have great purchasing, menu-planning, and eating habits, and maybe I would save a little money not getting delivery. Wrong! Somehow we slipped right back into thinking of the protein first and quickly developed very boring vegetable ruts. And we spent the same amount of money as ever. And we weigh....well, let's just say the healthy eating habits got a little off track. So I was thrilled to unpack our first box from Full Circle, get out stacks of foodie magazines, and plan what to do with all those snap peas and broccoli and blueberries and apples and parsnips and lettuce and Swiss chard and....

Last night was steak night, done to perfection by the Weisenheimer with his amazing balsamic reduction sauce. And we had four lovely Yukon Gold potatoes from our FCF box. So I made garlic mashed -- with three of them. It was a lovely meal. And yes we were splurging -- it was a holiday, after all! But this morning I'm wondering why I boiled up three potatoes, leaving us one. Wouldn't our meal have been just as satisfying if I'd mashed two potatoes? Leaving two for another meal? I didn't think about it last night, I just started scrubbing and slicing and boiling and mashing...

I'm finding that paying attention to portion sizes is a constant process of whittling down, rediscovering how little food it does actually take to be satisfying. And after a few years of ups and downs on the scale, I'm realizing that there's never going to be a day when I "automatically" eat right. I will always have to pay attention. But that's ok. It's fun to pay attention to food. Now I've got to go spin some lettuce and dice some peppers and roast some beets and...