Not too much time for blogging this week because I had a writing assignment for my high school alumni magazine.

I did find time finally to read Michael Pollan’s Food Rules. Probably because it only takes about an hour to read, if that. I was immediately horrified by virtually everything in my pantry. The big problem was the rule that says, “Avoid foods that have sugar as one of the first three ingredients.” Goodbye, Cheerios?

Reading the book solidified my resolve to cook from scratch more, since one of the rules is — you guessed it — “Cook.” (If you aren’t familiar with the book, it’s a series of rules that are designed to help you avoid the Western diet and its accompanying heart disease, cancer, etc. They are short and to the point and are grouped into three categories: foods to avoid, foods to seek out, and how to eat. The overall rule is, “Eat mostly plants. Not too much.”)

The book reminded me of a New York Times article I read a while back, actually a book excerpt, about how the food industry tries to come up with addictive snack foods. It’s a must-read. It makes me want to never set foot in a supermarket again. I was always an all-A’s, 4.0 kind of gal, but I don’t feel like much of a match for these food scientists, psychologists, and marketers.

Anyway, I did cook every night this week except tonight (out for pizza), and it was mostly all food that passed the rules, so score one for me. We also were very good about eating up leftovers, so score one for frugality.

I’ve been starting to accumulate the spring wardrobes, with a close eye on the April budget. I scored these clothes plus a pair of sandals, all for my daughter, from eBay this week:

They were $2 each, including shipping. Pretty cute, and the sandals are in very good shape. I like the grab-bag aspect of these eBay lots. There are usually a few items that I wouldn’t necessarily have gone for if I had been shopping in a store, but that I end up liking.

When my daughter was born, my friends and relatives with girls gave me a ton of cute hand-me-downs, all the way through 3T, but she has outgrown them. Hint hint 🙂

Tomorrow is our town’s Green Festival. I always missed it the past couple years because I worked Saturdays, so I am excited to go! It will have face-painting and other kid stuff, plus information booths and probably some how-to stuff… OK, I can’t remember exactly, but it should be fun. I think I will try to get a rain barrel, because they will have them at a discount.