concretecavewoman

Last challenge the first few weeks went pretty decently. Then I got the flu. Like THE FLU. Like, a week on the couch drinking tea and shaking my fist angrily at the sky kinda flu. However, it was a chance to spend time catching up on my favorite MST3k episodes when I wasn't curled up in the fetal position stuffing cough drops into my face. If you haven't seen it, Space Mutiny is probably one of the top 3 (ok, MY top 3) MST3k episodes of all time (right behind Mitchell and Soultaker). Describe it, I just can't, so here. Watch this: And revel in Smash Lampjaw's endless amazing list of meathead names. Since I've returned to WA I've been working out at Globogym. No, really. If you read The Historical Annals of Bro-ness mine would be listed as the Ur-bro-gym. Just last week I heard one bro call another bro--who was doing curls a mere foot from the mirror--"pump daddy", for what I suppose were obvious reasons. It's Bosu shrugs and non-ironic muscle tees as far as the eye can see! And in a way I love it: the pure, shameless bro-ness of it all, so I've named my challenge accordingly. Quest: Be more meathead. You know, get strong and all that. Because when in Rome. This is pretty much a continuation of my last challenge, which has been all strength-based. Eat. Meat and vegetables. And whey. Since I've been doing crazy things in the last couple months like getting more sleep, meditating, working out regularly, and generally taking better care of myself, I've noticed that rather magically (dashing?) my usual late afternoon sugar cravings have kind of... disappeared. This is a great development, so I want to keep on track. +1 point for every day that consists of Paleo + Whey. Total points possible: 42 Train: Lift heavy stuff 3x per week. I'm still on a 12 week Starting Strength cycle (week 5 I believe?). Lifts as of this challenge: Squat - 80. So yeah, let's talk about this. Why am I squatting 80 and benching 75? It's taken a good month of trial and error, but I think it all boils down to hips that are weak as hell. My glutes aren't activating, leaving me to rely wholly on my quads while squatting, which is only making my generally anterior tilted posture even worse (not to mention causing some very uncomfortable hip pain coming out of the bottom of the squat). As a result I've been doing lots of body weight glute activation exercises and this does seem to be helping. Bench - 75 Deadlift - 145 Press - 60 Total points possible: 16 (why? I'll be out of town for two workouts. But I'll be working out. Story below.) Sleep: In bed by 10. Bam. Total points possible: 42 Repeat? This is the bucket for my sundry life goals that are on the plate for this challenge. -- I want to finish 3 books, per usual, so one point per book. -- I'll also be heading out in a week or so to Mt Rainier for a four-day backpacking trip with a good friend of mine, which is why I'll be missing two lifting days. It'll be around 50 miles total. Four points for finishing. And you know... -- Lastly, I've been spending some time ramping up on iOS (as a long time platform engineer this is a change for me) so I'd like to publish at least one app on the app store before the end of this challenge (worth 5 points). Total points possible: 12Each goal will be weighted to 25% of the total.

Life-related stuff -- So last week we put an offer on a piece of property. 6.5 acres of beautiful pasture, orchard, and forest on an island that it just a few miles off the coast of Seattle. Our offer was super. The next day, the seller responded with a list of covenants that he was going to put on the title, including, but not limited to: what kinds of pets we could have, that we couldn't build outbuildings like sheds or barns, what kind of fencing we could put up, no loud music, who could come stay at our home (immediate family only) and on and on and on. Super crazy. So of course we had to rescind the offer, because that would have been signing up for a whole heap of crazy. It was kind of bummer because we'd been thinking about putting an offer on this land for a month. Back to the drawing board. Monday 8/25 Lift: 0/3 Hike 0/1 Sleep: Good! Well, good and bad. I went to bed early but woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't get back to sleep, blech. Life: SO took the day off and we went land shopping yet again on the same island, which is where we really want to live. It's kind of the best of both worlds since it's a 15 minute ferry ride to downtown Seattle, but is quite rural and there are a number of small organic farms dotting the island. We found another piece of property that we're now researching to see if we want to put an offer. Tuesday 8/26 Lift: 0/3 I was destroyed after not sleeping, so I wimped out. Hike 0/1 Sleep: Better. Got to bed at 9:30, yay! Life: Made about a gallon of sauerkraut. Wednesday 8/27 Lift: 1/3 Ahh, the power of sleep. Back in the gym today, but my squat was feeling super weak. Squat: 90x3x5 Press: 60/4 60/3 60/3 Deadlift: 135x1x5 Felt easy, yay! Lat Pulldown: 60x4x20 Hike 0/1 Sleep: Well, I'm about to hit the sack so I'd say this is going well Life: Made another 9 jars of plum jam, because the plums around here are just looking so amazing. I also made some cultured buttermilk from butter I churned over the weekend, which will become the base of some ice cream tomorrow. </AmishParadise>

Awww thanks! You have a point. I was just grumpy with myself for not getting all three lifting sessions in last week

A summary for Week 3 Lift: 2/3 Lifts are (starting) current -- Squat (65) 95 Press (50) 60 Deadlift (105) 135 Bench (60) 70 It feels good to be progressing again. Even though I really haven't lifted in any serious way in close to a year, and my lifts are anywhere from 60-80% of what they were, I've finally accepted that I'll have to earn my way back. Hike 1/1 SO, pup, and self went out for an almost 4 hour hike on Thursday. We summitted a very small local mountain (~2000ft at the peak), which I'm just gonna say is awesome for an 18 lb french bulldog Sleep: So lousy. I am just falling down on this part of the challenge. My sleep times are getting later and later, much to my chagrin. I've noticed that it tends to be iPhone games and reading that keeps me awake, so I'm leaving my phone in the living room at night now, and I'm only reading non-fiction before bed. Life: This challenge I've prepared 30 jars of jam, 5 pints of quick brine pickles, 8lbs of fermented pickles, and 2 gallons of kombucha. Next week is tomato week, where I head to a large U-pick farm, collect heaps of tomatoes, and then spend two days making sauce, paste, and fermented salsas.Books this week: The Flamethrowers. So much meh. About a woman in the NY art scene in the 70s. You Are Not a Gadget: Techno-social theory by Jaron Lanier. Interesting fodder for the nerdly among us. Lexicon: Grammar-based thriller. Yes, you read that correctly. Good for a quick read, but not mind-blowing. This week's grade: C+ Next week's goal: Freaking post more.

Monday, 8/11 Lift: 1/3 Yay! Squat 3x5x80 Press 60/2 60/3 60/2 Deadlift 1x5x115 Hike: Not a hiking day Sleep: Good! Life: No food preservation. Did do my meditation session. Also, finished You Are Not a Gadget, by Jaron Lanier. If you're at all interested in the thoughts of techies-who-are-also-Luddites he makes for an interesting read on how technology can have the effect of flattening and standardizing personhood.Tuesday, 8/12 Lift: 1/3 Not a lifting day Hike: Well, it was supposed to be a hiking day, but I ended up going on a 2 hr walk with the pup instead. Not counting it however, because it was definitely in the city and not in nature. Sleep: Fail! 1/7 Life: No food preservation. Wednesday, 8/13 Lift: No lifting. Went on a house hunting tour instead. Hike: Not a hiking day Sleep: Good! 2/7 Life: No food preservation Thursday, 8/14 Lift: No lifting. Super lazy day. Mostly cooked and read books. Hike: Not a hiking day Sleep: Fail! 2/7 Life: Made four jars of apricot jam. So good. Friday, 8/15 Lift: Lifted, 2/3 Squat 3x5x85 Bench 3x5x65 Deadlift 1x5x120 Lat Pulldown 60/11 60/12 60/11 Hike: Not a hiking day Sleep: Good! 3/7 Life: No food preservationSaturday, 8/16 Lift: No lifting. Hike: 1/1 Me and a friend and the pup went out to the foothills for about 3 hours, 6ish miles. Carried a 15lb pack. Sleep: Fail! 3/7 Stayed up late with the Mr. CCW watching MST3k. Worth it. Life: Not much on the cooking front.Sunday, 8/17 Lift: Nada. 2/3 Hike: 1/1 Sleep: Good! Got into bed at 930. 4/7 Life: Went to the farmers market and picked up sundries for the week.

Golly, thanks!!

Just going to post a summary of Week 2 Basically, I spent most of the week in the kitchen preserving foods. Great for goal number 4. Not so great for goals 1-3. But I'm back on track for this week. 1. Lifting: 1/3 Oof! No bueno. 2. Hiking: 1/1 Yay! 3. Sleep: 1/7 Ugh. Getting to bed at 10:30 is proving harder than I thought. Which is kind of crazy since I no longer have to stay up late catching up on work email. 4. Food preservation: Canned 20 jars of various jam this week! Fermented kombucha! Roasted and froze lots of beets! Overall: I only passed 2 of my 4 goals for the week, so that's a D-, booooooooo!

Found something so awesome today: Liz Wolfe (of the Balanced Bites podcast) just started a new podcast called Modern Farm Girls. Yay! Very apropos since today I'm working with a lender to kick off the process of financing for the land we are looking at buying.

8/5 Tuesday Today was errands, playing fetch with the dog, lifting, and jam makery. Was really spot on food-wise. For breakfast: duck eggs, bacon, and sauerkraut. For lunch: a small cup of granola with some homemade yogurt. For dinner: pork chop with habanero chimichurri, green beans, and more yogurt. Pretty much everything was from a local farm with the exception of the granola. Workout: 1/3 Lifting. It's hard getting back into it, esp since I've cut my weights down by about 50%. But don't get mad about the results you didn't get from the work you didnt do! Or something like that. Squat 75x3x5 Press 55x3x5 Deadlift 110x1x5 Lat Pulldown 55x3x20 Hike: 0/1 That should be tomorrow or Thursday Sleep: fail! I was up working in the kitchen til 11pm and didn't get to bed til 1145. Life: Success! Roasted a ton of beets in preparation for canning. Also macerated blackberries, raspberries, and apricots for jam.

8/4 Monday Oh yes, today I was an urban homesteader alright. I picked up a fermentation crock, pickling spices, and lots and lots of jars and then spent the day in the kitchen managing 20 of the 40 lbs of vegetables I have waiting for processing. Today was cucumbers. Tomorrow, beets. Workout: Unplanned rest day. I got started early this morning on chores/errands/food preservation and just sort of got lost in it. Hike: 0/1 My plan is to hike on Wednesday Sleep: Good. In bed at 1030, awake at 6 Life: Success! Started 8lbs of cucumbers to ferment. Instead of using the standard dill as my herbaceous flavoring, I used a big bundle of cilantro flowers that I got in my CSA box this week, along with mustard seed, carraway, and pepper. The ferment won't be ready for about a month. I also canned 6 pints of sweet pickles, which will be ready to eat tomorrow.

SL is so great. And so is your challenge!

7/29 Tuesday O. M. G. So sore. I mean, I know I took some time off lifting (ok... maybe it was like... 10 months) but oooooof. I don't think I've had DOMS like that in at least five years. I woke up and just lay there, a puddle of soreness. Needless to say, at best I shuffled around and foam rolled, and that's it. Workout: Tears and foam rolling. 1/3 Hike: 0/3 Sleep: Good! Life: Tears and foam rolling.7/30 Wednesday Feeling a little better. Got out for a much needed hike in the Cascade foothills with the pup. Workout: 1/3 Hike: 1/1 Yay! Sleep: Good! Life: Spent some time at the pool getting sun after the hike. Life is good.7/31 Thursday Workout: Lifted. Another Starting Strength workout. Still pretty pathetic but I was able to bump up my weights. It wasn't but five minutes before a dudebrodude came up to me to "help me out" with my lifts. He basically told me to always hyperextend my neck while I was lifting. I thanked him and said I emphatically disagreed. Squat 70x3x5 Bench 60x3x5 Deadlift 105x1x5 Lat Pull 55x3x20 Hike: Sleep: Good Life: More pool time, woo. My mom came over in the afternoon for lounging by the pool and reading and then we did a ton of work on my apartment, rearranging furniture, hanging pictures, etc. I made this gallery wall with all the random pieces of art and posters I have. My personal favorite is the blue print, called "No One Wants to Play Sega with Harrison Ford." The title is self-explanatory. 8/1 Friday Did absolutely nothing serious today. A friend of mine took me as her date to a work party (which happens to be a team I used to work on) to watch the Blue Angels show over Lake Washington (boom! Airplanes!) So I basically stood in the sun, sipped cider, and shot the breeze with friends all day. Can't complain. Workout: 2/3 Hike: 1/1 Sleep: Not so great. We went out for dinner and I got home late. Was in bed after 1130. Life: So much fun.8/2 Saturday Got up early for a run with a friend out in the mountains. Then Mr CCW and I went to a nearby island to tour some property, and then go to a farm for a farm-to-table dinner. Workout: 3/3 Run, 5 miles (lots of walking breaks) About 2k' of gain. Hike: 1/1 Sleep: No way! We didn't get home from dinner until after midnight. Life: No food prep.8/3 Sunday Effectively a rest day. We went to the farmer's market, which is kind of our usual Sunday event, to pick up my CSA box, an order of vegetables for pickling (read: 40 lbs of veg) and just take a lazy walk around town. Workout: 3/3. Rest day Hike: 1/1. Sleep: Good Life: Picked up cucumbers and beets for canning in the coming week. Hiking! Grade for the week: Workouts: 3/3 Hike: 1/1 Sleep: 4/7 Grade: B

Thanks! I feel so so lucky that I have the time and support to be able to relax, recoup, and focus on my health. For reals, right? I'm not a person who's afraid of spiders. But now, um, I'm kinda afraid of spiders. I'll call that rationally irrational. Thanks! Haha, yeah. Needless to say I didn't spend much time blogging since recovering and getting back to WA was kind of chaotic. So glad to be back! Hooray! It's the little things Omg, I am honored! Also, it just goes to show how long I haven't been around here. When did you change your name??

7/28 Recap Got up early. Hit the gym. It was my first day back with the barbell in so, so long. And it was sad. But I'm glad I went. Then I came home, took the dog for a 90 minute walk, did some housekeeping. Lifting: 1/3 for the week Squat 45/5 65/5 65/5 65/5 Yep, that was it. And it hurt. Press 45/5 50/5 50/5 50/5 Form breakdown on the last set Deadlift 45/5 65/5 95/5 105/5 Not a hiking day. Sleep was very so-so. Didn't get to bed until midnight. Thursday I should be doing a ton of canning.

A little bit of history: I've been participating in challenges off and on for a few years now. Three years ago, I took a new job that was a great promotion, leading software teams and doing product design and all was awesome. It was one of those lovely software jobs where they hand you heaps of free food and tshirts and you get to solve all kinds of cool problems and that was very neat. I also ended up overworking myself and burning myself out pretty badly by the end of last year. I went from lifting and running 6 days a week, cooking all of my meals, and sleeping from 10-5 every day, to not working out at all, gaining 25 lbs, only eating takeout because I had no time to cook, and having just plain terrible sleep. So earlier this year I made a BIG change and quit my job. I spent the next couple months at a small farm learning the trade, working outdoors, and living off-grid (no power = no light = good sleep!). I was out of shape. I mean, horribly, terribly out of shape. Working on a farm helped with that some. I spent a lot of time doing things that I normally do in the gym, like farmer's walks, except with actual, 5 gallon buckets of pig slop that weren't just walked across a rubber-matted gym floor, but also carried under lines of electric fence, up and down hills, and over livestock gates. I learned a lot and that was cool. Well, I also got bit by a venomous spider (not brown recluse, but doctors speculated something similar) many times in one arm and ended up kinda sorta almost losing my arm and had to go back home to Seattle to recover. Now I'm home, feeling much better, and am taking some time off software development for the next few months to enjoy my city, hike, lift heavy things, and spend time with my oh-so-wonderful family. Mission. Or Quest. Or Something. Get healthy again. That's not very specific, so here's something more specific: Put on some muscle. I've been with the warriors for the last couple years, but I also do a lot of activities that are ranger-ish/granola-ish (even if I don't eat granola!): hiking, climbing, that sort of thing. So my goal is to reclaim a general warrior health baseline by integrating these activities with the warrior approach to fitness. I'm intentionally not adding a food goal. I belong to a CSA, get most everything else from the farmer's market, and am really happy eating a WAPF-style diet, with raw dairy, some limited amount of soaked, non-glutinous grains, and a focus on nutritional density (boneless skinless chicken no thanks.) Challenge Measurement: Put on 2 lbs of LBM. I'm keeping this modest and reasonable. To be measured with my fitbit aria scale. S.M.A.R.T. Goals Lift 3 days a week. I'm using Starting Strength, and I'll do the standard A/B cycle Rip recommends for all of the 6 weeks. Maybe next challenge I'll add in power cleans. My starting lifts are going to be tragical, since I literally haven't set foot in the weight room for.... 10 months? At least. Hike once a week. While this doesn't -directly- contribute to building all the strength, getting outside and seeing the green plants makes me super happy, and since I live near the Cascade foothills I have a ton of options for beautiful hikes and I'd be an idiot to miss out on those vistas during the best months of the year here in the PNW. Sleep. Get to bed by 10:30 each night. Life: Food preservation. I'm committed to preserving the bounty of summer this year. Canning and preservation is something I've always been interested in, done a little of, but never really had the time to take seriously. So this summer my goal is: - 20 quarts of heirloom tomatoes - 10 pints of jam - 20 pints of sauerkraut - Keep my kombucha SCOBY alive and healthy - 20-30 jars of pickles (beet, cuke, carrot)Other Things. There's a lot of other stuff happening during this challenge. I'm home shopping in earnest now. Last week I visited one of the Puget Sound's islands, and this week I'll be checking out houses in more rural towns that are outside Seattle but still within an hour's drive of the city. I'm also spending more time on meditation (headspace, yeah!). My first anniversary will be in a few weeks. I've got a whole heap of home projects and craft projects that I plan to spend some time on, and, of course, books. Queued up for the next couple weeks are: The Big Short. A history of the people who knew the financial crash was coming, and were baffled that the people -causing- the financial crash couldn't tell what destruction they were about to unleash. The Circle. David Eggers is one of my favorite novelists (You Shall Know Our Velocity!) This is about a "prominent social media company" that allows you to "link to all your friends" and a woman who starts there and becomes quickly disillusioned with it. The Way of Kings. Brandon Sanderson. I read some of the Mistborn. Wasn't super impressed but some friends said this book was pretty awesome, so I'll give it a shot. Also, puppy. As I learned, she might be a locavore but she's not keen on raspberries.

Grass-fed beef liver over onions, sauerkraut, avocado, and a glass of home brew kombucha.

Bam.

This made me laugh a hundred laughs. I heart prunes too. Do you ever stew them? They're wicked with vanilla bean and star anise. Anyway.... right there with you on the sleep/recovery thing.

Totally agree with both of you! I'm building a list of options and trying to get a better sense of just how much more we need to save to hit our target (I'd reeeeeeally like to put 50-75% down. This means I'm not buying in Seattle city limits ) So far I've scoped my must-haves to: 20+ acres not in a flood plain/with good drainage, < 2000 sqft (I'm a BIG fan of small homes, I'd really prefer to be in the 900-1000 range), at least a couple of outbuildings, like a greenhouse, something that can be repurposed into a chicken coop, a shop, etc., and within an hours' drive from our offices in the Seattle burbs. I've already found several that fit that criteria, so I know it's feasible. Now to just be patient, grasshopper...

Oh hai. Here I am. It's been a crazy couple of weeks. Let's review, shall we? Week 2 Well, I spent most of this week at the office. Or working at home from my home office in the evening, which is also known as the couch. There were um.... 3? 4? nights spent working til 2am (for context, I usually start around 730/8am). Given the total absence of sleep, I decided not to further spin up my cortisol levels by burning myself out at the gym, choosing instead to shore up my health in what other ways I could, mostly through nutrition, which has been solid thanks to long Sundays spent at the farmer's market and cooking. Lifting: Total and utter fail. Walking: 4/7 days Food: Perfect! 1/5 of my food budget went to grocery staples like coconut oil, and 4/5 to farmers, which means almost everything I'm eating has been grown in Western WA Savings: on point Other notes: Finished two books, Americanah, winner of a whole bunch of this year's fiction awards, about a woman who moves from Nigeria to the US and her reflections on race, and Choose Yourself! a self-helpy book by James Altucher, who writes one of my favorite blogs. Week 3 Much the same as week 2, except that I had the dentist visit from hell and ended up staying home sick one day unable to talk or eat. Getting sleep is kind of critical right now, but also kind of challenging since staring at a laptop til the wee hours sort of shutters my ability to fall asleep easily. So nutrition is, again, bolstering me. Been eating lots of collagen-rich pork broths, grassfed meats, and raw milk. Lifting: Another total and utter fail Walking:4/7 days again Food: Almost perfect! Saturday night I dove into platefuls of lentils (went to a friend's house for dinner and she made Dals of all sorts) and had some aquavit, which left me feeling pretty lousy the next day. But otherwise food as been whole and delicious. On Sunday I made a huge batch of braised pork belly in pork trotter broth, a bone-in brisket roast, and some salad fixings. Savings: Again, on point. This week's market correction hit me a bit (some of my house savings are in funds) but otherwise I'm definitely on track to hit my savings goal for this challenge. Which also means that I haven't been spending on anything other than necessities. Feels good! Other Notes: If you happen to be curious as to what a week's worth of my shopping is looking like nowadays, here it is: The only thing missing is the pile of green onions and ginger that I picked up at Whole Foods. Lastly, the weeks have also been crazy because I just found out from my doc that I have Celiac. That wasn't much fun to learn because even though I eat relatively gluten-free, I've always allowed myself the occassional glutinous snack on holidays or out with friends. Apparently my Celiac is asymptomatic, so I have none of the terrible stomach trauma that most people with celiac suffer. Instead, I have the Iron and Vitamin B levels of a vegan, which is pretty incredible given that I eat red meat almost three meals a day.... It might also explain my constant headaches and fatigue issues. I'm now debating whether to try an AI paleo protocol. My doctor is of the mind that I need to be super strict about gluten (agreed) and consume lots of fermented foods (also agreed), but otherwise don't need to eliminate anything else from my diet. I'm not sure. So 2 week recap... The goods: Food quality, down 6 lbs, getting much better at planning my meals based on season, savings The bads: Celiac, sleep, workouts.

Week 1 Recap Strength: 1/3 FAIL Disappointed on this one. I'll grant that I had lots of evening stuff planned for the week, but really, this should've gone better. Lesson learned: Sleep is SO SO SO important, because if that doesn't happen, nothing happens. Food: PASS Totally made this work. My food budget was exactly 80/20 on direct-from-farm vs grocery store food, and the few things I bought at Whole Foods were along the lines of supplements and coconut milk. I was able to get my cooking oils (grass fed tallow and lard) from one of the farmer's market butchers. The best part? I had so much energy and I cooked almost all of my meals. Walk: 5/7 71% Getting in a lot of time on foot is pretty great. Shooting for 6/7 this week. Savings: 46% of the way to my goal PASS Very happy about this one. Kept discretionary spending to a minimum (I bought one pair of snow boots, but in my defense, I'm going to Wisconsin next month). I'm going to start very tentatively looking--internet window shopping for pretty houses--though I still think we're about a year and a half out from buying.

Recaps 1/9 Oh boy, ended up having a crazy fit of insomnia the previous night. It kinda torched my day, because then I had no appetite in the morning nor the energy to exercise. Boo. Strength: Fail Food: Pass, except quantity was low Walk: Fail, 4300 1/10 And then we get to Friday and the insomnia hangover is in full swing. Basically came home from work, ate dinner, went to sleep Strength: Fail Food: Pass, low quantity Walk: Fail, 3650 1/11 Finally, some sleep and the world is magic and unicorn tears again! Got up early and cleaned the heck out of my closets. Like, serious. About 1/3 went to Goodwill, another 1/3 was set aside for consignment, and another 1/3 for Ebay (like Lulu workout gear that they likely wouldn't want to sell at the hip little consignment boutique). I took my clothes in and they took all of them, hooray! I get to check back in 3 months and find out what sold. Now I just need to list the ebay items. After that, I went to a bookstore and got a book on building soil quality for growing nutrient dense foods, did some cooking, went on a run(!)-my first in ages, played with the pooch, and read a book. Strength: fail Food: Pass! Breakfast: omelet at my favorite diner, 3 eggs, lots of meat, and a side of fruit. coffee Snack: coconut milk-apple pudding Dinner: big winter crunch salad with beets, brussels sprouts, prosciutto, etc. Walk: Pass, 13200 1/12 Another productive day. Went to the farmer's market early and got so much deliciousness, including a kombucha that is fully fermented (read: minimal sugar). Very dry. It goes quite well with the unsweetened cranberry juice I got last weekend, making something that tastes like a kriekenbier. Came home and took down all the christmas decorations, tree, etc, cleaned up, and then cooked a bunch for the week. Food: Pass! Breakfast: sunday treat, a gluten free cranberry bread. a glass of chameleon cold brew coffee mixed with raw milk Dinner: 1 pork rib chop in a red wine sauce. a heap of ham hock-braised collard grees, a glass of kombucha. a square of dark chocolate Walk: Pass! 10000

Yes! It's called Eat Local and they're in Queen Anne and Burien. I believe Amazon fresh also sells their stuff. Very nice to have in case of emergency. There really is a treasure trove of food here! I believe you're reasonably close to the Olympia farmer's market as well, which is unique in that it runs year round, and during the peak season is 5 days a week. Btw I love your forum name, it kind of reminds me of a roller derby name. Why thank you!

That chili sounds amazing. I really love OMGs meat recipes, especially her slow cooker stuff, because it reminds me to actually get out and use my slow cooker more often.

Great challenge! Gotta admit, first thought about this page of the thread was: "what's with the pickles?"