DIY Challenge

During the month of August, I will be putting myself through a challenge to make everything that I consume. Through this month, I hope to gain an appreciation of the work that goes into preparing the foods I like to eat and the knowledge of exactly what I'm putting into my body.

At the outset, it seems like a daunting challenge. All challenges need rules, so here's what I've set out for myself:

• I will make everything from scratch ...within reason. At this juncture, it is not currently within my means to milk my own cows, mill my own flour, press my own oil, etc. However, if I can take a step back in the process of preparing an item, I will (e.g. orange juice comes from oranges, and I can reasonably juice some oranges).
• No canned or frozen fruits/veggies/beans/etc. I chose August as the month to do this, as fresh produce is plentiful in Wisconsin.
• I will allow myself beer, wine, coffee, and tea, although someday I wish to venture into preparing each of these.
• I will allow myself to eat out 3 times during the month. I'm only human, and there are so many good restaurants in Madison. Also, many celebrations and social events take place at restaurants, from which I would not like to exclude myself. I already have one restaurant excursion scheduled as an end-of-the-summer celebration for the med students who have been doing summer research projects in my lab.

So here it goes! I will be posting stories, pictures, and links to recipes. I am not a photographer, so please excuse my use of my point-and-shoot digital camera.