It’s that time again. You ask, and I pretend to know things and answer your burning questions. It really is so much fun to open my inbox and see the wide variety of questions you guys have. Reminds me that my readers are so diverse and pretty dang awesome. So keep those questions coming and I’ll keep racking my brain for answers. As always, please pipe up if you have any input or are knowledgeable when it comes to any of the following questions:
I really don’t mean to be negative, but I have noticed through your emails, you buy a lot of processed foods!
~Ginny
Okay, so not really an Ask Mavis question, but I thought it might be something good to address. We buy processed food sometimes. I don’t try to hide it or deny it. I know that processed food isn’t ideal, but in our family and in our lives, I seek balance.
Maybe I don’t do a good enough job of showing all the homemade food we eat each week, but trust me when I say it’s a majority of what we put in our mouths. I cook from-scratch meals at least 5 nights a week, often more. I normally cook 3 from-scratch meals a day on weekends. I know my family eats healthy a large majority of the time, so I have no issue buying Monkey Boy some Doritos or a box of sugary cereal every now and then.
We are a healthy, active family and I’m completely comfortable with the food balance we’ve created. Might not work for some, but it sure works for us!
Miss Lilly the Pug wants to know what kind of kibble Miss Lucy eats!
~Sylvia
Right now the puggle princess is eating a 50/50 mix of Nutro Lamb and Rice Small Bites and Taste Of The Wild Pacific Stream Dog Food. I will typically buy 15 pound bags and pour them into a large bin and mix them together. When we get near the bottom of the bin I mix in a new variety of dog food a little at a time to ease her into a new variety.
To keep mealtime exciting, I also mix in small chunks of meat, vegetables, broth, and sometimes a little rice to her dry dog food as well. 😉
You have probably been asked this already a long time ago, but where do you get the freezer meal containers that you use that have the cardboard top that you can write on? I have been to 3 stores in my area and all I can find is either no lid or plastic domed lids which will create more airspace in the container and take up more room in my freezer. Thanks for any help anyone can give me.
~Robin
I’ve been buying them for years at the Costco business center. They sell them in bulk with about 250 per box. Might seem like a lot, but if you are doing a freezer meal group or bulk cooking, you’ll probably go through them quickly. They also last forever if stored right, so you may never have to buy more for years. If you don’t have a Costco business center near you, you might want to try a restaurant supply store.
Hi Mavis, I saw your picture of Lucy sprawled on your bed and it reminding me of this cartoon. Check it out HERE. I LOVE seeing photos of Lucy. And I love your website. I look at it every day, even though I don’t cook or have a garden!
~Lisa
First, thanks for the praise. I’ll keep writing as long as you guys keep showing up! Second, I love taking photos of Lucy, so I’m so glad someone enjoys seeing them! 🙂 Those cartoons are so cute. Thanks for sharing!
I need to replace my 20-year-old raised beds next spring. Have you ever done a post that shows how you make your raised beds? P.S. I really enjoy your blog!!
~Barbara
I’m putting a post together on the step-by-step process since we just built raised beds from scratch when we moved, so keep an eye out for that. You can check out this post on How to Build Raised Garden Beds for a few pointers. I LOVE raised garden beds. It’s my favorite way to garden!
We’re growing pumpkins for the first time this year. We love to carve them for Halloween, of course, and we love to eat the seeds. Just wondering if you ever puree the flesh. If so, any tips?
~Meghann
I LOVE me some Pumpkin Pie Puree. We cook up pumpkins every year using sugar pie pumpkins. Not sure what type of pumpkin you’re growing, but the gist is the same either way. Hope those tips help!
Have a question for me? Submit them HERE and I’ll try to answer them.
~Mavis
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Tamara says
With you on the healthy eating/occasional processed food! People need to get a grip! Re the dog cartoons: I laughed until I cried! It hasn’t been the most uplifting week for me and this is just what I needed! Sooo true!
Mavis says
So glad you liked the cartoons. I’m so glad she shared them. They are awesome!
Lisa B. says
You know, “someone” has to be buying processed foods in order for the companies that make those products to stay in business. And I think there are actually a lot of those “someones” (probably most people, at least some of the time). While it’s in vogue right now to criticize anything that’s not fresh or homemade, it’s pretty rude to target someone just because they happen to be putting their purchases into public view via blogging about them. I’d say to make sure you’re taking a fresh look your own pantry or shopping bags before assuming that it’s other people who are making all of the processed food purchases … it’s amazing what can be forgotten in the retelling of a tale, especially “my family ALWAYS eats homemade, healthy food.”
Ginny says
Sorry, I didn’t realize that making an observation was a criminal offense here. I guess it would have been better to lie than to have said the truth. Being in the medical field and seeing sick patients all day, I suppose we have a different view of poisoning our bodies then the generally public. Or, maybe science is wrong. Maybe intermittently poisoning yourself and your family won’t hurt. But it does, and when you turn comes I’m sure it will be someone else’s fault and you’ll expect someone else to come up with a cure; and of course you’ll be broke and someone else will have to pay for all of it. The truth is, you cannot poison your body even in small doses and not expect an adverse effect. ” Let food be thy medicine and medicine by thy food.” Hippocrates
Debbie N says
It is funny, everyone thinks so differently. I was just thinking how healthy you eat,especially with all the vegetables you grow.(I am really impressed with your canning.) I was really surprised when I found your old blog one day. I think there is a drastic difference between your blog then and now. I think you have become much healthier.
Mavis Butterfield says
Me too. Big change.
Marcia says
Ha that’s funny. While I also noticed you buy processed food, it’s with a little bit of jealousy. At my age and work schedule and activity level, I buy very little – simply because I cannot maintain a decent weight if I have it. (My husband and boys don’t have that problem, but I do the shopping, so I look out for myself). Mostly I miss bread.
When visiting family this summer, I was pretty shocked at the amount of processed food in the pantries. But you know, we used to eat that way too, until I lost weight about 14 years ago.
Anyway, it’s got to be a balance. I’ve got tortilla chips and crackers. I’ve got boxed cereal and frozen pizza and breaded chicken fingers and boxed mac and cheese. (These are not trigger foods for me though!) A little bit won’t kill you. Most of what we eat is fresh and homemade.
Kate says
I have gotten the containers with the cardboard lids at Dollar Tree. I love them when I make food for fiends. I can write a cheery message on top or print out a sticker.
Pam says
I like to think we eat pretty healthy around here. We harvested 750 pounds of tomatoes (currently residing in my pantry as tomato sauce, tomato paste, pizza sauce and spaghetti sauce). Also potatoes, onions, peppers, cucumbers, beans, herbs, cantaloupe, watermelon and corn. We raise our own chickens for eggs and for meat. We have our own cow for milk, cream and butter. But life would be pretty darn boring if I couldn’t indulge in an occasional Dorito or Cheez Doodle without feeling like my entire diet was being judged by that choice. Just my 2 cents.