Thursday, October 24, 2013

The Affordable Kale Act

At Our Maker's Acres Family Farm, we are very concerned about our healthcare. We try to grow/raise most of our own food and eat healthy.  We raise a number of animals that give us meat, eggs, and milk.  We grow a big garden that constantly yields healthy offering of fresh vegetables.  One of the things ripening now is kale.  Kale is known as the "Queen of Green."  It is truly one of the healthiest plants on our Planet.  It is chock-full of nutrients.  One cup of kale, according to webmd.com, contains 33 calories and provides 9% of the recommended daily allowance of calcium, 206% of Vitamin A, 134% of Vitamin C, and 684% of Vitamin K!  As such, the family governing body (me & Tricia) convened and went into executive session and passed The Affordable Kale Act, which mandated affordable kale and ensured its accessibility the the populace residing in Our Maker's Acres Family Farm Legislative District.

The Affordable Kale Act requires repeated trips to the Farmacy, but it is just 50 feet or so outside our back door, so it is not really a burdensome piece of legislation. As far as affordability, my goodness, the only cost was a few bucks for a pack of seeds and we'll eat on this until Spring.  I took a picture of Tricia (the Farmacist) at the Farmacy, filling a 'prescription' with homegrown kale.  (She doesn't always harvest vegetables with her pearls on.  We were just coming in from church, when I took the picture).

Tricia: at the Farmacy
She picked a nice, big, healthy bunch of kale...


She took it inside and washed it up and then put it on the cutting board and chopped it a little bit.

Chopping up some fresh kale
We dropped the wet kale into an enameled cast iron dutch oven and put it on the stove top with a tablespoon of butter and salt and pepper to cook down for a little bit.



Kale: The Queen of Green!
After a stir or two, the side dish of kale is good to go.


While we were out in the garden, we also picked a few poblano peppers and Purple Beauty Bell Peppers.


We sliced them up and put them in a skillet with a little butter and sauteed them for a little while.

Ain't that pretty?

After we poured the milk, fixed our plates and thanked the Good Lord for providing good food for us, it was time to eat. We had a nice Southern meal that consisted of peas over rice, kale, and sauteed peppers.  Tricia made some cornbread to go along with it and I'm sorry to say I didn't take a picture of it.  It was delicious, trust me.

A Healthy and Delicious Plate
There were no 'glitches' in the implementation of our Affordable Kale Act.  We also stayed well within our budgetary confines.  I'd like to say deliberations were met with bi-partisan approval, but we have one in our constituency that isn't a big fan of kale.  I think Benjamin will 'change his vote' sooner or later, though, after hearing some persuasive speeches from a statesman or stateswoman at our next Town Hall Meeting.  

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