Longing for Walden

I was thrilled to hear Elder L. Tom Perry reference Walden today in conference. I’m all about leading a simpler life. In fact, I started a quest to do just that over 10 years ago when KC was born and I’m still working on it. Thoreau is truly inspiring and introspective and reading Walden makes you want to move out into the wilderness and start homesteading. The catch is, when good old Henry did his little experiment of living off the land, he didn’t have a spouse and children to consider. It was just man against wild, or, rather, man working with wild actually. And because he only had himself to worry about, he could do very well on oats, peas, beans and barley. I have a husband, (who read Thoreau with a combination of respect and skepticism) and four kids with a variety of food preferences. I won’t label any of us picky, but we are all connoisseurs in our own right. Here’s a list of some of my challenges:

• Don loves salads and lots of fresh produce, other than that his only dislikes (and he would say, “I just don’t prefer them.”) are brussel sprouts and bologna. I’m not sure how the whole produce thing is going to work out three weeks into our experiment, especially as it gets colder and my garden is less abundant, but I do have some ideas.
• I need a certain level of convenience on busy Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday nights and crave other people’s cooking (like the great chef’s at our local fresh mex café and the new burger joint that just opened) by the weekend.
• Bren is all about the right kind of sauces and is a sort of separatist at heart. He doesn't like food that mingles too much (other than herbs and spices and cheeses), so casseroles (I don't think I've even made one since he's been big enough to help in the kitchen) and most soups are not on his list of faves.
• KC is a carnivore, straight up. She loves meat and bread and must be kindly compelled to put other items on her plate.
• Caleb is the easiest kid to feed. I’m racking my brain to think of something he would really complain about if I served it. His biggest challenge might be that he just doesn't feel like eating what's for dinner, but usually does without too much fuss.
• Hannah thinks we should eat out for every meal (I like that idea sometimes, too) and is disappointed in that desire most of the time. She eats best when she’s happy, so as long as I can help mealtime be peaceful, she will eat reasonably well.
  

I am making provisions to work with some of these challenges, but for the most part, I want to move forward with what we have, not do a ton of “stocking up” and see what we can make of our lot. I’m excited to see what abundance awaits.