It's a miracle! I only spent 15 dollars on all the food for the week. I even doubled the lentil soup recipe (which is currently on the stove) so my boyfriend and I could split it for the week. When shopping, the store that we went to didn't have carrots so we bought canned, bay leaves so we passed, or chicken broth so we bought bullion cubes. Now saving this money is awesome. But it is not really even close to eating local food (who knows where those carrots came from, who picked them and when).
We did buy two pounds of tomatoes from a farmer in Clarksville, MO for two dollars. I blanched and seeded them, which was a very time consuming process. I used those instead of the canned tomatoes the recipe called for. I want to be able to eventually use all local veggies like that and be able to prepare them quickly and skillfully.
At the farmer's stand, a middle-aged woman was carefully looking over the tomatoes, saying to the farmer that her mother could only hold the little ones now when cooking. She also told the farmer, when he told us he had no more zucchinis for the season that he should have come to her house, as her garden was overflowing with them. I think it is people like that, who don't go around with any goal or mindset of being "green" or even think of eating local that have it right. How to get to that point from where I am now though is not clear.
So as I was cooking my lentil soup, the excitement of saving a lot of money started wearing off because I wanted to write a blog about my adventures along the path to being a local consumer-not a budget/cooking blog.
But it is a process and I think I am moving in the right direction. I want to be able to eat local ingredients, be cheap (or perhaps frugal is a better word), and still eat delicious food. Right now, I've realized I do not know how to do any of that.
A lot of people have already accomplished both- eating locally and cheap. This blog is on my reading list of this week to hopefully further inspire me!
In the summer, it's really easy to eat local ... there are farmer's markets everywhere. But in the winter it's much harder especially since so much of what is produced in the US is grown in one area and then sent to other states. That being said, one can move towards locally grown food by purchasing whatever is available each season and also by freezing/canning locally grown food for use in the winter. I live in an apartment and don't have room for either freezing much food or canning so I just do my best. I make it a point to find out what is available each season and buy those things. Then, I try to buy things that are produced as close to home as possible. Sometimes "local" means something produced in the US instead of in another country. Sometimes it means grown in my own garden. Every effort we makes counts!
ReplyDeleteHere's an idea for broth or bouillon ... save clean veggie clippings (or chicken skin, bones, etc. if you eat meat) in the freezer until you have enough to make a stock. Then make a stock and freeze it in 1 cup portions. It's a great way to use the items that we usually toss out and it saves a bundle at the store. :-)
That is a great idea! I am going to start doing that! Thanks for the comment and reading my blog!
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