So, I started an experiment this week. It is partly inspired by Lily's month long journey of cutting herself off from buying things. If there is one area in my budget that I really don't do well at, it is our groceries / household supplies. In fact I would say I'm a collector and hoarder of food. The conversation in my head goes somewhat like this, "Ummm, that sauce looks yummy, we should try it." and then it goes in my cart. No thought of how many bottles of sauce we have at home, or what I would put it on, or if I will use it for a particular meal any time soon, just ok, let's buy it. Now this is not in and of itself bad, but I have scads of things like this. (snack foods, sauces, spices, rice dishes, types of crackers, the list really goes on and on.) I justify it all to myself by saying that it is good to have food on hand in case of emergency etc. Which is true, but when you are running out of room and you don't even remember what you have it is time to simplify. But, I digress...
So this is my experiment: For the next month (until the end of October), our family will live off of what is currently in our pantry and freezer, except for a $25 weekly allowance for dairy, eggs and fresh fruit and veggies. Given that many people live off of this or less and we have half a beef in the freezer, 15 whole chickens, 200 lbs of rice in the basement, and just harvested all of our garden this really shouldn't be that hard. It's more a practice in me making do with what I have and being more creative with cooking. No more running to the store for hot dogs because I'm feeling lazy!
My initial plan was to do a daily post with a picture of one of our delicious meals...but frankly I've been too busy, cooking everything from scratch is hard work! :) I will tell you though that we've enjoyed home made buns, muffins and some tasty suppers. We haven't run out of cereal yet but we're big porridge fans so we're safe in that regard. Perhaps next week will see me expanding into some Indian cooking (I've got dried lentils, naan bread in the freezer and some butter chicken sauce from Costco.)
My goals are to:
a) clean out my pantries and use up some of the stuff that is reaching the end of it's shelf life
b) save money this month so we can pay for our bathroom reno
c) figure out what really needs to be in our food storage (like, "wow, if we REALLY had to live off of this we need to have A LOT more ketchup.")
Wish me luck.
As a side note, Darrel looked at me like i was a crazy woman when I brought up this idea. But he'll be thanking me later when we can pay for the bathroom reno AND the TV he wants. :)
One of the best things about our house is the long driveway and the gate across one end that Darrel built. Actually what we really should call it is our racetrack because Jack has spent hours this summer driving up and down between the gate and the garage. I am grateful that there is a safe place for him to cruise with his tricycles. Eric is almost tall enough to reach the pedals now, so next summer he will be joining in the fun. Right now, he stands on the back and pushes with one foot but it's not quite the same. So then he'll go and sit on the tricycle and cry for me to push him. :)
Now that there are less plants and more open space in my garden beds, Eric is having a field day playing in them. This afternoon while we were outside he happily sat for nearly an hour, digging and sifting through the dirt. He likes to take handfuls and put them in his hair, crazy monkey! This is another small example of his impish personality. He loves to do zany things and then with a sly little smile look your way. If he catches your eye he will start to giggle and do whatever it is he's been doing even faster. Seriously, what a monkey!
