Sunday, July 1, 2012

Buying. Growing. Eating. The *why?*

I was talking with some people recently and was bemoaning the fact that my last shopping trip was a bit of a dud with very little that I wanted being available.  During that talk I was asked what sort of food we eat for it to not be on the shelves in the shop so I said I'd make a note and let them know.   This is a start of that note.

As a sometimes believer in the world being in trouble and minimal foodmiles and food from China not being the best and grow your own and processed is bad and fresh is good and free is better blah, blah, blah...and also because I am a bit of a tight bit** and I don't like spending a lot of money on anything and as we have a bit of growing space and I am mostly home...It makes sense to me to grow what we can.

Since my *bright* idea in 2009 to not buy any vegetables throughout 2010, to only eat what we grew,  I have learnt a lot.  I now know that I can grow what we eat, that we are not reliant on any shops to stop us from starving, we can do it ourselves.  It is harder though.  And not always cheaper.  But I think it is better.  For us anyway though it would be great if more people did the same thing.

So in starting off by growing vegetables and planting fruit trees then adding in the sustainable chook flock that I wanted we also have chicken (Rooster) dinners that we don't have to buy from any shop.  Add in the few cows that are out the back...that gives us beef, or cow, to eat.  Add a son that is a hunter and we get pork when we want it.  We are now supplying ourselves with most of what we eat.  The fresh, unprocessed stuff anyway.

There is still (too much in my opinion) stuff that we *need* to buy from a shop.  Usually our local IGA but every few months I do a stockup at Woolworths in Mandurah.

Last week I was over in Mandurah and took the opurtunity to go to Woolies for a basic stockup.   They didn't have Vinegar, SR flour, Powdered Milk,     Well, they did have some brands but not the cheap ones that I buy and when that happens I go without until next time.  Usually I have enough leftover from the last stockup to get me through until the next and if not then it's a quick trip into town to get what we want.  This time, we'll see.    BECAUSE...
Husband has agreed to have a no food buying month.  So throughout July we will not buy any food from any shop.  Which is kinda a bummer as I have very little SR flour left and I can't find the Baking powder to add to plain.  I'm hoping I have enough Vinegar for the Citrus Cleaner.


Throughout July I will post about some of our meals and how I am going with the *No Buy Food*  challenge.

Have you ever done a *no buy* challenge?  How did you go with it?  Would you consider doing one and if so why not now?








6 comments:

  1. Goodness, that seems like a difficult challenge but well worthwhile. I think challenges like these makes us a lot more resourceful.

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    1. We need to get the freezers down a bit so hopefully this will do it. I'm pretty sure I will run out of stuff I use every day...like milk! May have to raid the camping supplies if that happens. It will be fun., maybe...

      Barb.

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  2. Subtitute and make your own baking powder!

    Baking powder has a limited shelf life. In order to have a product that does not go bad, you can purchase two other ingredients that have an unlimited shelf life.

    Recipe:
    1 tsp baking soda
    2 tsps cream of tartar

    Mix well.

    Use this right away. If you are baking lots, you could make it up in a larger quantitiy. You would always just make the proportions as twice as much cream of tartar as baking soda. Your measure can be tablespoons or cups.

    Advantages:
    Commerical baking powder has a limited shelf life.
    Commerical baking powder has additives we really don't want--aluminum!

    In the post I wrote back in February, I wrote 1 tsp baking soda and 2 tsp of cream of tartar. As long as the proportion is correct, it works.

    (Another method--for each tsp of baking powder, add 1/2 tsp baking soda to dry ingredients and 1.5 tsp of lemon juice or vinegar. Easy peasy.)

    Since you seem to have plenty of lemons, this would be easy for you. But, for anyone who is uneasy about the condition of the world, keeping huge quantities of baking soda and cream of tartar on hand seems to be the best answer. Both have a long shelf life as long as they are kept dry.

    Here is my post on the subject:
    http://practical-parsimony.blogspot.com/2012/02/make-your-own-baking-powder.html

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    1. Linda,Thankyou for that. I won't have any C of T here but that is all great info to know so it is on the shopping list for next time I go.

      Barb.

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  3. I am trying to have a "low spend" month in July - mostly because I want to save up for a Thermomix. ;) Thing is, we keep running out of stuff! It's driving me crazy. I don't have the family on board so just have to suck it up and buy the things we "need".

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  4. to make your own baking powder just use 1 part baking soda 1 part cornflour 2 parts cream of tartar i mixed up a batch a month or so ago and use it all the time works great! Helena

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