July 2014

Periodically, because it's good household management but usually because we're in a budget crunch, I go on a campaign to eat the food that we have. Those items that have gotten pushed to the back of the pantry or freezer. Anyone else have this issue? I consider it the fat corn years intended to supply the lean corn ears (see Genesis, the story of Joseph and Pharaoh), but just like the biblical story, it takes some creative management.

I'm going to keep a journal, hopefully during the entire month of July, of my own efforts to economize as I clean and organize my food. My journey is happening in 2014, a time when Americans waste about 25% of what we buy (see newsstory here). That's appalling, but it easy to do. When my culture fails this way, it pains me. When I am too lazy to eat the rest of the spaghetti sauce in my fridge, hey, what do you know about my life? Stay off my back.

Monday, July 21, 2014

Day 21: random observations

* I updated our budget this morning. I was discouraged to find that we have spent about as much as we always do, at this point in the month, on groceries. However, our spending in every other area is way down. I think this must be because my attention is at home, not on what we can acquire to be a happy family. I am so influenced by a consumer culture!

* My eldest asked for ribs yesterday and offered to pick anything up at the grocery store if I needed it. But we simply used what we had: the ribs, a salad (she did complain that the lettuce was "old," but she only threw out three small pieces), corn, pasta salad with homemade dressing, and blueberries and strawberries with cool whip (what I call, "red white & blue salad"--but it was really dessert).

* I make "oatmeal packets" for my husband, instead of buying a box of flavored instant oatmeal at the store. He sets the container on the cabinet when he's low, and I make more. We have lots of silent communication systems like that. The container was out Saturday morning, and I felt a flurry of panic: do I have the ingredients? The answer was yes, I did have the ingredients. However, I think I often overstock out of this panicky feeling that we will somehow run out of food.

* I am ordering from The Produce Gathering this morning, for pick up on Saturday. The theme is Mexican, and in addition to the regular basket, I can get a Mexican pack, that will have avocados, tomatoes, tomatillos, etc. I have lots of tomatoes from the garden; I don't like guacamole; I'm going to let it pass. I really, really want to buy it. It has poblano peppers! (Deep breaths.)
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