today gets two awesome things

This video.  This video is amazing, and not just because I adore Sara Bareilles.

(Link for in case the embedding doesn't work.)

Being brave is not easy.  Paths of least resistance abound, and they usually involve staying silent and going along.  It takes a hell of a lot of courage and dedication and strength to break that mold, even in tiny ways.  And it's scary as hell.

But so, so worth it.

I want to see you be brave.

pantry challenge, final

This month I issued a challenge to my household: we would refrain from buying anything that resides in a package, to clear out pantry (and freezer) clutter. 

June has come and gone, and with it, our silly little pantry challenge.  We managed to get through the month without killing each other over shopping lists, so that's a plus.  Let's revisit the original goals for this project: 


use up the majority of the forgotten food

I must confess that we didn't manage to use up nearly as many stockpiled food items as I'd hoped.  As I mentioned last week, one revelation during this challenge was that we simply don't seem to do a lot of cooking from the pantry, at least in the summer when fresh veggies are plentiful.  This means both that we could probably make do with a much smaller 'stash,' and unfortunately that it will take a lot more than a month to go through the extra.  


temporarily reduce the grocery budget

Viewed from a strictly budgetary standpoint, the experiment was a dismal failure.  As you can see at the bottom of this post, I spent nearly $500 on food this month, and that's rather higher than my monthly average of around $350 ($368.25, if you're into precision).  So... goal #2 was not particularly successful.  But we did eat better, with a focus on the fresh food available at the farmer's market.  I'm mildly disappointed that we didn't manage to save any monty this month, but the lack of actually using up cupboard materials quite sensibly correlates with a lack of reduced expenditures. 


create more space in the kitchen

While there's a little more wiggle room in some areas, it's not necessarily noticeable.  No significant elbow room gain has been realized.  

At this point, it seems that the project has failed on all fronts --- we've still got a lot of ignored food to use up, June saw a rise in food expenditures, and the kitchen is no more livable or organized.  However, this brings us to goal #4...


gain a better awareness of what we have (and what we buy)

...and this is the real triumph.  Through the month we've poked through cupboards and freezers, can see what's behind where the 'staple' items customarily live but have not been replaced, and we now have a pretty solid idea of how much food we've got stashed around the kitchen.  If June was a failure in terms of money and actually using up extra items, it was a definite triumph in terms of mindsets.  By focusing out attention on the issue for a whole month, I feel that we've come to have a subtly different outlook when it comes to shopping. 

The original stated purpose of the challenge was to do a one-time clean-out, and wind up with less stuff.  That didn't happen, but we gained the infinitely more valuable shift in outlook that will be needed to change our food-buying habits and be just a little more sensible about stocking the kitchen and avoiding some of the excesses of consumerism.  Instead of a single massive purge, I suspect that we'll slowly whittle down the superfluous, and the problem will self-correct over time.  With periodic reality checks, of course.  Habits can be tricky to change, but it's never too late to tackle them.  

Yesterday my husband asked me to add dijon mustard to the list for the simple reason that we were out of it.  Then a bit later he crossed it out and declared that we could simply  use up some of the fabulous gourmet mustards lurking in the cabinet.  When at the store, I actually think about each thing I'm getting, not just in terms of price but also whether we actually need the item, and if anything else could possibly substitute.  

Shopping is no longer done on reflex.  I kind of like that. 
  

food budget tracker: week 2

farmer's market: $12

grocery: $109.66

other (kettle corn): $11

total: $132.66

grand monthly total: $497.16

pantry challenge, week 3: cruising right along

This month I issued a challenge to my household: we would refrain from buying anything that resides in a package, to clear out pantry (and freezer) clutter. 

I think we're starting to get the hang of this.  The copious pantry supplies don't seem to have dwindled dramatically, but we're definitely in a different frame of mind.  Meals are planned around what we already have, not what we could pick up at the store.  Going to the market every Saturday is a necessity.  I haven't had to stop for some last-minute ingredient on my way home from work all month.  Yesterday, The Guy found himself sorely tempted, when at Costco, to pick up a few pantry items, but just couldn't bring himself to do it.  Instead, he limited himself to the lettuce, mushrooms, and parmesan that were his reason for being there. 

Oddly, this challenge has highlighted for me the extent to which we don't actually cook from the pantry.  That is, most of our ingredients tend to be perishables from the fridge. From a nutritional standpoint, this is ideal.  The majority of our diet appears to consist of fresh (and this time of year, local) veggies, dairy, and meats, supplemented by just a few pantry staples.  The thought that we'd 'run out' of things and get desperate by the end of the month of only buying fresh food seems hilarious now.  We've (mostly) adhered to the rules of the challenge, are eating wonderfully well, and yet have hardly touched the pantry stores.  What this tells me is that we definitely don't need to be sitting on such huge stockpiles, or doing so much shopping!  We don't even use most of the stuff in everyday life!

All in all, I like this.  This cold-turkey 'challenge' approach seemed somewhat silly at first, and the strict rules led to a few arguments and some temporary resentment.  However, I suspect that it's doing a lot to affect our outlook on food, and may help maintain a bit more of an 'enough is enough' mindset instead of always stocking up whenever possible.  This could lead to more elbow room, fewer shopping trips, and maybe even more sanity in the kitchen.  

One more week (and change) to go!

food budget tracker: week 2

farmer's market: $36.50

grocery: $122.27

total: $158.77

pantry challenge, week 2: settling in

This month I issued a challenge to my household: we would refrain from buying anything that resides in a package, to clear out pantry (and freezer) clutter.

After last week's mad veg-acquiring rampage, between the market and the CSA, we really didn't need much fresh produce this week.  We did go to the market on Saturday, but mostly just bought a lot of eggs.  We didn't even feel the need to place a CSA order this week.  It has provided a great opportunity to clean out the random bits in the fridge, and there's actually some elbow room in there!  It's a rather odd state of affairs for me.  I'm far too accustomed to a fridge that is bursting at the seams, often with a tendency to attack when opened.

Wednesday saw a stop by a real grocery store on the way home from work, largely because we needed more food for the pets.  While there I did pick up some baking soda, but it is a standard baking resource and we were only out because I used it up for scrubbing out the bathtub.  I'm a fan of cleaning products that don't contain noxious chemicals.

This week, we've used up:

• some leftover frozen lentils and quinoa from various salads I made for a camping trip several weeks ago; they went into homemade carrot burgers and a sort of a dill-yogurt salad for a lunch
• a container of ends of veggies, used to make stock
• a bag of hamburger buns, frozen for who knows how long
• a bag of mustard-flavored pretzels
• a jar of home-canned green chile, and one of peaches
• 2 lbs. of ground lamb; it became a delicious mediterranean meatloaf, that was then repurposed into pseudo-gyros

food budget tracker: week 2

farmer's market: ~$25*

grocery: $58.11

total: ~$83.11

* Farmer's markets are inherently cash-based expenditures, and unfortunately I didn't keep terribly good track of how much was spent this week.  Bad me.  But that's a pretty good estimate, based on what I remember getting.  

pantry challenge, week 1: reframing

On the first of this month I issued a challenge to my household: we would refrain from buying anything that resides in a package, to clear out pantry clutter.  On the very next day, I found myself at the farmer's market and looking at my beaming husband, who was proudly showing me the local artisan dry pasta he'd just bought.

Well, damn.  

But instead of admitting defeat, I shall simply change the rules.  My blog, my rules.  New rule: 

• Anything purchased at the farmer's market or CSA is fair game.  Even if it's in a box. 

There.  I feel better now.  

On another note, remember how I wanted to avoid supermarkets this month?  Yup, that one fell by the wayside, too. I have a pesky orange juice addiction, so I found myself scampering into the local megamart while out running errands.  But I only bought juice, so it's not too bad.  And it's at least a pseudo-fresh food, so it's close enough to fitting in the approved list for this challenge.  Oh, what I wouldn't give to live in a place where citrus could grow again, and to be able to procure actually fresh OJ.  But such is very much not the case out here in the desert.  

It's time to adjust expectations.  But then, that's kind of the point; this is an experiment.  Sure, there are rules, but I made them, and I can change them.  As long as we come out ahead in at least some of the fundamental goals of the challenge, I count it a win.  Other than that, it's an exercise in self-observation, much like my spending tracking project (more on that later).  

This week, we've used up: 

• freezer: lamb chops, 2 lbs. ground lamb, a lonely frozen half banana, an entire jug of homemade stock*, and some random frozen mixed veggies
• pantry: the last of the chocolate chips**

food budget tracker: this week

farmer's market: $62.50

CSA: $52.96

grocery: $7.18

total: $122.64 

* We habitually save the end bits of veggies and meat bones in the freezer and then make stock in the crock pot.  Homemade stock is delicious, and this way it's free too.  Unfortunately we have a pesky tendency to make the stock, fill old orange juice jugs with it, toss them in the chest freezer, and forget about them forever.  There are like three jugs still in there, plus several gallon-sized plastic bags of the stuff to make even more with.  It's kind of ridiculous.  Actually using it is a major win.  

** The Guy went to Costco the other day, and came home with a replacement bag of chocolate chips, claiming that it was because he had planned on making his famous chocolate torte for his coworkers.  This highlighted the fact that we've had insufficient communication about this endeavor, as the point of the challenge is to see how creative we can get at coping with not replacing staples.  Plans will need to be modified if we're out of something.  That's what makes it a challenge!  But the chips are purchased, and the torte will be made.  Learn from it and move on.  This doesn't get a rule adjustment; it's just a learning experience.  

a challenge

Good food is one of life's great pleasures.  Unfortunately, food procurement can get out of control, and completely take over the available storage space.  Our various pantry cabinets are overflowing, and I've no idea what might lurk at the back of the shelves.  Consequently, I might be re-purchasing things we already own!  Food that's not known about and/or impossible to access serves no real purpose.  Money was spent on it, but it doesn't go on to fulfill its nutritious or tasty purpose.  

The chest freezer, likewise, always seems to be full to the brim, and it's generally a challenge to fit anything new in there.  

Last year we tried organizing everything and making inventory lists.  However, we weren't too good about updating the lists when something was used up or purchased, so they quickly became out of date and the system proceeded to assume its previous cluttery low-energy state.  It was a good try, but now it's time for a new plan.  

Besides, organizing isn't the point.  Minimalism is the end of organizing, and if we can have a less excessive quantity of food around, I suspect that we'll be able to find what we're looking for, not re-purchase things we already have, and even have more space to work in in our not-too-huge kitchen.  These are all very good things.  Perhaps it'll even force us to be more creative and come up with some new meal ideas.  

New perspective, new goals, new mission. 

So, for the month of June, we're instituting a pantry challenge.  For one month we will not buy anything that sits on a shelf or goes in the freezer.  

What we are allowed to buy: 

• fresh veggies & fruit
• dairy (milk, eggs, cheese, etc.)
• pet food

That's it.  Other than that, we'll have to scrounge through the packed cabinets and freezer when it's time to determine the contents of a given repast.  This should lead to some significant creativity toward the end of the month!

In terms of shopping locales, I have a strong preference toward buying everything we can at the farmer's market and local organic CSA.  It would be a fabulous bonus if we managed to not set foot in a traditional supermarket for the course of the experiment.  We'll see how that goes, but with it being summer it should be quite feasible.  

My goals for the month: 

• use up the majority of the forgotten food
• temporarily reduce the grocery budget
• create more space in the kitchen
• gain a better awareness of what we have

Some 'before' pictures of the excessive food stockpile: 

the pantry

See the papers taped to the inside of the pantry doors?  Yeah, those are the year-old, grossly-out-of-date inventory lists.  It was a good idea, but the evidence of failed organization missions does have a way of coming back to haunt one.

stuff-that-doesn't-fit-in-the-pantry

This is the cabinet above the stove.  It contains what doesn't fit in the reasonably-sized pantry area.  It's mostly pasta and packaged things.  It's kind of silly that this overflow space is necessary.

indoor freezer

I reorganized the indoor freezer recently, so it's not as packed as it usually is.  However, 'organizing' in this case is code for 'shoved more things into the garage freezer so there's space indoors.'

garage freezer: full to the brim

It takes some mad 3D tetris skills to locate, extract, or replace anything in the garage freezer.  I call looking for things in there 'spelunking,' and generally wear winter gloves for it because I know I'll be removing everything from the darn thing in order to find whatever I'm looking for.

garage freezer: perspective

The freezer is rather tall.  That's a lot of space that's packed very efficiently with... stuff.

Here goes!