And ... we're off!

Okay, we've started the project in earnest, cooking and eating almost entirely local and/or organic products.  We got off to a slightly rocky start when Jason decided to be helpful and buy some groceries when he got home on Saturday ... somehow strawberry-flavored frosted miniwheats and milk from unhappy cows made it on the list, while any actual organic produce did not.  Oh, well - cereal keeps FOREVER, especially when it's got that many chemicals in it, right?

Aside from that, though, we've been doing well.  I'll publish a list of our menus for the week later on, but until then, here's a list of what we've bought to use this week (along with rough prices):

From Fitch's:
4 quarts of U-pick strawberries - $8

Ohio-made pumpkin butter - $3
Homegrown broccoli - $1
Homegrown lettuce - don't remember
Homegrown snow peas - $1.20
Homegrown snap peas - $5
Homegrown tomatoes** - $3.50
Total: $21.78

From West Side Market:
Sesame oil - $5
Locally raised turkey lunch meat - $8.93 for 1.5 pounds
Ohio maple syrup - $10
Organic cream - $5 for 2 cups
Total: about $29

From Heinen's:
Organic US carrots: $2.00
Organic US celery: $2.99
Organic US mushrooms: $2.99
(couldn't find any organic) sweet potatoes: $2.53
Organic US walnuts: $5.99
Organic US sunflower kernels: $4.49
Organic US raisins: $3.99
(doesn't have any HFCS) whole wheat bread: $3.89
Organic fair trade coffee: $7.49
Organic tea: $2.00
Organic tea: $3.00
locally made pita chips: $3.29
Total: $44.47

Stuff we already had on hand from previous weeks:
Organic pasture-raised local chicken (3lbs): $9 (farmer's market)
Locally made organic cheese from pasture-fed cows (16 ounces): $10 (farmer's market)
Locally made Italian sausage (4 sausages): came with the CSA basket
Locally made sausage rolls (6): came with the CSA basket
Locally grown organic eggs from pasture-fed chickens (12): came with the CSA basket
Locally made milk from pasture-fed cows (1/2 gallon): came with the CSA basket

So we're at around $90 spent this week, plus we'll be getting $25 of stuff in this week's CSA basket on Friday.  Considering our grocery bill when we were eating "regular" food was normally around $100 (usually more), I'd say we're doing pretty good so far.


** Homegrown tomatoes in early June - can you believe it?  I had to stop myself from jumping up and down with joy, I was so relieved to see them.  They're "Tomatoberries," little strawberry-shaped cluster tomatoes that apparently don't mind growing in a greenhouse.  The tomatoberry plant we've got out front has (tiny green) fruit on it already, too, so we might actually have our own tomatoes this month, too!