We're an ordinary family, complete with picky eaters, budget concerns, and time management issues. But to prove that "eating local" works - even for busy families in cooler climates - we're trading Chick-Fil-A and goldfish crackers for grassfed meat and local produce. Join our adventure in learning to eat (sort of) sustainably for the summer!

Monday, June 14, 2010

Week Two shopping details

Okay, this week's going to be a little weird because Jason is out of town, so I'll be using up a lot of frozen pre-experiment leftovers just to make space in the freezer (not because I have some insane desire to have curried lentil soup four meals in a row).  But the shopping, it must happen anyway, so here's what we've got:

CSA Contents: (approximate value, $25)
One 5-lb roasting chicken
One bunch green onions
One bunch red beets with tops
One bunch white radishes
One bunch garlic scapes
One bunch spinach
One head romaine lettuce
One dozen free range organic brown eggs
One quart strawberries

Heinen's (total: about $60)
Local lavash bread, $2.69
Local (Michigan) sugar, $2.99
Local fresh peanut butter, $1.78
Local pita bread, $3.29
Local mozzarella, two pears for a total of $6.59
Local "Mexican" cheese, $3.00
Local milk, $3.59
Organic canned tomatoes, 2 at $1.50 each
Organic mayonnaise, $5.99
Organic canned tomato sauce, 2 at $1.89 each
Organic red potatoes, $3.99
Conventional peanut oil, $5.99
Conventional powdered milk, $3.59 (for bread machine)
Conventional bread flour $2.69 (for bread machine)
Conventional bread machine yeast, $5.49

Farmers' Market: (total: less than $22, because that's all I had in my wallet on Saturday, darn it)
Apple cider, 2 at $3/half gallon (got two because it's the last weekend it will be available)
Apples, $3/half peck (about seven apples)
Organic local cornmeal, $3.25/ 2 pound bag
Organic local ground beef, 2 pounds at $4.50/lb

Fitch's Farm Market: (total: $17.48 - forgot to write down individual prices)
One local zucchini (first of the year!)
One small head of local broccoli
One local green pepper (first of the year!)
One pint of local cherry tomatoes
A giant pile of local shelling peas (first of the year!)
A quart of local sweet cherries**

**I just about cried when I saw these, I was so happy.  The strawberry season has been dismal this year - so wet that a lot of the berries are just rotting on the vines, and even the ones we've managed to get that weren't rotten weren't all that great.  So we've been surviving on apples this week for our fruit, and I'm getting really tired of them.  I ate half a dozen of the cherries on the way home from the farm, gleefully spitting pits out the window as I drove along.

That's a total of about $125, including the amount we prepaid for the CSA.  

I may need to buy an extra half-gallon of milk to make it through the week, but otherwise, I think we're going to make it to Friday without any extra groceries.  Unless I snarf all the cherries down today, in which case (once I get out of the restroom) I'll drive back up there and buy more.  Ah, who am I kidding?  Let's just tack on an extra $5 now to account for my inevitable trip back for more cherries, shall we?

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