Random shopping lists

Okay, I'm getting really slack about saving my shopping lists.  I have an excuse, though - it's September, so my sustainable "summer" is over :)  Anyway, here's what I found on my desk and in the kitchen:

CSA Contents (approximate value $25):
1 lb organic grassfed ground beef
6 ears sweet corn
2 slicing cucumbers
1 pint mixed cherry and grape tomatoes
3 lb Yukon or red norland potatoes (a good third of which was one ginormous potato)
1 candy onion
1 red slicing tomato
1 bunch cilantro
1 medium seedless watermelon
Havarti cheese

Giant Eagle (total - $50.29):
Toilet paper - 8.59
Kleenex - 5.79
Dixie cup refills - 2.00
White vinegar - 3.29
peanut oil - 5.39
organic round crackers - 2.79
organic dark chocolate - 3.49
grassfed local baby swiss cheese - 5.03
local shredded mozzarella cheese - 3.99
organic milk - 3.79x2

Giant Eagle (total - $32.92):
Local beer - 8.99
Lemon juice - 1.29x3
Lime juice - 1.29
Organic dried beans - 1.00
Organic mushrooms - 2.49
Taco shells - 2.00
Annie's fruit snacks - 4.99
Local shredded cheese - 5.00
Organic tortilla chips - 2.50

Plus a whole bunch of stuff at the farmers' market and Fitch's, including about a half-peck of hot peppers and a bushel of tomatoes that I canned and froze and made into salsa.

Last week's shopping

Total for the week - $191, including school lunch stuff and some extra stuff we canned and froze


Two things I'm proud of this week that help offset the ghastly amount we spent on prepared food like quiche - the grapes and the tomatoes.  The grapes I found at a roadside stand a few doors down from Fitch's Farm Market, and the guy was selling two-pound bags for a dollar a piece.  Whoa - you can't even beat that at the grocery store for stuff that was shipped halfway across the world!  And the tomatoes came from Miss Dorothy, the retired lady who has a farm stand along a busy road near our neighborhood.  Her prices on produce are a little high, but it's really convenient, and she reminds me of my grandmother, so we try to throw some business her way.  She's got VERY reasonable prices on what she considers "seconds," fruit and veggies that aren't up to her very high standards.  We bought two of those two-quart produce boxes heaped full of somewhat cracked and spotted tomatoes for $5, and I spent all day Sunday canning them for this winter.  I need to get some extra jars so I can do that again before she runs out of squishy-but-cheap fruit!

Last week's shopping

Total for the week - approximately $174
(including things like soap and light bulbs, and the beginning of stocking up for school lunches)


CSA contents (approx. value, $25):
4 Ginger gold apples
4 Paula Red apples
4 Vestar apples
2 pounds red haven peaches
1 pound organic granola
1/2 gallon milk
1 pound green beans
1 bunch radishes
1 large black opal eggplant
1 pint cherry tomatoes
1.5 pounds roma tomatoes

Farmers' Market purchases (total - about $64):
lots of tomatoes - 16.75
three dinners of ravioli - 22.50
honey puffed corn - 6
macaroni and cheese pub pie - 3
habanero pickles - 3.50
heirloom carrots - 3
broccoli - 2.50
bacon - 5

Giant Eagle purchases (total - $83.32):
conventional chocolate chips - 2.99
conventional chocolate chips - 2.00
conventional cocoa - 3.99
conventional peanut butter - 2.59
conventional pepperoni - 2.39
conventional pepperoni - 2.39
conventional wheat bread - 3.89
conventional ginger - 1.70
conventional tahini - 6.99
light bulb - 5.99
light bulb - 1.59
crayons - 2.79
crayons - 2.79
soap - 2.50
organic chickpeas - 1.00
organic rotini - 1.75
organic apple juice boxes - 2.75
organic chocolate pudding mix - 1.69
organic apple sauce - 3.39
organic fruit snacks - 5.59
organic fruit snacks - 5.59
organic raisins - 4.99
organic onions - 3.99
organic celery - 3.99
organic cilantro - 2.79

Week Seven Shopping Details

Total for the week: approximately $116


Click on the post title to see the details of the expenses behind the jump cut.

Week Six Shopping Details

Total for the week: approximately $128
Click on the post title to see the details of the expenses behind the jump cut.

Week Five shopping details

Weekly total (including pre-paid CSA produce): about $175
(This includes additional produce and meat items needed to feed my parents, who are visiting for the week, and some friends who came over on the 4th)


(click on the post title to see the details after the cut)

Week Four shopping details

CSA Contents: (approximate value, $25)
One bunch beets with tops (I gave these to a friend)
Two green zucchini
Two summer squash (straight-neck variety)
One slicing cucumber
One sweet onion
One pound green beans
One bunch "Red Lights" Swiss chard
One head red oakleaf lettuce
Two pounds dark cherries
Two pounds organic cornmeal
One half-gallon milk


Heinen's (total: about $26)
Local white dinner rolls, $2.99
Local wheat bread, $3.19
Local lavash bread, $3.29
Local ricotta cheese, $2.79
Local milk, $3.59
Organic chocolate bar, $2.99
Conventional rapid-rise yeast, $2.98
Conventional walnuts, $4.49


Farmers' Market: (total: $77 )
One dozen local organic eggs, $3
Two pounds local organic butter, $8
Two huge local tomatoes, $7
One peck local apples, $6
One half-gallon local cider, $3
Local pasta (two meals) and pesto sauce, $15
Two local organic chicken breast halves, $7
One pint local black raspberries, $5
One piece (4 ounces?) local feta, $6
One local hot pretzel (breakfast), $1.75
One local cookie (breakfast), $1.75


Pick-your-own blueberries, $13 for about two gallons of them

Fitch's Farm Market: (total: $9)
Some vegetable I don't remember, $1.25
Cherry tomatoes, $3.50
Green pepper, $0.50
Cherries, $3.69


Restaurants: (total: $18)
Cleveland Botanical Garden cafe, $18
** We also went out to dinner at Crop for our anniversary, which cost $71, but this was a once-a-year expense, not a standard grocery purchase, so I'm leaving it out of the total for the week.


That's a total of about $155 including the amount we prepaid for the CSA.  

Week Three shopping details

CSA Contents: (approximate value, $25)
One pound whole wheat linguine
One stalk green garlic
One head kaboko cabbage
One bunch kale (gave half to a friend)
One bunch collard greens (gave all to a friend)
One bunch mustard greens (gave all to a friend)
One piece raw-milk "Swiss Havarti" cheese
One pound red cherries
One pound white cherries
One half-gallon milk

Heinen's (total: about $64)
Local shredded Parmesan - $3.29
Local pita chips - $3.29
Local "mexican" cheese - $3.00
Local mozzarella cheese - $4.29
Local milk from pastured cows - $3.59Organic apple juice - $2.89
Organic ceasar salad dressing - $2.79
Organic carrots - $2.00
Organic lemons - $1.33Conventional peanuts - $2.49
Conventional canning salt - $1.49
Conventional tamari - $2.99
Conventional Diet Pepsi - $2.59
Conventional garlic - $0.84
Conventional onions - $2.99
Conventional pectin for canning - $5.48
Toothpaste - $4.49
Shampoo - $7.99
Meat thermometer - $4.79

Farmers' Market: (total: $47 )
Local green onions - $3
Local cilantro - $3
Local chorizo -$5.50
Local bacon - $5
Local organic strawberries - $5.50
Local pasture fed organic eggs - $3
Local hummus and pitas - $6.25
Locally made quiche - $12
Locally made cookie - $1.75
Locally made scone - $1.75

Fitch's Farm Market: (total: $28)
Pickle cucumbers - $5.50
Dill - $3.00
Peas - $2.85
Cherries - $6.18
Four finger-sized zucchini - $0.93
Tomatoes - $1.48


Two quarts of sour cherries - $8

That's a total of about $164 including the amount we prepaid for the CSA.  

Gosh, I love my neighbors

I see this by the side of the road:

I screech to a halt, follow the signs, and find this:

No wonder my kitchen counter looked like this yesterday afternoon:

Taza Chocolate

A few months ago I made a trade with an online acquaintance - I sent her a cloak my mother had made me back in college, and she sent me whatever she thought it was worth in trade.  She loved the cloak, and she was extremely generous when she selected things for my return package.

It has taken me a while to find projects worthy of the hand-dyed cashmere yarn she sent, but the Taza Chocolate got used right away.  She sent a couple of the single-source bars, as well as packages of the cinnamon and chile flavored discs.  I loved them all - the grainy texture from the stone grinding is interesting, sort of like cornmeal or something - and the chile version was hands-down my favorite.  But it's expensive, and I'm the only one here who liked it, so I thought it was going to be a one-shot deal ...

But Taza Chocolate is organic. Raised and manufactured sustainably.  Sourced from Latin and South America, so the food miles are actually reasonable (Cleveland-Belize is about 1700 miles; Cleveland-Honolulu (the only domestic cacao growing location) is more than 4500 miles).  That's close enough to "local" for me, especially where chocolate is concerned.

Guess who's placing an order for her guilty luxury as soon as I'm sure I'll be here to accept the shipment?

Now I've gone and done it

I made my first foray into the world of organic and/or local foods, courtesy of a trip to Heinen's.  In case you haven't heard of it, Heinen's is a small Cleveland grocery chain - fewer than 20 stores scattered around the Cleveland suburbs - that caters to shoppers who are looking for high-end foods.  If you want fair trade chocolate, or a ridiculous selection of imported cheeses, or locally produced prepared foods, it's the place to go.  I don't usually make the 20-minute trek up to the closest location unless I've got a compelling need for something I can only buy there, but I have a feeling I'm going to become a much more regular customer in the coming months.

That's because Heinen's does a pretty good job of labeling the sources of their foods, and a fine job of stocking foods from Cleveland and Ohio sources.  Today I found Asiago Pepperoni bread from the Stone Oven Bakery in Cleveland Heights, chevre from Mackenzie Creamery in Hiram, fettuccine from Ohio City Pasta downtown, and milk from Snowville Creamery in Pomeroy.  My best find of the day?  Sort-of local sugar from Pioneer Sugar in Michigan.  Who would have thought I'd find locally grown sugar??

It's only Day 1 of my preparations for the summer and already I've run into the "local vs. organic" question.  Is it better to choose locally produced, non-organic items, or organic items that have been shipped from far away?  It's not exactly cut-and-dried, especially once you get past the "dirty dozen" foods that you really should try to buy organic.  For right now, I'm going with organic stuff that's as close to local as I can.  After all, I'm sure the pasture-fed organic beef is great, but what they sell at Heinen's is shipped from Australia, for goodness sake.  That's a ridiculous distance, especially for something I'm sure I can buy locally once I know where to find it.

And today I decided to start trying a few of the foods that I predict will show up in our CSA basket when that starts next month.  Today's new food:  Swiss chard.  It sure looked pretty in the store, and sliced up, ready to hit the frying pan.

I used a simple recipe to make sure we could actually taste the vegetable, not just the preparation.  The verdict was mixed - Liza took one bite and wouldn't finish the rest of the leaf, Jason was diplomatic but not impressed.  It's definitely a different taste - sort of tasted like dirt, to be honest with you, but it sort of grew on me.

It's not something I would want to eat this way every day of the week, but it was pretty and inoffensive and I think I can work with that.