One of the reasons I made the exception to this month's Pantry Challenge allowing us to purchase local produce was that this was supposed to be the last week that a local guy would have dates at the farmers market and I wanted to be sure we could pick some up. I was going to actually buy more than we could eat in the month he says they will keep in the fridge and try dehydrating them.
He wasn't there! We walked through the farmers market twice to be sure we didn't miss him. I'm so disappointed because we did not buy nearly enough last week. I'm not sure if it's worth the long drive into town tomorrow to see if he shows up at the Sunday farmers market but I'm seriously tempted.
Anyway, while we were there, I wanted to get a tomato as the organic garden where I volunteer is struggling with a virus or disease on their tomatoes. At the stand, I noticed white-fleshed sweet potatoes, too. Yum! I didn't know anyone was growing those in Arizona. I purchased four of those. Another farmer I like had bags of mixed potatoes: Yukon gold, purple, and red. We bought one bag of those (probably about 2-3 pounds) and a medium bag of green beans. We picked up a few of his plums, too, but are not crazy about the particular variety. I may try making stewed plums to see if we like them better that way.
All told, I spent $12.90. Unless I drive down to the other farmers market tomorrow, that will probably be my total food expenditure for the first week of October.
If anyone is interested, I can write about what we are eating from the pantry, fridge, and freezer. Some items are recent acquisitions (fresh produce), some bought in bulk at U-pick farms or from local farmers (freezer), and others purchased in bulk or on sale over the past few years (pantry). Would seeing my menu using those things be of interest or help to you?
Update: I am back to logging all my food in my other blog so that anyone following this challenge can see what I am actually eating. I'm giving more detail than usual, as well, to include the ingredients. See the Food Log.
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I'm always interested in reading menu and recipe ideas from people who are cooking from scratch. :)
ReplyDeleteWe're planning to live out of our (deep) pantry for the winter, excluding milk and eggs, if possible. We're in a much colder climate than you are.
I love dates. We once happened on a date farm in the California desert it was hidden in a small canyon.
ReplyDeleteWish I could trade you Apples for dates.
I'm doing a similar challenge where I clean out the fridge, the pantry and freezer to rotate in new stuff. I'm combining it with McDougalling (of course) and Eat Vegan on $4 a Day for what I call "Frugal McDougall." So please do post occasionally what recipes you do come up with, things you'd change, and things others might find helpful.
ReplyDeleteCanadian Doomer - I am definitely lucky to live in a place where gardening can be done year-round, although getting through the heat of summer requires a lot of water, mulch, and shade cloth, and usually involves a fair amount of swearing.
ReplyDeletepelenaka - hm, don't think I'd be up for that trade since we can easily get apples here from the orchards 100 miles SE in Willcox. And one of the farmers market vendors sells for other people so I don't have to drive 100 miles to get them.
I didn't make it to the Sunday farmers market so I guess I'm going to have to really treasure the current dates (and put on my calendar for next year when to go buy LOTS at the market!)
vegpedlr - your challenge sounds good, too. There's no way I could figure my costs, though, since things in my freezer can be up to a year (or more) old - packaged so they keep well - and things in my pantry are even older - also packaged appropriately for long storage. So I have no idea of the costs, although I can usually remember where I got particular items and whether they were on sale or not.
If you check out the Food Log on my other blog regularly, you'll see that I am back to recording everything I eat, with ingredients listed. I'm also planning some general posts for here. Hopefully I'll get one done today.
Chile, I would love to see what you are making with your pantry items. I will definitely follow your food log, which will give me a good idea. I wasn't prepared to do this in October but I would like to do it another time. As usual you are an inspiration!
ReplyDeleteI can't keep dates in the house -- I eat them like candy if they're there. Willpower is definitely not my middle name. But I sympathize with your disappointment at not finding the date vendor :(
Marla - I'll post a bit today about what I'm making.
ReplyDeleteOn the dates, we got two varieties. One is so sweet that it is like candy while the other is less sweet with an almost smoky flavor. I like the second better for snacking but keep meaning to try the other one in oatmeal to see how it does for slightly sweetening it.