Not really the beginning

With this blog post, Bill and I are sorta starting on a new food adventure...but the roots of these changes really began years ago.

Our quest (game, really) to see how long, and how well we can follow the rules posted on the right <-- was proximally spurred by a number of factors including a friend's goal to buy nothing new for 6 months, a trip to the Field Museum, dinner at Charlie Trotter's, and last year's minimally successful garden.

To get to a point where we will try limit our supermarket food spending to $50 a month, however, was actually the result of numerous small steps from banning doritos and fast food, to choosing the small package of Pillsbury cinnamon buns over the large and committing to grain-fed beef as to keep our brains functioning as long as possible.

When we first starting thinking about this quest, we were going to see how long we could make $600 last for groceries. But then we started considering the foods we could reasonably produce ourselves so as not to have to use money to purchase them and realized that we currently lack dairy animals, therefore, cheese was not on that list. This sent us into a panic.

As eating locally and seasonably is one of our goals, we decided that any local foods shouldn't count against our $600. We expect to get to know the folks at Traders Point Creamery very well.

This blog is mostly a self-imposed incentive to keep us accountable. We'll probably post our homemade food and garden adventures and information we come across on environmental and political issues. Hopefully this quest will change the way Bill and I interact with food and the blog will document those changes.

So, here the fun begins. An honest, uncensored look at our kitchen as it currently stands.

Nearly functional counter space:

Our fridge. I think the second shelf has two open jars of homemade applesauce (from very local apples). One is moldy. No idea what is in the styrofoam. Or a few of the jars in the back...though I think at least 3 of them are jelly.



Freezer, including at least 4 half-eaten and now freezer-burned containers of Ben and Jerry's.



And the pantry, where we do a bit better. Mostly ingredients and home-produced food including our last two jars of garden tomato sauce.




While this isn't the prettiest picture, we hope our new thoughtfulness about the food we buy will result in noticeable changes. Limited supplies of Ben and Jerry's will make each pint more precious. Knowing each purchase will creep us closer to the $600 limit will help us search the leftovers before buying more.

We hope this process will be fun, but challenging. Recipes, garden tips and helpful hints will be appreciated!!