The growing season is over. Last week I pulled out the last few tomatoes that could ripen on the window sill and prepared for the coming frost. It’s hard to believe I grew tomatoes into November.
After some unseasonable warmth, the cold is finally settling in. Jackets are coming out, cozy boots are being worn, electric blankets are back on beds, and tea and hot cocoa are supplementing mornings and evenings, along with the usual coffee for Eli and I. It finally rained this morning, which was a relief. We are in deep drought, and brush fires are running rampant through the area.
Veteran’s Day weekend was extended by an extra day off for me, which I spent taking care of some appointments – I was long overdue for an eye exam and a few other things, and braving Costco and other stores to do a stock up shop. We really, really needed to stock up.
Almost $805 later across 3 stores (ouch) we had almost everything we could possibly want or need, plus full freezers and cabinets. Add to that our winter share, and the bulk vegetables my Brother in Law had brought from upstate NY, and we simply won’t need to shop much until we get close to the holidays. Except for Thanksgiving cheese, but that’s in it’s own budget. Other than milk and fruit, we are set for a while. Like squirrels with their acorns, we’ve stockpiled for the coming winter.
And that’s fine because I’m tired, and while I do enjoy grocery shopping (other than Costco – too crowded and stressful) I don’t have much spare time for it. I much prefer to shop from my house. And we all want to cook and eat all the things, so a very deep and rich set of options from the freezersand pantry cabinets suits us here. The only thing we have to manage is food waste. It happens – like when our fridge died last month – but we’re getting better all the time at using things up. Years ago I wrote about Managing Food Waste and we still do most of the things – there’s only 1 bunny left now, Marshmallow and he’s old and persnickity and really only wants to eat kale and his treats, so we humor him. The chickens are getting older, but still great about scraps, and Teddy the dog does get some occasional leftovers. We also still compost as much as possible.
So what did I spend $805 on?
Food: The bigger expenses were chicken, salmon, shrimp and olive oil. I hadn’t bought shrimp in a long time, but I do like to have some frozen for a quick meal. All the meats get frozen and we eat multiple meals from them. These 4 items were nearly $120 of my expenditures. Assume 25-ish meals from the proteins at least.
I also bought a 12-lb bag of flour, replaced some pricier items that we lost when the fridge died (fish sauce, coconut aminos, etc) that I tend to keep on hand and use fairly frequently. Our snack box was getting a little thin on selection, so I spent about $50 on snacks that should last us a couple of months. That’s a lot, but includes beef jerky and some things that tend to be a little more expensive, like mini RX bars.
I bought cucumbers, and greens for some salads, since 3 of 4 of us love salad. Lots of avocados and broccoli, since we’ll use them up. Kiwi fruit and raspberries to keep us in fruit – the kids love it. We also already had a cantaloupe, so we’ll eat that up as well. I didn’t yet any tomatoes since we had the last few from the garden. I’ll have to buy some the next time I shop. Green, yellow and red peppers for various meals and because cutting them up with some hummus is a family favorite.
I got bagels, tortillas and sandwich bread for the freezer, sweet potato crackers, lots of yogurts, a large block of cheddar cheese, more sliced provolone, sub rolls, and a pound of pastrami that we stuck in the freezer and make into hot pastrami sandwiches soon. I also got some more Parmesan cheese, since we use a lot of it. Couscous and chicken broth for the pantry.
I also bought a 4-lb bag of frozen peas. Those who know me know they are one of my less-favorite veggies, but we use them often in things like shepherds pie and Indian food. That bag should last us quite a long time.
I bought bake and eat pretzels with dipping sauce, ham for sandwiches (in the freezer for now), butter, also for the freezer- since I bake all December, it’s better just to have it on hand, 4 lbs of coffee (at $30 for the 4 lbs, it’s a deal) and a few other items.
Non-food: Lighters for candles and the wood stove, Advil, soap, conditioner, thermal liners for the kids for winter/skiing, socks and a couple of holiday gifts.
Our next non-small grocery shop will be in mid-December when we go to the Korean and Indian grocery stores for a stock up there. In the interim, we’ll need things like fruit, scallions, greens and milk.
So how am I managing all this food? Very carefully. Today I’ll blanch and freeze a chunk of the broccoli for later meals. I’m making chocolate chip cookies for the week and an Indian meal that should produce lots of leftovers for lunches for the week. We’ll have salads mostly until we run out of that, and stir fry, since I need to eat up some Bok Choy from our winter share.
I’m also doing some other prep, like hard boiled eggs. My goal is quick and healthy snacks and food for the week.
I have lots of winter veggies to use up – sweet potatoes, one cauliflower, squashes, onions, beets and a few potatoes from our giant bag left, but those are almost all gone now. I also have a cabbage that I’m either turning into pickled red cabbage, or going to roast in curry.
Here’s what we’re eating this week:
Saturday: Creamy Green Chili Tortilla Soup, which used up the last few fresh poblano peppers from our summer farm share – I have more frozen that I picked – popovers, and this salad with some substitutions – I used pumpkin seeds instead of walnuts, skipped the persimmons since I didn’t have any, used goat cheese instead of blue cheese, and added cucumbers and the last of our cherry tomatoes from the garden. It was delicious.
Sunday: My daughter and my husband were doing a volunteer activity in the evening, so my son and I went to Salem MA to do some holiday shopping and eat dinner out. We were home by 5:45 pm because we’re both homebodies and he went off to game and I watched some TV with a glass of wine.
I put some dried kidney beans to soak in water so I could make a batch of Haphazard Homemaker’s Refried Beans, which is such a great and simple recipe. Once made, I freeze them in side dish sized batches for future use.
Monday: Holiday for me and the kids. Preeti’s Dal, Butter Chicken, rice with peas, and Eli helps me make Onion Pakoda. Few substitutions in that last – I use canned green chilis, and dried cilantro since I don’t have any fresh. I will roast some broccoli for something green on the side.
I also plan to make chocolate chip cookies for the week. I haven’t yet started making holiday cookies, but that will start up soon.
Tuesday: I have dinner plans, Eli was working, so I will prep him some leftovers with a nice dessert
Wednesday: Using 1/3 of the dozen rolls I bought (froze half, kept 1 out for a sandwich for my son, used the rest for meals) to make hot pastrami sandwiches with sauteed onions, provolone cheese and whatever else people want on them, along with Fattoush and some roasted broccoli.
A note on the Fattoush – hands down a house favorite, I learned to make it after getting hooked on it during my work travels. The sumac is fairly cheap and it lasts a long time. We probably make this salad weekly, and I often roast slivered almonds on top.
Thursday: My daughter has her riding lesson and then went to her Dad’s, so it was just my son and Eli and I. Crusted salmon over couscous. Ours will have some garlic scape pesto over it from the freezer, my son’s will not.
Friday: The kids are with their Dad, so Eli and I will have either Butternut squash soup or stuffed spaghetti squash boats.
Saturday: The kids have an art museum outing during the day, and will eat lunch out. If anyone needs dinner afterwards, I’ll make homemade meatball subs with some of the frozen sub rolls.
Sunday: Beef Ramen with Bok Choy added, and homemade potstickers, in order to use some of the Napa cabbage from our farm share.
I hope you all stay warm and cozy this November.
Little House on the Fairy Hill 