Food vanishes from this house quickly. My oldest and quickly growing daughter can eat as much as I do and I have a big appetite for a small woman. People are amazed at how much food I can eat. At the grocery store I avoid buying the snacks, the cereal bars, the candies to save money, for the environment and to live healthier. Instead, I load up on vegetables and fruits (local and organic if affordable). I buy some meat (mostly whole natural chickens) to make up for the days we run out of CSA meat. I buy cold organic cereals for the morning, eggs, potatoes, rice and organic milk. These are the basics. Sometimes I’ll buy stuff to make homemade snacks and I always buy crackers to eat with tuna.
When I look at the grocery cart I am amazed at how full it is? When I pay for the groceries I swear under by breath and sometimes out loud that the food better last a month, but when I look at the fridge two weeks later I am shocked that it didn’t.
Where does it all go? I stretch the food. I ration it out. I no longer cook enough to make leftover unless I know %100 percent we will eat them for lunch tomorrow. I don’t let the fruits and vegetables rot. I…. I don’t understand. Not long ago I heard this story on the news about a women who fed her whole family for a month on something like $100. She fed them things like noodles with veggies inside. She’d make soups and save the chicken bones for flavoring etc. etc. She’s also a coupon clipper.
Now I do most of that, except save the bones. I give those to my dog. I also don’t coupon clip though I have been meaning too. I have a box of coupons waiting to be clipped and used. In the past though, looking through those coupons I found little of use. There are no coupons for fresh fruits and vegetables. There are very little coupons for organic foods and frozen vegetables and fruits. I use what I can find, but these coupons are usually for the expensive organic brands. I buy store brand organic because its less expensive even if I use the coupon with the organic name brand. I guess I could double up coupons, but some coupons state on the coupon not to double up and some stores don’t allow double up. I will have to do more research in this area. If anyone out there has some experience feel free to send me a message.
In the mean time I’m going to have to find a new way to make fresh food stretch farther than it usually does in this household. I am going to have to keep reinforcing the “eat slowly and savor your food” rule (which no one likes) a lot more. I’m also going to have to keep trying to succeed with the garden. I’ve saved a lot on money on herbs, mint tea and cucumbers. If only I could get other things to successfully grow.
Speaking of success. My basil looks amazing. It is thriving! My camera battery died before I could download the pictures I took of it. I will have to post a picture later.
seed I would give her some of the seeds. I forgot to tell her about the herbs. My parsley and 
are doing so well they have each grown another thick stem. Soon I will have to give some of this stuff away. If enough neighbors and I swap maybe one day most of the neighborhood will have a swap 
. Wouldn’t that be interesting?
? Why should we trust something that is labeled 
? Should we trust blindly or become more informed and possibly even detective consumers?
. I want to know what they grow, how they grow it, the hardships, their successes. I want to know a little bit more about them too.
I saved money on organics foods. I found organic food products I didn’t know existed. Regular food was of good quality. The place was clean. Staff was price checking to make sure prices were updated, my questions about products were answered…maybe I just went at a good time. I’ll have to take notice of this next time I go there which unfortunately won’t be until the next doctor’s visit. The only thing lacking was the customer service. Employees didn’t smile. That really bothers me wherever I go. I’ve worked customer service and I grew up with a businessman (my dad) so I know how important it is to smile and say hello. Instead they were kind of cold as if they see a lot of customers every day and they are sick of dealing with them. Sure they were still polite and still answered questions, but their faces showed boredom and irritation. If only the HEB near my home (Spring) could expand and improve… With their customer service I would shop there all the time. If Brookshire Brothers would lower prices and the baggers wouldn’t show how irritated they are with reusable bags and if the organic milk were of a different brand (that brand is nasty) I would have continued loyally shopping there. If Kroger would lower prices…. I mean really lower them and not try to trick customers with their Kroger card deals I would shop there more often too. It’s always something isn’t it? For now I’ll just have to wait until doctors appointments to visit the HEB over there. I’ll make sure to buy bulk items and pack up on items I rarely shop for, but always need. I could just drive the distance and spend the gas, but that isn’t environmentally friendly. I am really trying to combine errands and use reusable bags and all that good stuff. It isn’t easy though.
