It's only day three but I thought I'd give a little update on how the Slow Month is going. It's going pretty easy because we have a house full of fresh food right now. Let's see how the update is in a week or so. Tonight for dinner I made a hearty vegtable soup, I puree'd a portion for Max and will save that for him to eat next week. I am going to freeze a couple bowls for myself for quick lunches as well.
Knowing that I can not go grocery shopping this month really makes me think about what ingredients I am going to use for each meal. I have realized that we eat a lot of onions and garlic. I will not have enough onions to get through the month. I have chopped an onion and put it in the freezer. Out of sight, out of mind. Sort of... I started a list that is on the back of the pantry door keeping track of what is exactly in my freezers. Yes, I have two. One decent sized one attached to our refrigerator and a dorm sized fridge that really is all freezer.
My goal this month is get through everything that in my freezers and to better understand how I need to start shopping for my family. I have a lot of stuff that just doesn't make sense. But at the same time those things that seem to not match with anything else could come in handy when in one week I am going to have to really start improvising with my cooking.
I am freezing tonight two chicken breasts to be eaten sometime at the end of the month. My husband likes to eat meat as his meals and if I serve him too many vegetarian meals he complains that he turning into a rabbit and starts doing his Bugs Bunny imitation and I try to avoid that if I can as I find it highly annoying.
Total euros spent so far? 1, 10e. On a nice big pain campagne. It turns out that I did not have the right yeast to make bread. I have levure chimique but I need levure boulanger. A friend of mine said she might have some levure she could spare so maybe if I get lucky I may still get to try my hand at making some bread this month.
Yogurt is another thing we will soon run out of. I have read articles on making your own yogurt and frankly I am a bit intimidated. And I would feel bad if I made a batch and it came out bad. We don't have a lot of milk to spare either.
But this act of slowing down and really thinking about what to make each day and getting the most out of everything has been highly therapeutic for me. I know I will come away from this experience a better grocery shopper. A more efficient grocery shopper. Because I'd rather spend more time in the kitchen cooking than cruising up and down the aisle filling my basket with things that I don't need.
As for the other aspect of the Slow Month, eliminating the influx of stuff into our apt , I have figured out the best plan. I go out without my bank card. No cash. Nothing but my keys, phone, and identification. The biggest temptation for me to shop is when I'm on my walks with Max. I went out on a walk with a friend today and it felt good to have that weight lifted off me. The only thing I could think about was getting home and creating my vegetable soup from scratch.
what a great feeling, i felt so odd leaving my wallet at home too! but it is so freeing-- like lifted a weight off our shoulders that we didnt even know was there! I love your attitude about it all. Its great hearing about your experiences now that i am so far into the trenches it seems normal to me.
Posted by: Riana | February 07, 2008 at 20:40
Doesn't it feel great not to have to spend cash? I'm not doing a Slow Month, but am severly cutting back on spending. I'm not allowed to buy food at work anymore. If I'm stuck without a lunch, I only have a $5 food allowance and around here, that doesn't buy anything good. So it's definitely forced me to be very premeditative about what I'm going to be eating, what I'm going to cook, and how many meals it will last me. I'm also trying to get myself down to a $25 a week grocery budget, too. Long comment, I know, sorry! Oh, and have you thought about growing your own herbs?
Posted by: yaiAnn | February 07, 2008 at 20:48
I'll bring the yeast on Sunday! :)
It is so great you are challenging yourself like this! I can't wait to see what you come up with in a few weeks...
Posted by: Sarah | February 07, 2008 at 20:52
Glad to hear an update on how things are going! Keep it up!
Posted by: Robyn | February 07, 2008 at 21:33
sounds like you're already making a lot of progress! and soup, god, i love soup this time of year. i could eat it everyday!
Posted by: gleek | February 08, 2008 at 01:40
Yogurt is super easy to make without the machine. If you have a liter of boxed milk, some powdered milk, and a small carton of yogurt. Heat the milk to body temperature, dissolve some powdered milk (a couple tablespoons), take it off the stove and add the yogurt (don't over heat or you will kill the active cultures), stir well, and place in a thermos overnight! Tomorrow morning you will have your own yogurt, from there you can use this as a starter and continue to make your own.
Posted by: zaya | February 08, 2008 at 06:28
I received a yogurtmaker as a gift and I've started making my own yogurt recently. I could say that is a good investment: if you usually eat it, you have simply to buy a litre of milk and a small yogurt (later you'll have your own starter)and the maker will work for you during the night. You could find good makers at cheap prices, even on e-bay. I'm on my maternity leave too, and while my wee naps (not so often, sigh) I try to make some bread, pizza dough and cakes instead of buying them. If you are interested in them I always peer at this two food blogger:
http://www.foodbeam.com/
http://www.deliciousdays.com/
(the others are italian and they don't have translated recipes)
but sooner I hope to post my personal bread recipe, I make little rolls because of I can freeze them and eat the right quantity: no waste and if you remember to place them on the radiator in advance you don't need to use the oven.
Posted by: elisa | February 12, 2008 at 13:11
Yogurt making is on my list of things to do. It won't happen this month as we are running low on milk but when I grocery shop again next month, I will make purchases towards making my first batch of yogurt. :)
Posted by: Aimee | February 12, 2008 at 13:17