Check out this interesting thread current on eGullet: a week without shopping. The premise is that most of us have enough food stocked away to last a week at least. The plan is to save $100 by using up those supplies.
A few things occurred to me as I read through the thread so far: geez, folks keep a lot of meat around in the U.S. My freezer contains far too much fish. And all kinds of rice and pulses. Well, if I were able to buy half a lamb and have it butchered for freezing, I would. My fleishig (meat) shopping consists of chatting the supermarket butchers up over chicken or turkey one way or another, about twice a week.
The other thing is that I’d already started getting out the emergency foods to use up before Passover, as well as going through the freezer. Emergency foods…because like many others here, I stock a week’s supply of dried, jarred, and canned foods at all times. And bottled water, flashlight batteries, extra medications, etc. - in case of a national emergency.
I’d like to try this week without shopping, making exceptions only for milk, eggs, and some fresh vegetables when the stored stuff gets used up. I keep very little by way of frozen or canned veg; with fresh produce so easily available year ’round, I just buy something as often as needed. Those emergency string beans and frozen peas will go first, then I’ll see. It’s a sensible challenge, not meant to cause malnourishment or culinary martyrdom, just to help you realize how well you can manage on less.
Can I manage a week without shopping? Can you? Wanna try? Anybody who does, please comment so the rest of us can see how your week of creative cooking goes.
I’m constantly buying more produce. I buy broccoli, cauliflower and brussel sprouts (all vegetables my kids are willing to eat fresh-steamed) in one day. I make the broccoli that day, the cauliflower the next, then the brussel sprouts (because the brussel sprouts stay fresh the longest). Then I need to go back to the market for more broccoli.
Then every few days one of my kids says, “can you buy_________….”
We eat a *lot* of vegetables. I expect to run out of any kind of veg (canned, dried, frozen, fresh) around Wednesday.
I am interested in how this goes with you, I think I would be the same as you and just stock up on milk, eggs and fresh veg.
Will keep peeking to see what you come up with with your storecupboard ingredients!
You could always post a few ingredients and see if people come up with recipes for you, that could be fun!
Bev,
Yes, I’m going to post today’s lunch already. Good idea about asking for recipes.
I have been doing this for 3 or 4 months now and have cut down our monthly grocery bill by about 1/3. If I see a special on chicken, fish, turkey, beef or lamb, I buy several of them and put them in the freezer. For example, I bought a whole boneless, skinless turkey breast and cut it into slices for future stirfries and schnitzels.
I now make a habit of taking an inventory of what staples i have, i.e. rice, couscous, pulses, etc. So that I avoid double and triple buying. Rice prices have gone back down, so there is no need to hoard.
As for the couscous, Mimi, you could cook it, mix it with pinenuts and dried cherries, cranberries or apricots, and stuff it in a chicken. You could also stuff vegetables with couscous.
Baroness, that’s impressive. It sounds like you’re also successfully resisting impulse shopping.
I think there’s a chicken stuffed with couscous on your blog, isn’t there? I share your liking for meat cooked with fruit…OK, that’s another way to use up the couscous.
I definitely couldn’t not shop for a whole week. I do a bulk of shopping on Thursdays but always need a few more items.
The challenge is to use up the over-stock in the house and see how well you can eat out of it. If you run out of essentials, then of course you have to restock. I can already see that milk, eggs, and vegetables have to be exempted from the challenge, because I buy those items fresh every few days (well, eggs only once weekly, but my supply was almost gone by the time I discovered the challenge on eGullet).
The challenge can’t be imported whole from eGullet. It’s aimed towards an American public. Personally, I was amazed at the quantity of prepared foods in the photos posted to eGullet. As we eat and shop differently than folks in the States, it’s only sensible to adjust the idea to the Israeli way of life.
I do buy and freeze pittot, which are convenient for my daughter’s school lunches – but I routinely bake yeast bread and quick breads for family meals. There are enough pittot in the freezer to get through this week, but I’m running out of flour.
It’s kind of cool: instead of automatically going out and buying more flour, I’ve had to stretch myself a little and think up ways to use the starches I have. On Thursday, I’ll buy just enough for challot – we’ll eat pasta and rice and couscous till Shabbat. I have too much of that stuff stored away. Could be worse, eh?
This sounds like a good idea especially with Pesach coming up!
I have to look at the rules because I only shop once a week most of time anyway and DH brings milk on his way home from shul in the morning when we need it. Maybe 2 weeks would be more of a challenge?
Yes, the challenge is not to do your weekly shopping once, and see how you manage on what there is.
[...] Mimi of Israeli Kitchen challenges readers to A Week without Shopping. [...]
Late as usual, but I’m game! I read this before I made dinner so I’m considering my week started. I’ve given myself the same exceptions plus bread since I haven’t been good about baking lately. I’d actually love to make it closer to Purim so that I can start turning my kitchen over.
I do this ALL the time.
A friend of mine has been doing my shopping for me (with my credit card) for months. (There are no words to express my gratitude for the chessed she is doing for my family!!)
She usually goes shopping on my chemo day, and I constantly forget to prepare a list in advance. She is so wonderful and patient that I can usually get it together enough to get her at least a partial list.
A few weeks ago she was sick, as were me and my husband. No one was up for shopping…. So I dug into my freezer and pulled out our “emergency chicken.”
On any given week, I can make do without just about anything.
The things we most need to restock: milk and eggs.
Next on the list: chicken and vegetables
I usually have at least some soup vegetables chopped and ready in my freezer….
And I usually have a store of onions, garlic, and several root veges…
Not shopping for a week — no problem
Finishing all our stores before Pesach — that is my challenge
Hi, Rivka,
It looks to me like you’re fairly organized: a back-up shopper or two, plus reserves at home. Really good!
Finishing supplies before Pesach…it occurs to me that right now that’s a thought going through the heads of all the housewives in Israel
.
Like – how can I get some of that semolina into my hamentaschen!?
LOL!! I imagine you actually might be able to sneak a little semolina in… can it be used like oatmeal?
I am totally DISorganized, which is why I need to many safety nets!!
I am really good at using up leftovers and making due without…..
Rivka,
Semolina is light and crunchy. It needs a lot of water to soften, as when it’s cooked as porridge or steamed to make couscous. It was distinctive and good in the pizza crust, which needs a certain tensile strength to hold toppings – but it’s not for recipes that should result in a dense, chewy product.
I remembered why I bought so much darned semolina – I had it in mind to make pasta.
Oh. Now I know what we’re having for lunch today.