Pizza Pizza!
Last week was a fantastic week for eating out. The Girl and my in-laws were here and so we mostly went on mini adventures and ate out at seafood joints and we even picked up some lobster at the dock and had ourselves a feast on the back porch.
With no more bookings scheduled at Camp Butterfield for the rest of the year, I guess this means lobster season has come to a close for the year {yay!} and now I can return to our regularly scheduled program of Crock Pot meals, soups and baked goods. 🙂
I will miss those zucchini fries from Red’s in Wiscasset though.
We tried a new diner {I’ll tell you about it soon}.
And another {new to us} local hot spot.
I also baked a loaf of our favorite no knead Dutch oven crusty bread.
And there was also Ritz cracker chicken with roasted potatoes and tomato soup once everyone went home.
Costco$424.96 {for the food above and below}
And since The Girl came to visit, I gave her my last shopping list for the year. At this point I think I probably have enough Rao’s sauce to last for the next 5 years. 🙂
More flour for all the bread baking I plan to do this winter, the sweet potatoes are for sweet potato casseroles, lentil stew with sweet potatoes and sweet potato fries.
The Guinness is for Guinness beef stew and Mel’s drunken beans, and I have no idea what I’m going to do with all that garlic! 🙂
I also loaded up on more cheese for homemade tuna casseroles, macaroni and cheese and sheet pan party nachos, ground beef for my next round of freezer meal meat loaf, chicken for Ritz cracker chicken and cream of chicken and wild rice soup.
Bob’s Red Mill online order $59.44
The total was $74.30 but I was able to save 20% by signing up for their newsletter and scored free shipping because my order was over $59. I wanted stoneground wheat flour so I could make whole wheat bread, and Irish brown bread this winter. I nice hunk of buttered Irish brown bread and a bowl of beef stew on a cold winter’s day is the best.
The flax seeds are for the vegan zucchini and chocolate chip bread recipe I need to make for the freezer, the pumpkin seeds are for my favorite quinoa salad with feta, avocado and kale and the dried buttermilk is for baking.
General Store $12.67
Fun fact: Whipping cream in a can will last for months {the expiration date on these are March!} These {and the two I bought last week} were purchased specifically for topping off mugs of hot cocoa this winter.
We stopped by for apples {The Girl wanted to make caramel apples} and went home with another 50 pound sack of potatoes {how to store potatoes long term} a bottle of apple cider and a stalk of Brussel sprouts for The Girl.
The birdhouse gourd and other squash was picked up at a roadside stand along the way.
My mother in-law treated us to all the deliciousness. 🙂
And so it begins…. My great hibernation from food shopping. I will not step in any grocery store or order anything online that is food or grocery related.
I was going to have one caveat. I was going to allow myself to stop by one of our local roadside stands {the duck lady} for eggs and apple cider in a couple of weeks, but the more I thought about it, I decided it wouldn’t be a true experiment {3 months without food shopping} if I am still BUYING food, right?
So from now until January 1st {or later?} I won’t be buying anymore food. No milk, dairy, eggs, bread or anything else.
Willpower. It can be a magical thing.
Wish me luck!
Have a great Monday everyone,
~Mavis
P.S. Have you been stocking up on anything exciting lately? What’s the longest you’ve gone without buying groceries? Curious minds want to know.
*****
Total Spent This Past Week on Groceries and Bakery Treats We Brought Home $497.07
- Total Spent in September on Groceries and Bakery Treats $1663.58
- Total Spent in August on Groceries and Bakery Treats $675.99
- Total Spent in July on Groceries and Bakery Treats $1037.79
- Total Spent in June on Groceries and Bakery Treats $297.1
- Total Spent in May on Groceries and Bakery Treats $323.38
- Total Spent in April on Groceries and Bakery Treats $352.64
- Total Spent in March on Groceries and Bakery Treats $712.01
- Total Spent in February on Groceries and Bakery Treats $230.98
- Total Spent in January on Groceries and Bakery Treats $128.60
- Total Spent on Groceries and Bakery Treats We Brought Home in 2021 $5481.69
MamaHen says
I can’t wait to see how your experiment plays out. I know you can do it! Milk would be the problem for me. My sons love milk. I am feeling the need to stock up-something in the fall air I guess. I’ve just got to make myself do it. 🙂 I made your Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice soup Friday night. It is one of my family’s favorites.
Janis says
I have grabbed the garlic from Costco in the past…I cut the tops off the bulbs, sat them “up” in foil, drizzled them with olive oil, and roasted them. Then I peel the paper off freeze them flat on a sheet pan covered in parchment paper. Put in a zip lock bag. This lasts us about 9 months-well passed your shopping challenge.
Have a great Monday!
Ronda says
Came to say the same thing about roasting and freezeing and added the roasted garlic to the no knead bread is wonderful too.
Susie says
And *I* came to say the same thing about roasting & freezing garlic, but I use the 3 lb bag of peeled garlic cloves from Costco. I dump a bunch (maybe 2 lbs) in a 9×11 pan lined with foil, salt, pepper, & drizzle olive oil over it all. Cover & roast for an hour or longer. No peeling. I freeze it in small 4 oz. containers.
Jam says
I just peel all the garlic raw, then mince/chop it all in the food processer. Then lay it flat on a sheet pan with parchment paper & freeze. Then I put it in quart ziploc freezer bags and just pull out whatever amount I need for a recipe. It works just like fresh-but without any of the time/effort of peeling & mincing fresh. It has saved me so much time!
Lissa says
How will the HH handle a possible lack of chips and cereal with milk? The long term milk? Do you make homemade popcorn (cuz it’s the very best)?
Cheese: do you freeze all those different kinds?
No more going out for dinner/lunch? I’ll be curious to see how long the food stock lasts….seems like a ton! 🙂
Mavis Butterfield says
He still has some almond milk cartons in the fridge.
I didn’t freeze the cheddar or the Monterey Jack. I do have goat, parmesan and brie cheese in the freezer though.
Connie says
That food will last you at least 6 months. My great experiment begins this month. But there are things my husband will not do without. Milk being one. So he will go to store.
Otherwise I am good for 6 mos for 2 on staples but will get eggs and half and half.
Our Costco did not have dates or ghee. Limit one on butter.
I am going to get Bobs red mill museli this morning.
I will buy persimmons when they hit the stores and eggnog.
Rosemary Calhoun says
We spent $1,072.26 for food in September (Yikes!) for the 3 of us. I did stock up on some beef, pork and chicken (heard that prices were going up on meat). Gone are the days of the $400 monthly food budget! But, our freezer is full and so is our pantry. I will still need to grocery shop for the perishable items (especially since my granddaughter takes her lunch to school).
My granddaughter wanted to know why I have so much “stuff” in the pantry. (I guess her mom doesn’t shop that way). She got her answer when she came to me and said she needed hair conditioner and I went to the pantry and pulled it off the shelf – she didn’t have to wait until I went grocery shopping. She knows how her mom shops and now she knows how I shop – it will be interesting to see which option she chooses when she is all grown up and has her own family to take care of.
Jennifer says
Just curious – do you freeze excess milk so you have some for later months? Other than the milk question, I think you can totally do this! Good luck, Mavis! Can’t wait to hear the outcome.
Mavis Butterfield says
Nope. I did not freeze any milk.
Tracey says
Did I miss your egg substitute post? Are you using Bobs Red Mill powdered eggs?
Mavis Butterfield says
No, I don’t have an egg substitute nor am I using powdered eggs. Occasionally our mail lady gives us eggs {she has too many} if we are gifted some, great, if not I’ll just have to do without.
Kayla says
Just FYI: 1/4 cup of applesauce is equivalent to 1 egg in most baking recipes. That is how I get around keeping eggs.
Samantha says
You can also use flax in substitution for eggs in baking. 1 Tbls flax meal to 3 Tbls water. Let sit for 5 minutes then use. I keep flaxseed meal on hand just in case!!
Mel says
You can use the garlic to make and freeze garlic butter to go with all the bread you’re planning to make!
The longest we’ve gone without grocery shopping was five weeks at the start of the pandemic, but we still had CSA delivery and eggs from our chickens.
I’m basically stocked up at this point (over 100 freezer meals, baking stuff, etc.), but I’m not attempting to stop shopping entirely. We’ll still grab milk every 10 days or so and anything else we want or need, but I’m planning to want/need far less. I’m not assigning hard and fast rules, but I think we’ll generally shoot to only buy 1-5 items a week.
This weekend I froze pot pies, mashed potatoes, and lasagna, and we made jalapeno corn fritters and apple cider fritters. I love how having freezer meals handy allows more time for making fun foods like fritters.
Deborah R says
Mel, would love if you shared your apple cider fritter recipe. Apple cider donuts from our local orchard is a seasonal necessity for us. (Had some last weekend, still warm, yum!)
Mel says
Sure, I used this one:
https://grandbaby-cakes.com/apple-fritters/
I skipped the glaze, because we were using fresh-picked apples and just wanted that for sweetness, but I think they’d be good glazed. Without the glaze, they reheated pretty nicely in the oven (400 for 5 minutes).
I also tried this recipe, which was a disaster:
https://www.bingingwithbabish.com/recipes/applefritters
I think the Babish recipe has great potential if you prefer a yeast doughnut, but it was nowhere near enough flour. So, if you go this route, make sure you add enough to get a soft, lightly tacky dough. Mine was like pancake batter, and there was no recipe note to suggest that’s not what it was supposed to be, so I didn’t figure out it wasn’t enough until it was way too late. We fried them anyway just to see, and they had potential but took on way too much oil when frying because of the excess moisture, so adding more flour would fix that.
Nan says
I guess I’m an oddity (I already knew this) but I enjoy going grocery shopping- even now wearing a mask. I have lots of food in my house- I just did a freezer check- and I do enjoy leftovers but I could never give up indoors grocery shopping unless I was terribly ill. This morning I just made 2 pans of cinnamon rolls- both to gift and this afternoon I’m going to bake and freeze some cut out sugar cookies for Halloween treats.
Jennifer says
I figured you would still send HH to the general store but I know how you like your challenges! Can’t wait to hear how it goes.
Mavis Butterfield says
I do love a good challenge. 🙂
Jeanine says
I could not go without salads….will HH pick up lettuce occasionally?
Lana says
We are the same. We eat salads daily. I am planning on starting some greens in my Aerogarden soon so they could help but we go through a lot of lettuce and it will not keep up with us. But, we enjoy an errand day out each week and we grab some lunch before we come home.
Jennifer Bouknight says
I’m curious as to how the street corn dip tastes. I saw it the other day, but as I have never even had street corn, it was too pricey to try. Lmk what you think.
Mavis Butterfield says
Haven’t tried it yet, but it sounded good.
Susie says
I’m not sure about the dip Mavis bought, but Aldi has a delicious street corn dip. $3.29/10 oz.
Erin says
For those who feel that they need to buy milk weekly, switch to organic. It usually doesn’t expire for 6 weeks. It’s also a better option, although it does cost more.
Mel says
We actually do buy organic milk. We just go through 1.5 gallons a week, which is about all our fridge can hold. I can probably pare that down slightly by using powdered milk in recipes, but mostly we drink it.
Kayla says
My kids drink 2 gallons a week. And then add that I cook with it too. I buy 4 gallons about every week. We wouldn’t survive a month without at least buying milk.
Jeri says
Shelf stable milk is available through Amazon or Walmart…it doesn’t have to be refrigerated until it is opened and has a lengthy expiration date. Good luck with that challenge Mavis! Can’t wait to follow your progress,,,you are an inspiration!!
Lana says
Dollar Tree has it too but it gets expensive for a family. We do keep some for emergencies.
Dublincalling says
Hi. Longtime reader first time poster. Will you be writing a new post with a list of all the food you have put together for this experiment including what you will be still harvesting from your garden. I think it would be great to have a what we started with and what we ended up with at the end of the experiment. In addition, does this experiment end December 31st? Finally, maybe I missed it but are you still planning on having any lunches or dinners out while exploring or with friends if invited until December 31st?
Mavis Butterfield says
You can see all the food I’ve bought this year here: https://www.onehundreddollarsamonth.com/category/weekly-shopping-trips/
I never really had a solid plan. I just slowly started working on building up our dry goods pantry over the summer and then just bought what I thought we would want to eat over the winter months.
As far as garden harvests go, we still have herbs, cabbage, green beans, zucchini, butternut, pumpkin, spaghetti and delicata squash yet to harvest. I planted beets and broccoli but the chippys got to them.
The goal is to make it to January 1st without buying any more groceries.
I hadn’t really thought about dining out. A lot of the places around here have already closed down for the winter so there isn’t a huge temptation {or really even a desire to once the weather gets cold}. While we don’t have any plans to eat out or go to dinner with friends or even over to a neighbors house for dinner, if we do, I’ll share about it on the blog.
Elle says
I admire your challenging goal and really have no desire to try it even though I dislike shopping I do love fresh veggies. I’m getting only 5 spaghetti squash this year and no other winter squash came to be in my garden.
I generally go to the store every 2-3 weeks to get freshies except CSA season…and that sadly ends this week. So in about 3 weeks, we’ll start that. My roundtrip to Costco is just 14 miles and they carry a LOT of organic these days so we live on those November through April. I get fresh organic eggs from a local lady and pick up from her twice monthly. Generally I’ll hit the local grocery store while out on those egg pickups. That’s when I get anything else that hit the “we are almost out” shopping list.
I do have a well-stocked pantry and freezer. If I were willing to go without freshies, milk and eggs, we could likely make it to year end….I would just need to grab more beans quickly for variety.
I’ll certainly be following along to see what you eat and consider how I might change our future eating life 🙂
Marlene Wurtzbacher says
How do you store the 50 lbs. of potatoes Mavis?
Mavis Butterfield says
I wrote about it a week or two ago:
https://www.onehundreddollarsamonth.com/how-to-store-potatoes-long-term/
jodi says
I’d love to see pictures of how you’re storing it all! Will you decant all the Bob’s Mill stuff to avoid bugs? appreciated your post on storing potatoes. I’m from the NE but currently living in MS where we don’t have a “cool, dry, dark” area for long term storage.
Marlene Wurtzbacher says
Must have missed it…….. thanks.
Heather says
It will be interesting to follow your challenge. We could probably do it, but the husband would still want salads, spinach, etc so I know we will be going to the store. Hopefully we buy less each time.
Sue says
I remember doing a “buy nothing” month several years ago.
I did really well (I think my only exception was related to an unexpected medical emergency).
I also remember debating and then deciding that bartering was within the rules! I think I remember you posting about doing this too, during an earlier challenge.
Will be watching eagerly to see how you do!
(will you be growing any cold-frame greens for your salad or leafy green needs over the next few months? I had so many salads this summer that I can go awhile before I want one, but I would need a lot of frozen broccoli and spinach to last me months without shopping.)
Kippy says
Good for you! The veg garden didn’t produce enough to preserve and the neighborhood blackberry patch was removed by the property owners. I try to order grocery delivery every other week for dairy and fresh produce (adding some canned and freezer items each time). I do not enjoy in store shopping and am saving money by not makingimpupse purchases.
Vivian says
OMG, I am here from the NW visiting and just waited 1-1/2 hours in line for a lobster roll at Red’s in Wiscasset. It was HEAVEN! Today, had a hot dog at Wassa’s in Rockland and was underwhelmed. Tomorrow we are checking out Camden, next day back to Damarascotta which we loved the last time we were here. Unfortunately we are too late for a lot of the bakeries you have enjoyed, darn it! Too many fun things to do, too little time! Any last minute recommendations in the Rockland/Camden area??
bonnie baine says
the view of camden harbor is beautiful from the back of the town library.
Judi Y. says
I’ve had great luck freezing eggs for baking. Just crack one egg in each opening of a cupcake tin, blend each one a little and freeze. When frozen just pop them in a bag. They keep up to a year. I can’t tell the difference when I bake between fresh eggs and frozen.
Tracee says
I can’t wait to follow along! I love your challenges. I’m also enjoying seeing how much milk people buy! No one in our family likes it so I probably only buy 1-2 gallons every six months mainly for baking. I should get powdered milk so I never run out!
Love the blog as always! Sundays and Mondays are my favorite post days!
Jeff Reeder says
Thank you Mel.
Lisa says
I’m fascinated by this challenge because I want so badly to do it with you but know I would fail miserably. Hoping to pick up some good tips nonetheless. Who wouldn’t love to shop less?
Lilypad says
I love Bob’s Red Mill because of the quality and diversity of their products and also that Bob (yes, there really is a Bob) gave the company to his employees via a stock ownership plan in 2010. I think that’s really cool.