Peaches and Potatoes

Yesterday I bought a huge supply of potatoes to add to our cold storage. I got them from a fabulous local source, alpinefoodstorage.com. The proprietors drove to Idaho the day before to pick them up as they are being harvested. The potatoes come in 50# bags with the dirt still on them. That little bit of scrubbing time is worth it because the extra dirt helps the spuds stay fresh all through the winter.


Naturally, we had to eat potatoes for dinner, so along with some other exciting items we picked up at Alpine Food Storage (AFS), this is the recipe we made. Bren (13) did the slicing, boiling stirring and sauteing and I just watched to offer encouragement and advice. Here's the recipe:

Au Gratin Potato Casserole

6 russet potatoes, sliced (about 1/8 in. thick coins)
6 slices of bacon, bite size pieces (also shelf stable from AFS)
2 cloves garlic minced
2 cups heavy cream (shelf stable from AFS)
1 can cream chicken soup
1 cup milk
2 cups cheddar cheese
2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp pepper
Parmesan and cheddar cheese for the top (optional)

WARNING: This is not the healthiest recipe, but it is the height of fall comfort food.

Here's how you throw it together -

1. Slice and boil potatoes over med. heat. Cook until all crispness is gone, but potatoes are still firm. You should be able to stab them easily with a fork, but they shouldn't fall apart. Remove from heat and drain.
2. In a small saute pan, saute bite sized pieces of bacon along with minced garlic. Drain and set aside.
3. In a medium mixing bowl stir together remaining ingredients.
4. Butter a 9x13 baking pan and add potatoes. Pour cream mixture over potatoes and stir just enough to coat all the potatoes with sauce. Top with a little more cheese if desired.
5. Bake at 350F until golden brown and bubbly, about 30 min.

Honestly, Bren did this almost entirely on his own and it turned out deliciously.

For dessert we love a simple peaches and cream. We got these from the growers on the fruit belt in Northern Utah. Purchase, preserve and eat fruit in season and buy local whenever you can. These are my big sharing items right now because they are not expensive and they are prolifically available.

One final word that will bring you countless blessings of abundance when you make a practice of always buying a little more than what you need. Share. You'll be amazed at the things that come back to you when you need them.

Staying out of the store....again

If you haven't been to my new blog, Home of Peace and Plenty, you should check it out. It's a little more philosophical than this blog, but my thoughts are still forming and there's really not an original thought there. However, the experiment proves to be interesting.

As for this blog, here's the latest in the grocery shopping realm. We decided in our family meeting last night to return to no more grocery shopping for the last quarter of the year. So, from the beginning of October until January we will not be going to the grocery store with the following exceptions (note there are fewer exceptions this go around than last time):

1. We can still visit any local producers; i.e. orchards, the dairy, the egg lady, and the farmers market (for produce only).


2. Turkeys, birthday meals, and school needs ("Mom, I'm supposed to bring 2 dozen pre-wrapped rice crispy treats to class tomorrow") are exempt.


3. If Don's out of town, we can go out to eat.

We're not stocking up a whole lot for this since we spent the last year preparing. There are some things I want to get but they are non-food items like duct tape (you can't imagine all the things you can do with that stuff from taping kids' mouths shut ; ) to making wallets and shoes, there are hours of fun and entertainment in each roll). I should also go over my list of stuff I ran out of last time to be sure.

These are the things I ran out of during my month of No More Grocery Shopping

1. Paper plates
2. Paper cups
3. Paper muffin cups
4. Paper lunch bags
5. Sesame oil (I already stocked up)
6. Lettuce (Hmm, Sunflower Farmers' Market for all produce)
7. Cilantro
8. Salad greens
9. Other fresh veggies
10. Milk (Local Dairy)
11. Cream (Ditto)
12. Hot chocolate mix - (Taken care of)

So, what would you stock up on if you weren't going to the store for three months?

New Blog In Progress

I've started a new blog to reflect the shift in our lifestyle. It goes beyond grocery shopping to a broader scope of questions to be experimented with. It's called Home of Peace and Plenty. It will have a new experiment with our personal perameters and guidelines soon. You view that blog by clicking here.

http://homeofpeaceandplenty.blogspot.com/

I want to continue to refine the No More Grocery Shopping aspect of our experiment here. So keep checking for new challenges and ideas.

Radical Ideas

Alright, I am a crazy idealist. I'm also overly ambitious (redundant, I know), but this foray into the world of limitless possibilities (i.e. unemployment) is inspiring me to discover just how much I can do with what I have been given.

Almost a year ago I started my No More Grocery Shopping experiment. If you want to know why I did it, click here. If you want to know how I did it, click here. Since then we have tried to simplify further, prepare for the uncertain yet bright future and have plans in place in case of rain.

Well, the warning came, sirens sounded, clouds rolled in and it started pouring. In a 48 hour period we lost our job, we lost our car, my sister was in the hospital, my nephew had a serious medical emergency while we were all at the pool, my youngest daughter woke up with strep throat as we were preparing to leave town and everything around me seemed to want to be part of our crisis. We were overwhelmed to say the least. I think I only cried once because I was mostly in a semi state of shock. Still, I knew things can always be worse, and most of the world lives in constant crisis, so I picked myself up

Thankfully, that all passed. I mean everything but the "we lost our job" part (why couldn't I be born a country singer and write a song about that?). Now we have a new kind of rain bringing the potential for abundance to our lives and radical ideas are flooding my mind. It feels like we have lived our entire marriage (17 years) inside the matrix, content with the conventions of corporate culture and consumerism. But now we are attempting to unplug and the feeling is something akin to euphoria.

I know, you're reading this and thinking, "She is in denial, her husband just lost his job and she is in La La Land" and you might be right. Like I said, I only cried once, and other than a couple of days of horrible headaches I've been coping better than I expected. But, I would argue that I understand (at least cognitively) the reality of our situation and I have some ideas on how to thrive despite the challenges before us.

So, here are some of my radical ideas. I'm not sure which ones we'll do. Since they all require a whole family effort we have to have a family meeting before I can commit to our next plan of action.

• Live only on existing funds as long as we can go
• Keep emergency fund for a true rainy day
• Put any new income towards savings/debt reduction (house, car, student loan)

Not so crazy so far, that's WHAT we want to accomplish. Here's the how:

• Fully embrace the adage "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without."
• I already know I can go six weeks without grocery shopping, why not make it a full two months.
• Learn how to go beyond "reduce, reuse, recycle" as a means of building greater peace and plenty in my life and home
• Go a prescribed period of time (one month, two months, a year) without buying anything new (except stuff like food and underwear)
• Simplify to the point of optimal satisfaction (i.e. discover what things will actually make us happier if we give them up)
• Unplug (with a few loop holes) from the grid (literally) for certain hours of the day/week; maybe hand wash dishes, air dry clothes, or only use the oven one day a week.

To get an idea of the extremes I've been studying lately go see this guy's blog, The No Impact Man, and this girl's San Fransisco Compact blog. Please understand that for me, these lifestyle change ideas are less about CO2 and more about being a good steward of all of our resources. I'm not going to their extremes, I'm going to find my own. But other people's extremes are instrumental (even if it is just for nothing morbid facination).

One of the greatest lessons of No More Grocery Shopping was that very often less is abundantly, unquestionably more. I can only imagine that taking it one step further will lead to new discoveries about who we really are and what we really need to live a fulfilling life.

This Is Not A Test.....

So, in case you haven't heard, late last month, almost a full 11 months after I began my grand experiment, Don finally lost his job. I say finally because we could see the signs and started preparing a year ago for life without an job and now the wait is over. With all the time we had to read the writing on the wall I have to say it was a relief when it finally came. Don maintains it was an answer to prayer. You can only have soul sucking dementors (see image below) following you around for so long before it really starts to effect your world view.

So, he got laid off on August 27 and we were on the road headed for the California Coast by the 30th. Because we had a company car as our family vehicle, we had to get a new one on the spot. In five hours I was able to secure a minivan that we promptly initiated with an extended road trip. This is our new car:

As soon as the purchase was final we packed our bags and our kids, finished some weekend business and drove though the night to Morro Bay, CA where Don and I spent our honeymoon 17 years ago. It was fabulous. Now, we're back and ready for real life again. This is blog is no longer a test or an experiment. It is reality. I have to learn to live outside the regular economy of weekly grocery shopping and drive-by consumerism for real this time. They say "practice makes perfect," but I believe "diligent practice makes perfect." I've had a lot of practice but I'm far from perfect and there are lots of ways I could be more vigilant about preserving my families finances. Come along for the ride and see where we end up. Thankfully, we had some warnings and we followed the directions we received during that time, so I'm glad I can also say, "This is not a true emergency..."

Tune in next time for home made jam, back to school musing and a peek at life on the social entrepreneur side of things.

Razzle Dazzle PlumBerry Jam

Photo from taste.com, I didn't have my camera handy, but of course my jam looked just like this.

So, one day this summer I went nuts and had 12 kids over for a big party and play day. Sometime during the afternoon a child managed to manipulate the remote well enough to order an on-demand movie that no one watched while two toddlers slashed in a kiddie-pool and 9 bigger kids ran in and out of my house in a grand water-storage rotation water fight. At one point I had six or seven extra sets of hands helping in the kitchen as I made what my girl KC calls "Razzle Dazzle PlumBerry Jam." Somehow we all lived. All the kids found the treasures I hid out in the yard and garage, all my water jugs got emptied and refilled and no one was cut, scalded or otherwise injured in the jam making process. The day was a success.

After distributing the jam around to a small test group (actually they were unsuspecting friends and neighbors) I had several requests for the recipe. Well, if you don't already know, requesting a recipe from me is often a hazardous prospect because I tend to alter as I go and not keep a lot of notes on the alterations. But, here's what I did as best as I can remember.

Razzle Dazzle PlumBerry Jam

3 pounds firm plums, cut into eighths, seeds discarded
2 pounds raspberries/blackberries
3/4 cup water
2 tablespoon lemon juice
8 cups sugar
1 (3-ounce) package commercial pectin

Preparation:Place plums, water, and lemon juice in a blender and pulse to chunky state. Add to a large non-aluminum stockpot with berries. Stirring often, bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until fruit is soft. You should end up with about 8 cups. Stir in sugar. Return heat to high and bring back to a rolling boil while constantly stirring. Add pectin and return to a boil while stirring. Continue to stir and boil for 1 minute, then remove from heat. Let rest for 1 minute, then skim off any foam. Pour even amounts into sterilized jars, leaving 1/8-inch of space at the top. Wipe rims and seal with sterilized lids. Process in boiling water for 5 minutes. Remove, let cool, and label jars. Store plumberry jam in a cool, dry place.

Note: I used half the pectin and my jam turned out like a thick syrup, but it still works on toast and bagels and was well recieved with the fam. Try it out and see how you like it. Let me know.