It's time for a challenge. Adam and I have decided that we will not shop at a grocery store for one month (or as long as we can). It's back to the basics for us. Farmer's markets for fresh produce, farms and local stores for meat, bread and milk...and what we can't buy there, we don't buy.
Others who have done this challenge have made it a year without shopping at a grocery store. They have guidelines such as: You can go to the store two times a month for basics that you can't find at a famers market or farms. It has to be organic, and each trip has to be under twenty-five dollars. I think that for the two of us that will be doable. I'm counting my "store" as our local Co-Op and Health Food Shoppe. Simply because I hate going Meijer on Saturday afternoons, and honestly, one of my favorite parts of this challenge is purposely avoiding that place. :) But on top of that, here are a few other reasons why we're taking on this challenge...
Number one: To be more aware of what we're eating. We've been more conscious over the past eight or so months while trying to lose weight, but even then so much of our food was processed junk. Ingredients that you can't pronounce, unnatural flavors, colors, and shapes...after thinking about it, it's hard to call some things food.
Number two: Be local centric. We've always frequented local restaurants because, well, they're better than the stupid chain restaurants in this town. So making the choice to make our grocery items local too seemed like a no brainer. Not only does it help local famers and butchers, bakers and candlestick makers (sorry, had to) but because it makes sense knowing where you food comes from, and it also helps you get the most nutrients out of what you eat.
Number three: Expand our pallet. We want to try things we've never heard of, come up with new recipes, and force ourselves to be creative with what we have. For example, this evening's dinner we made a delicious spicy-beef, swiss chard stir-fry. Made with all farmer's market veggies, (swiss chard was a new one for us, and it was tasty!) and we had leftover beef and some noodles we needed to get rid of. *Note the beef and the noodles were not a part of this challenge. It's our first time at this, so we're cleaning out what we had....give us a minute. :)
It has ground beef, green bell peppers, hot hungarian wax peppers, onion, garlic, broccoli, homegrown thai basil and of course some sriracha atop a lovely pile of noodles that I can't currently remember the name of.
Number four: Save a little money. Some of the stuff may be a little more expensive, but I think we'll make up for it without all the crap we usually buy. i.e. goldfish crackers, ice cream, wheat thins, (oh crap! no wheat thins!) and what have you. We spent $3.00 on lettuce yesterday and it will be lunches for the both of us for 2 days. Add a few veggies to put on the salads, and we're looking at maybe $1.00 a lunch. $1.50 at most.
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