The week in review

I made it: 1 week down, 51 to go. Every day I’m excited to sample the local foods in my kitchen, learn new cooking techniques and truly understand the origins of everything I consume. Yesterday, I had a good friend over for lunch and hit a major milestone in my adult life: I had enough food in my kitchen to make an entire meal without going to the grocery store. It may not seem like a big deal to some, but for me it means that I’m graduating into adulthood and indicates that I’m cooking at home more than eating out.

Our lunch consisted of a salad with fresh red and green lettuce, tomato, onion, toasted almond slivers, crumbled goat cheese and homemade strawberry vinaigrette. The dressing was made with about a cup of whole fresh strawberries, apple vinegar, olive oil and a bit of honey all mixed with an immersion blender (add olive oil last until you get your desired taste and consistency; ours was on the creamy side). Followed by homemade pasta (flour, eggs and vegetable oil) with diced onion, rainbow chard, tomato, and shredded chicken in a white wine and butter sauce. Almost everything was fresh and local, but it was all delicious.

When I started this challenge, my intention was to meticulously record what I spend, unfortunately that hasn’t exactly worked out as well as planned. However, I can tell you that I spent approximately $200 on all of my groceries for the last seven days. That may seem high, but consider this: I was eating out at least 5 meals out a week, spending an average of $15 each meal; plus $3-5 a day for coffee and bottled water; plus about one $40 trip to the grocery store a week – totaling around $150 – so this week’s total really wasn’t that much more.

Furthermore, I just bought a book about cheese making (which was one of the most expensive local purchases made this week); when I start that endeavor my grocery bill should noticeably decrease. This leaves free range meat and eggs as the most expensive items that I must purchase from a farmer’s market. Hopefully, by growing some of my own vegetables, baking bread and making cheese, I will mitigate the cost of meat and eggs. Only time will tell, but I’m ready for the ride!