Monday, September 14, 2009

Jumped the Gun

Okay, my last post I talked about just eating locally. As I got to studying the things in my pantry, I realize this is going to take a little bit of planning and organizing. So, maybe I should have said that we are going to try HARDER to eat locally.lol. I want to be able to grow everything we need and eat here on the farm. But, it's not going to happen over night. I realize that now. One day and one purchase at a time. Me and Hubby were discussing how much we actually did this year towards our goal. We canned and froze quite a bit of food. More than we did the year before.(Which was hardly anything) Next year, we will do even more. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't just snap my fingers and it would all happen at once. Although, wouldn't that be nice?

Another thing I learned was, if you are making your own food from your pantry, you have to plan more. You can't just pop an 11 pound ham into the microwave after you get off work. It doesn't work that way. Although, once again, it would be nice. So I found out that one of the things that I have to learn is meal planning. I thought I was good at that. WRONG! Hotdogs don't count when it comes to planning good local and nutritional foods to eat.

So, I'm taking back the things I said in my last post. (at least some of it) There are guide lines that we want to go by, (like eat local, organic, not genetically modified, and eat our own food that WE grow.)but it's going to take a little longer to get where we want. But you have admit, we are closer than when we started.

So for now.....

Small Farm Girl,gun jumper.

4 comments:

Kathryn said...

We are the same, headed that direction & doing fairly well, but still have a way to go.

Kelle at The Never Done Farm said...

SFG,
We've been at it for decades and you know what we're still figuring it out*wink* Our family downsized when Jon moved out on his own and now it's like I have to learn how to cook all over again,LOL! Plus Mike, Cortney and I have made a conscious effort to cut back on what we're eating( smaller portions) so leftovers seen to last and last!

Not only does it take more time to plan meals out as well as prepare them( although worth every minute) it costs more to avoid GMO's and you really, really have to educate yourself, because it says "Organic" or "All Natural" means very little since the USDA took over*sigh*

Many of the Organic food industry is being bought out by Cargill, Monsanto,Conagra, etc.... For example "Tom's of Maine" was bought out by Colgate, so do you really think they'll keep their ingredience up to snuff?

Don't get overwhelmed, it's a relearning process plain and simple, you'll be cooking from scratch like mad, I know you will!

I find that cooking in larger quantities and either freezing leftovers of canning them is a HUGE time saver. You can also make items in bulk batches( example: cookie dough, pizza dough, tortillas, even cook rice and beans and then freeze for quick meals.

Hate to burst your bubble, but I'll send you some info on Microwaves, that will curl your hair. If you are using a microwave on your homegrown goods, your killing them and ruining all you've worked hard to get from your food.
Hope this isn't to long and overwhelming,
Blessings,
Kelle

Sarah said...

Hey, great house! I think its going to be perfect for you two when you get it done! And what a sense of accomplishment knowing it was built by yourselves!
As to the eating thing....keep at it! I think that's a great goal, but your right in that it isn't an overnight thing. One step and purchase at a time.

Faith said...

It's really quite a shock to truly imagine what it would be like to suddenly HAVE to completely support yourself off of your land.

My eating habits would greatly change. I'm sure I'd have much less variety and I'd be working a lot harder outside.

It takes a lot to change over. If that was all we had to do, live on the land and work it, it would be easier, but we are also keeping one foot in modern life. Two worlds, each taking up a lot of time.

I think your goals are good ones. A little at a time. You are already doing great with what you've accomplished so far.

~Faith