Hard to Believe I Haven’t Done Groceries in Three Weeks

It may be lack of time or it may just be tightening our belts, but it’s hard to believe I haven’t done groceries in three weeks!

Not having done groceries in three weeks has not been intentional.  Life’s been really busy with school starting again and having visitors, and being away for a wedding in Montreal. Although I enjoy a good challenge like Project Empty Out Your Pantry, where people use what they’ve got in their pantry before buying anything else, this was not one of those cases.  I actually was at a loss for time to get to the grocery store.  I honestly didn’t realize until now that it’s been almost a month since I did groceries!

My van is not working, so that’s another reason I haven’t been to the grocery store.  Having two vehicles per household is both a luxury for many, and at the same time a necessity for two working parents in one household.  The fact that my van is kaput, has been frustrating.  It won’t even start! My van is not working and Hubby needs his truck, so no trips to the grocery store.

What are we eating? How have I not bought groceries?

Basically, we’ve been living off of what I’ve been harvesting from our garden.  We’ve downsized our garden considerably and it’s still yielding enough to feed our family.  Since Hubby’s accident, I decided I wasn’t even going to plant a garden because it was too labour intensive with me working two jobs, helping on the farm, doing all things Little One related, and keeping the household running.  I changed my mind and ended up planting a few varieties of tomatoes, squash, zucchini, cucumbers, a few varieties of peppers, kale, Swiss chard, carrots, beets, onions, garlic, peas, beans, Brussels sprouts, lettuce, and spinach.

I am so thankful that I ended up planting a garden.  It’s what’s been feeding my family since I haven’t had the time to get to the grocery store.Homemade cabbage rolls – Everything in this dish was grown on our farm except for the rice.

Little One is a soup kid and has been requesting soup for supper a few nights a week.  Most of the ingredients have been grown on our farm except for the kidney beans, chickpeas, and the barley.
All the ingredients in this soup are from our garden. Everything on this plate is from our garden. Recipe for Hasselback Potatoes here.

As for our meat and fish, we’re using what we’ve got in the freezer.  Our beef comes from our farm.  Our chicken and pork come from local farmers, and our fish is from my Dad, who is an avid fisherman.  Our eggs are from our farm and I’ve been using up whatever is in our pantry (rice, dried beans and legumes, pasta, etc). I bought a few loaves of bread, wraps, and other bread products a while ago and had them in the freezer. We’ve been using those up.

The only thing that we’ve bought has been milk and bread at the general store in town.  We don’t have dairy cattle, and I’ve been too busy to bake bread for Hubby.  Those are the only two items that we have needed to pick up. Hubby’s the only one in the house who eats bread regularly, and Little One loves a glass of milk at breakfast and after school.

I’m still amazed that I haven’t bought groceries in three weeks.  I feel encouraged to know that we can survive off of what we grow.  Little One misses store bought yogurt in her lunches.  I sometimes make my own yogurt, but again, I’ve been a bit too busy with other things.

It’s good to know that we have lots of good, fresh, healthy food to eat — even if I haven’t bought groceries in three weeks!  If I even think of not planting a garden next year, this experience will remind me of why I absolutely need to grow my family’s food.