A month or so ago I discussed that our family was going to embark on a year of less so we can experience more challenge. Inspired partly a reduced budget, and a to-do list on the farm that really doesn't bear thinking about unless we can help it. It was also inspired in part by the desire to explore all the free beauty that our new district has to offer and to move away from the idea that consuming equals entertainment.
I thought I would write a post on how we grocery shop. It's not something I usually write about because there are entire blogs dedicated to budget shopping and meal planning, but in the aim of this challenge, it seemed appropriate.
Our camping set up is very basic at the moment, so this shapes what we eat and how we plan our meals. I wrote a little about our meal planning and camp facilities HERE. We have a basic old, second-hand BBQ and a single gas burner for cooking. We have a tiny gas caravan fridge for our fresh food. People at home will likely be able to do better by making their own school snacks which would reduce some of the packaged food we are currently buying.
Food shopping and menu planning.
I very roughly write out a list of ideas to eat during the week, to help me think on my feet whilst I'm at the shops. Our pantry items usually stay about the same, but the meat and the veggies change depending on what is in season and what is well priced. If I see beef for a good sale I will buy that over chicken, and change my fresh ingredients to suit. If the cut is suitable for a quick stir fry I'll make sure I buy some broccoli, bok choy and mushrooms. If it is chuck steak I will lean towards buying vegetables suitable for a slow cooked casserole like carrot, celery and potato. Also, mushrooms, because I love them, despite that most of my family, hates them. Cooks prerogative there.
Though our pantry space is tightly limited in the caravan, I try to keep spares of the things we use most and still manage to buy a little extra of something if it is on a good sale. I always keep a couple of cartons of long-life milk in the cupboard, a spare block of cheese, tin of tuna, frozen veggies, flour, pasta and oats. That means no matter what happens I can always whip up a quick, family-friendly meal of tuna mornay and breakfast without needing to go into town. This removes the temptation of nipping out for takeaway. That and our 4WD track of a driveway and the 35-minute hike into town.
I do the grocery shopping on a Thursday or Friday, and I start at Aldi. At Aldi, I buy all the staples. Flour, sugar, rice, pasta, any jar/canned food, nuts, lunch box snacks, (necessary until I get a fully functioning kitchen and an oven back, though not ideal.) biscuits, can tomato, olives, crackers, cereal, x2 soft taco kits, chocolate, eco dish liquid/toilet cleaner/white vinegar, toilet paper, yoghurt, butter, cheese, parmesan cheese, free range eggs, a bag of mixed frozen veggies, and usually some meat if it's a good price. I also grab Grant an x6pack of beer most weeks. I browse the fresh fruit and veggie section and pick out what looks to be well priced. My Aldi shop is usually between $100-$130.
Then I go to Coles and buy our basic organic care shampoo/conditioner, toiletries, a big free-range chicken, cat food, dry lentils, independently owned milk any Asian ingredients/sauces and I top up the fruit and veggies. I usually keep this around $20-$50.
We buy bulk dog food from a fodder store as well as turtle food. Squirtle also eats insects we catch and some greens.
Mid-week we usually have a top-up of milk, bread and fruit. I try to keep this under $20. If my shop at Aldi is small, I will buy more from Coles, if my shop at Aldi is big, I may hardly get anything from Coles. It really depends on what we have on hand at home. My weekly shopping usually sits at around $180. This week my grocery shop will be smaller as my pantry is well stocked, I obviously don't buy everything on my the list above every single week. It is simply an example of the kinds of things that are currently in our pantry.
There are farmers markets once a month in our district which I look forward to exploring this weekend.
Tips
One of the things people today have been accustomed too is eating only what we "feel" like eating, rather than what we actually have on hand and what needs using up. I think this would have to be one of the biggest contributors to a family’s food waste. In the past, if we had a hankering for a particular dish it might be an idea to put on the plan for next week. But now people go out and buy the ingredients specifically for that dish, despite what other food they may have in the fridge that needs using. It not only creates more food waste, but it also costs more to shop like this. By resisting and putting it aside as an idea for perhaps the next week, it means when we do finally get to that meal, the anticipation has built and we enjoy it more deeply. Leaning into delayed gratification often intensifies the final reward.
I cook one meal for our family, but the boys can pick out one thing they don't like and put it to the side. Usually, it's the mushrooms or potato. My boys are not perfect eaters, we have the usual family likes and dislikes as well as some sensory issues surrounding food. I serve up a wide range of foods on a regular basis and encourage them to try everything on their plate. By allowing them the choice to remove the one thing they dislike most, they gain an element of control and meal times are usually pretty smooth sailing.
Not all meals have to be fancy or require multiple side dishes. Eggs on toast with fruit and yoghurt for dessert is a totally acceptable option for dinner in my books. So is a big shared platter with bread, crackers, hummus, veggie sticks, boiled eggs and cold meat. Simplifying our expectations lightens the nightly responsibility of feeding a family.
Waste
Living a zero-waste lifestyle is not possible for us on our limited budget, with our current living situation. I know as the farm becomes better set up, fruit and veggies become established, I get my Aga set up in the yurt and can cook properly again that I will be able to make improvements to this. But we do what we can, as we can. I bring my own cotton tote bags rather than using plastic shopping bags, I use cloth produce bags for my fruit and veggies and I avoid buying fruit and veg packed in plastic where I can. I store things in lidded re-usable containers and use beeswax wraps. Where possible I buy things packaged in paper and cardboard.
Discoveries
We have found with a simplified menu and making do with what we have on hand that we have become more grateful and more creative.
The other day I bought a nice big piece of corned beef on a good special. We waited all week to eat it and I cooked it up with mash loaded with butter and left-over cream, veggies and a lovely white sauce. My goodness, you would have thought the boys were eating a 5-star meal. How they raved on about it. They ate plate after plate, I had intended to use the left-over corned beef as cold meat, but they were all enjoying it so much I didn’t have the heart to stop them. It wasn’t because I had made a particularly amazing meal. In fact, it is a meal that is usually on our regular rotation list when we are living in an actual house, not camping. It wasn’t even the best version of this meal I had ever made. It was instead to do with the build-up of anticipation, simplifying our expectations about what constitutes as a “good meal” and making a concerted effort as a family to be more grateful for all the things we do have, despite being in a season of living without a lot of the creature comforts we have become accustomed too.
Links
Here are a few links to sites, shows and books which have shaped the way we think about money, meal plan, budget and about what we value in life. As always, if there is anything you would like to read about further please message me or let me know in the comments.
Down to Earth
Frugalwoods
War on waste link War on Waste
The Art of Frugal Hedonism
Grass Roots
I hope you have a lovely weekend.
Much love,
Emma
xx
I thought I would write a post on how we grocery shop. It's not something I usually write about because there are entire blogs dedicated to budget shopping and meal planning, but in the aim of this challenge, it seemed appropriate.
Our camping set up is very basic at the moment, so this shapes what we eat and how we plan our meals. I wrote a little about our meal planning and camp facilities HERE. We have a basic old, second-hand BBQ and a single gas burner for cooking. We have a tiny gas caravan fridge for our fresh food. People at home will likely be able to do better by making their own school snacks which would reduce some of the packaged food we are currently buying.
Food shopping and menu planning.
I very roughly write out a list of ideas to eat during the week, to help me think on my feet whilst I'm at the shops. Our pantry items usually stay about the same, but the meat and the veggies change depending on what is in season and what is well priced. If I see beef for a good sale I will buy that over chicken, and change my fresh ingredients to suit. If the cut is suitable for a quick stir fry I'll make sure I buy some broccoli, bok choy and mushrooms. If it is chuck steak I will lean towards buying vegetables suitable for a slow cooked casserole like carrot, celery and potato. Also, mushrooms, because I love them, despite that most of my family, hates them. Cooks prerogative there.
Though our pantry space is tightly limited in the caravan, I try to keep spares of the things we use most and still manage to buy a little extra of something if it is on a good sale. I always keep a couple of cartons of long-life milk in the cupboard, a spare block of cheese, tin of tuna, frozen veggies, flour, pasta and oats. That means no matter what happens I can always whip up a quick, family-friendly meal of tuna mornay and breakfast without needing to go into town. This removes the temptation of nipping out for takeaway. That and our 4WD track of a driveway and the 35-minute hike into town.
I do the grocery shopping on a Thursday or Friday, and I start at Aldi. At Aldi, I buy all the staples. Flour, sugar, rice, pasta, any jar/canned food, nuts, lunch box snacks, (necessary until I get a fully functioning kitchen and an oven back, though not ideal.) biscuits, can tomato, olives, crackers, cereal, x2 soft taco kits, chocolate, eco dish liquid/toilet cleaner/white vinegar, toilet paper, yoghurt, butter, cheese, parmesan cheese, free range eggs, a bag of mixed frozen veggies, and usually some meat if it's a good price. I also grab Grant an x6pack of beer most weeks. I browse the fresh fruit and veggie section and pick out what looks to be well priced. My Aldi shop is usually between $100-$130.
Then I go to Coles and buy our basic organic care shampoo/conditioner, toiletries, a big free-range chicken, cat food, dry lentils, independently owned milk any Asian ingredients/sauces and I top up the fruit and veggies. I usually keep this around $20-$50.
We buy bulk dog food from a fodder store as well as turtle food. Squirtle also eats insects we catch and some greens.
Mid-week we usually have a top-up of milk, bread and fruit. I try to keep this under $20. If my shop at Aldi is small, I will buy more from Coles, if my shop at Aldi is big, I may hardly get anything from Coles. It really depends on what we have on hand at home. My weekly shopping usually sits at around $180. This week my grocery shop will be smaller as my pantry is well stocked, I obviously don't buy everything on my the list above every single week. It is simply an example of the kinds of things that are currently in our pantry.
There are farmers markets once a month in our district which I look forward to exploring this weekend.
Making pizza, or in this case, pizza scrolls is a cheap and easy way to use all kinds of bits and bobs. You can blitz or grate veggies into the sauce, add leftover meat and top with cheese.
Tips
One of the things people today have been accustomed too is eating only what we "feel" like eating, rather than what we actually have on hand and what needs using up. I think this would have to be one of the biggest contributors to a family’s food waste. In the past, if we had a hankering for a particular dish it might be an idea to put on the plan for next week. But now people go out and buy the ingredients specifically for that dish, despite what other food they may have in the fridge that needs using. It not only creates more food waste, but it also costs more to shop like this. By resisting and putting it aside as an idea for perhaps the next week, it means when we do finally get to that meal, the anticipation has built and we enjoy it more deeply. Leaning into delayed gratification often intensifies the final reward.
I cook one meal for our family, but the boys can pick out one thing they don't like and put it to the side. Usually, it's the mushrooms or potato. My boys are not perfect eaters, we have the usual family likes and dislikes as well as some sensory issues surrounding food. I serve up a wide range of foods on a regular basis and encourage them to try everything on their plate. By allowing them the choice to remove the one thing they dislike most, they gain an element of control and meal times are usually pretty smooth sailing.
Not all meals have to be fancy or require multiple side dishes. Eggs on toast with fruit and yoghurt for dessert is a totally acceptable option for dinner in my books. So is a big shared platter with bread, crackers, hummus, veggie sticks, boiled eggs and cold meat. Simplifying our expectations lightens the nightly responsibility of feeding a family.
Waste
Living a zero-waste lifestyle is not possible for us on our limited budget, with our current living situation. I know as the farm becomes better set up, fruit and veggies become established, I get my Aga set up in the yurt and can cook properly again that I will be able to make improvements to this. But we do what we can, as we can. I bring my own cotton tote bags rather than using plastic shopping bags, I use cloth produce bags for my fruit and veggies and I avoid buying fruit and veg packed in plastic where I can. I store things in lidded re-usable containers and use beeswax wraps. Where possible I buy things packaged in paper and cardboard.
Discoveries
We have found with a simplified menu and making do with what we have on hand that we have become more grateful and more creative.
The other day I bought a nice big piece of corned beef on a good special. We waited all week to eat it and I cooked it up with mash loaded with butter and left-over cream, veggies and a lovely white sauce. My goodness, you would have thought the boys were eating a 5-star meal. How they raved on about it. They ate plate after plate, I had intended to use the left-over corned beef as cold meat, but they were all enjoying it so much I didn’t have the heart to stop them. It wasn’t because I had made a particularly amazing meal. In fact, it is a meal that is usually on our regular rotation list when we are living in an actual house, not camping. It wasn’t even the best version of this meal I had ever made. It was instead to do with the build-up of anticipation, simplifying our expectations about what constitutes as a “good meal” and making a concerted effort as a family to be more grateful for all the things we do have, despite being in a season of living without a lot of the creature comforts we have become accustomed too.
Chicken broth made from chicken carcasses, along with onion, garlic, carrot, celery, noodles or pearl barley makes a delicious, nourishing soup for next to nothing.
Links
Here are a few links to sites, shows and books which have shaped the way we think about money, meal plan, budget and about what we value in life. As always, if there is anything you would like to read about further please message me or let me know in the comments.
Down to Earth
Frugalwoods
War on waste link War on Waste
The Art of Frugal Hedonism
Grass Roots
I hope you have a lovely weekend.
Much love,
Emma
xx
