MAGIC GROCERY SAVINGS HACKS!!!

 Ok, not really but good lord the headlines.  Like there is a "hack" that will fix crap.

This is in response to multiple news outlets having well paid consultants talk with well paid reporters about how to "hack" a grocery bill if you are an actual poor person.  Those well paid people don't have any special knowledge and are working from some sort of fantasy of how the people I know actually shop.

Here's a hack, if it's too expensive, don't buy it! 

Try prioritizing and keep reviewing want vs need per like all the previous blogs.

Priorities: 

Air (still free but I'm sure someone is trying to find a way to privatize and monetize it).  

Water.  drink tap water.  UNLESS you know that your tap water is specifically toxic in the short term (is there a city boil order?) just drink it.  It's cheaper than every other option.  You do not "need" any other beverage and certainly do not pay for bottled water if you are at all trying to cut costs.  You also do not need a fancy vessel to get the water to your lips.  Whatever you already own is the very best choice.  

Food.  Yes, most of us need to eat.  And we need to cook some of it because raw diets don't go well in the long run.  Look at your cooking and storage options and work with them.  Buy what is cheap, use the food banks, little free pantries and other free resources if you are in a giant bind.   It's OK.  Buy the most nutrition for the dollar, given your storage and cooking options.  I get lots of eggs and canned fish because they work for me.  I can cook, but it's hard to store left overs.  These things come in roughly single serving options.  Popcorn is great and lasts.  UNPOPPED (remember when that was assumed?) and just from the bulk bin or the big bag of cheap kernels.  Then, I pop it myself in whatever oil/grease I have.  Or in the office airpopper.  For fruit and veg, start with the discount bin/area if the store has one.  After that, look for the lowest cost per pound.  Grapes...I can't even! You can almost always get onions, cabbage, potatoes and big-bag-o-apples for under 1$/pound.  Those last at room temp for ages.  Same with carrots which are also generally cheap.  For oil/fat to cook with or get enough calories, Go with the size you can store before it goes off.  I don't buy it by the gallon because ick.  And right now it's cheaper for me (given my storage and cooking options) to buy pig fat from a butcher shop I know at 2$/lb, cook it down to lard and store that at room temp.  I also usually get a bottle of olive oil because I have enough money and it keeps well and I can use it to fry, put it on salad, or bake with it.  I don't care for corn oil or other cheaper oils on salad and I don't have room for a wide selection of oils sitting around.  It's good to eat greens.  Get cheap ones or fry up dandelion greens or buy some sprouting seeds.  Cabbage counts too.  DO NOT buy prepared meals unless you truly have no way to cook.  Dry beans store for ever, and you can sprout them.  But, they take cooking.  So, if you can't cook, try a can of black beans, package of tortillas, and dice up an onion with cabbage and throw on vinegar or lemon juice and some hot pepper (sriracha, cayenne powder, dried peppers, a fresh one, whatever) and voila...tacos.  If you eat cheese and can afford it, you can add some.  Cheap, easy, fresh.    

Shelter.  We need that.  Cut the cost.  I friend of mine just moved from a shared house costing over 1000$/month per resident to a room in a more shared house for 500$/month.  This also cut the utilities.  Be creative if you can, but we can't all move that quickly with those big expenses.  So, when you are going to change housing, go for half or less of what the bank/online-calculator says you can afford.  That way if you lose some income, you have a bit of time because you were saving that other 50%...right?  Hope so.

Focus on total spend, not imaginary "savings".  If you buy steak at 50% off to "save" 15$, you still spent 15$ for a couple of meals of protein.  You could have bought 15 cans of beans, 3 lbs of ground beef, 15lbs of dry beans, etc.  So you "saved" nothing.  You spend 15$ poorly.

Good luck and stop with the hacks.  Spend less. 

Anti-Inflammatory April: The Final Count Down

 Getting close to the end and all is well.

The toe that has the stiffness and inflammation is coming along, but will need work for much longer.

The arthritis in the knee is OK most days, as opposed to annoying most days.

I think I've had 1/2 of a chocolate chip cookie in the last week as a bauble, otherwise, totally on track.

It is a decent way to eat.  I put some stevia herb, not the refined stuff, on the steamed squash I had with breakfast and it tastes sweet.  When I am on sugar/corn-syrup, it tastes bitter.  So the tastebuds must have adjusted.

I have a field trip at work tomorrow but I am bringing whole fruit, peanuts (low or no salt one hopes...will depend on availability) and sandwich fixings for people.   Also cookies and brownies because others will want them.   I can use the lettuce to make a wrap which should work fine.  The others can use the bread.

Remembering to bring stuff on field trips has been one minor issue.   Turns out a bag of salt-free peanuts and an apple are available almost anywhere you stop.  

I still have duck meat, but have been eating lots of eggs because the chickens are laying plenty.  And more gelatine.  Using up a bottle of pure cranberry juice, unsweetened, in the "jello" made with the organic free range gelatine.  Since I'm off sugar, it tastes fine.  Straight cranberry juice is too tart/bitter when I've just had super sweet stuff.

ALSO:  Loving home made popcorn over the wood stove in my little vintage popcorn popper.  It works over the butane burner as well.  1/8 or 1/4 cup of kernels popped in coconut oil is a decent dinner side or snack.  Organic popcorn of course.  Especially good with smoked paprika on it.

The maker is like this:

Apparently getting it for 2-3$ at thrift was a good deal.  It hadn't been used so is in better shape than the one in the picture.  And it makes nice popcorn, BUT...the oil spits out the screen top all over heck while popping so I hold a sheet of paper over it gently, trying not to burn my fingers, while shaking it etc.  It works.  Then the paper goes in the fire-starter scrap paper area after I use it to soak up any extra oil left in the popper.

I'd forgotten how good real, oil popped, popcorn was. I've been airpopping and dry-popping in the microwave.  Those are fine, but bland.   

Eating whole foods also means the calories in the popcorn and oil are not an issue.

This is boring, but it works.  And it is CHEAP to eat whole food.

The apple and peanuts snack on the road was $1.20 or so.  In a gas station one is pressed to get a candy bar for that.  I could have skipped it and not eaten, but figured finding things that work is also good.

So far this month I've eaten mostly pantry food and freebies from friends and a couple of meals out.  Grocery spend this month is currently 49$. 

With a work field trip tomorrow, lunch provided (I'm the shopper so I know I will have stuff that works), that's another meal filled in.   

Enough of this.  Back to work!!

Anti-Inflammatory April

 I totes made that up.  But I'm doing it.

Sugar and crap food binging, even just eating, is expensive up front and in the long run.

Up front because sugar and crap is a bad deal.  Maybe I can get more calories per dollar, but my arthritis/bursitis flair up and my guts rebel which is annoying and costs, time, productivity and $$ in the form of diarrhea meds, probiotics, and the the like.

Up front, sugar and crap food have no real food benefit so should probably be under the "entertainment" line in the budget, or a new line called "self-sabotage"...actually, I might do that.  It might work!

Anyway, I plan to eat whole foods, cook from scratch, largely with ingredients I have with infusions of  some fresh fruit and veg.

To prep, I went to the local grocery store today and bought a farewell candy bar (a big one), along with some good fruit and veg at good deals. Apples for 89cents/lb.   Cantaloupe for 79cents/lb.  There weren't any over ripe bananas (25cents/lb) but I have a few in the work freezer and can check back. Also a few garlic  bulbs at $5.99/lb.  Not super cheap but good and help with bland veg. 1 package of organic celery hearts for $1.89, there is 1.5lbs in the bag.  It didn't hit my $1/lb target but it is pretty close and the full amount in the package is edible.  With cantaloupe I don't eat the skin or guts (I do eat the seeds and the worms eat the skin and guts).  With apples I eat all but the stem and seeds which go in the wormery.  With celery though, usually the butt end is dirt and the tops are past it so there is trimming.  The bill for everything was about 9$.  2$ of that was the candy bar.  I got about 6.5lbs of veg and fruit for 7$, 2$ for the candy bar.  At the local store there is no tax, elsewhere in Idaho there would have been 6% added to the total so I can pay a bit more locally and save the tax and the gas $$ since I walk from my office to the store.

Tonight I am making a Lentil Quinoa Pilaf for tomorrow.  I sweated an onion in a tablespoon of coconut oil, added 2 carrots, some sweet pear herb leaves (no idea if that's a good idea but I did it), and it's boiling now with a quarter cup of dry lentils in it.  I didn't even sort them to see if there was a rock.  I like to live on the edge.  In a minute, I add a half cup of quinoa and let it finish up, then pack it in my 3 tier tiffin and put it on the porchfridge to cool.  Done and done.

At work for breakfast I have a banana thawing to make banana eggs for breakfast with a tablespoon of my anti-inflammatory spice mix.  Turmeric, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  The balance is a bit turmericky this time but it's still good.

I have plenty of tea and coffee (no sugar, no additives, no milk, I take it all straight) and water to drink.

Some people say coffee is inflammatory, others say not.  I figure without the sugar and keeping the amount reasonable (with the price of beans going up I am cutting back on coffee even homemade, 2T of ground coffee perday, I can rebrew it as many times as I like) it has not bothered me in the past.

I know this is also going to save me $$ because cooking at home from scratch and from what I have always does.  Inflation on basics has been not too bad so I'm fine, but this will help free up $$ for other life goals as well.  April always has some expenses in it.  A couple of annual bills are due and I do save for them each month, but still hate to see the big amounts leave all at once.

Pantry ReStock Blow Out...OOOPS. BUT one big benefit to the 2months of eating from the pantry

 So apparently I lack focus (yes, not a surprise to anyone who has met me).  Sometimes it looks like I have focus because the distractions are all inside my head.  My affect free expression may not change.

BUT, distracted get I do (and I don't even LIKE star wars crap, yet the yoda comes out).

So, haven't been in a grocery store or market in AGES.   Haven't even gone through the food bits of salvage stores like Ross Dress For Less.  

My skillz are RUSTY.  I had a list with me.   Divided into "now" stuff and "stock up" stuff.  Well, NO WHERE on there was "cheap maple nut clusters" but they were on sale for 50cents at Ross (or maybe Marhsalls, whatever).  And then I ate them.  10 servings of not good nut candy clusters.  Like gross sweet.  I did plan to buy the Honey Mama chocolates at Grocery Outlet.  DID NOT plan on eating all of them while I drove home.   Did plan on checking out the winter market down in Moscow.  Planned on 1 cookie.  Had 1 normal cookie (excellent).  BUT there was a young super cute couple selling TINY COOKIES and MINIATURE donuts and cinnamon rolls.  So, there you go.  I had to have those.  3$.  Damn.  

I also got quinoa which was the cheap "grain" (yes, it is not a real grain it's a brassica seed yada yada yada).  Made pilaf this AM with some elk steak (from a friend...wow was it good) to have for M, T, W lunches.  BUT ate it for breakfast and lunch today already.

Thank goodness I got distracted and didn't buy the whole wheat sourdough loaf!  I have eaten 4 days of food/calories in 1.5 days.  AND I have a bday to hit this afternoon.  Dammit.

Food is so good!

Still, I have had a breakthrough on the coffee. I was early (yeah, always) and the cheapo grocery wasn't open yet.  AND I had forgotten my coffee on my porch and NOT walked back up the snowy hill to get it.  I have a coffee-out budget this month and used 6$ of it for a coconut milk latte and 1$ for the tip.  Well...won't happen again.  The first time I had this particular latte, a dirty chai with a shot of huckleberry syrup...the "sasquatch" it was amazeballs.  About 50% of the time since then it has been really good.  50% of the time...not great but good.   This time!  BARF!  SO SWEET.  Probably a bit too much huckleberry syrup plus I had had only honey and maple syrup for the past several weeks since running out of sugar.  Also, some stevia.  I have made all but ONE coffee at home.  That other coffee was an americano on a preplanned coffee date with a friend's son (to check up on him in his new town, not a blind date.  No one get their hopes up...talking to you MOM).  That was fine. Strong, dark and bitter...like me. (heh heh).  This time. GROSS.  I respect that the prices have gone up in the 2months I have been out of coffee circulation and I always tip.  However, even at the old price of 4.50$, this would not have been worth it.  I am going to help the coffee huts in the region with their staffing issue by not going there anymore.  Maybe the occassional americano, straight espresso shot, or drip when a social obligation is easier to deal with that way, but mostly just no.  Not good enough.  

Most of the beans I have at home are really good, gifts from the holidays!  Thanks all!! and even the lesser beans/roasts I have now learned how to prepare.  Like today, old fashioned perculator on good beans, boiled until it was tar made an excellent fake espresso.  I added powdered coconut milk and a bit of stevia and vanilla extract.  Whole thing cost me maybe 90cents (most of that was the coconut milk powder...spendy but awesome). $6.10 savings off the poor quality dirty chai...even though I like saying "dirty chai."  I can brew a chai with coconut milk or nut milk (even cheaper when I have nuts (heh heh)), add flavor and stevia if it needs it.  If I am paying for the coffee it is under a quarter a cup (I re-use grounds...more anon on that), like well under.  And I get what I want.  As my taste preferences have shifted to include strong sours and bitters, and less standard sugar sweeteners, and certainly less high fructose corn syrup (which I bet was in the huckleberry syrup) I get less tolerant of the sicky sweet coffee things. David Sedaris (heart emoji here) calls those "liquid snickers bars" and he's right.

I was down to about 10$/month on coffees out on average, including vacations.  I expect that it will start averaging 3$/month.  7x12=84$/year savings.  Not huge, but it is a thing!  1/10th of a window for the future house.  

My tolerance for candy is also less high ...I think we have a term for that...ah yes, "lower."

While I ate all that crap, I didn't like it.  I was distracted.  I made coconut oil coconut fat bombs with peppermint flavor last week with what I had in the pantry and they were FAB!  Fatty, fibery, and good.  NO sweetener in there at all.  Just coconut oil melted, desiccated coconut that was about 2 years beyond the "best by" date but not rancid, and a bit of peppermint emulsion I bought at least 4 years ago.  The "best by" date has faded and I can't read it.  I also binge ate those, but with fewer negative gut and budget repercussions.  Next I am going to try replicating the Honey Mama style chocolate.  Which is really cocoa treats per their information.  No cocoa butter so not officially chocolate.  They use coconut oil, excellent cocoa powder, and some honey along with various flavors and it is ASTOUNDINGLY good.  NOT over sweet.  Tasty, rich and doesn't make one more hungry like sugar/fructose syrup can do.  I'm wondering how it would go with maple syrup thought I did not find any maple syrup in the budget this round.  I will pay more for local or traceable and packed in glass. The only reasonable deal with in plastic and not made by a traceable farm

Pantry Challenge: The End of the End

 OK, there may be a final final final end of the end report if I manage to do a proper inventory.

I had a bauble on Jan 30th.  I had packed some lovely soup for lunch (smoked duck, gingered carrots, garlic cloves, can of tomatoes, dried mushrooms, dried thyme leaves and rosemary saved from my garden, onion granules, and a low sodium bouillon cube along with some cracked pepper and a bit of vinegar because that perks stuff up and I needed to empty the jar...a quart jar with a table spoon of service berry vinegar in it is a waste of tiny space).   Anyway, it was great.  And the thermos SEALED to the point I could not open it.  I couldn't open it with two people trying at the same time (one holds it and one tries to crank the lid...nothing).  I tried banging on it, warming it, etc.  Stuck.   Yesterday I found someone incredibly strong and we got it open.  But on Sunday...no lunch and I was away from home.  I cracked!  Got a coffee and a cookie (bad idea...made me hungrier).  So, a burger and tots as a major treat.  Threw my sodium level above the OK range...dang it!!

Anyway, today is a make up day.  Sunday night I made a rye berry and lentil pilaf with some onion powder, a bouillon cube, various other flavors, lentils and a can of artichoke hearts (thanks Chris!) and it is delicious.   I have a serving of soup left and most of the pilaf.  That and the eggs I had for breakfast will keep me going at least today.  Possibly tomorrow.

ALSO finally got my radish seeds for sprouts going and have nearly 1.5pints of sprouts ready.  Still have tons of seeds.  Sprouting at the office where it is reasonably warm and the temperature is fairly steady worked.  Sprouting at home did not work.  Dang it all.  But now I know.  And I will put those in the soup today, or half of them.  It's a lot.

I should do a follow up on this...like my new favorite recipes.  And how I will change my pantry stock staples (more whole grains please!!).

Anyway: what I know I have left;

3 pints chicken broth (home canned)

2 pints duck meat (seriously)

1 smoked duck carcass that I can't even deal with so it might go to the chickens.  It's frozen in a bag in a tin on the porch so it will be fine for days yet, but I just have SO MUCH food and we had a hell of a time plucking the damn ducks that there are some feathers on the skin...maybe I can peel it and give the hide to the chickens and boil up the bones...that might work.  I do like duck bone broth and the residual smoke flavor comes through.

Gelatin:  this is a great thing to have!  Just this AM I decided to add 2T to my 2 eggs and anti-inflammatory spice mix breakfast (done in a microwave but highly edible).  It boosts protein rather than getting all calories from fat when the veg runs low, and is easier on my guts.  Also my hair and nails are fantastic.  Just mix the dry powder into the dry ingredients, and continue as usual.  I've also used it to beef up the protein in muffins and to compensate for lacking 1 egg (when I didn't want to open a new bag of powdered egg which also works well in baked goods and pancakes).  The texture is different but fine.  The eggs this morning fluffed up in volume to about 3x the usual and yet, still low sodium and lots of protein per calorie.

2+lbs coffee left.  Holiday gifts increased the supply.

Plenty of tea.

Plenty of herbs/spices/salt

Got pepper corns for christmas (Thanks Chris) so plenty of those left.  

A quart of cranberry juice (unsweetened) 

1.5quarts of berries preserved in vinegar

Plenty of vinegar 

Getting 2 eggs per day on average (once in a while 1 or 3) and so that's all fine

About a half a cup of lentils left,

A pint of dry garbanzos 

A half pint of dry peruana beans

A half cup of chicos

Small bag freeze dried corn

Small bag freeze dried blueberries

1-2lbs whole wheat flour

Bit of coconut flour

1 cup almond flour

3/4 quart vital wheat gluten

small bag psyllium husk

1 pint camelina seeds (those are pretty good in a keto-ish skillet bread that you then use for a fried egg sandwich with homemade mustard)

1/2pint gingered carrots...frozen

1/2 hand ginger

TONS of ingredients for the anti-inflammatory spice mix (turmeric, cinnamon, nutmeg...sometimes ground ginger)

1 little can of tomato paste

1/2 bag dried mushrooms

2 small bags dried chilis

1 cup dried veggie soup mix

1.5 bags powdered egg

3/4 bag powdered coconut milk

Plenty of stevia

1/2 bottle olive oil

1/4 lb coconut oil

4oz baking cocoa

plenty of leavening (baking soda, baking powder, yeast)

squash seeds (saved from squash...some will go to the chickens because I am not going to get them eaten)

1 qt of beet kvass

1/2 jar olives (thanks Chris!!  Might have some with lunch)

1.5 rolls TP

There are probably other things of note that I am forgetting.

So, tons of calories left, tons of vitamins and protein left.  If I needed to, I could easily go another month and not starve or have any negative health effects. I could run out of fat for frying if I weren't careful.  I am totally out of sugar/honey/maple syrup (well, I have some maple water in the syrup bottle to get the last of the sweetness out) so my sweet tooth would suffer.  

Pantry Challenge Update: 1 Month and 16 Days

Going well!   

Had strawberry pancakes made with whole wheat flour, strawberry powder (thanks Pam), and an egg with maple syrup.  WOW was that delicious.  Also coffee and rooibos tea (thanks Chris).  

Lunch yesterday and today is/was duck soup.  Like actual soup made with duck meat, not a movie with the Marx Bro's.  I added my last fresh onion and the last of the non-frozen fermented ginger carrots along with some dried mushrooms (thanks Sher).  Really really good.  Yesterday I made some whole wheat flour dumplings to go with the soup.   Since I would be out and about today, radio show day and laundry day, I made some bread things to go with: almond and coconut flours with psyllium husk and camelina seeds.  Egg and fake (low sodium) baking soda for leavening.  Quite good!  I fried them up last night in the last of a jar of coconut oil.  I have another jar.  I supplemented breakfast with some walnuts.  I have about a pound of those left.  

I have more soup for supper or for tomorrow.  Probably for supper.  I don't work tomorrow so will have time to make beans or something.  I meant to bring home smoked salmon, lunches midweek were smoked salmon and some muffins made in the work toaster oven.  Anyway, forgot the salmon in the office freezer so I have that to eat.  I am thinking it would make a killer pilaf with the rye berries.  It is a low sodium brined fish smoked by a colleague (thanks!) and given to me.  

While I can see some definite gaps in the pantry now, I'm not in any danger of starving any time soon.  The radish seeds I tried to sprout said no...too cold at the wee shed.  Need to move the sprout factory to the office.  I am down to a few cloves of garlic, most of a hand of ginger, and a decent sized pumpkin and those sproutable seeds for "fresh" veg.   Still have dried peppers, dried mushrooms (I know they aren't really a vegetable, neither is a squash if we are playing that game), dried veggie soup mix and a can of artichoke hearts (thanks Chris!).  Plenty of beans which may or may not be a veg depending on your biases.

For proteins I have dried beans and lentils, gelatin, smoked salmon, smoked duck, a big can of tuna, and a couple of jars of duck as well as walnuts, pine nuts, eggs from the chickens and 1 3/4 bags of dried eggs (thanks Cindy).  Like I said, not starving.  Oh, and vital wheat gluten which is both protein and flour-like.  Also camelina seeds...are they a protein?  A superfood?  Something just to get stuck in my teeth?

Still have rye berries, whole wheat flour, almond flour, coconut flour, and that vital wheat gluten.

I'd like to use up the arrow root.  Maybe a pudding with coconut milk?  I have a bag of that left.

Also have tons of spices and dried herbs.  I'll parcel out the squash hopefully between this week and next and then we're done.   

Plenty of coffee, tea, cocoa, coconut oil and olive oil.   I've been using a vinaigrette I got for xmas (thanks Cindy!) for making baking soda leavened whole wheat quick breads at work.  It is really good!  I still have plenty of yeast as well.

My grocery list for the after challenge times is more refined.  Like I eat dried fruit too fast so less of that.  Also nuts in the shell go slowly, nuts out of the shell I eat too fast.  Nutbutters rarely make it into a sandwich much less a recipe.  I just eat them on a spoon which is stupid and pointless.  And expensive.

Tart jams go slowly as well.  Other stuff goes better if I portion it out by week's worth rather than looking at the whole giant quantity.  That's just a pantry reorganization issue for effective use of what I've got.

It is still strange to just skip grocery stores.

I was chagrined today to see the tiny free pantry I usually contribute to when I do groceries, is totally empty!  Usually it has stuff in it.  It is at a church and this is Sunday for pity's sake!  Put your canned goods where your mouth is people!  

OK, time to prep the radio show some more.  Enough bloggery.

Pantry Challenge Update: 1 Month and 10 Days

 I can see a dent in the pantry!  I no longer am overwhelmed with overstock.

Making a list of what to try to get through last week really helped.  I didn't get through everything on the list, but did move the items to the most convenient spot to grab and that worked.  Got done with many partial jars/bags of things and that makes space so I can see what I have.

I've gotten quite enamored with the pilafs.  Will focus more on whole grains when I go back to the store...whenever that might be!  I'm low on fruit....so I thought.  Then I found the 2nd jar of no-sugar cranberry juice AND a jar of the failed jelly cranberry sauce I made...still not thickening but probably still delicious.   Then there is the 2.5 quarts of berries in vinegar.  I dip a few berries out to throw in breads now and then.  I used some of the strawberry powdered I've had for ages (thanks Pam) in a keto-ish bannock (skillet quick bread) and it was good as well. 

I cracked open the final 5lb bag of flour and have some quick bread (made with a really yummy blackberry vinaigrette a friend gave me) going in the work toaster oven.  It smells good.   I was supposed to have a field trip for work today but we'll see.  It is Monday and I'm the only one without kids in the office.   Mondays are usually a tad chaotic for families.  Still have part of a pound of coconut flour, a quart jar full of almond flour, another of vital wheat gluten.  Plenty of "faking powder" and "faking soda" (the sodium free versions of the "baking" products) and enough yeast to get me through the apocalypse.  About a pint of rye berries (yum).  And camelina seeds that I really should start eating more of.

Anyway, got here and remembered the field trip so figured if I bake up some savory quick bread and take the last can of tuna (not counting the 2 from xmas...thanks Chris!!) it will be a decent lunch.

I am low on fresh veg.  Still have one small onion, 2 or 3 cloves of garlic, a hand of ginger, and a medium size squash/pumpkin.

I do have a can of tomatoes and a can of tomato paste which I count as veggies. Along with the can of artichoke hearts and jar of olives from xmas (thanks again Chris!!).  I have kept a bag of dried mixed veggie soup base for when the variety of fresh veggies dwindled and started some radish sprouts for more fresh.  Also have broccoli seeds and alfalfa seeds. And a few fermented ginger carrots left as well. Plenty of veg then really.   And then there are the dried hot peppers.   They add some texture and flavor to almost anything.

The chickens, pretty sure it is Helen and Beatrice, are cranking out 2 eggs most days.  That helps keep the protein supply up.   

Also have 2 jars of duck, a smoked duck, 8 portions of smoked salmon, about 3-4 cups of lentils, a pint of dry garbanzos (maybe 2?), a pint of dry peruana beans, those 2 big cans of tuna, a can of garbanzos and a jar of home canned garbanzos, 2 cans of sardines, 4 pints of chicken stock (bone broth if you are a hipster), and 2 bags of dried egg which are about 10 large eggs equivalent each.   Jesus!   Too much protein??  Oh, and 1.2 lbs of beef based gelatine which is basically pure protein.  And 2lbs of walnuts (like in a bag, not in the shells).

The neighbor gave me 8 eggs but I didn't get them eaten because I have so much and they are SO poopy I am not able to wash them well.  So, they are getting boiled up and fed to my hens now and then.  I am grateful and if it had been warm enough to try to wash them outside, and the woodstove/chimney was not on the blink this weekend, I would have dealt with them better.  Next time?

Have a bag of dried mushrooms that make for some umami in soups and pilafs.  

Enough herbs and spices for the next apocalypse as well.

In other news: 

I did force the chickens out of the coop for an hour this weekend so I could get all the poop out.  The weather warmed up a bit and after a rain the snow was crusty and more solid under the snow shoes.   Still can't get to the utility sled...stupid mistake.  So, I used the empty bedding bag I'd stuffed in the pallet wall of the coop in case I needed it, and loaded it with poopy bedding several times while the chickens whined outside.  It was 35 degrees and SUNNY.  They were FINE.  It took about 4 trips to haul bags over to the terrace garden. The snow is a few feet deep there so it will have plenty of space to leach and rot before it hits the ground and I haven't planted/prepped that bed yet.  I think the woodchip bedding will be good for the super clay "soil."  ("Soil" because really...it is just clay.)   

As I was walking on snow shoes with a recycled bag full of poopy chicken bedding, I thought about that ph.d. I have.  It did get me the job that lets me afford the place where I am doing all this so I guess...but the reality was not the picture I had in my head during graduate school.  I do like this life better than the one I pictured and tried out (being a professor was not a good fit for me), but fewer turd bags on my back would be fine.

The chickens rushed back in when I re-opened their door.   They were all fluffing around in the new non-pooped bedding.  By this morning...crap everywhere.   Assholes!

Anyway, the pantry challenge.  It is going really well.  Clearly.  I've started a list of things I enjoy eating/using/cooking with so I can focus better and not just buy what is cheap.  Also, things that I will just eat up rather than pace myself.  E.g....anything sweet and easy to eat like dried figs and raisins.   Honey in the cold weather is harder to get through so that is lasting.  Coconut oil is easier to deal with in the winter than olive oil.   And I really like working with cocoa and super dark chocolate.  You can make many delicious things.  I got so much coffee as gifts, all amazingly good stuff, that I am not putting that on the list for a while.