Veggie Challenge Summer '09: Weeks 3 & 4 & Grocery Budget

Here are the results from our veggie challenge these past two weeks:

I'm happy to report we have eaten almost all vegetables and not thrown anything away. That being said, I'd better check up on the kohlrabi, kale, and Swiss chard that are still in the fridge!

Week 3 included:

- Beets: actually, I had to throw this one away. I tried cooking in the microwave and burned it. My husband said several times that the kitchen smelled like a "smelly old sweat sock"....? I'm not sure who's sweat socks he's referring to. A beet farmer's, perhaps?

- Kohlrabi: Have you every had kohlrabi? I've seen it in the grocery store, but never bought it. I would liken it to spicy cabbage. I've been eating it raw, just chopping it up in a salad. That's why I like belonging to a CSA. I'm willing try practically any vegetable ESPECIALLY since I already paid for it.

- Sugar snap peas: kids liked them with coaxing

- Spring lettuces: So fresh & much better than store bought - I'm going to miss it when it's gone (*sniff*)

- Parsley and dill: I used some fresh, but it was wilting so I decided to dry the rest (hang upside down by a string until dry)

- Cucumbers, brocolli and strawberrries: everyone likes these


Week 4 included:

- Zucchini: sliced in a sandwich is good

- Potatoes: I don't normally like potatoes (wierd, I know) but farm fresh potatoes are so much better tasting.

- Cucumbers: A family favorite

- Swiss chard & kale: better hurry up and sautee

- Spring lettuce: *love*

- Basil: too much! I'll have to make pesto

- Brocolli: another family favorite

- Sugar snap peas: the kids were puzzled: "why are we having this AGAIN?"

Grocery budget update:

I originally thought we spend about $600/month on groceries for a family of 4. But in June, I discovered that we actually spent $774.22 on groceries alone.
Here's how June 2009 it broke down:

• 11 grocery transactions (doesn't that sound like a lot? I was suprised.)
• $315.68 at Super Target (we live really close to one)
• $250.07 at our Co-op
• $102.76 at a local grocery store
• $42.72 for the organic vegetable CSA delivery
• $36.78 at a bread outlet (I rediscovered these last month - I really need to start using my bread machine again)
• $26.21 at the fancy expensive grocery store (I don't remember why we went there...)

How do I know all of this? We've been using mint.com to keep track of our electronic transactions. It's really helped us keep track of where the money's going.

Here's what I've learned so far:

• We spend way more money on groceries than I thought
• We run grocery errands more often than I thought
• We spend more money on groceries at Super Target than I thought

It's good to have a baseline.

And the Winner Is...

...Khristin Sutton! Khristin, you've won the drawing for a pack of "Natural Value" Unbleached Natural Waxed Paper bags.

Khristin said:

The Sutton's decided earlier in the year to stop buying bottled water. We were up to two 24 packs everytime we went shopping. We bought ourselves several aluminum water bottles and try to use them whenever we can. We did have to buy bottled water for our big Fourth of July party (and a couple of times when we've been out unprepared) but we are doing what we can when we can.

Thanks everyone for commenting!

First Blogiversary! Let's Celebrate with a Prize Drawing!

It's Striving Green's first Blogiversary! I cannot believe I've actually stuck with something for 1 full year.

I started this blog waaayyy back on 07/03/08. Thanks so much for reading and going along for the ride! Here's a little recap of the blog's intent:

Welcome to "Striving Green", the blog that focuses on one family's attempt to become more environmentally friendly by the standbys - eating organically, keeping it local, reusing, reducing, and recycling. I call this blog "Striving Green", with an emphasis on the "striving". We're not perfect; we're learning as we go along...

Yes, we are definitely NOT perfect. Nobody knows that better than we do. But chronicling our mistakes as well as our successes hopefully keeps us honest and encourages us when we see how far we've come. Also, I love it when you leave comments letting us know how you do what you do. We always welcome much needed advice. So Thank You again!

Let's celebrate - how about a prize drawing to celebrate Striving Green's 1st Blogiversary? (And I'll celebrate the fact that I've followed through on something!)

If you win the prize drawing, I'll send you a pack of "Natural Value" Unbleached Natural Waxed Paper bags.
Just post a comment on this blog about 1 "green" goal you have for 2009 & tell us all how you're doing so far. Warts and all. It's OK. I understand.

I'll leave the drawing open through end of day Thursday 07/09/09. I'll use random.org to generate the number of the winner. I'll count the number of comments. If you're the 3rd commenter and the random.org number is 3, you win...I'm sure you get the idea! One entry per person (that sounds so official).

It's my first prize drawing. I'll try not to screw up.

Good Luck!

Garden updates

I've been very veggie-centric these past few posts. And today is no different -here's what's been happening in our garden lately.

I'll start with the good news:

- We had a nice raspberry harvest 2 days ago.
- We have little green tomatoes & the beginnings of cucumbers.
- The basil, parsley, & oregano are looking good.
- 3 out of 4 cauliflower look like they're doing well.





Here's the lesser good news:
- Sweet peas have been lost to weeds (my fault). Like I've said before, every year I learn something. I think I need to move them and buy a trellis instead of relying on the chain link fence.
- Bell peppers might be lost...they were from seedlings and didn't do so well.

I'll keep hoping & tending!

Composter Is Here! and other backyard updates

I ordered the Achla CMP-05 Spinning Horizontal Composter from Amazon. Free 2-day shipping with a 30-day Amazon Prime trial and about $50 cheaper than I've seen in gardening stores ($153.99 at Amazon). I've been saving up for this since last summer.


Hooray! No turning compost with a pitchfork!







I've already discovered that I need more brown material (in other words...stinky!)

In other back yard news, I recently realized we may have a mulberry tree...or something similar. We've lived here for 6 years and it's the first year I've seen fruit on it. Sue at EcoStrides has pointed me to some good resources to help me determine what kind of tree this really is. If you have any thoughts, let me know!


And more berry news...anybody know what these white spots on the raspberries are? Too much moisture? There are more of these spots this year than prior years.

Not appetizing.

Kid-Friendly (or Kid-Tolerated) Bean Challenge Dinners

I recently received a request to post the most well-received-to-tolerated-by-the-children bean challenge meals. Here we go (7 of them):

Pinto Bean Burgers

Black Bean Tofu (I’ll try it without savory baked tofu next time)

Black Bean, Corn, and Cheddar Fritter

Lentil Loaf

Fried Tofu Stir Fry

Black Bean Burgers

Tostadas

As I mentioned earlier, our bean challenge is on hiatus. Hmm…maybe I should bring it back…

Veggie Challenge: Summer '09: Weeks 1 & 2 & Grocery Budget

Here are the first results for our new challenge Veggie Challenge: Summer '09. As promised, I photographed the waste. This is what we did not eat. Hand is to show scale:

I've also noticed my hands are looking older. Note to self: use sunscreen on hands.

To reiterate - the challenge is as follows:

• To eat everything we receive from the CSA and let no produce rot in the crisper.


• To eat everything from our garden.


• And if we can't eat it, either freeze it or give it to a friend, neighbor, or co-worker.

I did not make good on that last bullet point. I'll keep trying!

Is it really a family challenge if your kids won't eat it? They simply won't eat lettuce. I could not get our daughter to try it. Our son bit on one part of a leaf...and...done. The farm fresh organic asparagus was not enjoyed by the little ones (are they crazy?)

Here was the next week's batch. This was easy to finish. We are splitting the small share, so it was no problem to devour in mere days. I was not expecting purple asparagus or super spicy radishes:


I'm also keeping track of what we spend on groceries (a recent mini-obsession of mine). We have a bi-weekly budget we *try* to stick to, but I haven't kept a close eye on what is being spent solely on food, until recently.

Basically, I want to see if belonging to a CSA, tending a garden, and having a co-op membership will make a difference in our grocery budget. I like to buy organic groceries (and we're definitely on a budget), so I'm guessing these things together will have a positive impact (stay tuned).

So far, we're on track for spending around $600 this month for a family of 4. It's not all organic, but that is my preference.

Just curious...anybody keep track of how much they spend a month on groceries? For how many people? I'm not sure if $600/month for 4 people is insanely expensive, average, or below average.

Let's compare...let me know what you think!