A month without groceries?

blades

blades

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The other day I was posting that I thought I could go a month without buying any groceries. As it turns out it has been more than a week since my wife was hospitalized and I haven't set foot in a supermarket since then. I had a visit from two of my sisters and they brought some ingredients to make evening meals. I have a lot of stuff in the freezer. I haven't needed to shop. I'm out of tomatoes, milk, eggs and vegetables. The refrigerator is mostly empty. So I wondered if I could make good on the idea of going a month without grocery shopping and still eat well. So I am going to give it a shot for no other reason than it will help me keep my mind off my wife's problems and it might be entertaining.

Today I made a BLT for lunch without the L. I used some of the rasher of bacon my sisters brought, my last tomato, some avocado slices, cheese and mayo on my second to last English muffin. For dinner I went to the freezer and took out what I thought was marinara sauce. It turned out to be more than marinara. I defrosted a Bolognese sauce and boiled some elbow macaroni on which to serve it. It was great and I have enough left for a repeat tomorrow evening. Have you ever wondered how long your fridge, freezer and pantry could feed you comfortably?
 
For two of us, I don’t know if my freezer and pantry would last a month - possibly, but it wouldn’t be fun, because two things I always want on hand are eggs and lemons, and I’d have a hard time keeping a month’s worth on hand.

Extending that, I’d miss fresh fruit and vegetables in general. We go through a lot of green onions, lettuce, and radishes
 
TastyReuben said:
For two of us, I don’t know if my freezer and pantry would last a month - possibly, but it wouldn’t be fun, because two things I always want on hand are eggs and lemons, and I’d have a hard time keeping a month’s worth on hand.

Extending that, I’d miss fresh fruit and vegetables in general. We go through a lot of green onions, lettuce, and radishes
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And god forbid you run out of beer. :eek:

CD
 
If I stocked up on a few things, like frozen veggies, I could go a month on what I have in the freezer and pantry. I have plenty of meat, beans and canned ingredients. Lot's of dried pasta and rice, too. I still have fresh herbs in the garden, and will have oregano, rosemary and thyme through the winter months. Tons of spice in the pantry.

The challenge for me would be overcoming the temptation/craving for something I don't have.

CD
 
I genuinely don't think my hubby in particular could go without his banana and mandarin every day. (Nor would the old, narrow plumbing to the septic tank survive).

We could easily survive a couple of weeks if and only if fresh fruit was allowed, but it would get boring because we've only got certain frozen veg and fruit, such as the remainder of last seasons raspberries, frozen peas, broad beans, edaname beans, sweetcorn and spinach, but I think that's all except for the frozen onions I chopped up and stored in the freezer. Yes, we have complete meals in there, and some vegan feta, 1 loaf of bread, vegan sausages and some vegan mince.

I've enough pulses, lentils and pasta/rice to live off for more than a month if I went through all of it, but I'd not be living a healthy diet with only a limited supply of frozen veg and even less frozen fruit.

So, no. If it was the end of the world then yes, I could, but would I want to add an experiment. No. I won't sacrifice our health or our diet to try.
 
One thing I have plentifully in my fridge is beer. I don't drink a lot of it and have way more than a month's worth on hand. I may change my mind but I'm still going to give it a shot.
 
TastyReuben said:
We have so much beer. She started to buy some yesterday and I had to remind her that we still have beer from Christmas last year.
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I still have some beer left from last month. But I've been drinking a lot less just lately.

Going without groceries for a month? Doubtful. My wife shops three times/week in the supermarkets, once or twice in the town afternoon/evening market (Markets of Thailand Page 2) and twice in the local evening market.
 
Funny as I was thinking about this the other day.
How long would my freezer contents lasts? And am I ever going to empty that thing?

I figure I would last way over a month. I got lots of already cooked meals in it.
I bake my own bread and I generally prefer rice & noodles over potatoes.
I brew beer, and got plenty stock at the moment
 
badjak said:
Funny as I was thinking about this the other day.
How long would my freezer contents lasts? And am I ever going to empty that thing?

I figure I would last way over a month. I got lots of already cooked meals in it.
I bake my own bread and I generally prefer rice & noodles over potatoes.
I brew beer, and got plenty stock at the moment
Click to expand...
We're similar if I baled to the veg plot and the fruit trees in season. But we'd lack essential vitamins and minerals and so on, for a while. We've loads of stuff we could live off if really needed and I've just planted up the veg plot. Strawberries and raspberries will be fruiting in a couple of weeks. The redcurrants already have fruit on them. They just needs to ripen.

We've plenty of flour and such from when I used to make my own bread, we've a serious load of pulses and beans and such. And so much rice... it's just we'd miss the fresh food side of life for a few weeks at the moment.

If we really had to, we could last I guess 3 months from what we've got in the house. Flavour would be lacking after a while though. I don't think my spices would last that long. I would need to next harvest to happen before coriander seed and cumin seeds would be available again. I'm almost through most of last year's coriander seed, but I'm still good on my home grown garlic.

We'd run out of beer in a few weeks and would have to start on the vodka, whiskey, sherry, and brandy...
 
I doubt we'd last more than a week. Tomatoes, potatoes, lettuce, eggs, ham, bacon, milk and bananas are essential for us. Additionally, I think food would become really boring after a week or so. I go to the supermarket almost every day, even if it's only to check on "offers".
Beer? It'd probably run out after 2 days. :roflmao: :roflmao:
 
I cheated already. My wife had a regression in her condition and went to the ER for tests. The tests were OK but I can't explain the regression. At any rate I cheated already. I didn't visit the supermarket but I needed some quick calories so I had an Arby's gyros on the way home. I've lost 12 lbs in the last 11 days so I need to increase my caloric intake. I can't seem to eat enough to keep up with the weight loss. It is what it is I guess.
 
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