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Today we went to the new Powerstore opening sale - DD was going to look at their mobiles. I'd wandered off to look at whiteware when she came and told me she'd seen a camera that looked like a good buy to replace my broken Powershot. It is another Powershot, the A470, which is 7 MP and comes with a 1GB memory card upgrade and a free camera case (supposedly worth $70, wtf!). It cost $149. The worst thing about the camera packaging is the clamshell packaging** for the memory card, and that it came with 2 AA alkaline batteries.
** UPDATE: Requested by a reader for re-use, so no longer trash... yay!
- Mood:spending fool
MENU
- Breakfast
Porridge, made with rolled oats, sunflower seeds and ground linseed - Lunch
Noodles (wheat or buckwheat) and vegetables
Fried rice, egg and vegetables
Marmite & alfalfa sandwich, homemade yoghurt - Dinner
Tortillas with black beans and rice
Samosas with chutney/yoghurt
Lentils, spiced, with Squash and Raisins* over brown rice - Snacks
Apple
Carrot sticks
Popcorn
Dates - Drinks
Tea or coffee
SHOPPING LIST
- Bin Inn
popping corn 415g 1.20 400ml Less Lids container
buckwheat flour d/k 800ml Less Lids container
cat food 420g 2.22 reuse snaplock bag
dates 150g .68 300ml Decor container
bay leaves d/k
oregano d/k
cilantro d/k - Pak N Save
pasta sauce/tinned tomatoes
hot sauce
- Freshly Picked
apples * 7 1.40
celery
- wholemeal flour
- popping corn
- non-fat milk powder
- cat food
- apples
- carrots
*sheds a tear*
Or, I can set it up to only show items being sold by Nelson-based members - then I can send DD out on her bike to collect any items I buy. Oh yes, I like that solution!
- Mood:
devious
Also last week I downloaded an open source recipe manager program, Gourmet Recipe Manager. This week I want to try making my own tortillas (actually, both DD and I would like to learn this), as well as two recipes I've put into Gourmet Recipe Manager, Dal-Potato "Dosadillas" and Red Lentil Dal with Panch Phoran.
I had a go at making tortillas on Sunday evening. That entailed buying a rolling pin, which came wrapped in plastic, so that's been added to the trash inventory. I thought I'd cost out the recipe I cut in half for DD to compare with the price of the tortilla packages on sale in the supermarkets:
1 1/2 cups (190g) plain flour 38cAnd I read about experimenting with pesto variations and then a vegan pesto which obviously doesn't use cheese. I've never made pesto before because I've always been put off by pinenuts being so expensive and the possibility that they're rancid to boot. Also, I haven't seen cheese sold here without packaging. After reading the above posts, I experimented with parsley, sunflower seeds, canola oil, garlic, and nutritional yeast. Since the only ingredient it had in common with pesto was the garlic, I think I'll christen it "imposto". But it's quite tasty on bread and pasta.
1 1/2 tsp baking powder 3c
1/2 tsp salt neg.
1/2 cup milk 15c
2 1/2 Tbsp (40ml) oil 11c
TOTAL 67c for 6 tortillas (the same amount as prepackaged tortillas)
MENU
Breakfast:
Either porridge with sunflowers seeds and linseed, or yoghurt mixed with fruit and sunflower seeds
Lunch:
Pasta with homemade imposto or pasta sauce, using herbs from the garden
Fried rice with egg
Muffins
Dinner:
Dal-Potato "Dosadillas"
Red lentil dal with Panch Phoran over brown rice
Tomato, lentil and barley soup (from freezer)
Snacks and drinks:
Coffee/tea/hot chcolate
Carrot sticks
Popcorn
Apples
SHOPPING LIST
Bin Inn
Fenugreek
Cumin seed
Onion seed
Mustard seed
Fennel seed
Plain flour
Cat food
Pak n Save
Tinned tomatoes, 800g $1.45
Freshly Picked
Apples
Basically, what I did was to put a list of the foods I've bought from Bin Inn in the first column, the price per kg in the second, and the container that I use to store that foodstuff in the third column. In the fourth column I put my best estimate of how many grams that container stores when filled (based on past transactions in GnuCash). The fifth column is headed Buy this much, and I'll use that to create my shopping list, by entering 1 if I want to buy a whole container's worth of product, or 0.5 if I plan to half-fill it. The sixth column automatically gives an estimate of the cost based on price and estimated weight. This spreadsheet reflects the way I shop at Bin Inn, where I have to think ahead about what container I will use to bring the product home.
If an item has data in the Buy this much column, a seventh column (Shopping list) is automatically filled in with [food], take [container], [fill/half-fill]. I added some more rows underneath all the Bin Inn products for Pak n Save items and produce. The formulas are tweaked in these rows, since I don't take a container to Pak n Save to buy tinned tomatoes, for example.
| Bin Inn |
| Milk powder, non-fat, take 1750ml Less Lids, fill |
| Milk powder, whole, take 400ml Less Lids, fill |
| Pearl barley, take 800ml yellow jug, fill |
| Popping corn, take 400ml Less Lids, fill |
| Sunflower seed, take 300ml Décor container, fill |
| ActiveCat cat food, take snaplock bag, fill |
| Pak n Save |
| Tomatoes, Budget tin, 800g |
| Produce |
| Apples, 7, take drawstring bag |
| Bananas, 3, take drawstring bag |
To create the above shopping list, I ran down the Buy this much column, adding the amounts I want to buy. The sum of the sixth column lets me know what the final bill will look like. This week, my estimate is $17.37. I copy the seventh column and Paste > Special it into the sheet titled Shopping List. I then filter out all the empty rows. Then I can print just the Shopping list page. Now all I need to do is figure out how to print it onto the back of a used envelope! LOL All the containers and bags are sitting in my reusable shopping bag, which is hung on a hook on the back door so I can just grab it on my way out the door tomorrow morning.
For this week's menu I'm just going to continue along the lines of previous menus: porridge in the morning; pasta or a sandwich/muffin and some yoghurt for lunch; a hearty vegetable + grain + bean soup in the evening; and apples, carrot sticks, or popcorn for snacks.
- Mood:organised
MENU
- Breakfast
Porridge, made with rolled oats, sunflower seeds and ground linseed - Lunch
Gnocchi with rosemary
Fried rice, egg and vegetables
Marmite & alfalfa sandwich, homemade yoghurt
Leftover Spanish tortilla
Muffins - Dinner
Potato leek soup
Minestrone
Beef and barley soup* with wholemeal toast
Lentils, spiced, with Squash and Raisins* over brown rice
Spanish tortilla - Snacks
Apple
Carrot sticks
Popcorn - Drinks
Tea or coffee or hot chocolate
SHOPPING LIST
- Bin Inn
popping corn 415g 1.20 400ml Less Lids container
rolled oats 985g 2.46 big Sterilite container
sugar 640g .70 800ml Less Lids container
drinking chocolate 2.50 800ml Less Lids container
alfalfa seed 70g 2.90 little container with blue lid
cat food 420g 2.22 reuse snaplock bag - Pak N Save
10kg sack Hardy potatoes 7.00
tinned tomatoes 1.45
- Freshly Picked
apples * 7 1.40 drawstring nylon bag
leek 1.39
TOTAL 21.82
MENU
- Breakfast
Porridge, made with rolled oats and sunflower seeds or ground linseed - Lunch
Pasta with rosemary
Fried rice and egg and vegetables
Sandwiches
Pancakes
Mashed potato patties - Dinner
Barley and Lentil Soup with Silverbeet* with wholemeal scones
Lentils, spiced, with Squash and Raisins* over brown rice/quinoa/couscous
Beef stew with lentils, mashed potato - Snacks
Apple
Carrot sticks
Popcorn - Drinks
Tea or Coffee or Hot chocolate
SHOPPING LIST
- Bin Inn
popping corn 370g 1.07
plain flour 610g 1.22
milk powder 560g 6.44
dates 155g .70
cat food 305g 1.61 - Pak N Save
carrots 1.62kg 2.74
yoghurt starter 2.95
tinned tomatoes 800g 1.45 - Freshly Picked
apples * 7 1.30
TOTAL 19.48
My 'menu planning' used to be subject to change quite often, because I generally shop at Pak 'n Save, who've been identified by independent research as the lowest priced supermarket chain in New Zealand for the last 11 years running. Pak 'n Save doesn't do circulars. Instead, each week they randomly offer a "one day only" promotion such as "Cheap As Tuesday", "Wacky Wednesday", or "Frugal Friday", or they have a week-long promotion such as "beer and wine week" or "baby week". This forces the customer to come into the store to see whether the specials are on, and Pak 'n Save counts on them buying stuff anyway since they are there. So I would start out by planning a Tuesday shop, and if "Cheap As Tuesday" didn't happen (and no week-long promotion was running), I'd shift the grocery shop to Wednesday, hoping for a "Wacky Wednesday", and so on. Most of the one-day-only specials were things like cheap sausages, pizza, potato chips, biscuits, etc. It's food that's not very good for you, and all of it wrapped in non-recyclable packaging. It's rubbish inside and out. Since I'm not into bringing home rubbish any more, the prospect of missing out on a "Wacky Wednesday" or "Frugal Friday" by sticking to a Tuesday shopping plan doesn't bother me as much as it once would have.
Menu
- Breakfast
Porridge, made with rolled oats and sunflower seeds or ground linseed - Lunch
Pasta with rosemary
Poor man's spaghetti
Fried rice and egg and vegetables - Tea
Spicy Split Pea and Pumpkin soup with wholemeal scones/toast
Barley and Lentil Soup with Silverbeet with wholemeal scones/toast
Lentils, spiced, with Squash and Raisins* over brown rice - Snacks
Apple
Carrot sticks
Popcorn - Drinks
Tea or Coffee or Hot chocolate
Shopping List
- Bin Inn
1kg875g stoneground wholemeal flour $1.75 Sterilite container200g150g sunflower seeds .89 reuse ziplock bag100g215g baking powder $1.27 reuse ziplock bag200g250g drinking chocolate $2.47 plastic Less Lids container300g335g milk powder (makes 3 litres)$3.85 reuse ziplock bag200g170g popping corn .49 reuse ziplock bag - Pak 'n Save
1 doz eggs $1.99
1 pumpkin .89 - Raeward Fresh
1 head garlic to plant .99 - Freshly Picked
7 apples (1.3kg)(local) .99c kg $1.30
TOTAL $15.89
I did manage to get a replacement element surround from L & F Electrical; the guy said that my Atlas Caravelle stove would be around 35 years old by now. He said I was lucky to get a replacement surround. Lucky for me he's a pack rat (but not a hoarder, since he was willing to let it go to someone who needed it). According to this page, the life span of an electrical range is 17 years; so if my Caravelle is around twice that, I guess I'm getting good use out of it.
Global Soaps vacuum pack their shampoo bars in plastic, but they have shelves of recently cut soaps drying in their shop, so they sold me a Rosemary & Lavender Shampoo Bar that was cut on 22/5 and not yet vacuum packed. I'm supposed to leave it for another couple of weeks before using it - no problem as I haven't used up my Neutrogena shampoo yet (plastic bottle is refillable but not recyclable). It smells lovely.
The Eneloop batteries are going to arrive in a plastic courier envelope, but the trader did make sure that all the internal packaging was cardboard and paper. I'm sure I'll be able to reuse the courier envelope when I'm selling off unwanted books on Trade Me.
Thursday is our rubbish/recycling collection day. I put out a bag of rubbish (7 weeks worth) that will hopefully be the last for a long while, and I'm officially aiming for a year of near zero waste from today onwards. The couple in Christchurch who are going rubbish free for a year were on Campbell Live tonight. Their challenge has been going for four months. After the first few weeks they were finding it pretty easy. Only now they've found out that the Christchurch recycling people gave them wrong information about what plastics could and couldn't be recycled.... and all those cheese and bacon packets and bread bags they've been recycling are now Packagea Non Grata. Going rubbish free is a continuous set of problem-solving challenges, which I think is why I find it appealing. Forthcoming challenges I still have to face are:
- Toothpaste substitute, and dental floss
- Toilet paper, which I realise is a cultural thing, nonetheless I'm pretty attached to that culture, (I'm rationalising that the TP doesn't go to landfill, and in Richmond, the #4 plastic it is packaged in can be recycled, so maybe this is no biggie)
- Tea, as the only tea I will buy is Dilmah, which, while their packaging is much less than it used to be, still includes a foil bag.
- Coffee... maybe I'll have to upgrade from instant
- Disposable razors
- Synthetic underwear and clothing
- Plastic clothespegs when they break
- and I'm sure there will be many more!
- Mood:
tired
DD and I have planned to take one of these free rides into Nelson to see the NZ movie, Second Hand Wedding.
Waste created today: plastic packet from 500g linguini, toothpaste tube, foil bag from Dilmah teabags.( Read more... )
I've joined a Yahoo group for 90% reduction--people aiming to reduce their use of resources in 7 categories over the course of a year to a level that is 90% less than the average American. The project blog is here. Non-Americans can participate using their own countries data, so I'll have to track that down. The 7 categories and rules are:
( Read more... )
http://www.ecostore.co.nz/product.cfm?ID=4
I may have found a way to reuse the blasted plastic stickers that were attached to my apples. They were Yummy apples and the Yummy Fruit Company has a promotion where schools can swap these stickers for sports gear. The scheme is only for schools in the North Island, so I took the name of a school off the testimonial page on the Yummy website and sent the principal an email, offering to mail him my stickers.
Assuming he will accept them, no waste was created today.
- Mood:
happy
I have 8 servings of Spiced Lentils with Squash and Raisins tucked away in the freezer, but I still have over half a crown pumpkin left. So to avoid food waste, I plan to make some Spicy Pumpkin and Split Pea Soup. Another recipe I want to try is Spaghetti with Rosemary. A rosemary bush is thriving right next to my front door, so I can get fresh rosemary at any time.
Here's the shopping list for this week:
( Read more... )
( Read more... )
- Mood: full
- Mood:busy
