Saving Private Benjamin

It's all about the Benjamins and keeping his face firmly planted in my pocket. Gas prices, food supply costs going up, everything is getting much more expensive. It's frightening. For those of us that are cattle owners and chicken raisers with fresh eggs aren't safe anymore. Now they have to contend with the destruction of their property and the theft of their only ripened foods with every thing that hasn't ripened yet torn off the vine so that it never will. These types of sabotage are beginning everywhere. My father was going off on this very subject the last time I talked with him. Then another friend in a different state on the other side of the country complained of something similar.

We're already feeling the heat. I know in my own household we have a side of beef, enough chicken to feed a small country... twice and canned and dried foods hanging out in another room other than the kitchen (my kitchen is barely large enough to handle what we eat in a week. Virtually enough to get us through a year without having to pay higher and higher prices. And also being close with a community of people that have a cannery that we can use and purchase what we want to fill those cans with here. (Did I mention that networking is the key? I don't think I did, network, network, network!)

Point being that not everyone magically knows that there are systems out there that aren't government driven and thus don't need a list a mile long of things that prove you're you after you've been sitting in an office that doesn't have air conditioning waiting to give your story to someone that doesn't really care they just plug in some numbers and tell you that making $9.00 an hour is too much to get day care aid and its too much for full benefits, but they'd be more than willing to give you the whopping $35 for a month. Of course you took it because it would mean that is one more meal on the table and one night less that you had to worry about if you could serve anything more than just smoother fried potatoes.

But there are places out there that can help out!

http://www.angelfoodministries.com/ I've personally done this one and still do it. I have a friend that is a high class lawyer and she gets two. The idea here is that you spend $25 for a box of food that changes from month to month. The box has pasta, canned veggies/fruit, frozen pizzas, meatballs, breakfast stuffs. They have side boxes that are $17 to $18 a piece that are grill packs during the winter months and alternate stuff like 15 lbs of breaded chicken nuggets and a 5 pound bag of chicken. Steak. The list is long, so go look at their site to find out which church is handing it in your area. The $25 spent would be doubled for the same items at a normal grocery store. And if you need help to the car, that have handsome little boys and girls push the dolly out to your car. There is no obligation to do this service other than the funds. The only drawback on this is you have a small window to pay and then you have to wait for 3 weeks before you get it. So look it up, and get some help, and be happy!

Another program is called SHARE is similar to Angel Food. Angel Food is hosted by the Baptist community here, Share is done by Catholic Charities. I found a site that has them listed.

Support your local farmers! The Farmer's Market is something to be praised and cherished. Without those wonderful souls toiling away for several months growing the food they wish to share with others, we would always be stuck with getting foods that are solely stored at the grocery store. I certainly don't want that!

Buy in bulk. You can buy a pound of this or 10 pounds of that, invest in a seal a meal and vacuum them up and tuck them away in your freezer. I buy all my culinary herbs in bulk. I have pounds and pounds and pounds of this stuff separated out in more manageable sizes because we cook with herbs and spices so much that it didn't seem feasible buying a tiny jar of it at the store when I could order it by the pound for the same price or less for a pound a piece.

Buy a freezer. Please. Buy one. They aren't that expensive. I have a 5 cubic foot one that ran me less than $135. I bought another one a 7 cubic foot and I spent $180-ish. I make fewer trips to the store, spend less money on full priced items and more on sale items because I can afford the luxury of not purchasing it if it isn't on sale because I have dinner sitting in the freezer at home. But to keep it filled, I have to buy. I just make the choice to go only when I know the sales are going on.

Having said that, buy a side of beef. Mine came pre-vacuum sealed so all I had to do was load it into the freezer. It will take a family of 4 (with several large bbq's going on) about 9 months to eat one 12 depending on the size of the beef. I immediately thawed out the a bunch of hamburger and started making meatballs as my first set of prepare ahead meals.

Buy on sale: I buy 16 ounce bags of frozen vegetables when they are on sale like that, I can't pass it up. I cook up several bags at a time and can what we don't eat (or just vacuum seal it and drop it back into the freezer in family serving sizes).

Plan your meals before you shop. If you do this, you will buy what you need instead of just tossing stuff in the buggy that looks good. Planning gives you a game plan. Your in, your out and you spent only what you needed to spend.

Check out the farms in your area. If any of them are apart of a co-operative, buy into it. It will enable you to get the freshest foods during the growing season and most of these will have more than just fruit and vegetables. Eggs, honey, milk... it just depends on the farms in your area. Once you've researched and picked out one, talk to them about your needs so that you can come up with a way to make not only you happy, but the man that is toiling away in the hot sun, too. He gets capital you get fresh food. Not a bad way of buying locally and helping to keep a farmer on his farm.

Check with your local extension. They will usually have information on farms and such around your area. Check with your local government who probably fund such things so they would be able to point you in the right direction.

And still there is growing it yourself. It is not as expensive as some people think. Dwarf citrus trees go for about $12.99 a piece with breaks if you buy two or more. I've seen all sorts of dwarf varieties: Blueberries, orange, lime, lemon, tangerine, pomegranate, fig, banana, cherry, apple, etc. None of the dwarf varieties I list here get above 6 feet tall and can remain in their planter. Container gardening in general is fairly easy to do and with some trial and error, can yield immense crops in small spaces. If you're pressed for space, grow your favorite ones or perhaps the ones that are most expensive so you are paying that much less every month your garden produces.

Happy living!