Welcome to local food shopping for a family of four with as little excess packaging as possible.
Two shopping trips in, I have already realized this is going to be difficult. First of all, most of our meals come out of the freezer: meatballs, fish sticks or chicken nuggets (in various shapes), ravioli, steam in the bag vegetables, klondike bars; you get the idea. Second, my son's latest breakfast addiction are Thomas' English Muffins - the cinnamon raisin flavor - and he is unlikely to quit just because they were baked in Connecticut with ingredients shipped in from who knows where. Wouldn't you know that raisins, bananas, and avocado are favorite snacks of his; none are produced in New England, let alone within 150 miles of Medford. Finally, I have limited time to prepare dinner. This is because I have - quite successfully, I might add - filled my stay-at-home-mom time with child care, volunteering, laundry, doctors visits, making homemade meals for new moms (go figure), reading for class, knitting, writing, and napping (when I can) to make sure I can it all tomorrow. And I thought I wouldn't have enough to do without a paid job. Ha! I did, however, manage to have some success with local food on trips 1 and 2 (emphasis on some).
Trip 1: FoodMaster, Medford; 5pm on a Tuesday.
I have both kids in tow and am pushing my cart about with one hand. I find sweet rolls made in Cambridge and a sliced whole wheat sandwich bread from somewhere in Massachusetts. I forgo the grapes from Chile, but am lured in by a clamshell box of strawberries from California. I discover the FoodMaster brand is from Keene, NH and choose the "Best" steam-in-a-bag frozen vegetables and butter. Our favorite raviolis are from Boston (Mama Rosie's) and the meatballs are from Massachusetts, too. Harmony canned cat food (from Connecticut) is three times the price of the cheap brand I usually buy. Garelick Farm milk is from New England. Stonyfield Farm yogurt is from New England ... not Massachusetts, but I don't see an alternative.
Having forgot my reusable bags, I buy three shopping bags at 99 cents a piece. Most of my groceries end up in plastic because I under-estimated. One of the reusable bags falls apart as I am bringing them into the house, but, thankfully, not until I get the bag into the kitchen.
Trip 2: Harvest Co-op, Cambridge; 2pm on Wednesday.
I have since decided that that making food is the only way to truly eat local. Even the sweet rolls made in Cambridge are unlikely to be sourced locally. I am able to verify this in the isles of Harvest – all the available yeasts are from Canada. If I can make bread, using local flour and sugar, then it will be – at least mostly – local. The most local flour I find is one made in Vermont; the most local sugar is honey from Holliston, MA. I pick up some bulk cornmeal ($1.19 a pound!!) to help my family break our Thomas’ English muffin addiction. Again, I forgot the reusable bag … so I buy one for $1.99, that, thankfully, makes it home and beyond.
MY CHALLENGE: Make bread and English muffins good enough for my three-year old to take to preschool in his lunch.
Go Dom! I am a huge fan of 5-minute bread--you mix up a batch at the beginning of the week and then have enough for about 4 small loaves you make *super* easily in the evening for fresh bread at dinner or little sandies in the morning. It has a mild sourdough flavor and has a nice crust with moist interior. Let me know what Charlie thinks.
ReplyDeletehttp://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AVfK9WGl7UOHZGc0dGZzejdfMGc3a3d2a2Q2&hl=en
Hey Dom-- in response to your blog-- I was thinking about a fun, easy family dinner that was always a fan favorite in our house when we were little-- homemade pizza. Now, my mom actually made the dough from scratch so scratch that because who has time for that anymore....but I found out that Clear Flour Bakery in Brookline offers CLEAR FLOUR FRESH PIZZA DOUGH Available everyday by 1:30 p.m.
ReplyDeleteI usually buy my pizza dough at Trader Joes, but since that comes from California, I thought this was a great, local alternative. If I make a pizza, I'll post my results....
So is bread-making the new skill you're going to learn over the next two months? Bread is definitely one of those products that is seemingly so simple, and I wonder why I pay a ridiculous amount for essentially flour, water, yeast, and maybe some oats, nuts, and seeds, to then be wrapped in plastic and shipped in from who knows where. Bread-making is also incredibly relaxing. I love the process of kneading the dough and letting it rise. And you can't beat the smell while it is baking!
ReplyDeleteI'll be curious to hear what your son thinks of the homemade English muffins. It's one thing for us to choose to eat healthier and more local foods, but how do you explain the rationale for this to a three-year-old? Hopefully, the homemade option will wow him with flavor and yumminess and he'll never go back to the store-bought variety (except for when you're a little tired from all the breadmaking!).
Brian,
ReplyDeleteCharlie does love my cookies better than any other; maybe that is a good omen.
... and yes, I am going to try to learn how to make yummy bread.
ReplyDeleteCall me a baked-goods nerd, but I make my own pizza dough and I would like to evangelize for a sec on why you *all* can do it too! Pizza dough was my entry into the world of bread baking and it was a perfect way to cut my teeth because it's almost impossible to mess up (I've thrown out one batch out of more than 100).
ReplyDeleteThe simple ingredient list means that I always have everything on hand--flour, sugar, salt, olive oil, yeast, water. It's easy and fun to knead, rises only for a half hour, and prebakes in 8 minutes. While you're waiting for it to rise you can clean up the dishes and have time to prep other ingredients or just take a break and read a magazine!
I was inspired to make pizza dough by my aunt, but I taught myself how to make it in college. It's like an old friend--I make pizza at least once a month--and it's the one recipe I know entirely by heart. For those of you interested at all in homemade pizza, don't be scared--you can do the crust and you'll never turn back!