Simple Living - The Great Food Adventure

About two months ago, Matthew and I started shopping differently. In my post on July 30th, I described the beginning of that change. At that time, I was expecting to do a fairly small fraction of my shopping at the co-op and most of the rest of it at Winco because I didn't think we could afford to buy much of the more expensive, organic goods. However, that's not how it turned out at all! I'd like to share my findings before school starts and things get crazy, so here we go!

First of all, in full disclosure, the budget that Matthew and I set was $300 a month for groceries including household items like dish soap, toothpaste, and the like. In August we easily met this budget (well, we spent less than $225 since we were at camp for the first week of the month). It is also looking like we are going to succeed again in September. Here's what we have been getting for our money...

At the co-op we buy all of our produce except when organic produce goes on sale at Fred Meyer. What we buy is organic, and a lot of it comes from the six counties surrounding and including our own. We also buy a lot of (mostly organic) bulk items including flour, oats, pasta, rice and beans. We buy cage-free eggs and milk from a local dairy farm. We find that we rarely need to buy packaged goods like canned food, but when we do, it is done at the co-op.

At Winco we mostly buy things that are carried at the co-op but are cheaper at Winco. For example, we get Nancy's yogurt and Tillamook cheeses. We also still buy cereal here because we buy big bags cheap, and the co-op unfortunately does not have this type of thing available. Besides an occasional item that the co-op does not carry, this is pretty much all we get here.

If you think that $300 is still a lot of money for food, realize that we only spend about $5 a day per person for all of our meals and snacks. For the quality, reduced exposure to dangerous chemicals, support for the local farmers, good treatment of the livestock that produce the food, support for environmentally friendly practices, and support for fair wages for anyone involved in the process of making products... I think that $5 is pretty amazing.

As a note, one big reason that we can afford to do this is that we cook much of our food from scratch. We generally make two different meals each week, and we eat a lot of leftovers. I also make home-baked breads, and we bake muffins or something else for snacks. However, I did this all before switching to the co-op... Even during the school year when spending 60-80 hours a week working. Admittedly, I do like cooking...

A second reason that we can afford to do this is that we have started to eat less meat. Currently, also at the co-op, we have decided to buy a small amount of lunch meat and 1 to 1.5 pounds of chicken each month. I have successfully used tofu as a substitute a few times, and I also have found a bunch of good vegetarian recipes.

I don't know if more than two or three people read this, but I wanted to share my experiences because I feel like a lot of people would love to eat healthier, organic, local foods but don't think that they can afford it. I encourage you to try it out if you have ever wanted to. I'd be more than happy to share recipes, advice, or any other information that may be helpful.

Thanks for reading!

Just ideas to think about...

I decided to write a bit about the popular question, "Who gets to go to heaven?"

First of all, I do believe that through Jesus' doing, we are all able to have a loving relationship with God here on earth and after physical death. From my understanding, we can be confident in our good standing if we sincerely seek to patch our relationship with God through a faith in Jesus' life, death and resurrection.

That's all well and good, but what about everyone who doesn't have this type of relationship? I think that many Christians are convinced that everyone else goes to hell. I have heard many people talk about individuals and nations that they are convinced are in or are going to hell. I recently have heard an adult tell a group of children about someone that she "knows" is now in hell. Wow!

People seem so quick and willing to condemn billions to hell with a black-and-white standards. The following are a few things that seem like possible and, perhaps, reasonable alternatives.

1) God works differently with different people. Think back to the days of the Old Testament. God worked closely with the Israelites, and we have a record of His actions with Israel. We can also read that outsiders were welcomed to follow the God of Israel. However, what about people who never encountered Israel? Did they never get to meet God? Are they then condemned to hell? I think that God works with all people, both in the past and present, and He is able to judge them accordingly.

2) Even people presented with the story of Jesus who then reject it might not have rejected God. Wait... What??? Did I just say that? Yes. Yes, I did. I have a good reason, though! Perhaps the way God was presented was not an accurate representation of God, and perhaps this false, albeit perhaps unintentionally false, representation is what people are rejecting. This is an extreme illustration, but imagine going into an innocent, peaceful village and killing half of them at random. You then go to the remaining half and give a spiel about God's love. If they reject your spiel, they are probably not rejecting God. They are rejecting you.

I am not saying that I know how God judges people because I don't. However, I do believe that he is good, loving, just, and all-knowing. Since I am not these things, I am going to accept that I can't judge a person. Instead, I am going to spend my time trying to love people with God's love so that hopefully they can love God back.

The Future

Since in a few weeks I will begin the last year of school (!!!!!!), it seems fitting to write a post about our future. Of course, I don't really know what will happen in the future, but I think that it is alright to dream. We do a lot of dreaming...

Short term:

We're hoping that Matthew will find a job first, and then I can apply for a number of jobs wherever he finds work. With the sluggish economy, he may have to take whatever job he gets for now. Currently, I think I'd really like teaching at a community college or perhaps a university. If I can't find work there, I might do private tutoring or perhaps apply for subbing jobs in the public schools for a start. We'd like to stay in the valley in Oregon, but we'll see what we can do.

Long term:

Currently, we'd like to come back to Corvallis (though perhaps avoid the college area!). We love the community, our church, and the proximity to family and friends. However, Corvallis currently has few companies of interest for Matthew. If not Corvallis, then we would like to aim for Eugene/Springfield.

Matthew is really interested in the fields of sustainable energy, alternative transportation, or green buildings (for example, making buildings meeting LEED's standards). I personally am excited about the areas he wants to work in, and I hope that this can happen. I have the feeling that I'll spend a lot of my life doing different types of teaching, however at some point in the future, we'd like to have kids. I had a stay-at-home mom, and I want to provide the same strong support-system to my kids if at all possible. I think that being a mom will be a challenging, significant, and rewarding job for the years I have it. Fortunately, education jobs can be somewhat flexible, so I might be able to do some teaching when the kids reach school years.

Another big dream of ours is to build a house. Matthew has all sorts of ideas to make it a net-zero energy home. We want to build with sustainable, chemical-free materials to create a healthy, happy space. (Fun fact: I really want to have my kitchen painted a deep purple! Since I want to spend a fair amount of time cooking good, wholesome food for my family, it'd be nice to have such a welcoming color around me.) Along with this home, I really want to grow a lot of our produce from a garden in our yard. It would be hard work, but I think I'd enjoy it. I also want to plant a flower garden with the goal of planting a lot of native plants so that we don't have to use much water. We want two cats, and I'd like to have a few laying hens pecking their way around the backyard.

It will always be important for us to be involved with people. We'd love to have a church like we have now. We love being with a small community of people involved in the community and each other's lives. Also, I want to have the type of home where my kids' friends feel welcome and loved. I have also considered taking in foster kids since I feel like it would be wonderful to spill love, blessings, hope, and good on people who might not have gotten it in their own homes. We'll see...

In general, I think that we are going to feel rich by wanting little and giving and loving much. I experience joy now with my basil garden, cooking good food, line-drying laundry (among other energy saving things), and many other activities. It just seems like this could multiply with a full garden, having more time to cook, having a house designed to be healthy, etc. Regardless, by finding joy in love and living simply, I think that we will be happy whether or not all of our dreams come true.