HOME   HOMESTEADING CATALOG   GO TO NEXT CHAPTER 

The main food items we buy at the grocery store are margarine, oil, tomato puree (instead of tomato sauce), sugar, salt, spaghetti, and, in winter, oranges. Except for the oranges, we could produce or substitute for all these things, but we would have to have maybe five or six people eating at our table to make it worth the effort. We buy the cheapest brand and largest size of every-thing. When I'm to do the shopping Daddy makes me eat a big meal before leaving, to avoid temptation.

   With people becoming more and more consumer conscious all the time, it's not necessary to rehash all the little money-saving tips. You know to read those labels, to avoid convenience foods, to compare, etc. Mainly get out of the habit of assuming a higher price automatically means a higher quality. When we see any item we normally buy (that isn't perishable) at a reduced price, we buy all we can carry--it's like money in the bank.

   When you go to the grocery store, don't forget to go out back and look for discarded greens for your rabbits. Do it even if you don't have rabbits. We have found whole crates of perfectly good cauliflower, cabbage leaves, and artichokes, to mention but a few, apparently thrown out for some really trivial blemish. Or, as in the case of the cabbage leaves, for no blemish at all. If you think a bunch of filthy bunnies get those goodies, guess again.