My goal, between now and the end of the year, is to spend only $5 per week on food.

Can I do it? We will soon find out.

Why the strict budget? Well, my income went down and now I’m finding out I can still pay all my bills (that’s good) but I will have to choose between firewood and food (not so good.) As it gets really cold here in the mountains, I definitely want to buy the firewood. A nice young man comes by and dumps the wood, a cord at a time, in my front yard right in front of the flower bed. We pay him $190 for all his labor, and usually need more than a cord per month once winter gets rolling.

I have a lot of food stored up here. I have canned foods I almost never touch. I was saving them for an emergency. They’re about a year old now and I really should consume them and then replace the stored items when I’m feeling more prosperous. I’ve also got lots of stored beans and rice, and other dry foods… you know, flours and things like that. I think this will serve to sustain me.

I’m nearly through consuming all the vegetables from my summer garden. I need to plant a winter garden soon… but that won’t suffice for this six-week budgeting experience. Therefore I expect that some of the weekly shopping money will be spent on vegetables. I’ll also need to buy tortillas, though if need be I can make them.

One thing I’m giving up entirely is bread. All it does is make me fat and fill me with candida. It may be the primary reason why I’ve had trouble losing weight. Whoever said bread is the “staff of life” really hooked me. All these years I thought of bread as essential… but no more. The supermarket here sells quality bread (the only kind I’d eat) for $4.50 a loaf. Obviously that will be too much for my $5 per week food budget. I’d rather spend my money on other things.

Another thing I’ll have to give up is my beloved Clif Bars. I’ve been buying them for breakfasts and snacks for a couple years now, and I’ll sure miss them. But at $1.50 a pop, I just can’t afford them now. I’ll probably make myself bowls of oatmeal to get the same effect without the high cost.

I’ll post my results after my first weekly shopping trip.

Oh, I also should mention — I will no longer go into town more often than once weekly to pick up mail and get groceries. Staying away from shopping areas is sure to help keep me from spending money!

…

Now for a word on what I’m eating today. I recently bought a rice steamer and I’m just loving it! I make brown rice with lentils (2 cups rice, one cup lentils) in the bottom of the steamer and put vegetables in the steamer tray on top. This week the veggies were potatoes and carrots. I take the resulting rice/lentils/veggies and fry them in a bit of olive oil, adding garlic powder, pepper, turmeric and ginger. This goes into a warm tortilla with fresh diced onion and a bit of hot sauce. A delicious, healthy and filling meal. Very vegan!

Only a few years ago, back in 1999, a fungus was discovered in Africa. This fungus, unfortunately, destroys wheat. This year 70% of the African wheat crop has been lost to Ug99 (also known as Puccinia graminis.) The effects are frightening. According to the Food and Agriculture Office of the United Nations, about 1/4 of the world’s wheat crop is affected by Ug99 this year.

Wheat isn’t the only crop in crisis. During the past year hungry people around the world have been rioting, concerned about the cost of food. In Asia the price of rice has doubled in the last two months and here in the USA, stores are preventing foreigners from buying extra large quantities of rice to send to relatives overseas.

We’re in trouble, folks. Time to think ahead. I’m serious.

A few days ago I went into my local supermarket to buy parmesan cheese, something I’ve purchased regularly for years. Suddenly the price is up from $3.50 to over $6. I took a long look at the shelf and sighed, and decided to price it at the larger markets outside our tiny remote town. For now, I’ll do without. I suspect the cost of gas will be driving up all food prices before long.

The pizza restaurant I work in is small and cozy - a comforting fixture in a town remotely located in a valley in the mountains in the center of a large forest. There, we rely on wheat to make the pizza dough, and the parmesan cheese is an essential condiment. People here would not like losing their pizza parlor, because there are few alternative restaurants locally. But I foresee that the owner may have to raise prices, perhaps drastically. He drives out of town once or twice weekly to get supplies like huge bags of white flour, parmesan cheese, and everything else we need. His gas cost has doubled in the last couple years. The price of gas locally is now $4.22. It didn’t seem quite so bad before it hit that $4.00 mark, but now I look at the pump and cringe. People expect to see gas priced at over $5.00 here this summer.

Ug99 and the wheat crop crisis comes on the heels of a corn crisis and a rice crisis. For all these formerly-abundant items we consider “staples” and “necessities”, the price is going up.

Prepare now for the future, for your families.

On a similar note, do you realize how dependent we are on the trucking industry for the diversity of foods offered in our stores? My significant other is an ex-trucker, so we think about this often. He expects the flow of food availability to halt sometime within the coming years. It is up to each of us to help our families by preparing with food storage. Another way we should prepare is to develop our gardening capabilities. Raise as much of the food you use yourself and you won’t be devastated when your favorite items disappear from the supermarket shelves, or get priced beyond your ability to pay.

A few years ago I fasted for ten days using the lemonade diet - a wonderful cleansing ritual that is amazingly healthy. The essential ingredients are lemons and maple syrup (the real stuff, not imitation). How was I to know that the next year lemons would be priced so high I’d cringe at the thought of buying them. I still want so much to do another lemonade cleansing diet, but every time I see that locally lemons cost 79 cents each, I realize it just isn’t a possibility for me right now.

Ug99 isn’t in the USA yet; that doesn’t mean it won’t be. We live in a global civilization and we need to be aware that what affects one person affects us all. Scientists are saying the fungus could spread as spores on the wind to reach other locations throughout the world including the United States.

Source: Wheat Crop Failures Could be Total, Experts Warn published on April 24, 2008 on MoneyNews.Com.

See also: Crisis In Food Prices Threatens Worldwide Starvation - Is it Genocide? by Richard C. Cook, published April 24, 2008 on Rense.Com.

Video: Food Rationing at Costco and Sam’s

It is my honor to introduce some of the finest new blog posts about vegetarian eating and cooking. The dedicated vegetarian bloggers who contributed to this carnival look forward to your comments about living life, vegetarian style.

International Pleasures

Michael, The Vegetarian Foodie, described the Vietnamese Sandwiches he buys. His article will make you wish you were in Seattle.

On the other side of the country, VnV, who blogs at Vegetarian Monologues, tried a variety of international-style vegetarian restaurants and wrote A Vegetarian in New York City.

The Harvest Is In

Stephanie at Stop The Ride has a great Zucchini Strudel recipe online for us: Too Much Zucchini?.

Lucynda, blogger at Quietly Into The Night, has been harvesting her Roma tomatoes and setting them out to dry. Her post on Making Sun Dried Tomatoes tells the story of how she makes and uses them.

Recipes To Try Out

I’m impressed by the Expat Chef’s culinary confidence as he explains Roasted Ratatouille — No Rodents (thank goodness) at The Expatriate’s Kitchen.

Annette, the Frugal Journey cook, gives us a great pasta recipe: Bowties With Black Olives and Sun Dried Tomatoes.

Stretch Mark Mama suggests hearty lentils with rice as a taco meat replacement for new vegetarians: Food Fixin’ Friday: Mexican Style Lentils and Rice. I have to agree with her; I’ve been vegetarian many years and still love lentils with rice in corn tortillas.

Lisa, who blogs at Lisa’s Kitchen, shares a mouth-watering recipe for Paneer Cheese and Vegetables in a Creamy Gravy. I admire this kind of gourmet cooking.

The Conscious Mom, Shrijnana, plans to share her kid-friendly Sunday brunch menus with us regularly. This time she gives us the recipe for a vegan form of quiche and Garlic-Thyme Home Fries in Vegan Sunday Brunch 8/5/2007.

Amanda, the foodie at Eat… and Be Merry suggests a simple and summery pasta recipe, Penne with Vegetable Marinara, in her post: Quick and Easy Monday Night Pasta. Her photo makes this look so good!

Gillian Polack is a Food History expert who offers two classic Australian recipes for biscuits in Biscuits from the Barossa. Very helpful and intriguing.

A Special Treat

Leo at the Organic Test Kitchen tells us the secret to making the best organic Cookies and Cream Ice Cream. Thanks, Leo!

…

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this carnival. I am inspired by your cooking and menu ideas and amazed by the vegetarian food blogging talent out there.

The home page for the Vegetarian Blog Carnival is found at Veggie Chic’s Blog and the next carnival will be hosted there on August 27. You can participate! Submit a vegetarian post at the carnival submission form by August 26. See you then!

I tried something new this week: Dreyers Fruit Bars, made with natural fruit. I bought a strawberry bar and it was so delicious, I had to tell you about it.

[Note: I am not being paid for this post. I don't do pay-per-post blogging.]

Normally I’d go for an ice cream bar instead but my boyfriend and I need to lose weight and he pointed out to me that the fruit bar would be better for us. It was not only better, it was outstanding.

Ingredients are: water, strawberries, sugar, carob bean gum, natural flavors, guar gum, citric acid, color from beet juice extract and tumeric, and ascorbic acid. I don’t see much there to complain about though one could cite the sugar… though it is hard to get completely away from in this civilization. There were only 120 calories and of course, there’s lots of Vitamin C as strawberries are known for that.

Do you ever like to visit food sites to see what’s there? I love looking them up. Dreyers has a section of their site devoted to their Fruit Bars… on the front page of the site it says “Fruit Bars: Taste what everyone’s talking about…” and here I am, talking about them. Hmmm…

It says these fruit bars are winners of the ‘Best Taste Award’ by the American Culinary ChefsBest. I don’t doubt it. The flavor I tried is truly delicious.

***
I was inspired to write this by JulieZS’s post, Food, Glorious Food at Create A Connection.

Submitted to The Vegetarian Blog Carnival.