Abandoned neglected blog of Mine

Another neglected blog! Not neglected by all the others I used to read and have been ended for one reason or another, but another blog of MINE that just sort of ended. This is the third one! But it did have a specific purpose; to write down information about what I could do to "prepare" for major changes in the society I've lived in all my life.

I have still been cooking a lot still. I’ve added a couple of sauces to my regular repertoire of meal fixing; an easy pasta sauce and a curry sauce. I still have to look at the recipes but I’m getting better at them I also make a dozen whole wheat muffins on days, usually once a week or so, when I ‘m out of bread and don’t want to go to the store again too soon.

One reason I wanted to post is that prices of several things have been going up in the past year or so. Gasoline is going up again. We’re up to $3.48 this week for regular. We stayed between $3.00 and $3.30 for most of the past few months, since last summer.

When I started this blog, a one pound bag of lentils at my local Safeway was .70-.85 cents. Now, it is $1.89! A bag of lentils! Even beans and pnutt butter have increased in the past year or so. The peanut crop last summer was bad due to a drought in the southeast US and price for pnut butter went up around 50% around last October and November.

A loaf of bread, depending on the bread and the store, stays about $3.50 to $4.00 a loaf.

The store that was in easy walking distance of my house has closed. They didn’t go out of business; the owner didn’t want to renew the lease. A food store called Sunflowers is supposed to go in there but it won’t be up and running for a year. This is just a little inconvenient for me, but some of my neighbors really depended on the accessibility of that store.

I’m in my third year—2010, 2011 and now 2012—of having a CSA share. Our CSA can run all year round in Phoenix.

I’ve found that 3 neighbors and I are giving each other food. It’s just food that’s extra to the individual family and so they or I pass them on to someone in our small complex. It wasn’t intentional, it just developed! It started with me giving mustard greens to one neighbor and she gave me citrus and potatoes. She seems to be doing okay but I do have the feeling that one of these households could use some extra food. The person I give greens to is a pretty good cook and very often gives me part of a dish she has cooked CSA veggies with. It’s pretty good stuff. )

peace, Shamba