Shopping Day

Today was a shopping day. Buying local means that you do not get all your food in one place. I have this dream of opening a store, well maybe not a store, just a four walled space where farmers could bring their produce year round here locally. Really all my dreams are self serving, I just don't want to have to drive all over the county. But on the other hand, there are benefits to going directly to the farm.

Our first stop was to Sunny Hill for eggs. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the chickens wonder around the yard, pecking at the ground. I am sure all this rain has brought out quite a few tasty morsels for them. The cows had apparently chewed through part of their coop and it needed repairs. I talked to Mel about the challenges of serving new higher demand for locally produced goods.

Next stop was Wilson's Farm Market on Rt 1. One of the few places that is still open over the winter with vegetables. They had potatoes, apples and squash along with canned goods, meats, eggs, cheese, ice cream, pies, soap, etc. I picked up apples, potatoes, squash, ice cream and jerky.

The last stop was to David's Natural food. I don't often shop there but they do carry bison from Gundpowder Bison and just about everything in the store is labeled organic. They also carry some local produce and bulk food. I picked up the onions, bison burgers, dried fruit, frozen chopped spinach and a small can of organic tomatoes. Oddly enough, Weis does not carry small cans of organic tomatoes, just larger ones. AND another interesting aside is that Eden brand foods are the only ones that do not have bpa in their can liners. But today I didn't see any Eden tomatoes. Weis, Shop Rite, Food Lion and Trader Joe's also carry organic food and it is usually less expensive than David's Natural Food. But they do not carry much in the way of local goods.

I did have to stop at Weis for a handful of items: burger buns, shrimp, and one or two other items that are not coming to mind right now. Shrimp probably should not have been on my list at all since it is on the Seafood Watch Avoid list but little J has been begging for it and I found some, Bubba brand, that talks about sustainable seafood practices. Here's hoping!

Today was not a big cooking day for me but I did make a batch of granola bars. They are a staple in our house for on the go snacking and one batch lasts us a week or two. Here's the recipe:

Heat oven to 350

1 can sweetened condensed milk (you can find recipes without or even make your own)
3 c. oats
3 c. other stuff (whatever you've got works: raisins, choc chips, coconut, pecans, peanuts, etc)

Mix well in a large bowl. Line a baking pan (9x13) with parchment paper. Pour in mixture and use another flat bottomed pan to press the mixture down firmly. Bake for 20 min (or until there is a lightly browned edge all the way around the pan). Let cool for 10 min then lift the sheet of granola bar out of the pan onto a cutting board. Let cool another 10 min and cut into whatever size and shape of bars you would like. Enjoy!

I assure you that at $2.50-$5 a box for 8 little store bought granola bars this recipe will dramatically reduce your snacking costs AND your environmental impact. Yahoo!