one step back

well folks, the shopping for new years day dinner sent my little 3G project a big step backward. let me explain. thursday we went out to gather up some local goodies, only to be a little disappointed. i guess trying to start up the 3G project in the throws of winter was probably not one of my better ideas. especially since i haven't got any kind of fall or winter garden going right now. anyway, thursday we went to a few local markets to see what we could get for the week. the first stop was maude's market. that was a bit of a success, as seen in this post from a few days ago, however the next few stops were a disaster. after maude's we headed to another local market, that will remain nameless, which is supposed to be a stronghold in local food shopping. but i tell you what, it was rather disappointing. a lot of processed foods, hardly any kind of produce, and not much in the way of dairy. now they do offer themselves as a delivery point for some raw milk produced on a farm not to far from here, but at $10 a gallon!!! even i can't rationalized paying that much for raw milk. so that stop was pretty much a bust. then we thought we go over to the year round "farmer's" market in soulard (farmer's of course being in quotes cause some of the booths are clearly NOT farmers, clearly NOT local, and clearly NOT in season). but if you look hard enough there are a few actual local farmer folks scattered around the market. it would have been worth the trip if in fact anybody had been there. technically they were open, but hardly any booths were operating and those that were only had peppers, oranges, lemons, asparagus, etc. you know the normal stuff you would pretty much find year round at the produce section of any given grocery store. no thanks. moving on. and so then i thought we'd have better luck waiting till saturday when more folks would be there. right?? wrong!!!  saturday was of course new years day and when we drove by the market it was a total ghost town. crap!! with absolutely no collard greens, cornmeal, or butter and only a small amount of black eyed peas in the house, what were we going to do?? well, i just had to suck it up and head out to the devils grocery..... wholefoods. one huge step backward in the 3G project. boo hoo me.

wholefoods loot 1/1/11

here's the breakdown:

BAP free lining, can of organic black eyed peas $1.99

3 lb. bag of organic yellow onions $2.99 (usa produced)

organic cracked pepper crackers $1.99 (a processed good requested by hubby. baby steps folks, baby steps)

2 small bunches of organic collard greens $1.50 (usa produced)

1/2 pound black forest bacon $4.15 (origins unknown, but free of sodium nitrate)

8 oz. kerrygold irish butter $2.49 (on sale, really good butter, sooooo not local. hypocrite alert!!)

2 organic pink lady apples $2.02 (i mean really, after the crackers and butter, why not)

2 lb. organic potatoes $3.99 (usa produced.... could be local, right???)

32 oz. Kalona buttermilk $3.69 (my brand of choice in dairy right now. cow friendly, low temp. vat pasteurized, based out of Iowa which is sorta in my neck of the woods)

apple cider $3.99 (produced in illinois)

Seven Stars organic yogurt $3.69 (another hubby request. eventually he will come over to the darkside)

1/2 lb. organic white flour $0.81

1.2 lbs. organic corn meal $1.19

(not pictured.... peanut butter cliff bar that we ate in the store cause we were hungry. oh how the mighty have fallen. $0.99) 

total w/tax = $38.41

money left = $11.77

p.s. (also not pictured.... 6 pack schlafly's winter ale $7.69. beer, whiskey, dog food, and eating out not included in project. cause really, why would i set myself up for certain failure?)

upcoming post: amended 3G project guidelines, news years day dinner.