Eating out Back of beyond
(Page 2 of 5)
We order most of these things in bulk at good prices from
the Big City many miles away and have them shipped up at
additional cost. In the case of some items (oil, tomato
paste), it's more practical to pay higher rates at the
local market than to lay out money for shipping. Also, our
neighboring dealer can get certain foods in bulk if we
order them in advance. All of which may not concern you if
you live on a road, have a truck and can go and get the
supplies you need.
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At first it seems incredible to purchase so much food at
once . . . but you're buying to last a long time. How long?
That's hard to say definitely, because the answer depends
on the number of people in your family, how much you live
off the land (at times you can't), how many guests and pets
you feed and, often, circumstances over which you have
little or no control . . . like mold running rampant or the
dog getting into the powdered milk. (Last winter, mice ate
a hole into a 25-pound cloth sack of brown rice we had
stored on the rafters. We awoke late at night to the softly
slurred sound of kernels raining into the woodpile.) In our
own case, the above list is about a year's supply of
edibles . . . as long as the
semi-perishables—margarine, potatoes and other
vegetables—are replenished betweentimes.
Note that neither the list nor the quantities thereon are
right for everyone. Tomato paste, peanut butter and
margarine—for instance—aren't absolutely
essential but are really fine to have if you can afford
them. And if you don't use sugar, you'll have to compensate
with more honey for cooking. Or you may not need so much
powdered milk (we have a one-year-old son). Still, the
foods I've named are the ones that have kept us satisfied
for three years, so they might be a fair guideline for you
who are now planning toward the woods life.
Of course, basic staples aren't all we get on our supply
trips. To liven up the plain raw material we buy spices,
sauces and herbs. With these, and ingenuity, it's possible
to create any number of different tastes from the same old
food. Don't underestimate the need for variety in the diet!
Overly repetitious meals can become very "so-whatish",
which is bad for health and spirit. Although there's almost
no limit to the resources with which you can dress up your
eating, the following will give you a lot of scope:
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