A 30 Day Hiatus from the Grocery Store

My family has been engaged in an adventure...a non-shopping adventure (who'd'a thunk it for me)! It has surprised me how much I've enjoyed it.

We decided February 4 not to go grocery shopping for 30 days. We decided spontaneously, which makes the experiment that much more real. In today's economy--which threatens to throw up nearly every day we wake up--one never knows when there might be a hitch-in-the-ol'-getta-long regarding the nation's food supply.

I'm happy to report that we are two weeks into the adventure and it has been fun. No, really. I'm shocked how it's been ok. Something that a few years back would have freaked me out has actually been ok. And guess what, we're eating healthier.

That's right. We're now actually eating all that oatmeal I have in plastic containers, that I've stored forever but just couldn't bring myself to eat. Who'd want to eat oatmeal when sopping-with-sugar store-bought cereals beckoned from my pantry?

But now that those cereals ran out, my kids have actually transitioned to the MUCH healthier, more natural foods. We're getting healthier (who doesn't know the benefits for the heart that comes from eating oatmeal and cream of wheat?)!

So you might want to try it. Of course, don't do this if you haven't been storing food here and there. And it's not like we have a whole year's supply of goodies. I still have work to do like everyone else. But the prophets have counseled us to have at least a 90-day supply of food we are used to eating. That is what we've been working on saving...with longer-term food as our next goal (to round out a complete year's supply of food).

Thus, I wanted to test what we'd done by using this 30 day hiatus. And it's been a blast. You oughta try it! It will show what you're lacking and what you've done well on. If the bird flu or any other disaster were to hit, you'd be glad you tested your supplies prior to a real emergency!