5 days into having no fridge and remarkably I have found it so much easier than trying to go unprocessed in our food choices! Not only that, but could say the same for each family member as well!
NOBODY misses the fridge and we are finding it so easy, no thought given to it and when we went shopping on the 5th, I only bought a gallon of milk and a large tin of plain yogurt to go in the cooler. Keeping the cooler out on the porch with a little ice in it has kept it cold enough to where the ice does not even melt. I bring it into the kitchen only at meal times for convenience and then out on the porch again. It has been as easy as breathing and I now wonder what took me so long to get the nerve up to try it? Well of course I had to wait for my family to catch up to my line of thinking and be on board with it! They are a little behind me on this trail of extreme frugality, healthier living and simplicity of a minimalist living!
Yet I started the going unprocessed trial in October and to be honest I have been FAILING miserably! I get to the store and literally start panicking and immediately revert to 40 years of habitual processed food purchasing. The thought of unprocessed runs through my head as soon as we enter the store, but is quickly replaced with the panic. I hesitate in the flour and sugar isle and debate the refined white sugar purchase, then give in and buy it anyways because suitable natural sweeteners like Stevia or raw honey are just NASTY in coffee! Sure I can drink it black but to me it just is not as good! Of course I should give up coffee but well I LOVE coffee as does my husband!
The other issue is RAMEN, it is a horrible food, yet my daughter and husband love it and throw a huge fit over the idea of giving it up! Without a fridge I opted for other meat alternatives like canned Spam and Canned Corn beef hash! UGH this is really, really, really hard and baby stepping just does not seem to be going quick enough for me because it IS important to me to get there!
Today I realize it just is not an issue of learning to reform the whole way I am use to shopping but I will have to reform dramatically how I am use to cooking as well! Since I started cooking at a very young age, it has formed a 35 year habit of shopping and cooking in a certain frugal way. For me to jump out of the box and form a whole new way of shopping and cooking for me, is a much harder endeavor than I ever imagined!
I have not given up though and perhaps this is one issue that may be resolved by menu planning, something I have never been very good at or liked to do much of. But this may be my only way of breaking a habit of such a long duration in order to reach a very important goal for my family.
So in this case so far of learning as we go, the going No Fridge battle wins, going unprocessed loses!
Have you ever tried something extreme that took a long time to gain the nerve to do only to find how easy it was or difficult?
NOBODY misses the fridge and we are finding it so easy, no thought given to it and when we went shopping on the 5th, I only bought a gallon of milk and a large tin of plain yogurt to go in the cooler. Keeping the cooler out on the porch with a little ice in it has kept it cold enough to where the ice does not even melt. I bring it into the kitchen only at meal times for convenience and then out on the porch again. It has been as easy as breathing and I now wonder what took me so long to get the nerve up to try it? Well of course I had to wait for my family to catch up to my line of thinking and be on board with it! They are a little behind me on this trail of extreme frugality, healthier living and simplicity of a minimalist living!
Yet I started the going unprocessed trial in October and to be honest I have been FAILING miserably! I get to the store and literally start panicking and immediately revert to 40 years of habitual processed food purchasing. The thought of unprocessed runs through my head as soon as we enter the store, but is quickly replaced with the panic. I hesitate in the flour and sugar isle and debate the refined white sugar purchase, then give in and buy it anyways because suitable natural sweeteners like Stevia or raw honey are just NASTY in coffee! Sure I can drink it black but to me it just is not as good! Of course I should give up coffee but well I LOVE coffee as does my husband!
The other issue is RAMEN, it is a horrible food, yet my daughter and husband love it and throw a huge fit over the idea of giving it up! Without a fridge I opted for other meat alternatives like canned Spam and Canned Corn beef hash! UGH this is really, really, really hard and baby stepping just does not seem to be going quick enough for me because it IS important to me to get there!
Today I realize it just is not an issue of learning to reform the whole way I am use to shopping but I will have to reform dramatically how I am use to cooking as well! Since I started cooking at a very young age, it has formed a 35 year habit of shopping and cooking in a certain frugal way. For me to jump out of the box and form a whole new way of shopping and cooking for me, is a much harder endeavor than I ever imagined!
I have not given up though and perhaps this is one issue that may be resolved by menu planning, something I have never been very good at or liked to do much of. But this may be my only way of breaking a habit of such a long duration in order to reach a very important goal for my family.
So in this case so far of learning as we go, the going No Fridge battle wins, going unprocessed loses!
Have you ever tried something extreme that took a long time to gain the nerve to do only to find how easy it was or difficult?
I love ramen/instant noodles as well. Have you thought about hacking it to be a bit more healthy? For us, we only use half of the soup seasoning, or we use our own stock + a teensy bit of seasoning. We also add veggies like bean sprouts and choy and slices of cooked meat, like chicken.
ReplyDeleteI guess you could consider a meat meal on your shopping day. When camping and using Ice in the cooler in the summer, I will use raw meat within 2 days. I usually keep it between 2 block of ice. If I cook it, It can return to the cooler for a couple more days. Doesn't usually last that long though.
ReplyDeleteMany meats can be canned and you don't have to deal with Spam and corned beef hash as often.
I don't think I'd ever want to go without a fridge. Mine is 20 years old and I'm sure a power sucker. I'm running it til it croaks. When I had it fixed 10 years ago they gave it 6 months to a year. :)
We love Ramen too.
Sheila