Day One, Penny-Wise Eat Local Challenge

Ingredients for the Cream of Dandelion Soup

The first day of our week long Challenge is under our belt, and it was harder than I anticipated. Not the food part- we ate just as we eat every Sunday. What was hard is figuring out the costs of things- I know, for example, how much I spent on a pound of oatmeal, but breaking it down to get the cost of 2 cups of oatmeal is trickier. Some foods I had in the house, and don't know how much I spent on them. But I will do the best I can...

There are two of us eating for this challenge.

The Menu-
Sunday, April 22
Brunch- Hearty Oatmeal Pancakes with Apple Slices, Peanut Butter and Maple Syrup
Dinner- Pork Roast, Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Cream of Dandelion Soup

Dinner picture from the cell phone

Pancakes on the grill

The costs:

The local ingredients;

3 cups of yogurt (made it myself), $0.72

apple slices- (canned them myself) $0.25
Butter $0.66 ( $5.25/pound, we used about 2 oz through out the day
Pennsylvania Maple Syrup- $17.10 per quart; used approximately 1/2 cup- $2.13
Eggs- $0.20 ($0.10 each)
Pork Roast- just over 4.5 pounds at $4.00 per pound, $18.40 total, we will make 3 meals out of it so tonight's cost is $6.14
Dandelions from the backyard- free, but a lot of work!
leeks from the garden last year- $0.01



The Semi-Local ingredients (These are not grown or produced in our area, but were purchased from local businesses- a farmers market and a natural foods store that sells bulk items- rather than a chain- best I could do)
rolled oats- $0.55 per pound; $0.10
peanut butter- $1.99/pound, we used approximately 1 oz- $0.12
Sweet potatoes- 2 at $0.65 each; $1.30
carrot; $0.05

Grand total, $11.68

Critique- I'm not thinking we'll be having the Cream of Dandelion soup anytime soon, but I am glad I made it. The recipe, from A Veggie Venture called for Dijon mustard- and that was the taste I objected to, not the slight bitterness of the dandelions. But it was fun to make a soup from something that is not only free, but all over the yard. Our yard is chemical free, about the most noxious thing that might be on the dandelions would be dog urine, and I washed them 4 times...If you aren't sure of your dandelion source, don't gather them.