Things that suck about being supermarket-free

We're now more than halfway through February, and I'm starting to feel a little jaded with the supermarket-free challenge....  I'm relieved that I chose the shortest month of the year for this experiment!  It has been interesting and fun in lots of ways, and I am definitely learning some new skills - but there are a few things that are becoming quite frustrating...I think it's about time for a bit of a whinge if everybody's ok with that!

   

The biggest issue is the amount of time and energy I need to put into making things.  I'm enjoying trying out new recipes for things that I haven't made before, but it's becoming a bit extreme trying to make everything from scratch.  It is frustrating when we run out of bread, and instead of a quick trip down the road to buy another loaf it takes a couple of hours to prepare dough and bake it.  Of course, this wouldn't be quite such an issue if I wasn't already making cereal, jam and baking, and doing the gardening...  I'm finding that my evenings and weekends involve a lot more time spent in the kitchen these days.  Last weekend I made muesli, plum jam, bread, muesli slice and chocolate hazelnut spread, as well as cooking dinner one night!  And as well as all that time spent in the kitchen I visited a few different shops and the Farmer's Market to get supplies. It was fun, but very busy, and by Sunday night I was so tired of being in the kitchen that we got Pizza Hut for dinner, which seemed a little counter-productive. 

   

The marvel/burden of convenience

Although I'm still not a fan of the supermarket, I do now have a greater appreciation of the convenience of buying everything pre-prepared in the one shop, and I can see how it has become so popular and dominant.  I think it's a shame that our way of life has developed in such a way that most of us feel we need to get everything in the quickest, easiest way possible, and don't have time to spend making our own foods.  Obviously this suits lots of people, but it does make us very out of touch with what we are eating.  I really want to continue making my staple foods myself, but I find it hard to see how I could sustain it long-term while working full-time and doing all the other things that make life fun like spending time with friends.

  

The other major thing that has been annoying this month is not being able to find some things - especially when I am used to having everything I want or "need" just down the road at the supermarket!  This has meant a bit of time spent searching around different shops, or occasionally going without.  Like the shampoo and conditioner I ran out of about two days ago (there's a limit to how many times you can rinse out the bottle before there really isn't any left). 

So that is my whinge.  I'll try and be more upbeat tomorrow.  And if anyone has any great ideas for shampoo and conditioner, let me know.....