8 foods we don't grow and need to buy.

By JM Davis

Food Preserving & Storing

We try very hard not to buy anything from the grocery store.

We’d rather buy everything local or online from like-minded small businesses. However, we can’t always get what we need or want, so we have to buy them from the store if we want them. We are always looking for better sources, so if you know any, let us know.

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Here are the 8 items I have to buy, if I want them in my house.

1. Peanut Butter and nuts. Peanut butter is a staple in our house. In our peanut butter we want two ingredients in it, peanuts and salt. That’s it. We have found some organic peanut butter that have other crap added to it even though it is organic. We can not grow peanuts, and it isn’t cost effective to buy organic peanuts and make them ourselves.

Many years ago I did buy 25 pounds of organic peanuts. We roasted, salted, and ground them. My wheat grinder also makes nut butter. At the time it was cheaper to buy the peanuts than the peanut butter. Now the cost to buy and ship organic peanuts is either the same price or more than the already made stuff. I haven’t found a small company that makes peanut butter, so I purchase the peanut butter from our store brand. I also make sure we buy our peanut butter in glass jars. We are thriving for less plastic. Plus, the glass jars are reusable too.

2. Baking Soda. I use baking soda that’s non-gmo and without aluminum. I buy it from the Amish store because it’s cheaper than the regular store or online.

3. Chocolate bars, cooking chocolate, and chocolate chips. The main reason I buy chocolate chips is because Rick loves chocolate chip cookies. I can’t make them, and they are only a handful of items that are “processed” that we still bring into the house. I make sure the brand I buy has simple organic ingredients.

We also love chocolate bars that don’t have junk in them. We are looking for a local or online small business that makes great chocolate without sunflower or soy lecithin. If you know of any, make a comment and let us know.

4. Spices and Teas: This includes culinary and medicinal teas and herbs. I grow some of our spices, but I can’t grow them all. Plus, I don’t grow green or black teas. When I buy our spices, I get them in bulk, then break them up into smaller jars for use and containers for storing.

5. Olive oil and coconut oil. I don’t have a means to grow either of these.

We make and use our own beef tallow, pork lard, and butter. I also like cooking and baking with coconut oil and olive oil. We buy the coconut oil from a big box store. It is organic virgin coconut oil, but I’d love to find a place to buy it locally or from a small company.

We get our olive oil from a place in Queen Creek, AZ. They have a farm and store I’ve visited. Plus, I spoke with a manager about their olive growing and oil production methods. No gmos, no pesticides, and pure olive oil.

6. Coffee. We don’t grow coffee. We have a few coffee plants I bought as a gag gift for Rick in 2018. This is the first year we are getting any berries, and if he’s lucky, we will get a handful.

We buy organic whole bean coffee from our local grocery store in 32 ounce bags. Yes, we are looking for a local place to buy from. We love it if we could find a place that uses USA coffee.

7. Grains: Such as Quinoa, Einkorn, Rice, etc. If you’ve watched some of my other videos, you’ll know I only cook and bake with Einkorn wheat now. We are growing oats over winter as a cover crop. We shall see how it goes and if it grows. Then we will have to decide if it’s worth the space in the garden, plus the extra work to use them.

Our grains are all organic, and I buy them in bulk. Then I break the grain up into canning jars, mylar bags, and buckets for storing and using.

8. Citrus: We do not have the weather to grow citrus. One day I will have a citrus tree in the greenhouse, then move it into the house for winter. I use lemon and lime medicinally every morning for a get up and go, which means I need citrus. Right now I buy bottles of not from concentrate organic lemon and lime.

If you know of any places, I can purchase any of the above items from local or like-minded small companies. Please email me at support@foodplusfreedom.com.

When you think about homesteading or growing your own food, don’t think you have to do it all. Grow what you can, buy local, and still be able to gain healthy food you can’t or don’t grow.

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