Two weeks to go and we will be permanently gone from Maine. Since we are moving overseas (and no, it’s not because of the US elections), getting rid of our 3-month non-perishable emergency food supply has been quite the challenge. I separated it into several piles: food that was expired (I didn’t cycle through it as often as I should have); unopened food that there was no way I’d be able to finish in time (this went to a local food pantry); food that I could not donate to the food pantry because it was already opened (this went to neighbors or my kids); and food that I thought I might be able to finish by the time we leave. These days the only thing I buy at the supermarket are produce and milk.
Our meals are haphazard creations from oddball remaining ingredients (I’m out of ideas for the myriad cans of tomato sauce), and we’re eating a lot more meat and chicken than usual since I’m methodically emptying our freezer as well. I should probably not be so hard on myself and just go out and buy the honey, mayonnaise, rye flour and soy sauce that are currently missing from my usual repertoire, but it just doesn’t seem worth it to use a bit and then have to deal with finding someone to take it at the last minute. I can’t bear to throw away perfectly good food, either. So if something runs out, that’s it; it doesn’t get replenished.
Truthfully this is not such a bad thing. It forces me to come up with some pretty creative meals, and it’s a great lesson because it teaches us that we don’t have to have everything, and serves as a reminder that there are a whole lot of people in the world who don’t have any food choices and for whom not feeling hungry and having clean water would be the greatest gift of all – – never mind the ingredients.
Midlife in Maine 