more parsnips than you can shake a carrot stick at

About a year ago I woke up one day and realised there was $182 left in the food budget to see us through to the end of the year. Even with a full pantry and a productive vegetable garden, it was going to be a challenge to feed eleven of us (Grandpa was living with us at the time) on $20 a week.

But we did it!

Largely due to the fact that I discovered 4kg bags of parsnips for $1.
At that point I didn’t even *like* parsnips, but they really did seem a godsend;-)

ER didn’t like parsnips as her first-solids-ever either, but we both learnt to.

That’s not all there is to say about parsnips though.
Parsnips also go down in history as my first blog material.
Friends had been ~~nagging~~ suggesting I start a blog, but I was reluctant. It seemed so narcissistic. Then I recorded my $182 Project Progress on an online discussion board and was surprised at the amount of discussion it generated. Friends joked about my parsnip blog.

Within months I would be really and truly blogging, but back then I was just recording the new ideas I came up with each day and trying out other people’s recipes (I loved the community-aspect…….and it was happening in real life too…..an elderly lady told Grandfather Bear about the $1 parsnips at a local fruit shop and he was able to inform her we’d bought more than our fair share already!!!)
One of the girls shared this:
The food value of parsnips exceeds many vegetables and is a rich source of folic acid, potassium, sulfur and vitamin c. If you want to maintain healthy skin, then munch on more parsnips. They also assist in helping improve bronchial tube functioning in the lungs and are of benefit if you suffer asthma. Parsnips and carrots were cultivated by the Romans and served as a good source of starch and carbohydrate for over 4000 years until the beginning of the 19th century when they were overtaken by the potato. Unlike carrots, parsnips contain no beta-carotene but are a great source of vitamin c.

As if I needed convincing!!!!!!

By Christmas-time I thought I’d never want to see another parsnip again, but guess what I bought yesterday! The joys of eating seasonally.

Now if you’re really short of things to do today, you can have a look at my Parsnip Party Photo Album. There’s a running commentary with each picture and even recipes as well!!! (You’ll need to click on the individual photos to bring up said commentary, but noone is *that* desperate, are they?)