Healthy Shopping in a World of Supermarkets

Well as fired up as I am about knowing where my food is coming from I felt almost powerless when I made my grocery list today. My children have to eat this week, my garden will not be producing for quite a while, and I have even gotten my pigs yet much less had them slaughtered!

SO.....what's an organic health lovin' mama on a budget to do??

I started out by making a list of what I knew was good for us. Then I bought the most important items first...here is a few of the items I got:

Cage Free Eggs - These were considerably higher than the regular eggs but all I could think about were those poor hens in battery cages laying cheap eggs. I just could do it. So I found these eggs instead. They were more than I normally spend but I only bought 2 instead of 3. Plus my long term resolution to this issue is that we are getting our own free range chickens this spring. In the meantime I will buy free range eggs.

One very important part of healthy living is to only use pure foods. We have been using pure cane syrup all year and we love it. We use this instead of pure maple syrup because it is about half the price ($3/can). Artificial syrup is a created product and it is not a good idea to put those kind of things in your family's bodies. Also this brand of syrup is made/canned in Abbeville, LA....so it is local. You can buy this little jar at Walmart.

Fill your buggy with produce first. Get all those good fruits that the kids love. Now, I have also learned that many off season fruits and vegetables are carried in from far away, picked before being ripe and then ripened with a gas.....GROSS! BUT...I have to feed them something so I bought organic as often as possible (especially when there was little price difference). The strawberries were the most off season fruit I bought but my little boy was standing by them saying...."look mama, strawberries!"....I couldnt help it. I will be posting how to keep/use all this produce without waisting it soon.

Buying milk and cheese made from cows that are not treated with rBST is another important thing we can do to help shield our babies from chemicals. Bordon milk and cheese is sold at Walmart.

I also found whole chickens for about $4 each that were free range chickens. I bought 2 for this week.

Making these little changes is how we begin to change our lives!

Now I am off to make homemade yogurt, homemade granola, & homemade bread......babysteps lead me to this....haha! Yeehaw!

Gettin' off to a good start

Here is a picture of a little square foot garden off my kitchen. It is not getting much sun right now so I am not sure what I will put there but it is ready for when I make up my mind....;)



Here are my herb seeds. I am doing 9 plants of each of my herbs. That seems like a lot to me but I am hoping to can a ton of spaghetti sauce and dry the rest of my herbs for use during Fall '10 to Fall '11. I am also going to make my own taco seasoning packets and greek seasoning packs. This will cut down on prepackaged items from the grocery store. Who knows what is really in that stuff anyway.


Here again are some more of my herbs and a TON of beefsteak tomatoes. I sure hope these things produce a bunch of tomatoes. Any tomato advice PLEASE SHARE. Also my catnip is in those circular starter thingys but my cats eat every spring that pops up....haha. If they would be a little more patient they would have a TON to chew on!


Here is my dear dear husband tilling our ground. As I have stated I am a huge fan of square foot gardening but I am going to try to do a raised bed adaptation of square foot gardening. It is our choice because we are focusing our money into the pigpens and the chicken coop and this is a free way to get my big garden going.

Food Inc....Rent this tonight!

I watched Food Inc and it honestly has only confirmed my desire to grow our own food and raise our own meat. It is insane how our food is truly only coming from a few companies. And the living conditions of these animals is sad.

Watch this video ASAP and then make a change so these companies get the message!

This year my home will:

Grown as much of our own produce as possible

What we do not grow we will buy from farmers markets

We will raise 2 pigs for a years supply of pork

Harvest & replant as many fruit producing plants as possible

Buy a very limited (emergency cases) amount of prepackaged food (boxed meals)

Buy only grass fed meats

Limit our purchases to Walmart and other large corporations and increase our purchases with local farms/meat stores

Homemade Granola - Do this Tonight!

Today I was looking for a snack to soothe some stress and quite frankly, I did not have ANYTHING worth mentioning. Then I remembered that a friend from Sunday School had told me she made her own granola and how easy it was.

SOOOO......I googled this recipe and got to work (click here).

It was fantastic. You can add any nut, dried fruit, or even coconut & chocolate chips (after the mix has cooled) that you have laying around.

Do this SOON!! I will probably be making 2 batches one time per week. This will allow for several snacks/breakfasts of yogurt and granola, and some in a bag for a traveling snack.

Love ya!
Ash-

Living on less....fall clothing

In an effort to organize a list of clothing "needs" for this coming Spring, I am going to look back and see what the children really wore during the fall/winter of this year.

Wyatt - 1 yr-old boy
Footed Fleece rompers - he wore these to sleep in, play in, and even run errands in.

2 Favorite Mini Boden outfits - these 2 outfits outshown the rest and he wore these all the time

1 Gymboree monkey outfit

2 holiday sweaters - 1 for fall and 1 for Christmas (nutcracker sweater from Janie & Jack)

Gap jeans - 3 pairs

socks

chore boots for outside

leather boots for church/casual wear

William

fleece pj's with socks

Homemade fleece longies w/ long sleeve tees

sweater/coat/fleece zipup for outside play

chore boots

ankle boots for church/casual

2 holiday sweaters (same as above)

Gap jeans

Boden flannel pants w/matching tee (x2 sets)

2 pairs of rib waist cargos from Boden that I LOVED w/ random tee's

tennis shoes

socks from children's place

Hannah

Knit dresses with knit pants/tights underneath

Knit pants with matching tee's

Holiday dresses Thanksgiving & Christmas & New Years

2/3 church dresses

matching pj sets (warm)

chore boots

land's end mary janes/pedi peds for dressy & casual/boots

Hannah had a lot of mini boden but it ended up being too wide for her and she hardly wore any of it. I am hoping it will still fit for next year.

Abigail - (my biggest challenge to buy for)

knit dresses w/tights/knit pants

matching pjs

pencil skirts

sweaters - zip up

tee's for layering

boots

ballet flats

chore boots

lots of accessories, scarfs...ect

Now looking at what we DID wear will make buying for future seasons easier. My goal is to NOT BUY those things that only get worn once or do not get worn at all! So the first step is pinpointing what we DID wear.

I challenge each of you to do this so your clothes budget goes farther. Buy less, wear it more often!

My First "Successful" Loaf

Well, friends and families.....this is it. This is my first loaf. In the midst of a bathroom remodel and a major closet clean out I baked my first "successful" bread loaf today. I will not even describe the look on my husband's face as I was kneading dough while he was stressing over getting a toilet back into the guest bathroom.......just in time for company to arrive tomorrow. Priceless!!!

I have tried twice before (a while back) and this was my "three times a charm".

I bought the video...Homestead Blessing "How to bake bread" by the West ladies (will add link later) and it was worth every penny. Not only did my loaf cost about a quarter but it is delicious. I also use their video for homemade cinnamon rolls.

SO.....I will now be baking our bread loafs...I will probably bake 2 loafs, twice per week. YUM!!!

Now if anyone has any suggestions on how to cut this thing please let me know!

Decorating on a budget.....our guest bath

Here is the first step in my guest bathroom remodel. What do you think? This part of the bathroom was done for under $100. We basically painted granite onto the countertop and then antiqued the cabinetry which was in excellent shape.

Here is the new faucet we are getting and after I get it in I will match new knobs and a light fixture.

Now we have to finish the floor, walls, and tile the tub enclosure. Since I wont be able to finish the tub before our company comes, I am making a fabric tub surround from luxury shower curtains I found for $10 each at Tuesday Morning.

I will upload more pics and instructions soon....

Water - The drink of choice

Funny how we need to be reminded of some of the most basic healthy ways to save money. We are so consumed by a materialistic world that sometimes we forget that we only NEED the basics. Food, shelter, heat, water......

Making water the standard drink around my home has not only saved me money on juice, soda pop, lemonaide, tea, and milk but it also is making us healthier.

I am NOT talking about buying a bunch of bottled water (that does not save any money). I am saying drink tap water. Pick yourself up off the floor and go get you a pitcher and fill it with plain ol'water and stick it in the fridge.

It took about a week for my kids to get used to it but just last night Hannah came to me and asked for a drink of water...then Will woke up late last night and instead of saying "I need just a wittle bit of chocolate milk" he said "I need just a wittle bit of water"....

I was so proud.

We bought each of the family members a reusable water bottle. I try to always remember (they remind me) to fill it up each night so they have a cold bottle of water in the fridge during the next day. If they need a drink, they help themselves.

The way that I rationed the milk/juice/soda...ect is that my kids get a glass of milk when they wake up and when they go to bed. They can have juice with lunch and then a couple of meals a week I will provide a 2-liter for a treat.

Such simple things make such a HUGE difference.

Homemade Yogurt and Fruit - A healthy affordable snack

I LOVE homemade yogurt.....it is so creamy and so much better than store bought. Honestly, just like everything else, if you get on a schedule for making it, it is easy and routine.

I make mine every Thursday afternoon, that way we will have a fresh batch every Friday evening to enjoy. It is so easy and I am reposting the link to the instructions below. I make a half gallon of yogurt and dont forget to save 1/2 cup or so as your yogurt starter for next week!

Dont delay, try it today! Once this was just one of those things I "wanted" to do and now it is part of our life......I highly encourage you to enjoy creamy homemade yogurt this week!

Add the following items to your grocery list:
Milk (I prefer whole fat)

Your favorite yogurt - I use vanilla store brand pint.

Frozen fruit (optional)

Then I use the following from my cupboard:

Vanilla Extract

Natural Sugar

Cane syrup or Maple syrup

Recipe for Homemade Crockpot Yogurt here

Here are some photos of my babies enjoying their nighttime snack today:

Abi totally skipped the yogurt and made herself ramen noodles!! CHEATER!

I just wanna eat this face up.....

FREE Shutterfly PhotoBook

www.shutterfly.com

Redeem this code for a free shutterfly 8x8 hard cover photobook....

WOOWHOO...

Do the happy dance!

Promo Code:

JANBOOK

Exp 1/13/10

Ladies, Start your SEEDS!!!

It is that time of year!! I am so excited to be gardening on our very own homestead this year!

Believe it or not, it is time to start some of your seeds.

I do not claim to be an expert gardener. I am simply sharing what we are doing in order to have a sustainable harvest this coming year.

You will need:

1. seeds - may I suggest purchasing heirloom seeds so that you can participate in harvesting seeds from your plants this year. This will save on costs next year! and you will have some to share. It is not that much more to buy heirloom seeds. Besides, the quality of the plant and the savings next year will be worth it. May I recommend http://www.rareseeds.com/. This site has provided us with good seed and good service.

2. Seed starting mix- I bought a bag of Jiffy seed starting mix at Home depot for about $4.

3. Small containers in which to start the seeds. Egg cartons work fine for us. I clean them out and keep them until it is time.

SEEDS TO START IN JANUARY:

tomatoes
potatoes

beets

broccoli

carrots

cauliflower

swiss chard

chinese cabbage

eggplant

lettuce (my favorite)

English peas

hot peppers

bell peppers

radishes

Ofcourse you want to plant only what you are going to eat.

May I also recommend the following books:

The Square foot garden, Mel Bartholomew

The Backyard Homestead, Carleen Madigan

I use these books on a regular basis for reference, how to, and ideas for my garden.

Grocery Store Confessionals

Have you even gotten to the grocery store with your list in hand ready to tackle the big bad supermarket??

OR

Have you ever sat down to write a grocery list of what you NEED only to truly fill it up with what you WANT?? and then to make it worse, you buy everything on your list!

Seriously, how can we expect ourselves to live on a grocery budget until we get a real perspective on what we NEED! And then we must ask God to help us enjoy aquiring these needs, not focusing on the fact that we did not get that 1/2 gallon of praline pecan ice cream!

If you have been in any situation like this then...........

GROCERY STORE CONFESSIONALS

is for

YOU.

During the first week of my challenge I cheated and sent Billy to the store (he never buys anything extra!). Since I have been on a major spending freeze with my grocery budget, I am low on everything! Below you will see what I made off with during the 2nd week. I added a few things and dropped a few things from the original list.

This week I went A-L-O-N-E..

..well Abi went with me and did hook me for $1 erasers

(they were shaped like eggs in a frying pan....who could pass that up)

but overall it was

me and my money

against

the store.

I obtained my buggy, walked straight to the milk fridge (as this is where most of my money is spent anyway!), obtained 2 milks, 1 carton of eggs, only 1 creamer (not 2 as in my original grocery list because I have been using less), 2 bags of shredded cheese, $1 2-liter of Sprite, 24 double roll pack of toilet paper, hair gel for daddy (those men have to fix their hair!), baby soap, and a 50% off skein of yarn for knitting next years Christmas presents.

My total was

$41.83

- $32.72 giftcard balance

$9.11

YEAH!

Things We Do....

God Loves Louisiana....wanna know how I know?

I went and picked fresh lettuce for our salad tonight. Seriously, where else can you do that? And look at this lettuce, that is some PURTY lettuce! Since it is going to freeze most of the week we did cover the garden with trashbags and we will be focusing on starting our seeds indoors.

Another thing we are working on is how to make this wood burning heater heat the whole house. Right now our living room is nice a toasty but my boys are freezing in the bedroom! (Just kidding E, we have the regular heat on too..;)








Here is Billy starting his first fire in our new home.

I love this place.... look the heater even has my name on it! AWE!

Living On Less....Clothing

My goal is not only to HAVE LESS clothing but to SPEND LESS on our clothing. This will come from shopping for sale items, sewing our clothes, and from buying used.

Another nugget of wisdom (its really more like a duh!) is to only buy WHAT I NEED!

Now to some that may sound like normal common sense but I know I am not the only one who has bought because things were attractive and a good price.

Keep in mind my monetary goal is $5/week/child for clothing.

I bought a very fine pair of Gap jeans in HARDLY Used condition for $8 shipped for William. These normally cost about $25 pair online. He just went from a 2 to a 3 for length and Gap is the only brand that my skinny kids can wear without looking like they are balloon pants...even with adjustable waists!

I normally would have gone online, found a decent sale bought a few pairs of pants....spending about $50-$75. I only spent $8! GO ME!

Sorry but this is a big deal for me! Just be happy for me...;)

Where do you buy used? I buy from ebay, from gymbofriends, and from bodenboard....all reputable forums which people sell their used clothing.

So right now I am 2 weeks into my goal and I am $2 under budget for Will.....so cool

Put Off Anger....Put On Self-control

"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

Proverbs 22:6

In this New Year 2010, I am resolute to live on purpose. No more will time pass where I do not deal with things that need to be dealt with. It is so much harder and takes more time to deal with behavior issues correctly with instruction than to just reason the behavior away and spank or time-out.

God's Word clearly instructs us to train our children.....then to discipline them for disobedience. If we are not training them first, then how can we discipline them with a peaceful heart. Clearly we must instruct the children HOW to act before they can get into trouble for NOT acting that way.

The first character trait that our family will be working on is self-control. There have been instances in our family where anger has shown its ugly head. I have gotten angry because the children have left things out of place or made a mess. The children have gotten angry with each other over toys and such. I want anger out of here! So the way I am choosing to battle this is by training my children to have self-control.

"An angry man stirreth up strife, and a furious man abounds in transgression."

Proverbs 29:22

If we are angry we will cause fights with others and live abundantly in sin. I do not want that for my life and I most certainly do not want that for my children.

"He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city"

Proverbs 16:32

We should be slow to get upset, no matter how wronged we have been. Often something as simple as taking a deep breath will allow the feeling of anger to flow out of us.

"A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grevious words stir up anger."

Proverbs 15:1

This is God's answer to deal with anger....speak softly. If we yell at a child for being angry, what does God say will happen? It will stir up the anger. However if we speak softly then it will turn the wrath away!

Feeling upset or wronged is a natural emotion and one God is familiar with, therefore we must learn what to do with it. When we feel angry we must control our voice and our actions.

Practically this means that we will be picking 1-2 scriptures and teaching them to the children (immediately following breakfast works great for us as well as when we are in the car driving). When they are able to recite the scripture without help we will move on.

Then I must inctercept the behavior of anger with a kind face and soft words (remember what God says about soft words?) and remind the child of the scriptures they have been learning. Speak sweetly and ask them if they are using self-control....with God's help I will be reporting good things about the eviction of anger in my home!

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, & self-control."

Galatians 5:22-23