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!

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-

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.....

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.

Menu Plan - January 2nd - 8th

This picture doesn't have anything to do with menu planning but I thought it was sweet of me and my baby. And yes, that is my favorite shirt...I wear it all the time, living on less, remember?

Second week of $75/week budget

- Well last week went so well with spending no money (except that stint at Mcd's), I think I will do it 1 more time to get us deep in the black and start the new year off right.
This week I will be relying on leftovers….still (heard of the roast beef that wouldn’t die?) and meats that I have stocked up on in the past when the price was right.

DINNERS
Grilled Chicken Leg Quarters w/BBQ sauce & veggies (such a deal at less than $1.50 for my chicken)
Turkey Spaghetti w/fresh garden salad (fresh from my garden!)
Chicken & Dumplings (The other $1.50 of those leg quarters and homemade dumplins!)
Shrimp fettuccini or red sauce which ever I have on hand
Beans & rice w/a little leftover ham (see below)
Mexican Beef n rice casserole (this is that roast beef again)
Left over ham sandwiches from our New Years ham – from Logan Farms w/$50 gift card from Billy’s work (yep The Lord will provide!)

Breakfast
Yogurt w/fruit
Eggs & cheese w/toast
Oatmeal w/ pure cane syrup
Cinnamon & sugar nuggets w/ syrup
Cereal
Blender batter waffles made with whole grains (literally…they have not been ground)

Lunch
Tuna sandwiches
ramen noodles
Pb & J, fruit & yogurt
Mac N Cheese w/hotdogs wienies
smoothies
Spagettio’s
frozen pizza (I know soooo bad)
Well, this is going on my second week and I am super excited. This has allowed for us to use our money elsewhere.

All of these items I have in my storage/leftover except I will need the following:
- milk (whole milk) - 3 gallons - $4.50/gallon - $13.50
- creamer (coffee is my major weakness) - 2 quarts - $2.70/quart - $5.40
-cheese – three 8-ounce bags of shredded cheese about $6

$24.90 + tax

Coconut Oil, Baking Soda & Vinegar

This photo was taken from www.mountainroseherbs.com. This is the website where we order all of our coconut oil, our glass bottles for extract and many of our bulk herbs. Go there and get you some coconut oil!

These are three of the most necessary items to have in your home. These three things clean, condition, can clear up a baby's bottom & can unstop drains...how is that for bang for your buck??

Baking Soda
Not only is this fine white powder a deodorizer and teeth whitener, when powered with vinegar it cleans & unclogs drains.
• In fact if you put ½ cup of baking soda (mixed with a splash of water) down your drain and follow with ½ cup of vinegar, it will keep your drains nice and clear.
• If you have a little nephew that comes over and draws pretty pictures with permanent marker all over your wood, then couple baking soda with toothpaste, scrub on, wash off and stare with amazement. But don’t get too excited and clean the whole play kitchen ( I hyper focused just a touch here)


Vinegar
• One of the most natural cleansers for your kitchen and bathroom is straight vinegar with water. I added about 5 drops of cinnamon essential oil to cut the smell. (Essential oils are also something to keep on hand, but more about those later).
• This can also be used in a Downy ball as the fabric softener….your clothes will not smell like vinegar, they smell fresh.
• This can also be used as a rinse for your hair. Come on all you long haired ladies, give it a try. It cleans SO well and make your hair soft, shiny, and smooth….well I have curly hair so lets just say it made it smoothER.
• As stated above, when used with baking soda it keeps those drains clean.
• Use it in the dishwasher as the rinse aid….so great!


Coconut Oil - purchase from http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/
• This is by far my favorite kitchen staple! It is know for building immunity as well as weight loss! I cook my eggs in it, I fry my chicken in it, I fry pancake mix in it and add powder sugar, I add it to my melting white chocolate pieces when making baked goodies….it is just that something extra!
• This is also GREAT for conditioning hair. If our hair is a tad fuzzy I just rub a little (key word, little) but through the ends and voila!
• This is also so great for BABY BUTT RASH!! Seriously with an investment like we have of cloth diapers, you CANNOT use products like desitin or other store brand rash cream. It repels water and stays on the diaper. But whether or not you use cloth diapers, coconut oil will clear up that baby’s rash in a hurry. I lather it on Wyatt everytime he gets a little rash and it has cleared up by morning.
Not only are these all natural ingredients, they are cheaper than commercial chemicals AND they are better for your family! (and better for your wallet….did I mention that already?)

XOXO

Ashley