Changing our diet: Goals for 2012

Ok, this list may seem like I've gone off the deep end to most of you.  In my quest for real food, I have stumbled upon the Weston A. Price Foundation.  It's a non profit organization committed to helping others find good nutrition.  Their philosophy is the closest to what I believe is true good nutrition.  Most of my goals will be in accordance to the practices that they teach.  They primarily teach how to get back to "wise traditions", the way people used to eat back before modern conveniences changed us into unhealthy, fatigued, overweight, diseased people.  We have already switched over to a whole food diet with little processed foods, but I've learned so much on how we can improve after doing some digging.  So without further adieu, here are our household family dietary goals for the upcoming year.  I'm excited and will inform you on how we are doing on each of these throughout the year. 

Buy less in the grocery store and more from farmers.  It's fresher, tastes better, supports local farmers and is better for us.

Buy a quarter grass fed cow, half grass fed hog, and 10 organic pastured chickens, and a dozen pastured eggs (weekly).

Buy raw milk from grass fed cows.

Start taking fermented cod liver oil daily.

Eat more liver and more salmon.

Eat more fermented foods.

Grow more in our garden than we currently do.

Can a significant amount of produce this year.  (I say I'm going to every year but never get around to it.)


Reduce grain consumption and soak, sprout or ferment the ones we do consume.

Get Bailey allergy tested and work on healing her damaged gut.

Healthier living in 2012

1.  Don't eat processed food.  Eat food that you know what it is and preferably where it came from.  Local produce directly from the farmer will be your best bet.  If you do buy from the store, seek out food that is in its most natural state and grown in the most natural way.  God knew what he was doing when he created the world.  Let's try not to mess with it too much!


2.  Buy quality meat and eggs: grass-fed beef, pastured chickens and pork.  Eat meat that is fed the way God intended them to eat.

 3.  Switch out bad fats and oils for the good.  You may think you are eating a good type of fat by choosing a butter substitute or a "heart healthy" canola oil.  The reality is that those are fake oils and fats, which I believe have contributed to heart disease, obesity and a slew of many other diseases.
Use instead:  coconut oil, real butter (made from grassfed cows is best), animal fats, and olive oil (light sauteing and cold dressings only)

2.  Quit buying low fat products.  Low fat and fat free is not natural.  Take milk for example.  The fat of products like milk, butter, cheese, etc is where the nutrients lie.  When you strip out the fat, you strip out the good stuff and it becomes chemically altered and replaced with junk fillers like sugars.  Ever wonder why we have only become fatter as a society after the low-fat craze?  Fat is not the enemy, just unhealthy man made factory fats. 

3.  Cook at HOME!  You will never be healthy if you eat out all of the time.  Most restaurants are concerned not about your health but the almighty dollar.  Fast food is full of non-food items, unhealthy rancid fats and oils, and sugar laden junk.

4.  Move your body.  The best exercise I have found is slow and easy like walking long distances, and short and hard like sprints, heavy lifting, etc.  Make exercise fun so you'll do it.  Play outside with your kids, bike with your family, go swimming, play basketball, play frisbee, go hiking. 

5.  Reduce chemical exposure in your home.  I will expound on this at a later time, but for now, use as natural of products as possible.  I find that homemade is usually the best and cheapest.  I make my own detergent, hand soap, deodorant, household cleaners, and occassionally shampoo and conditioner.  Most of the time castille soap, baking soda, and vinegar will clean just about anything.

6.  Get adequate amounts of sleep!  I can't stress this enough.  Sleep is so important to your health.  It heals, rejuvenates, destresses, and prevents illness.  Don't skimp on this one!  It's more important that you think.

7.  Reduce the amount of stress in your life.  Forget the drama mama!  Stress leads to a world of health problems:  high blood pressure, weight gain, insomnia, etc.  Get rid of it in your life and find time to unwind.

8.  SLOW DOWN!  Simplify your life.  If you don't have time to do the important things in life then you are doing too much.  If you keep running yourself down, you will stay sick and unhappy.  You don't really need to be on 5 different boards or committees, be involved in 15 activities, and have your kids in 5 sports each.

9.  Most importantly, seek out the One who created you and the One who died to give you life!  The health of your body is very important here on this earth, but the health of your SOUL has eternal implications.  Having a relationship with JESUS is the only way, is the truth and will give you life!

Spicy honey chicken

This meal is a family crowd pleaser for young and old alike.  It's quick, easy, and the results are tasty.  Although it's not the most gourmet meal I've ever made, it's one that we will make regularly because of it's simplicity.  The name says it's spicy, and for some it may be, but not really for us.  My three year old even ate it with no complaints.  The red pepper just gives it a kick.  I'm not including measurements on the spices because it's totally up to your personal tastes but don't be afraid to liberally season.  If Chicken is pretty bland by itself and can take a lot of seasoning.  If you like spice, add more red pepper.  If you aren't crazy about spice, only add a bit, but don't skip it.  The honey butter sauce adds a great sweet balance to the spiciness of the chicken.  I like to stretch my meat a little more, so I always slice mine instead of giving one person an entire breast.  It always goes further if it's sliced.  Hope you like this one.


Spicy honey chicken
3-4 chicken breasts (3 large breasts fed 3 adults and a 3 year old) Pastured chicken is best
sea salt
black pepper
garlic powder
red pepper
4 tbs butter (from grassfed cows is best:  I use Kerrygold)
2 tbs honey (raw local is best)
2 tbs filtered water

Melt 2 T of butter over medium heat in stainless steal skillet.  Do not use a non-stick.  Liberally season one side of the chicken breasts with salt, pepper, garlic, and red pepper.  Place season side down in the pan.  Season other side.  Let cook for 4-5 minutes until brown.  Flip and cook other side.  After chicken is cooked through, remove from pan and let rest.  Add remaining 2 T of butter to the pan, honey and water.  The water will deglaze the pan.  Use a wooden spoon to scrape up bits from the pan.  Cook a few minutes until sauce is reduced and begins to thicken.  Slice chicken breasts on the diagonal and drizzle honey sauce on top.

Homemade taco seasoning

Who doesn't love tacos?  I don't know too many that don't.  It's one of my favorite meals because it's easy, quick, relatively cheap and tastes delicious!  You all know by now that I love to make food myself instead of relying on packaged food.  This is one reason why.  It was a Monday and I hadn't gone to the grocery store for the week yet.  I didn't really know what to make, but I did have a pound of ground beef in the freezer.  I didn't have tortillas or taco seasoning, but I did have spices for the seasoning, and butter, flour and salt for the tortillas.  This did mean I had to spend about ten more minutes in the kitchen but it saved me having to go to the store with both kids and saved me about $4-$5 as well.  I'll trade ten minutes in my kitchen for 30 minutes of torture dragging whining children to the store in the rain.  Coats and car seats annoy me.  Anyway, back to the taco seasoning.  :)

A typical taco seasoning mix has this in it:
SPICES (INCLUDING CHILI PEPPER, CUMIN, OREGANO, AND RED PEPPER), ONION, WHEY SOLIDS (MILK), SALT, SUGAR, PAPRIKA, GARLIC, POTATO STARCH, AND CITRIC ACID.

This may not be a big deal to you but I don't really want added sugar in my tacos and I certainly don't need processed whey solids, potato starch and citric acid in it either.  Plus any time I can decrease my grocery bill, I will.  It takes maybe about a minute more to put the spices in yourself instead of opening a package and saves you about a dollar if you already have all of these ingredients in your spice cabinet.  You can also control the salt and spice if you make it yourself.  This particular recipe does have a little spice to it, so if you don't like spice, I'd start out with a lesser amount of chili powder and red pepper and work your way up.  


Taco seasoning

• 1 T chili powder
• 1/4 t garlic powder
• 1/4 t onion powder
• 1/4 t dried oregano
• 1 1/2 t ground cumin
• 1/8 t red pepper
• 1 t sea salt
• 1/2 t black pepper

Mix all together.  Add to browned and drained ground beef.  Add 1/4 c water and simmer until water is completely absorbed. 

Note:  This amount of seasoning was enough for approximately 1.5 lbs of ground beef for me.  Adjust to your tastes.

How to make your own chicken broth/stock

There are so many health benefits to bone broth.  It's great for healing the gut, great for healing and preventing illness, aids in digestion, and provides essential minerals and nutrition to your diet.  Lots of recipes frequently use broth or stock as a base for sauces, gravies, or soups.  Previously I have always bought an organic version in a tetra-pack.  I thought I was using a healthy version but really I was paying for mostly water, little nutrition and lots of hidden MSG and additives.  A better and even more economical alternative is to make it yourself.  I know what you're thinking.  "I don't have time for that!"  Sure you do!  It takes little time to prep and simmers on the stove for up to 24 hours.  You can do this while you are sleeping, running errands, etc. I've even heard of people doing it in the crockpot, although I've never tried it.  You can make it with leftover bones from a chicken that you have roasted or you can boil a whole chicken and go from there.  I've done it both ways and I think I prefer the whole chicken method, but really both are sufficient.  It serves as a wonderful source of nutrition and cost merely pennies.


How to make chicken stock
1 whole chicken (pastured chicken is best)
1 onion
2 carrots
2 celery stalks

2 T apple cider vinegar
filtered water



Place whole washed chicken with innards removed in a large stockpot.  Add filtered water, just covering the chicken.  Add 1 onion, 2 carrots, and 2 celery stalks, chopped if desired, although they don't have to be.  You may also add veggie scraps that you have saved in the freezer.  Add 2T of apple cider vinegar.  Stir and let sit for 30 minutes.  This begins to draw out minerals.  Then bring to a boil and skim off any foam that rises to the top.  Reduce to a simmer.  Take out chicken after about 2 hours.  Debone the chicken and save it for future dishes.  Continue simmering for 4-24 hours.  After the time has elapsed strain off the broth, and discard bones and veggies.  You will need salt as well.  I usually add it to the dish I am preparing it with.  That's it!  It makes a ton and was practically free!  I store mine in mason jars in the fridge.  It can stay in the fridge for 5 days or frozen if you won't use it in that amount of time.

Now you can use it for a million different things such as soups, casseroles, cooking rice, etc.   Happy cooking!

Cowboy casserole- Real Food Makeover

You all may have seen this popular and tasty comfort food on many a potluck table before, but more than likely it was mostly comprised of many non-food items like cream of mushroom soup, tater tots,  processed American cheese, and corn (probably genetically modified).  I'll be the first to admit that all of these items hold a dear place in my heart as they are the base of many yummy and easy casserole recipes that just scream comfort.  In my effort to give up processed foods, I didn't want to give up dishes like this and maybe you don't either.  This began my quest to makeover classic comfort food dishes into "real food" that will nourish your family and be kinder to your waistline and backside. Look at all of the ingredients in just these three items.

Tater tots 

POTATOES, VEGETABLE OIL (SUNFLOWER, COTTONSEED, SOYBEAN AND/OR CANOLA), SALT, YELLOW CORN FLOUR, DEXTROSE, DISODIUM DIHYDROGEN PYROPHOSPHATE, ONIONS, NATURAL FLAVORING, CORN MALTODEXTRIN, AUTOLYZED YEAST.

Cream of mushroom soup
Water, mushrooms, soybean oil, wheat flour, modified corn starch cream ( contains less than 2% of: salt, whey, monosodium glutamate, soy protein concentrate, autolyzed yeast extract, onion powder, garlic powder. Contains: Wheat, Milk, Soy.

Processed American cheese
 MILK, WATER, MILKFAT, WHEY, WHEY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, SODIUM PHOSPHATE, MILK PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, ALGINATE, SODIUM CITRATE, APOCAROTENAL (COLOR), ANNATTO (COLOR), ENZYMES, CHEESE CULTURE.

I don't know about you, but I can't even pronounce half of those.  Why would I want to eat that? Not too appetizing if you ask me!  Not to mention, they are loaded with unhealthy oils, sodium, monosodium glutamate, and weird things like autolyzed yeast and soy protein concentrate.  I made it into real food by subbing real potatoes that I shredded with the food processor in place of the tater tots.  I make my own cream of mushroom soup by using butter, flour, milk, chicken broth, mushrooms, salt, pepper an garlic.  Processed American cheese was replaced with real cheddar cheese from grass fed cows.  I also shredded the cheddar myself in the food processor.  Did you know that most shredded cheese has junk added to it to prevent it from caking?  I learned that this week.  Anyway, I hope you enjoy this dish.  I liked it because it was a one skillet meal.  I hate washing dishes...err...watching my husband wash dishes.  :)

I look forward to sharing with you other real food makeovers.  If you have any you would like to share with me to put on here or any other comfort foods you would like me to try and makeover, let me know.  I'd love to take a stab at it.  As always, I'm learning along with you.  I hope none of what I write comes across as snobby or high and mighty.  I'm just trying to humbly share with you what I too am learning. 

Real food Cowboy Casserole

3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
4 T butter (from grass fed cows is best)
1 small to medium onion, chopped
6 mushrooms, chopped
1.5 lbs lean ground beef (grass fed beef is best)
1/4 c whole wheat flour (coconut flour may work also if you are grain-free)
3/4 c chicken broth ( homemade is best)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 c milk (raw from grass fed cows is best)
2 c green beans- I used long frozen ones and broke them in half
2 T plain yogurt or sour cream
1 1/2 c shredded cheddar cheese (from grass fed cows is best)
2 c shredded REAL potatoes (I used my food processor and it ended up being 3 tiny potatoes)





Melt one tablespoon of butter in heavy oven safe skillet.  Saute onions and garlic until translucent.  Add ground beef and mushrooms and brown ground beef until cooked throughout.  Drain most of grease.  Add remaining butter and melt.  Then add flour, stir into meat mixture and cook for 1-2 minutes.  Add broth, milk and salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil and then reduce heat.  Simmer until it becomes thick.  Stir in yogurt or sour cream, frozen green beans and 1 c. of cheddar cheese.  Top with shredded potatoes and remaining 1/2 c shredded cheddar.  Transfer skillet to 350 degree oven and bake 30 minutes until bubbly and potatoes are done and crisping.



If you are looking to make your own cream of...soup I'd roughly follow this recipe:

4 T butter
1/4 cup flour
1 c milk
3/4 c chicken broth
onions minced
(chicken pieces, mushrooms, celery, etc depending on what kind of soup you are desiring)
salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter.  Saute onions, and whatever kind of veg or meat depending on what kind of soup you are desiring.  Whisk in flour and cook for 1-2 minutes.  Add milk and chicken broth.  Whisk and cook over medium heat until thickened.  Salt and pepper to taste

Creamy Tomato Soup (crockpot)

This was a new recipe that I tried and brought to a church potluck.  Everyone liked it and several wanted the recipe so I thought I would post it on here so they could reference it.  I like an easy crockpot meal so I will definitely be trying this again.


Creamy Tomato Soup

Ingredients
28 oz. diced tomatoes (try not to use canned tomatoes if at all possible due to BPA)
1 small onion diced
1-2 stalks of celery diced
1-2 large carrots diced
4 cups chicken broth (homemade is best)
1 T basil
8oz cream (raw from grassfed cows is best)
1- 1 1/2 tsp sea salt
Freshly grated parm cheese for topping

Combine tomatoes, onion, celery, carrots and chicken broth in crockpot.  Cook on low 8 hours or high for 5 until veggies are soft.  Strain out tomatoes and veggies and some broth and puree in blender until smooth.  You can puree all of it for a smoother soup or puree half for a semi-chunky soup.  I left a few chunks.  Pour back into crockpot and add basil, cream and salt.  Cook for another hour.  Top with a generous portion of grated parmesan cheese when serving.

Adapted from 365 Days of Slow Cooking

Does it matter?

Some days my job as a stay at home mom doesn't feel so glamorous or important.  Yes I know that caring for my children and pouring into their lives is extremely important and a special time, but you know what days I'm talking about.  Days when I've changed ten explosive poop diapers, cleaned up countless spills, fighting to put the children down for naps, trying to get one productive thing done without accomplishing it, the dog barking as soon as you get the baby down for a nap, putting your three year old in time out for what seems like the millionth time....These days aren't very glamourous and make me think, "Does all of this really matter?  Am I wasting my education?  Would I be of more use in the corporate world?  Would my children be better off in someone else's care that wouldn't snap at them?"  I'm sure that many of you, no matter what your situation (married, single, working, staying at home, retired, etc.) have felt like you just go through the motions of life and wonder if what you do really matters.  Well I was feeling sorry for myself driving in the car yesterday and on the radio came a song by Stephen Curtis Chapman called "Do Everything."  Here are the lyrics.

You're picking up toys on the living room floor for the 15th time today.

Matching up socks and sweeping up lost Cheerios that got away. 

You put a baby on your hip and color on your lips and head out the door. 

And while I may not know you I bet I know you wonder sometimes, 

"Does it matter at all?"

We'll let me remind you it all matters just as long as you...

Do everything you do to the glory of the One who made you,  

'Cause He made you to do  

Every little thing that you do to bring a smile to His face and tell the story of grace  

With every move that you make and every little thing you do .

Maybe you're that guy with the suit and tie.

Maybe your shirt says your name. 

You may be hooking up mergers, cooking up burgers, but at the end of the day,
Little stuff big stuff in between stuff, God sees it all the same. 

And while I may not know you I bet I know you wonder sometimes,

"does it matter at all?"

We'll let me remind you it all matters just as long as you do

Everything you do to the glory of the One who made you 

'Cause He made you 

To do every little thing that you do to bring a smile to His face and tell the story of grace 

with every move that you make and every little thing that you do

Well maybe you're sitting in math class  

Maybe on a mission in the Congo  

Maybe you're working at the office singing along with the radio 

Maybe you're dining at a five star  

Or feeding orphans in Myanmar.

Anywhere and everywhere you are  

Whatever you do it all matters  

So do what you do and don't ever forget to do
Everything you do to the glory of the One who made you Cause He made you 

to do Every little thing that you do to bring a smile to His face And tell the story of grace with every move that you make And every little thing that you do.

Great lyrics, huh?!  I thought so!  It just snapped my perspective and focus back into place where it belongs:  not onto me, but onto the one who created me and deserves my best and praise.  It was just a great reminder that yes changing explosive poop diapers does matter to God and that I can do everything, even the most mundane to the Glory of GOD! 

Organize With Me

The organization bug has hit me.  I don't know if it's the fact that I've been spending too much time on pinterest or what but I am in the mood to organize!  I thought I better take advantage of this rare mood and do something about it because it doesn't come around very often.  Don't get me wrong, I love an organized home and I long for it, but most of the time it just doesn't happen.  I've shared with you before about the state that my home often finds itself.  Surprisingly right now it is pretty clean but I'm finding that it is difficult to clean clutter.  I find myself spending all of my cleaning time on decluttering and picking up instead.  Deep cleaning or even light cleaning rarely gets done.  In an effort to remedy this problem I plan to PURGE PURGE PURGE!  I already have a hallway full of stuff that I have randomly picked up from around the house that I am wanting to get rid of.  Now I'm going to go through the house with a fine tooth comb and GET RID OF SOME STUFF!  I can't wait!  It may sound silly but it's so cleansing to declutter.  It's like chopping off 10 inches of your hair or losing 50 lbs.  It just feels great!  Tonight I decided to start small.  I needed a small victory to start out to keep me going.  A daunting task would have discouraged me and I would have quit before I even started.  Here's my first mission.

 The bib drawer in our kitchen

Total chaos!  Bibs and baby washcloths all mixed together.  WAY too many!

WHAT I DID:

Got rid of all the girly bibs.  B doesn't use them anymore.  Also got rid of the bibs that are teeny tiny and aren't very functional.  Then I added shelf lining paper and neatly put the bibs on one side and the washcloths on the other.

 Look at how much I got rid of!  Wow!  I told you we had way too many in there.

See?  Much nicer.  A small victory but a victory nonetheless!  It makes me happy.

Here's the rest of my list of what needs to be organized in my house.  Want to organize with me?  I'd love for you to!  I'd even love for you to send me pictures so I can show off your hard work and we can celebrate together.  

 kid’s toys
  master bedroom closet
  coat closet
  spice cabinet
  crafts
  books
  desk
  sock & underwear drawers
  garage
 basement
 under sink
 cookbooks
 built ins
 dog food
 meal plan calendar
 mail
 command center
 refrigerator
 freezer
 games
 pictures
 stuffed animals
 crayons
 shed
 kids’ closets
 vanity
 master bathroom
 cups/bottles
 bibs
 coupons
 chores

Letter of the Week- K

[Insert witty introductory comment here]  Enjoy!  :)

 King

 Kiss:  

I let her put on red lipstick and kiss paper over and over to make kiss marks.  So simple and she LOVED it!

 Koalas

Kindness:

We talked about kindness towards others and put together a shoebox filled with gifts for Operation Christmas Child. 

Ridiculously easy FREE scarf tutorial

Are you ready for the easiest tutorial you've ever seen?  Like so easy even a 3 year old (if they can use scissors) can do it?  Intrigued?  You should be!  Here we go!


I'm not exactly what you would call trendy or a fashionista.  Ok, who am I kidding?  Let's just be real here.  I still wear a lot of clothes that I wore in high school.  ::hangs head in shame::  The problem is that I just hate spending money.  Sometimes I'm too cheap for my own good.  I go shopping maybe once a year and even then, I usually get just a few quality items that I know will last a while.  I always see people wearing cute scarves and accessories and wish that I were "cool" enough to pull certain looks off.  Well I decided I'm never going to be "cool" and I'm probably never going to be "rich" enough to go on gigantic shopping sprees so I'll just do a good job of faking it.  Here's where my tutorial comes in. 

You take an old XL/XXL t-shirt of your husband's or your own. 

 

Cut right under the armpit all the way across.  Also cut off the bottom sewn edge.

 Then STRETCH STRETCH STRETCH.  See what I mean?  Nerdy...I just can't help it.  lol

 

Soon your edges will roll up like this.  NO SEWING!  WHOOT!

 THAT'S IT!!!!  

Wait you thought there was more?  Nope sorry.  

Ok ok I'll show you some pics on how to wear them.

 

Basic loop.  Just put around your neck.  I mean, we're not talking rocket science here folks.

Um...hello high school senior pictures!  HA!

 

 Double loop:  Twist and put it around your neck a second time.

 

 Take two scarves and twist them together.  Then do the double loop.

And there you have it.  As many scarves as your little heart desires for FREE!  Woo hoo!  You know you have old t-shirts taking up space in your closet.  Go ahead, grab some scissors and get to it.  You can even take the scrap bottom edge that you cut off and make some cute t-shirt flowers using this method.  Pin them onto your scarves for an even cuter look.  But then again, what do I know about fashion!?  :)

30 Day Grocery Challenge Review

My 30 Day Grocery Challenge is over and done with.  I have come out on the other side a little wiser, a little healthier, and more money is in my pocket.  If you are new to my blog, here are the other 30 Day Challenge Posts. 
30 Day Grocery Challenge
Week 1 
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4

Basically I wanted to see if it was possible to feed 3-4 people healthy unprocessed food on $50/week.  My purpose in doing this experiment was to debunk the thought that eating healthy is too expensive.  I was hoping I would find that you wouldn't have to sacrifice health for frugality.  I'm not going to lie and say it wasn't hard, because it was.  Overall it was a success and although I am not going to continue to spend only $50 a week on groceries, I now know that it can be done and can use it for emergencies or when we want some extra cash for something special.  Here is what I learned from the entire process in no particular order:

1.  It takes a lot of planning but can be done.
     PLAN YOUR MEALS!  I can't stress this enough.  Look at your grocery stores' fliers and see who has the best prices on meat and produce that week.  Buy the cheaper produce that stretches further and plan your meals around what's on sale.  For example, if ground beef and avocados are on sale, I know it's a good week to make tacos, taco salad, meatloaf, taco soup, or burgers.  If chicken is $3/lb, I know I'm not going to be eating chicken that week unless I have stockpiled it from a previous week. (See #4) 

2.  The junk + healthy food is what eats up the budget. 
     I found that once I spent my $50 on my healthy food purchases for meals, there wasn't any room for extra junk.  When I say junk, it's not what you typically consider junk, just not the most wholesome choices.  For example, popcorn, granola bars, sugary "princess" yogurts, and juices didn't make the cut.  Prioritize your food.  Also I promise you you'll be more likely to eat all your produce if you don't have something else to fall back on.


3.  Making stuff at home is frugal and so much better for you.
     I made yogurt, whole grain buns, pancakes, salad dressings, chicken broth, taco seasoning, and tortillas at home with stuff I had in my pantry already.  Just by making those things myself, I saved at least $10 off my bill each week.  They also aren't full of preservatives, additives and junk that are found in the conventional items at the store.

4.  Shop sales and stockpile
     If chicken is $1.50/lb that week and beef is $3.99/lb that week, buy extra of the chicken and put it in the freezer for another week.  Wait for the beef to go on sale and then stock up on that. Pretty soon you'll have a freezer full of a variety of items to choose from at a cheaper price.  The same goes for all other items.  When you find a great sale or combine a sale with a coupon, take advantage of it and buy extra! 


5.  Don't take your kids with you when you shop if you are on a strict budget and are new to the idea.
     The first three weeks I went by myself and was focused.  I came under budget.  The last week I had both kids and was distracted so I slightly overspent.  I lost track of money spent and ended up just trying to get out of there.  I paid for it literally at the register. If they must come, stay calm, stick to your plan, and have something to keep them occupied.  Let them help you but DON'T let them talk to you into impulse purchases that you don't need.


6.  Take cash ONLY and a calculator with you when you shop.
     You are far more likely to stay under budget when you don't have your debit card to fall back on.  I took cash with me each week except for the last and made SURE I was going to stay within budget.  Who wants to not have enough money at the register?  It's embarrassing.   I also found that tallying up totals on my phone calculator as I put items in my cart was helpful.  Once I got everything I "needed" in my cart though, sometimes I had to prioritize and put back some items  because it was going to put me over budget.


7.  Shop your pantry and freezer first.
     A well stocked pantry is essential to keep a grocery budget low.  One day I'll include what I have in my pantry and freezer at all times but not in this post.  Look for meals you can make just out of items that you have on hand and try to include at least one of these meals in your weekly plan. Plan your meals around what you already have.

8.  Soups are extremely healthy and stretch a long way.
     Most weeks I made at least one soup because they are extremely cheap and make great lunches.  I tried to make them early in the week so I could have leftovers for lunch.  Chicken soup is so frugal and easy.  Boil a chicken, use the broth for soup and split up the chicken for soup and other meals if you wish.  Add whatever produce you have on hand.  Season to taste.  Simple, easy and delicious.



9.  Do without and procrastinate getting items.
     We ate a lot of salads and I really "needed" dressing.  It just wasn't in the budget every week so I was forced to come up with something on my own.  For ranch dressing I made a dry spice mix and mixed it with yogurt.  For vinegarette dressings, I used a combination of olive oil, lemon juice/vinegar, garlic, and spices, and sometimes honey.  It cut down on expenses tremendously.  Here's another example.  One night I made taco soup.  I love to put cheese, sour cream and avocado on mine, but I didn't have the funds for it.  Guess what?   I didn't buy them, it still tasted great, and it was a little healthier for me as well.  Your kids don't NEED the extras.  You don't NEED the toppings and extra snacks.  Look for items you can make yourself or do without to slash your grocery bill.


10.  Shop the perimeter of the store.
     To stay away from the processed food temptations, stay on the outer most parts of the store.  Don't go in the middle aisles.  That's where the dangerous food is.  You'll get trapped there.  :)  Your more "whole" "real" foods are going to be on the perimeter of the store.  Think about it.  Produce, meat, dairy, frozen food, and eggs are all on the outer most parts.  Your junky stuff is in the inside.  The only things I got from an aisle the entire four weeks were canned tomatoes, olives, and natural peanut butter.  There are exceptions to this rule, like olive oil, nuts, etc, but they are few and far between.  For the most part this rule applies.


11.  Buy a combination of fresh and frozen produce.
     I found buying a combination of fresh and frozen helped me waste less.  I tried to use the fresh earlier in the week and the frozen later in the week.  If something comes up, and your meal plan gets pushed back a few days, if you have frozen produce it's not a big deal and won't go bad.  Frozen fruits and veggies that I like are peas, greens, long skinny green beans, and corn(limited amounts), all berries (for smoothies). 

12.  Connect your meals.
     I love doing this especially with a whole chicken or a large pork roast.  The idea behind it is to use a large piece of meat or a meal and then turn it into something else another night.  For instance, from a boiled chicken you can get soup, chicken tacos, and chicken salad.  You don't need large amounts of meat if you use them in this manner and it drastically stretches your food budget.  This can be done in so many ways.  Get creative with it!


13.  You don't need as much food as you think you do.
     I don't know about you but I often throw away a lot of food when I normally shop.  On this $50/week challenge, I hardly wasted ANY food, and guess what?  We didn't starve.  Imagine that!   

$50/week is extremely frugal for most people in America but it is extremely wealthy for the rest of the world.  It was truly an eye opener on how spoiled and blessed we are.  It was convicting and challenging to me to use wisely the funds that God has provided me in which to use to nourish our family.  Will I spend it on lots of junk or will I take some extra time and spend it on fewer quality items that will further our health?

Rolled flower headband

Bailey and I were working on presents to fill shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child this week and came up with this cute little headband.  It turned out pretty nice so I thought I would share it with you.  It was very easy to do. 

Cut a long strip of fabric about 2 inches wide.  Fold in half lengthwise so it's now 1 inch wide.  Twist and roll into a flower shape, hot gluing as you go.  Then hot glue the finished flower to a headband of your choice.  I used a cheapie one that came from the Dollar Tree.  I also added two smaller flowers on both sides of the larger flower.  I will be making more of these for sure because they are too cute and so easy.  The entire project takes less than ten minutes which makes it a great instant gratification craft.  Here are the results:

Letter of the Week- J

You know the drill.  Here's the J letter of the week roundup.  Enjoy!

Jaguar J

She loves Baby Jaguar from Go Diego Go!

 Jack-O-Lantern:  

We did this while Daddy was home.  Her favorite parts were scooping out the seeds and putting the candles inside.  So much fun!

 Jellyfish

This is one of my favorite crafts that we have ever done.  She painted a paper bowl and then while it dried, she taped various ribbons and yarn to another bowl.  We punched two holes on top of the painted bowl and threaded a string through it so it could be hung.  Then she put the painted bowl on top of the taped bowl and we stapled them together.  She glued on eyes and viola we were done!  So cute.

 Jellyfish tracing page

Diaper Wreath Tutorial

This weekend I had two baby showers that I was invited to.  I wanted to do something different for these ladies rather than just a regular gift.  After searching the internet for lots of different options I decided on a diaper wreath.  It's different than the diaper cake and something that I thought was easy enough to do two of them in the same day.  Bonus, all the supplies, except the diapers, came from the dollar tree.

Here's what I did.  

Supplies:  

20-30 diapers for each wreath.  I used size 1 diapers.

rubber bands

ribbon of your choice

hot glue

wreath form (I used a twig one from $ tree)

embellishments of your choice

scissors

Instructions:

Start with a diaper laying flat.  Roll tightly starting with the open end down to the closed end.  Also make sure the white part of the diaper is on the outside and showing to give it a neater appearance.  Rubber band in the middle and set aside.  Repeat until all your diapers are rolled.  Cut your ribbon to just fit around each diaper roll.  Hot glue the ribbon together around the diaper.  DO NOT hot glue it to the diaper or you will not be able to use the diapers.  Then put some hot glue on the back of the ribbon and attach it to the wreath.  You may have to hold it there for a minute until the glue starts to dry.  Again DO NOT get glue on the diaper if you plan for the mother to use these diapers.  Continue gluing diapers around the wreath.  I found it helpful to add hot glue in between the ribbons as well to make the wreath more sturdy.  After you are finished, add your choice of embellishments:  bows, flowers, stuffed animals, pacifiers, gift card, etc.  Let your imagination run wild.  I also added some ribbon tied around the back of the wreath so it could be hung.  Hope this was clear.

30 Day Challenge Week 4

This is the last week of the 30 day challenge.  I really can't believe that it's already over.  I will do a summary post later in the week so stay tuned for that.  Let's get down to business and see how this week panned out.  

WHAT I BOUGHT: frozen peas, frozen corn, large bag of baby carrots, whole pineapple, 3 heads broccoli, butternut squash, organic whole milk, soy sauce, black beans, large can of tomatoes, strawberries, eggs, organic spinach, bacon, block of sharp cheddar, jumbo yellow onion, butter, whole grain bread, bananas (2.5 lbs)

WHAT I SPENT:
$48.23
$11.70 prior week's meat purchase
$59.93 TOTAL

Over budget:  $9.93 

BOO!!!  This is the first week I have failed but I have some excuses.  Of course I do!  :)  You can say I failed, and technically I did, but here is my argument to, in my mind, still make it a success.  I still have meat left in the fridge:  a whole chicken and 6 porkchops.  Surely that is $9 worth.  Also, the other prior weeks I was under budget so that makes up for some.  I also went to the store with both kids in a time crunch and we were all hungry!  BIG MISTAKE!  If you are trying to stay within a strict budget, do not take your children with you and under no circumstances go hungry.  You will over buy every time.  I was stressed out and trying to get out of the store because Bailey started throwing a fit because I wouldn't buy her princess yogurt.  UGH!  Stupid kiddie marketing right at their eye level!  It was an ugly scene.  Lastly, I got arrogant and didn't take my calculator this week and tally up purchases as I went.  Doing math in my head while trying to reason with a three year old and keeping a baby happy wasn't the easiest thing to do.  Anyway, there are my excuses.  Take them or leave them.  Trying to be honest here people.

WHAT WE ATE:

Breakfasts:  Eggs, bacon, smoothies, homemade yogurt, homemade whole grain pancakes, fruit

Lunches:  leftovers, salads, grilled cheese, peanut butter

Snacks:  carrots, pineapple, bananas, strawberries, grapes (last week's produce), plantain chips, apples


Baby food:  The only new thing he had was butternut squash.


Dinners: 

 Monday
Mini mexican meatloaf with turnips and turnip greens.  This was a new recipe and I enjoyed it.  They had carrots, onions, garlic, and peppers mixed in and had a spicy mexican kick to them.  Not overpowering but good flavor.  The turnips and greens were from my grandma that she had gotten from a family member.






Tuesday
Dinner at my grandparents'.  My dad was in town and we ordered pizza and had a garden salad to go with it.  I ate WAY too much and LOVED every bit of it.  It had bacon on it!  haha

Wednesday
Pineapple porkchops, fried rice, and roasted broccoli.  This was a great meal that everyone enjoyed every bit of it.  The porkchops had chopped up pineapple, honey, ginger and tamari on them.  The rice was "fried" in coconut oil which is a healthy oil and great for your skin.  And roasted broccoli is my favorite way to cook it.  So easy and tasty.

Thursday
Taco soup.  A simple yummo meal that I will share with you later in the week.  I did it on the stove top but you could also do it in the crockpot and even sub chicken for the beef it you want.  You could probably add more veggies and take out the meat all together if you are vegetarian and it would still be good.  Leftovers are excellent too.

 Friday
Butternut squash soup, salad, and grilled cheese sandwich.  This meal was so so.  Not something I would make regularly but it was a good change of pace from our regular stuff.  Plus it was cheap.  Winter squash is is season and extremely cheap right now.  Eli chowed on some squash too.

Saturday
Salad leftover from a baby shower that I helped with.  Ken and I ate this.  Bailey ate some peanut butter and fruit.










Sunday
Leftovers.  We had a lot.  Soups, salads, and fruit to eat up.

Letter of the Week- I

It was a short week.  We didn't get to everything we wanted, but we still did some really fun stuff.

I is for...

 

Insects:  

I printed off various insect clipart and cut them out.  She dipped a fork in green paint to make grass and then glued on the insects.

 Then we headed outside to discover real insects with our magnifying glass.

 Ice cream:  

This really needs no explanation.  It was just plain good. :)

Iguana

She called her Isa the Iguana like on Dora the Explorer.

30 Day Challenge- Week 3

I don't have pictures of my receipts.  I can't find them.  Sorry folks. 

What I bought

romaine lettuce, baby bella mushrooms, yellow pepper, green pepper, gallon organic milk, cheddar cheese, bacon, purple cabbage, 2 apples, strawberries, natural peanut butter, green olives, black olives, kalamata olives, carrots, red grapes, 7 bananas, frozen strawberries, eggs, garlic bulb

14.77 Goeke produce
23.09 Schnucks
37.86 Total spent
11.70 prior meat purchase
49.56 TOTAL


This week I got a TON of produce and most of it was locally grown, which I love!  I always forget about a little store close to my house, Goeke Produce.  I was reminded by a friend this week that their prices were great so I thought I would check it out.  They were right!  I got probably double this week what I normally get in produce because of the great prices.  Some of my wonderful finds were baby bella mushrooms for .50, 2 peppers for .50, locally grown apples for .89/lb, .29 for garlic.  I would have gotten more but I knew it would be wasted since we were going to be out of town on the weekend.  I'll definitely be going back next week though.  Schnucks also has some good sales this week as well.  Bacon was $2.50, carrots $1.00, olives and natural peanut butter on sale also.  I hardly ever use coupons because they rarely ever have them for produce so I highly depend on sale items to stock my pantry and fridge. 

What we ate

Breakfasts:  pumpkin muffins, eggs, bacon, scratch pancakes, smoothies

Lunches:  leftovers, salads

Snacks:  peanut butter,  strawberries, grapes, cheese, bananas, plantain chips, raisins

Baby food:  avocado, apples, bananas

Dinners:

 Monday
Tacos with homemade whole grain tortillas and homemade taco seasoning, lettuce, salsa, cheese, and avocado.  What's not to like about tacos?  One of my favorite meals!

 Tuesday
Tapenade porkchops, greens and carrots.  I really liked this meal.  Filling, different, and easy.

Wednesday
Quick stir fry with purple cabbage, peppers, mushrooms, cauliflower, chicken from the freezer and garlic and tamari.  It looks unappetizing and it was.  I choked down a plateful, took Ken his to church and he only ate a few bites.  Bailey wouldn't touch it.  We had a punch card for a free Little Ceasar's pizza and picked up one on the way home.  Bad I know. 





Thursday
Leftover porkchops for Ken and me, scratch pancakes and eggs for Bailey


Friday-Sunday
On the road for a wedding.  The only meal we ate at home was breakfast Friday morning.

Tapenade porkchops

This is yet another meal that falls into that cheap, easy, and quick category that I love.  I was headed to Bible study this particular night, started cooking at 5:00pm, got everything in the oven or stovetop within ten minutes, got a shower while it was in the oven, ate dinner, fed the baby, and was headed out the door by a little after 6:00pm.  Not too shabby.  This was a part of my 30 Day Grocery Challenge and I had bought meat in bulk so I had a ton of porkchops in the freezer.  To the intererwebz I went searching for different ways to cook porkchops and found this recipe for tapenade porkchops.  I'm not a huge olive fan but my hubby likes them so I thought we would give it a shot.  Olives happened to be on sale this week so it made the cut for the meal plan.  I was pleasantly surprised with the taste,  and the ease of preparation as well as the fast cook time made this a winner in my book.  The only thing different I did than the original recipe was sub apple cider vinegar and rice vinegar for the balsamic because I didn't have any and didn't have any extra in the budget to buy some.  I also used stone ground mustard instead of dijon, again because it's what I had on hand.  It still tasted great.  This might even work as a freezer meal as well.  If I try it, I'll let you know. This was served with collard greens and honey glazed carrots.


Tapenade porkchops
Adapted from For the Love of Cooking


Tapenade

• 1/2 cup of kalamata olives
• 1/2 cup of green olives with pimentos
• 1/4 cup of black olives
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar (I used cider vinegar and seasoned rice vinegar: still yum)
  

Chop all olives fine.  Add garlic, oil and vinegar.  Stir well to combine and refrigerate.


Porkchops

• 1/2 cup of tapenade  (I used entire mixture because I had more chops)
  
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard (I used stone ground and it was still tasty)
  
• 4 bone in pork chops ( I cooked 6 porkchops)
  
• freshly cracked pepper, to taste

Preheat the broiler to high, with rack in the top position. Line a baking sheet with tin foil to make clean up easier.

Mix the tapenade and mustard in a small bowl. Season the pork chops with freshly cracked pepper, to taste then coat each side of the pork chops with the tapenade evenly and lightly press the mixture onto the chops so it stays in place. Place the pork chops on the baking sheet.

Broil pork chops, until evenly browned for 4 minutes then flip over and cook for another 4 minutes or until the pork chop is cooked through. Remove from the broiler and let the meat rest for at least 5 minutes prior to serving.   Oven times may vary so watch your porkchops closely.

Letter of the Week: H

Here are our H letter of the week crafts and activities.  Hopefully you can take something from these ideas and do them with your kiddos.  It really only takes minimal time out of the day and adds a whole lot of fun!

 Hippo hand puppet

 

 Memory verse decorated with hearts.  Not the cutest but she loved it.  :)

 HAIR!  My favorite of the week.  We watched Tangled and then made some long hair out of yarn that we had on hand.  She danced around admiring her Rapunzel hair forever.  Too much fun!

 Tracing page.  Sorry it's sideways.  :(

House H

30 Day Challenge- Week 2

I'm not gonna lie, this week was hard.  It took an extreme amount of planning, but was still doable.  The upcoming weeks are going to be even more difficult because my pantry and freezer are just about EMPTY except for the meat that I bought last week to last the next three weeks.  Since $11.70 is already spent for the week reflecting the meat purchase, I had $38.30 to spend to total my $50 budget.  Here's what I bought:

Bag of spinach with shredded carrots, 5 bananas, green pepper, red pepper, 2 nectarines, 5 sweet potatoes, organic eggs, bacon, organic milk, pinto beans, red beans, tomatoes with chilis, avocado, mushrooms, string cheese
Total spent:  $36.42.  
Under budget:  $1.88

Breakfasts:  eggs, bacon, sausage (from freezer), yogurt (homemade), fruit, smoothies with fruit from freezer, made from scratch pancakes

Lunches:  leftovers, salads, egg salad

Snacks:  string cheese, bananas, almond butter (pantry), strawberries(left from last week), nectarines, graham crackers (pantry), apples (fridge from few weeks ago), plantain chips (pantry)

Baby food:  apples, bananas, sweet potatoes

Dinners:

 Monday
Sausage(on hand), red pepper, sweet potatoes, onion (pantry), mushroom roasted in the oven with spinach and romaine salad on the side

 Tuesday
Chicken soup with celery (fridge from weeks ago), chicken, spinach with shredded carrots, onions (pantry), small amount of frozen peas (freezer), oregano, s&p.  This was made from a whole chicken that I boiled to get the broth and the meat.

I saved a little broth for a meal later in the week and I saved some chicken for salads later in the week too.




Wednesday:  Church potluck:  I brought a big pot of chili. (not pictured...sorry I was in a big hurry and forgot)   Ingredients:  ground beef, onions (pantry), red beans, pinto beans, tomatoes (pantry), tomatoes with chilis, half green pepper, spices, water

 Thursday
Pork chops with mushrooms and onions, mashed sweet potatoes and sauted frozen green beans(freezer)











Friday:  Ate at my grandparents' and had ham and beans and boiled cabbage

 Saturday:  Food was getting low.  I had planned on eating our leftover chili over some sprouted grain pasta that I had left in our pantry but the chili got left out at church and we forgot it overnight.  I could have cried.  Our pantry and freezer were almost depleted of food.  This is what I came up with.  Burgers from ground beef out of the freezer.  Buns homemade from whole wheat flour, yeast, butter and water that I had in the pantry.  Collard greens from a bag in the freezer and thawed mixed berries from the freezer.






Sunday:  We had a gift certificate for Pironne's, a local pizza joint, so for lunch we had pizza and salad.  Dinner was leftover pizza, salad from home, and Ken had a leftover burger from Saturday.