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dinasiano
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| Posted: Jan 22 2014 at 6:37am | IP Logged
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I have been reading and researching how to eat better. I am sold on certain things like raw milk and grass fed beef. We have been ordering a lot from a PA farm and picking up our order on Saturdays. I also have been getting into Essential Oils and really see some benefits from all of this.
The problem is the cost, both money and time. I have decided to cut out ordering new Essential Oils for the time being and only use what I have, which is quite a bit.
From the farm, I purchase both cow and goat milk. I will continue to purchase the goat milk because my 2yr old doesn't tolerate cow milk, but I am discontinuing the cow milk and eggs I have been ordering. It is very expensive and takes too much of my Saturday mornings.
I am struggling with the time and money it takes to cook and shop for the best foods. I don't want to give my family Rice Roni every night but I can't seem to ferment my own food  There is a middle ground- I know there is- I just can't seem to get to it. Any ideas?
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: Jan 22 2014 at 7:21am | IP Logged
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If you must buy grocery store eggs, Eggland's Best is a good option. Some dairy's sell vat pasteurrized, non-homogenized milk in the regular store, which is an option we have found and used while traveling often. Natural by Nature is a good PA brand found in stores, but there are other dairies, too. We buy Kerrygold butter and cheese at Costco and/or BJs.
There also seems to be an idea today when you look at fun meal plans that there needs to be a lot of variety, but variety increases cost. Be boring. You can buy steel cut oats in bulk, make crockpot oatmeal for every morming, and serve some scrambled eggs or sausage on the side instead of the primary meal. If you are trying to cut out grains, eat eggs for yourself.
This is also a great time of year to get into soup making. Bone broths are so healthy, and you can stretch the meat a bit further. I also have found it time saving to plan meals in pairs. Tacos on monday, twice the meat, then chile comes together fast on Wednesday. I also compromise and buy organic chicken thighs in packs from Costco. You don't have to feel guilty about not measuring up to your ideals. It is healthier to eat conventional whole foods than organic junk foods. Not being able to affod free range chicken breasts from the farm is not an excuse to eat doritos, yk? And the pre-packaged meats do save time! I still buy my chicken backs from the farm, severral when we pick up my quarter cow, and I feel like that makes a healthful but affordable stock to use in other meals.
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Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
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[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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Bridget
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| Posted: Jan 22 2014 at 7:24am | IP Logged
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Here is the middle ground I found. I only cook what I can get at my regular grocery stores, but I buy nothing processed. I bake our bread, make our pancake mix, pasta sauce etc.
Breakfast is oatmeal or eggs or pancakes. Snacks are usually popcorn or fruit.
We do get a half pig from a local farmer once or twice a year and I WOULD like to get all our meat that way but have not been able to yet.
When I am really on top of things I make yogurt as well. When the bottom falls out we do buy bread or cereal to survive.
I have decided that food prep is a major part of my job and adjust my mindset accordingly.
I pray and plan and hope God will take my efforts and what is available to me and multiply the good effects. Ask Him to show you the right balance for your family.
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Bridget, happily married to Kevin, mom to 8 on earth and a small army in heaven
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guitarnan
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| Posted: Jan 22 2014 at 7:45am | IP Logged
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I would love to be able to buy more organic foods (and better quality meat), but, well...college tuition is important, too, and the Navy just adjusted our housing allowance downward by a good bit...so I can't.
We eat boring food, too. I'm the only one who seems to mind. It does help to eat seasonally - I don't buy produce that is out of season, except bananas and apples, so we have "summer" and "winter" meals at my house, and buying foods that are in season saves a little money, too.
I try to look at meat packages to make sure that the amount of extra fluid injected into the meat is as small as possible, and go for non-injected meat whenever I can.
We, too, use the double up method quite often. Monday I cooked ground turkey; half went into chili and half went into the freezer for use later this week. I make pasta sauce in large quantities (and this is one thing I always make from scratch...it tastes better the next day!).
I keep a list of the food items we buy all the time and the current lowest price for each item, so I can take advantage of good deals when I see them.
I don't spend a lot of time shopping around for bargains, though. I patronize a few stores regularly, and when I'm in a grocery store for a specific item, I look at all my "regular" items to see if any of them are on sale.
Remember to tell family members about the essential oils you love...maybe someone will give you one as a gift!
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pumpkinmom
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| Posted: Jan 22 2014 at 8:21am | IP Logged
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I completely understand! I would just go with what you can get locally without taking much time. If take out half of the processed food than I would think your health would be greatly increased. I don't live in an area or have the budget to do it 100%, but I take what we can get and don't feel guilty about it (or at least try not to feel guilty). When you buy processed foods, read the labels and get the products that don't have preservatives, and what other ingredients that you have decided not to feed your family. I can't get my family away from eating crackers, so I searched the crackers and found the Town House brand was the only one without high fructose corn syrup, so that is the only one I buy. If varieties in the natural aisle are on sale, then I would stock up on those.
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Cassie
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dinasiano
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| Posted: Jan 22 2014 at 9:45am | IP Logged
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Thank you all! I apologize but I do not know how to quote more than one person in one reply so I can't highlight the ideas I liked from specific responses.
I do need to take these concerns to prayer and ask for guidance.
I love the idea of being boring and sticking to what works and what my family enjoys. I guess sometimes I want to try so many new things that I do wind up spending more money than I have to.
Most of all I guess I have to give myself permission to do my best and not focus so much on what I can't do but focus on what is possible for me to do and do it with love.
So this week I will focus on no processed foods and see what happens!
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JennGM
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| Posted: Jan 22 2014 at 10:09am | IP Logged
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I'm dealing with a smaller family, but I come from 7 children in our family. Can I say I'm partial to 7?
Growing up we rarely ate casseroles and such. My mother had a tendency to hypoglycemia, so always stressed protein. Our meals tended to be meat, starch and two veggies, sometimes stews or soups (South-Louisiana style). We did have spaghetti, but we never did things like pizza. I tend to cook the same way because of my own health issues.
We do boring rotations. I admit it. But it does allow me to see my budget more readily.
There is also the aspect of buying meat or poultry that would count as two or three meals. A couple of chickens can stretch to making a broth and then chicken soup for the family for the second meal. This could be an occasional Sunday treat for a free-range chicken.
I found that buying organic eggs in the store cost about the same as the local farmer, so I keep that option. When I see the difference in color in egg yolk between store-bought and farmer, I just can't go back. Plus, come in the spring when I can get farm fresh eggs for my pysanky....but I digress.
I couldn't do the pick-ups for the farmer because they did wreak havoc on my schedule. But I have found a local farmer that home delivers! That has made all the difference for me. They don't do raw milk, but get milk from a PA dairy that does minimal pasteurization, so that's my compromise there.
If you have a Trader Joe's, I've been pleased with their organic chickens. Like Lindsay, I do a lot of chicken thighs, because that is best on the budget!
Also fillers that stretch the ground beef -- when I need to make a "bigger batch" of tacos, adding extra veggies helps make more helpings. La Leche League's old cookbook "Whole Foods for the Whole Family" has recipes that give ideas like that.
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MarilynW
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| Posted: Jan 22 2014 at 10:55am | IP Logged
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JennGM wrote:
I couldn't do the pick-ups for the farmer because they did wreak havoc on my schedule. But I have found a local farmer that home delivers! That has made all the difference for me. They don't do raw milk, but get milk from a PA dairy that does minimal pasteurization, so that's my compromise there.
If you have a Trader Joe's, I've been pleased with their organic chickens. Like Lindsay, I do a lot of chicken thighs, because that is best on the budget!
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Jenn - do you mind sharing your local farmer sources - you can also pm or email me. Also the PA dairy.
I live 5 minutes from TJ's - love love love them and their prices for many things are better than the average grocery store.
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guitarnan
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| Posted: Jan 22 2014 at 11:28am | IP Logged
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Aldi has great prices on produce and many other items. Like TJ's, they don't carry brand name products, but so far, everything I've bought there has been just fine.
I don't know if Aldi has spread north into PA, but they are rapidly expanding in Maryland, so there's hope.
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Jan 22 2014 at 11:31am | IP Logged
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Well, as prices have gone up I've sadly watched things priced out of reach. Yeah, I'd rather give my kids enough food than, not enough better quality foods.
Yes, buy ingredients rather than mixes/boxes and the like.
As far as too many carbs, well maybe the solution is to be more active since active people need more carbs. 
The stores here clearance items close to date. You can get better meats that way at times. You just have to use it or freeze it immediately.
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dinasiano
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| Posted: Jan 22 2014 at 5:35pm | IP Logged
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We are in NY and I'm not sure there are any farmers that would deliver to my home but I will check it out.
I do have a Trader Joes nearby but it is ALWAYS packed! I definitely have to find an off time to get there.
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SallyT
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| Posted: Jan 22 2014 at 9:18pm | IP Logged
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I love Aldi, too. If they carried whole-wheat flour, my life would be complete.
We stretch meat a lot, too -- if it's something on a bone, then we have soup the next day. If I've bought a thing of boneless chicken thighs, which are kind of a staple in my kitchen, I might just cook a few, rather than the whole pack, and do them in a curry sauce, or a gravy, or with a lot of veggies, and serve them with rice or pasta. We do beans a good bit as well.
Cheap, plain popcorn for a snack food -- I just put it in a covered microwavable bowl and nuke it, so it's no harder to do than specially formulated microwave popcorn and has none of the trans fats or chemical ick. Apparently my kids really don't mind snacking on styrofoam, especially if I grind a little sea salt on it. If they *see* me grind the sea salt, it automatically tastes five times better.
Lunches are often a potato nuked with cheese -- a 5-lb bag of russet potatoes is a cheap staple. Sweet potatoes are a favorite around here, too, and I often either offer them for lunch or serve them as a very nutritious filler at dinner. It's easier to get away with smaller meat servings if the vegetables are really substantial. I'll often toss green beans with a handful of slivered almonds for more protein as well. And brussels sprouts are a favorite. I tend to buy frozen -- I try to minimize my trips to the store by doing one or two huge shopping trips a month and doing a lot of frozen veggies. Roasted brussels sprouts with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar are a hit around here.
I don't have as many kids at home as some of you -- I have four total, but my oldest is out of the house -- but the three at home are teens/pre-teens, and they're all quite active, which means they're hungry. My 16-year-old is training for a summer of triathlons, and his day starts at 4:30 with either a long run or a really long bike ride and/or a swim . . . so he's making up for that for the rest of the day! One of my major sources of stress is just providing *enough* all the time, without resorting to junk -- that child can eat a pan of cooked chicken thighs (I briefly tried cooking meats ahead for the week) as if they were popcorn, and be hungry again almost before he's finished them. So I do compromise, because there's just a limit to what I can do and preserve my sanity. At the moment, what I can do is eschew pre-prepared food with ingredients I don't recognize, and cook from scratch.
If we had a dairy that delivered here, though -- man! I'd be all over that, and hang the cost. We got milk delivery when we lived in Salt Lake, when my two oldest were tiny, and I have missed that so much!
Sally
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guitarnan
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| Posted: Jan 22 2014 at 10:27pm | IP Logged
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Quote:
| One of my major sources of stress is just providing *enough* all the time, without resorting to junk -- that child can eat a pan of cooked chicken thighs (I briefly tried cooking meats ahead for the week) as if they were popcorn, and be hungry again almost before he's finished them. |
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This is my life, too. Keeping Dancing Daughter well-fed with quasi-healthy, decently-nutritious food takes a bit of effort. On snow days, she still has to do school, and I use the dance-free hours to cook!
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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Erica Sanchez
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| Posted: Jan 22 2014 at 10:43pm | IP Logged
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I try to go to Trader Joe's at 8:00 a.m. weekdays or Saturdays. It is nearly empty and fully stocked. Any other time of the day it is difficult to find parking.
Do you have a Costco nearby? I have been getting organic eggs, butter and chickens there. They also have big tubs of organic lettuce for very little. Organic carrots, too, and lots of frozen organic fruits and veggies when I was there last week.
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dinasiano
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| Posted: Jan 23 2014 at 4:14am | IP Logged
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I guess I never thought of trying Costco for organic food. There is one near by. Bjs is even closer so I will try there first. I'll have to bring a list and promise myself not to buy anything else because I always seem to buy too much in those stores
Dina
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SeaStar
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The only down side to shopping for organic food at Costco here is that items tend to come and go. One month I can get organic chicken breasts, the next month I can't. That is frustrating, but I've learned to go with the flow and just be glad for all the good stuff that is in stock.
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TryingMyBest
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| Posted: Jan 23 2014 at 11:14am | IP Logged
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Have you looked at Eatwild to see if there is another source for grassfed beef closer to you?
It's hard to know what compromises you should make and which you shouldn't. Some people are very dogmatic about food quality (as they define it) and won't compromise at all but most of us don't have unlimited money or time so have to compromise.
I wouldn't do raw milk but grass fed is important to me so I usually buy Organic Valley Grassmilk at Whole Foods. I also sometimes buy the store brand organic milk at Whole Foods or Trader Joe's since it's not ultra-pastuerized and is cheaper than the Organic Valley grassmilk. My hierarchy for milk is grassfed then not ultra-pasteurized then organic.
Our Whole Foods has had good specials on grassfed ground beef and I stock up and freeze it but they rarely have any other cuts in grass fed beef. I usually compromise on that one and go by the ratings system at Whole Foods and buy what has the best rating and is on sale and again stock up. My standard for compromise on beef is that if it's not grass fed then I want it to be very lean and preferably from a local farm. Whole Foods Step system is a pretty good guide. I hate to keep recommending Whole Foods because I think it's kind of a cliche and can be a rip off but at the very least they have more controls than the local supermarket so it's my primary supermarket these days followed by Trader Joes. Whole Foods is expensive but they have do have sales and meat is perfect for stocking up because it's so easy to freeze.
For eggs, I concluded that "organic" is a big waste of money. I switched to a certified humane brand that I buy at Whole Foods. It's not organic so it's a little cheaper but I think certified humane is better than the mass produced organic ones. I'd prefer to buy eggs direct from a farmer but that's not always convenient.
Jenn
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CrunchyMom
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dinasiano wrote:
I guess I never thought of trying Costco for organic food. There is one near by. Bjs is even closer so I will try there first. I'll have to bring a list and promise myself not to buy anything else because I always seem to buy too much in those stores
Dina
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Imo, there is more organic produce at BJs but more meat and such at Costco. Our Costco had a big sale on organic items centrally placed in the store this week. I've never seen it before, but it was nice to be able to stock up on some convenience foods. Coconut oil was on sale!
Dh says BJs just started carrying coconut oil, too, but I have not seen it.
Both places have organic milk and juices, but I buy milk from the farm, so I'm not sure just what they have there.
Oh, but the Applegate Farm luncheon meat and hotdogs is a great price at BJs!
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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guitarnan
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We have 3 Costcos in our area, and they don't all carry the same things. It's worth a phone call to your next-closest Costco, if one exists, to see what organic foods they stock on a regular basis.
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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JennGM
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I found this article on reading the egg cartons was helpful. I think there was another post I read, too, but I can't find it right now.
I gave Costco's coconut oil a try, and the taste is too much for me...it's mild, but I prefer spectrum. I have to find a place to get larger containers of Spectrum.
Did you know Aldi's is owned by the same company as Trader Joe's? It's the low end store, but the manager at Tj's explained that you might find TJ's produce at Aldi's.
Because of food allergies, I really limit myself to stores that I know labels and brands and such. Plus, I just don't have time to shop multiple places. I try to stagger my trips, so I will only be shopping at one store a week if I can. TJs is farther away from me, so I try to do that every 2 or 3 weeks. A regular grocery store is nearby and I get the extra items. And then Costco every few weeks. I don't buy many food items from Costco, but then I have a smaller family.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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4Real Forums : Our Lady of Good Remedy and Care
Topic: Nutrition is killing my budget!
