Real, Organic Food on a TIGHT budget…..is it possible?

A young family  answered  a question  that I posted on Face Book the other  day.

I asked……

What’s holding you back from eating better ? From being healthier ..Stronger..?
should anything?

The response was  …

Money

So far the responses  are fantastic! I want to make a place here for this discussion to continue….. I will copy the Face Book entries below ..  Please continue to post in the comment section. Recently Fox News has a Food Stamp Challenge here are the Videos

 

As this economic downturn continues  we  need  fresh ideas and encouragement on how to Keep Food REAL  and live healthier  lives on  tightening  budgets..

Please   share your wisdom…..thoughts and ideas..

Also let’s remember to pray for those that are struggling financially and always be on the look out for ways to bless one another.

Looking forward to seeing your comments …

Shalom,

Judith
Check out this Video….from HowCast

Kitchen Counter Culture .LLC We have a young family that would like some advice on how they manage a modest Real Food Budget of $30.00 a week. They are small business owners… and although things are beginning to look up for them they need to watch every penny. They have two young children…
What can you share with them about eating healthy on such a tight budget?

Chandelle Heimbigner beans, beans and more beans they are so cheap and so easy to make, there is a wide variety of them as well, pinto, black, garbanzo, lentils, white beans, kidney beans…eat with rice and you have a complete protien with a ton of amino acids. I usually start mine in the afternoon, I do the quick soaking method, where I bring water to a boil add the beans, turn off, let soak for an hour, than simmer for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours, I add garlic, jalepenos, onions, cumin sometiems, and an awesome tip i just learned is to wait until the very end to add salt because salt causes the beans to not absorb liquid, which slows down the cooking process. Also, make your own tortillas, so cheap and healthy, all it is is 1 cup warm water, 1/3 of a cup olive oil, pinch of salt and 3 cups flour, mix everything, knead into a ball, pinch about 12 to 13 balls and roll out into tortillas, cook on cast iron for 30 sec on each side.

Also, raw milk, it is as expenisive as organic, and you can make awesome things like kefir which ends up being way cheaper than yogurt and so much better for you and the kiddos, mine love it in smoothies, you can also make your own butter and sour cream with one initial investment in the culture but it lasts forever and saves in the end

Shop farmers maket, cheap and locall, find an egg source on craigslist, 1.50 to 3.00 typically for farm fresh eggs, grow your own stuff if you can, get an indoor herb garden set up to make yummy dishes with

use left overs, or freeze them, buy a whole chicken for example cook, eat what you will, than freeze in meal portions. buy whole salmon at fredmeyers, sometimes it is as cheap as 2.00 a pound and if you ask they will fillet it for you for free

p.s. check to see if you qualify for the ebt card if it is something you would use

Thanks!

Kitchen Counter Culture .LLC Sprouting is another economical way to provide fresh, nutrition rich greens to your diet….No fancy equipment required.. a jar and and an appropriate top .. cheese cloth nylon window screen or a sprouting jar top..

Mary Beth James This summer our weekly groceries for our family of 8 were about $150 a week, that’s just under $20 a week per person, buying fresh almost entirly non processed food. Boy do I get funny looks at the store checkout, then I take a glance at the peoples carts behind me in line it makes it obvious why, I go to the store to actually buy food! Imagine that! Here is a sample of my weekly shopping list, it does vary some depending on what produce is in season but I find for the most part I have a basic norm. I try to get mostly organic, but not entirely.

2 bags apples, 1 bag oranges, 6 bunches bananas, 1 bag other fruit (peaches, pears, plums ect…) 1 bag of 4 large or 8 small avocados, 2 coconuts, 1 papaya or pineapple, two cantaloupe, one watermelon (substitute winter squash for melon in winter) 1 big container of mixed greens, 2 bunches green onion, 1 bunch cilantro, 5 zucchini, 4 tomato’s, 1 package mushrooms, 2 bell peppers, 1 kale, 4 cups aprx. almonds or walnuts, 2 lbs honey, miso (every other week), 4-5 lbs oatmeal or other grain cereal, 2 packages frozen fruit ususally blueberries, one block butter, one flat brown eggs, 6 frozen tuna steaks, 1 package frozen chicken, 3 lbs carrots, celery, 1 bag jalapeno’s,
2 lbs cheese, 1 bag onions, 1 bag potato’s, tortilla’s if i don’t make them, 1 bag flour, 1 bag brown rice, and lentils/buckwheat, olive oil.

some of the things I like to have, but don’t buy every week, are flax seeds, raw sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, nutritional yeast, nori wraps, soy sauce(brags), dates, olives, cranberries(frozen), mate or green tea, tahini. dark chocolate.

not included in list is lamb(we butcher)

like i said the list varies some week to week but this is really average.

when times are tight I can cut the list almost in half cost wise by just skipping a few of the most expensive items, like honey, dates extra meat, out of season fruit, avacado’s ect…. I’ve made it by just fine for under a hundred.

hope this helps some:)

Mary Beth James not sure if I made that really clear but for that grocery list I posted, if I spend $100(sticking to the main list without all the extras) for eight people thats about $12 each so that would be fairly close to your budget, I know it can be hard eating healthy when good food seems so expensive sometimes, but it is possible.

Jo George Yes, stop buying any junk period! You can afford all the organic basics! Make your cookies, stop drinking pop! Stop buying all crap that is toxic and has been processed. Buy only organic meats, veggies and fruits! Cook from scratch, leave everything else at the store. Skip 90% of all the isles. It is easy to accomplish this!

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One Response to “Real Food on a Budget…..”

1. Judith says:

   06/17/2011 at 6:02 am

   One way to stretch food dollars is to stretch the food itself…Adding inexpensive ingredients to create more volume is a trick the food industry uses. You can do the same thing only use wholesome “fillers” that actually add nutrition..
   For example when I mix up tuna for sandwiches I use 3 cans of tuna ..the smaller cans, and one 12oz can of organic garbanzo beans..this doubles the volume of the tuna mixture by adding a wholesome source of protein. The beans go pretty much undetected especially if you add a little chopped onion. Keep Food REAL!

   Reply