Archive for Eating Healthy
Real Food – Low Cost Challenge: Applesauce Bread and Whole Wheat Pancakes
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How silly of me to go on and on in my last post about the difficulty I had in figuring out how many pounds of wheat make how many cups of flour – and then fail to share the nitty gritty info with you! I had it totally figured wrong, by the way, and plan to post more details soon about how to convert pounds of wheat to cups of flour. But, as far as I can tell: One Pound of Wheat (unground) = Three Cups of Flour. So there you go. You will sleep so much better tonight now that you know that information.
Oh, and in case you’re interested in another piece of random information that may or may not help you to sleep better, I have also learned this week that when I walk for several miles at a time, my hands swell up really big because of circulation and gravity and also because of something with the blood flow to the lower extremities and how veins do something or other while I’m walking which causes my fingers to turn fat. Did I mention that my walking buddy is not only a coach, but also has a degree in biology? Yes, I have learned all kinds of interesting information on these walks.
But moving on to some more Real Food – Low Cost calculations, which is the actual reason, I believe, that you have stuck with me through this post so far…
This morning I made a loaf of Applesauce Bread, which is super easy and makes the house smell awesome. I calculated that this loaf cost me $1.65 to make, which is more than I expected. Whole wheat flour, raw organic honey, two farm fresh eggs, butter – it all adds up I guess. However, this makes for a very low cost breakfast when served with milk and fruit. So, I’d say it’s a $1.65 well spent.
While I don’t have a lovely stack of pancakes pictured for you, I also calculated how much it costs to feed my family Whole Wheat Pancakes for breakfast. I always make a triple batch of this recipe, and the six of us typically finish most of the pancakes off. Total cost for this meal: $5.22 – which includes the real maple syrup we use on our pancakes. Add an additional $1.50 for the milk we’ll drink with these pancakes, and maybe $2.00 for eggs if I make those, and then we’re talking $8.72 for a full meal, which is $1.45 per person.
I don’t know what you’re finding in your calculations, but I’m not finding that eating real food is adding up to being very expensive. I’ve still got several more recipes to experiment with though, so stay tuned!
Oh, and in case you’re wondering, my fingers only stay fat for a few minutes after we’re done exercising. This is why, now that I’m typing, I’m actually able to hit the correct keys…mostly. I’m sure you were worried. ;)
Any fun calculations you’d like to share? Ever experienced “fat finger syndrome” while taking a long walk?
Real Food – Low Cost Challenge: Taco Potatoes and Homemade Pizza
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If you recall, during the next few days, I will be making some of my family’s favorite, healthy meals – then breaking down the cost of each to see how expensive (or not expensive) it really is to make these healthy foods.
I had no idea, when I took on this challenge, how much I’d have to stretch my brain. I mean, here I sit with my laptop, a notebook and pen, a calculator, and several webites pulled up online so that I can reference prices I’ve paid for food. I’ve also got a pile of receipts, several invoices, a water bottle, and a little bit of a crick in my neck. Where is the chocolate when I need it? (I don’t have any scientific research to back it up, but I often find that chocolate helps with brain function and grocery break-down calculations.)
Not to worry though, my brain and I have this experiment well under control by now, even without the chocolate. It’s just that some of the calculations were a little more complicated than others.
For instance, in order to figure out the cost for one cup of freshly ground flour – I need to first figure how much one pound of wheat costs, then figure out how many cups of wheat make one cup of flour, then figure out the cost of a cup of flour, and then add up the number of cups of flour in each recipe. Some of you math majors might not find that hard, but I have creases in my forehead right now and a very confused look on my face that I’m trying hard to disguise.
Ah, but I did figure it out. I am happy to report that, as near as I can calculate, one cup of organic, freshly ground whole wheat flour costs me $0.13. Yes indeed. Now that I’ve figured out this information, there should be no limit to the recipe break-down calculations I can do. Unless of course the recipe I’m making doesn’t call for flour and I instead need to figure the cost of say, a potato.
I’m getting this thing figured out though – don’t you worry. The cost for a cup of sucanat? The price I pay for a wedge of cheese? I’m all over it. But if I come up missing at any time during this challenge, I’d suggest the first place you look might be in my office under all the papers and notes I’ve scratched out, where I will likely be nursing some paper cuts and mumbling incoherently about cups and ounces and most likely, potatoes.
Speaking of which, first up – the Taco Potato break-down. As near as I can figure, it cost me a total of $9.48 for our Taco Potato meal on Sunday. This amount fed eight people, which breaks down to $1.19 per person. I love that this is a complete, well rounded, filling meal. I would definitely call this a Real Food – Low Cost Meal!
Next, I calculated the cost of my Homemade Pizza. This recipe is a little pricier to make, and in fact, is not a whole lot cheaper than grabbing some take-and-bake pizzas from Walmart. However, since I went all out on the pizza this time, adding homemade pepperoni, lots of raw white cheddar cheese, mushrooms, peppers from our garden, and olives - I didn’t feel like $9.00/pizza was a terrible price. Especially since most of the ingredients were organic and the crust was made from freshly ground whole wheat flour (which cost me precisely $0.13/cup – just in case you forgot). Cost per person on the pizza: $2.25 – and everyone was stuffed. More expensive than Taco Potatoes, but still not too bad, especially since I only make pizza once every three weeks or so.
There are all kinds of recipes left on the Real Food – Low Cost Challenge list for me to break-down. But hey, once you know the cost of a potato, you’ve pretty much got life made. (If only.)
Have you joined the challenge? Done any real food price break-downs you’d like to share? Do you know how much one potato costs? Yeah, good luck with that. :)
Join the Real Food – Low Cost Challenge!
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I’ve decided to do things just a little bit differently during the next few days, just for kicks. :) Since most of last week’s posts were discussing the expense of eating healthy, whole foods - let’s do a little experimenting, putting some healthy recipes to the test. An “expense test”.
Instead of planning a full menu for this week, I have instead made a list of a few of our family’s favorite recipes – recipes that you’ll find regularly on our weekly menu plans. Throughout the next several days, I will be making each of these recipes. Then, I’ll pull out the calculator and do a price break-down to determine just how much it costs to make these healthy foods. I will post frequent updates, sharing the results I’ve found. I’m excited to see which of my recipes might be most costly to make, and which ones might be less expensive. This is not something I’ve ever done before, so I’m pretty excited about this experiment!
Now of course, I can’t help but want to challenge you to get involved in this experiment too. You knew that was coming, right? :)
I’d love for you to also take some of your family’s favorite healthy, real food recipes and do a little cost break-down on them. You might just be surprised at what you discover! Keep on the look-out, because throughout this challenge, I have a few fun surprises in store as we put these recipes to the test. Then mark your calendar, because on Thursday, February 9, we’ll all come together with a special Real Food – Low Cost Link-Up, so that you can also share with us some of your family’s favorite real food, low cost recipes.
Here are the recipes I plan to do a price break-down on during this experiment:
Be watching for lots of fun updates detailing what I’ve discovered about the specific costs of our food. You can, at any time during those posts, share some of your discoveries too.
Sound like fun? Let the challenge begin!
Is It Expensive to Eat Healthy Food? Part One
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As we dive into our No More Excuses series, I decided to first tackle the excuse that it is “expensive to eat healthy food”. This one seems to be the most popular complaint among those of us who are working to eat and feed our families a healthy diet. I ended up with so much to say on this topic, I divided the material into three separate posts that I will be sharing throughout the week.
To begin part one of these posts regarding the thought that “healthy food is too expensive”, let me just start out by saying, “I hear ya!”. That was my biggest complaint too, my loudest excuse, and one of the main reasons I didn’t think eating a healthy diet was possible for our family. After all, I’m the girl who used to get everything for free or cheap with coupons. The thought of actually spending money on food was painful to me when we started our healthy eating journey. I had no idea where the extra money for healthy food would come from in our already very tight budget.
After lots and lots of research, experimentation, and tweaking of our budget, we finally figured out how to make this work for our family. Ultimately, I had to surrender and let go of the idea that spending money on food was bad, and instead embrace the truth that spending money on good, nourishing food is a wise investment for our family.
But still, it is a fact that coconut oil and olive oil cost more than canola oil and crisco. Real butter costs more than margarine. Whole wheat pasta and real cheese costs more than a box of mac and cheese.
So, does that mean that healthy eating is indeed expensive? I think it’s a matter of perspective. Our grocery budget has definitely gone up since we began our healthy eating journey. The way I cook now is completely different than the way I cooked when I bought processed and unhealthy foods with coupons, but does that mean that our healthy food should be considered expensive?
Pardon my geekiness spewing forth, but just as I did a few years ago, I did a new break down of what it costs to feed my family on an average day. I think it’s very interesting to take a nitty-gritty look at what it costs us to feed one person per day, and to analyze that number to see if in fact I could or should cut back our budget in any way.
We currently spend about $600/month on food. Because there are six in our family, this means that we spend about $100/person/month. This divides into an average of $3.33/day/person, which means that it costs about $1.11 per person per meal.
I don’t think $1.11/meal/person is very expensive, but that’s just my opinion, and as I said earlier, it is a matter of perspective.
As always, remember that there is no comparing or guilt allowed. If you spend more than $1.11 per meal per person – great! If you spend less than that – great! If you could come help me clean my house – great! Oh wait, sorry. I got carried away there for a second. ;)
Above all, we all need to remember that we are all humble people, working to do the best we can with what we have. I feel like there’s a lot left unsaid in this post regarding the expense of healthy food, so stay tuned! In part two of this mini series on Wednesday, I’ll share thoughts on the following three points:
1)Transitioning to Healthy Eating is a Process. 2) There’s Not a “One Size Fits All” Plan for Eating Healthy. 3) God is in Control and He Knows Your Heart
Then, I’ll wrap up the week by sharing some practical ways to eat a healthy, whole foods diet while keeping your costs low.
For today, I’d love to hear a little about your grocery budget break-down. Join my geekiness and do the math. If you care to share, how much do you estimate that it costs to feed one person in your household for each meal?
If you’re concerned that you may be spending too much on food,
I’d encourage you to read this post: Do You Need to Cut the Grocery Budget?I’d also like to encourage you to check out Once a Month Mom’s Get Real 2012!
This is a guest post written by Crystal Paine, from Money Saving Mom. Be sure not to miss our giveaway below this post for Crystal’s new book The Money Saving Mom®‘s Budget.
Many people have this misguided idea that it is impossible to feed your family a whole foods on a budget. If you live in Alaska or some remote part of the country, this may be the case, but in most areas, you can feed your family natural, unprocessed foods without spending hundreds of dollars each week to do so.
Sure, you might spend a little bit more than someone who is eating a diet composed mostly of processed foods, but it really doesn’t have to cost you an arm and a leg as some people will make you
think–especially if you’re willing to get creative and think outside the box.
Now, let me be upfront and tell you that our weekly meal plans probably wouldn’t win us the Healthiest Family of the Year award. We eat some processed foods (though we do make the majority of our food from scratch), we like sweets and we certainly do not eat 100% organic.
I know some people are really bothered by this, but we strive to have a balance of serving lots of fresh fruits, veggies and whole grains while still enjoying the occasional brownies and ice cream or even letting our children have a Happy Meal every now and then (gasp! Can you believe it?!)
So, despite the fact that I’m not the most knowledgeable and experienced person to be tackling this issue, here are some suggestions:
1. Plan a Menu Based Upon What is In Season and On Sale
If you want to feed your family on a budget, you need to have a plan for what you’ll be eating. If you can make your menu plan mostly based upon what is on sale at the natural foods store, what is in season at the Farmer’s Market and/or what you’re reaping in abundance from your garden, you’re going to significantly reduce your grocery bill.
2. Practice the “Buy Ahead” Principle
If you happen to come upon an incredible sale on tomatoes at the Farmer’s Market, or the health food store has organic frozen vegetables on a great sale, stock up. Buying items you routinely use when
they are at their lowest price is another surefire way to savings.
3. Plant a Garden (Or Barter With Someone Who Does!)
If you can pull it off, plant a garden. Produce is typically only pennies per item from your own backyard, it’s tremendously fresh and you know exactly what you did or didn’t spray on it. Plus, you can can or freeze your extras–or bless your friends and neighbors with them!
Have a brown thumb? Find a friend who loves gardening and trade services (babysitting, breadbaking, car maintenance?) in exchange for their garden excess.
4. Stick With Simple Meals Using Inexpensive Ingredients
When you’re planning your menu, think about how much your recipes will cost you to make. It doesn’t have to be a scientific to-the-penny figure, but just having a good idea that there is a $10 difference between the price of making one meal as opposed to another meal can help you decide whether you can afford to make something or perhaps should save it for a special occasion.
5. Serve Meat as a Condiment
I shamelessly stole this idea from Family Feasts for $75 Per Week because it’s so brilliant. Serving meat in soup or on pizza is going to be a lot less expensive than serving roast and sirloin,
especially if you’re buying high-quality meat.
Need ideas? Laura shows you how to make six meals out of one chicken.
6. Buy in Bulk
It is usually much more cost-effective to purchase meat and staple ingredients in bulk. Call around to local farmers and see what they would charge you for purchasing half a cow. In many cases, it’s at
least $1 cheaper per pound to purchase in bulk. Buying grains, beans, as well as many other basic ingredients with long storage lives in large quantities will almost always save you at least 20%, if not more.
Costco, as well as many bulk foods stores and local co-ops, offer great pricing. You can also check with your local health food store to see if they’d offer you a discount for bulk purchases.
7. Consider Joining a CSA or Co-Op
If there is a co-op or CSA in your area, check into pricing and details for joining. You might find that it is an affordable and money-saving option for your family. If you can’t find an affordable co-op in your area, you could consider starting your own co-op.
8. Use Coupons on Non-Food Items
I know a number of my readers don’t eat processed foods, but they use coupons to save money on toilet paper, toothbrushes and other non-food items which they purchase. Your savings might not be so exciting as others who use dozens of coupons each shopping trip, but even saving $5 each week by using coupons can start to add up over time.
Crystal Paine is a wife, homeschool mom to three, self-proclaimed minimalist, lover of dark chocolate and good coffee (those can be “healthful” in moderation, right?) and wannabe runner. For practical help and inspiration to get your life and finances in order, check out her blog, MoneySavingMom or purchase a copy of her brand-new book, The Money Saving Mom®‘s Budget.
Interested in winning a copy of Crystal’s new book, The Money Saving Mom®‘s Budget? They’ve offered to give away five copies! Leave a comment on this post for a chance to win. I’ll draw five random winners on Monday, January 16. Please watch for a post stating the winner as you will be responsible for contacting me if your name is chosen!
Why My Whole Foods Menu Plan Might Be Overwhelming
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I love planning a menu for my family. Without a menu plan, it takes me way too long to figure out what we’re eating each day. I also like sharing my menu plan with all of you each week. Many of you have mentioned how helpful you find my plan and have told me that you often “steal” many of my meal ideas. I love that!
But, I also really appreciate the perspective shared in a comment last week – the perspective that my menu plan may be overwhelming to some of you. The fact that I plan all three meals for each day of the week, and the fact that all three meals tend to be big meals – yep, I can definitely see how that could be overwhelming!
I decided to take the time to explain my menu plans just a little bit. I certainly don’t want to overwhelm anyone, nor do I think that planning all three meals for every day of the week is a necessity for everyone. It’s what works for me, but I know it doesn’t work that way for everyone. In fact, menu planning doesn’t work at all for some people. If you’re good at winging it at meal time - go for it! :)
I have found that planning all three meals each day for our family works well for me for the following reasons:
1. My family eats a boat load of food, for every meal. Having a plan for which boat load of food is going on the table really helps me keep my head above water. (Get it? Boat load? Head above water? Ha.)
2. Having a plan in place for each meal of the day helps me focus on other things so that I’m not constantly distracted by what I’m supposed to feed us next. Trust me, the boys ask all the time – “What are we eating for breakfast/lunch/dinner?”
3. Most of my boys wake up ready to eat my leg if I don’t have breakfast ready to offer them when they wake up. I need to know what I’m making for breakfast before I get out of bed. I like having two legs. It’s very handy.
So the question could still be then: Why don’t I just feed my family cereal for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch each day, and then focus on our evening meal plan?
Well…I do feed them cereal and sandwiches every once in a while. But wow, the cost of feeding us this type of meal really adds up for us. I did the math one time on how much it costs to feed my family sandwiches. You can read about that here, but add even more to that dollar amount because we now eat probably double what I added up for a meal since my boys are older. (Did I mention that my oldest son has jumped several shoe sizes during the last year?) Therefore, I find that it really saves our family a lot of money if I cook heartier, more nutrition packed meals if possible.
Some tricks I use to make putting three big meals on the table each day just a little bit easier:
~ Just about every meal I make for my family is simple – especially our breakfast and lunchtime meals. I really don’t find that making a “bigger” lunch for the family takes a whole lot more time than making a bunch of sandwiches.
~ Sometimes we have leftovers to eat, so I don’t have to cook something new. But I don’t always know when we’ll have them, so it’s hard for me to plan those into my menus.
~ I try to have food made and in the freezer to pull out for quick lunches.
~ I have a list of “back up meals” and all ingredients on hand to throw them together if needed.
~ While I do have a detailed menu plan, I switch it up all over the place throughout the week depending on what’s going on and what sounds good. The plan is there, but it is flexible.
~ I give myself grace. If I really just can’t get a good meal on the table, the cereal is in the background waiting to be pulled out.
For a little bit more information on this subject, sure to read my Cooking Healthy Meals When the Menu Plan Fails post. Also, you’ll find a free downloadable page full of healthy, easy lunch ideas here.
Okay everyone. Jump in here with your ideas and thoughts about making menu planning simpler. What do you do about planning breakfast and lunchtime meals?
Some Encouragement Before We Start the “No More Excuses” Series
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I really appreciated that so many of you left comments sharing your thoughts, struggles, and insights as to why eating a healthy diet may be difficult for you or for others. I have experienced all of these same feelings and shucks, I still do sometimes.
I have definitely not “arrived” when it comes to this healthy eating journey we’re all on. My family does not eat a completely healthy diet at all times. There are many times that I compromise on what would be the best choice to feed my family. There are times I pull out cereal because I can’t make myself get out of bed in the morning to cook the breakfast I have planned. There are times when, while I totally know better than to buy the chips with hydrogenated oils in them, doggonnit, I want them anyway and I don’t care what’s in them, so there. (Which is why you should never dangle a Nacho Cheese flavored Dorito in front of me. I will eat it. I love those awful things.)
Doritos aside, there are many areas of healthy eating I haven’t mastered yet. And guess what? I don’t even know if I want to master them. How’s that for a bad attitude that sort of flies in the face of my “No More Excuses” intro post? I don’t love eating completely raw foods. Fermented foods, while they are great for digestion, aren’t my favorites. And soaking grains? I’m beginning to find that practice very annoying and am therefore becoming a bit rebellious about it. There, I said it.
I’ve run the gamut of emotion on this healthy eating journey I’ve been on for the past several years. The biggest feeling: Guilt. Now that’s a fun one.
Guilt when I don’t feed my family perfectly. Guilt when I don’t feel like cooking. Guilt when I know I could be doing better. Guilt when it feels like other moms are feeding their children a healthier diet than I’m feeding mine. Guilt when I read about what someone else is doing, but I just don’t feel like I want to go there yet.
Which is what leads me to the point of this post: Please do not let anything I share on my blog, and specifically in this new No More Excuses series, overwhelm, frustrate, annoy, or otherwise make you want to throw Doritos at me. (On second thought…) :)
I want to share my thoughts in the No More Excuses series to encourage you to consider how you might be able to feed your family a healthy diet and help you know that it is possible for you. But let’s also subtitle it the “No More Guilt” series, because we women have to stick together. We may all be in different places in our healthy eating journey, but we’re all on the same team. No comparisions allowed. No guilt. No pressure. Just encouragement and ideas, sharing and inspiring.
And maybe, the occasional Dorito. Someone stop me.
Why Aren’t You Eating a Healthy Diet?! Part 1
Posted by: | CommentsI’m not sure if you’re aware of this, but eating healthy food is really, really expensive. It also takes too much time to prepare, and besides that, all healthy food tastes like cardboard.
Those are a few things you might want to say to me if you’re interested in picking a fight. Not that I like to fight…unless you offer me a light saber or a plastic sword, of course. ;)
Trust me, I’ve heard all of the excuses. Shucks, I used most of them myself back before we began our healthy eating journey. I hated spending money on food. And I thought eating a healthy diet meant that I had to live on rice cakes, fake sugar, and some sort of fat-free cheese like product. (Let us all now pause for a moment of simultaneous gagging.)
Yes, I’ve used all the excuses to avoid eating healthier foods. I have had all the fears. I thought I would get fat if I ate high fat foods. I thought we would go broke if I stopped using coupons for all the ”food” I typically purchased at great discount. I thought my kids would hate eating healthy food and feel deprived of their favorite snacks, meals, and treats. I thought cooking healthy would be complicated and beyond my realm of knowledge in the kitchen. Plus, I had no idea where I would find healthy food in our small mid-western town.
But as I was learning more about eating a good, balanced diet filled with whole foods, I realized that something needed to give. I needed to do this for my family.
Therefore, I did a lot of research. I sought the help of friends. I learned that good healthy food is a great investment for my family’s health. I dug deep and found that there are healthy food sources all around me – I just had to know where to look. And I learned that healthy, whole food actually tastes amazingly better than anything else that comes out of a box or a bag.
Over the next few weeks, I’ll be writing a series exploring the top ten excuses I hear from people about why they don’t eat a healthy diet. I’ll work to debunk all the myths you’ve ever heard about health food, and offer you hope if you are holding back on eating a healthy diet because of some excuses of your own.
As we begin this series, I’d love to know: What are your biggest hang-ups with eating a healthy diet? What are the excuses you use or hear most when it comes to eating twinkies instead of broccoli? If you had to make a top ten list of reasons you can’t eat a healthy diet, what might be on your list?
Cooking Healthy Meals When the Meal Plan Fails
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Click on this link to see a full, detailed list of the freezer, fridge and pantry items I try to always keep on hand, but I find that if I at least have the following ingredients, I can throw together a nice variety of meals with very little planning involved:
- Wheat or other grains (to grind into flour)
- Milk
- Eggs
- Whole Wheat Pasta
- Butter
- Tomato Sauce
- Cheese
- Frozen veggies
- Fruit (fresh and frozen)
- Canned Salmon
- Canned Tuna
- Hamburger Meat
Here’s a list of simple, nourishing meals I can make with these ingredients:
- Pancakes and scrambled eggs – using this pancake recipe, but skipping the soaking part
- Italian Pasta Bake – without meat if I don’t have time to thaw and cook hamburger
- Salmon Patties with frozen veggies
- Creamy Mac and Cheese with frozen veggies
- Tuna Casserole – using the creamy mac and cheese recipe with a can or two of tuna
- Fried eggs with fruit smoothies
- Quesadillas – if I have tortillas on hand
- Hamburger patties with vegetables
None of these meal ideas take much time or energy to make, nor do they create much of a mess in the kitchen. I love having these ideas as “back up” meals for those times when I fail to stick with the menu plan. (And now, I’m going to go get a chicken out of the freezer for tomorrow.)
What are your favorite meals to fall back on when your dinner plan falls through? What ingredients do you like to have on hand for meals like this?
Working Ahead for Healthy Food Convenience
Posted by: | CommentsFor the past two weeks during our Funky Fresh Kitchen series, we’ve talked all about getting your kitchen cleaned out and organized, getting rid of unhealthy foods and working toward making your own healthy foods from scratch. One thing I didn’t cover during the series which has become a very imporant way for me to keep my kitchen organized and healthy is making healthy foods ahead of time and freezing them for quick meals.
Whole Wheat Waffles are great to make ahead and
put into the freezer for a quick, healthy breakfast!
Having foods like healthy burritos, whole wheat waffles and homemade pizza pockets in the freezer to pull out for quick meals has been a life saver for me many times. This week, I plan to work on putting a few more healthy foods into my freezer for quick, convenience items. Here’s what’s on my list to try making this week:
- Turkey Sausage
- Homemade Beef Bologna (I’ll be adapting the recipe)
- Homemade Spicy Beef Pepperoni (I’ll be adapting the recipe)
- Hashbrowns
- Giant Breakfast Cookies
At the end of the week, I’ll be back with an update on how my extra cooking times went. I can’t wait to try those new bologna and pepperoni ideas!!
Care to join me in trying to get ahead just a little bit? Think you might have time to make just one extra dish or item for your freezer for some healthy convenience? Leave a comment letting us know what you’re up to in the kitchen. I love hearing new ideas!!
P.S. I’ve got a new “Make Ahead Meals” recipe to share with you later this week!
