Eating as nature intended...and on a budget

Long ago I began the process of moving our family to a healthier way of eating.  It all started with Rubic being diagnosed with multiple allergies, both environmental and food, but primarily corn.  Corn especially in the form of High Fructose corn syrup.  That stuff could set him off in hives faster than anything.  In my enthusiasm to help my son I spent all of our grocery money at a health food store, and received very little food as a result.  It was just too expensive.  So I then thought I would just have to read labels to get all the allergens out of his diet.  This also began my foray into ultimate scratch baking.  Anyway, It was while reading labels and baking something that made me about give up.  Corn is in baking powder.  I know right!  I didn't give up entirely, but I did have to moderate my expectations some.  HFCS was the main culprit.  I had to make sure that was out, but the other stuff I just had to do the best I could.  Money was tight.  Whole corn products seemed to have less effect on him, so HFCS was my primary focus.

15 years later, I'm still not where I can do everything I would like, but I have made progress and feel we are in a better place now.  Eating organic has become "all the rage", and so you really need to be able to get the most bang for your buck if you're going to try it.  While his allergies opened my eyes to better eating options, It's been a work in progress.  Changes have been made in steps rather than all at once, and that is my first point.

1)  Small changes over time-  Ours started with trying to remove High Fructose Corn Syrup out of our diet.  I wasn't worried about organic or all natural at the time.  I was just wanting to buy items my family would eat that didn't have that stuff in it.  If I could, I avoided corn in general, but primarily HFCS.  Funny though, while trying to remove the HFCS, I found we were eating items on a healthier scale.  If I bought boxed cereal, it was rice, wheat, or oats.  Nothing sweetened because that meant HFCS.  It was a minuscule  change in the big scheme of things, but a change.  Then I began to read about margarine and how it wasn't such a good idea.  We switched to butter.  I buy it when on sale and stock up (Usually around the holidays).  Dh was dealing with high blood pressure and cholesterol.  We switched to Extra virgin olive oil (I buy it at Sams).  Both butter and Olive oil are more expensive.  You can't fry with Olive oil so, guess what, we ate less fried foods.  Each small step we took led to another small step we tried.

2)  Make your own-  In my effort to not only get HFCS out of Rubic's (and my families) life as well as save money to afford the changes I was making; I began to do a lot of scratch baking.  There were items my kids liked that I wanted them to enjoy, but the store version was not a good option.  It's a real eye opener once you start to read labels.  Boxed cereal was replaced with homemade granola.  Cookies, granola bars, bread, Chocolate syrup, etc; are now made at home.

3)  Learn -  This can be used multiple ways.  Learn a new skill:  canning, bread making, gardening, and cooking in general.  Also, learn about the food you purchase and how it affects you and your family.  Look up those unpronounceable ingredients.  In a world of google,  information is at your finger tips.  As I have learned about what goes into the foods we buy, I have felt compelled to make the changes where I can.   On that same note, and not to only make it look like I'm picking on processed food, Just because something says "organic", "whole grain", or "all natural", doesn't mean it's good for you.  If you buy organic boxed macaroni and cheese, you are still dealing with powdered cheese, white pasta, etc.  My main pet peeve right now is Kroger's "Simple Truth" chicken.  You really need to watch the label.  Their "simple truth" chickens are labeled "organic"or "all natural", but the labels are identical and both types are in the same bin.  Both are priced higher than the other brands.  The organic I can understand, but all chickens are"all natural'.  Good Grief!  You need to know about what what you're buying, especially if your dollars are precious and you are trying to spend wisely.  Be an informed consumer.

4)  Grow what you can-  I have been gardening pretty much since we have lived here (bout 20 years).  My garden has expanded from just a garden to a garden, fruit trees, blueberry bushes, blackberry bushes, strawberries, and herbs.  When I first began gardening, I used pesticides because that's what I knew.  Over the years I have made a move away from pesticides in favor of companion planting, or scheduling my planting in such a way as to mitigate the damage from pests.  I've moved away from using commercial fertilizers to using compost and chicken manure.  Having chickens has provided us with farm fresh eggs, and a better garden.  While I don't (yet) grow everything we eat, I do grow a good chunk of it.  What I have grown in the past 2 years has had no pesticides or commercial fertilizers.  While I am not certified organic with a label and everything, it's good enough for us.

 5)  Buy local.  You can call your county extension office, or just google where the nearest farmers market will be.  We have several in our area.  Prices tend to be the same here in Georgia as the prices are set by the Dept of agriculture.  That is up to a point.  If you're buying a large amount to can or freeze, many farmers can set their own price.  It's worth it if you will put these items up.  Also, they will tend to reduce their prices near the end of the day.  You can also google local produces of honey, milk, eggs, etc.  Just keep an eye out.  If someone offers you eggs or veggies, or even plants, thank them very much and enjoy your prize.  What they have given you is priceless.

Here are the changes we have made over time.  This list might help some of you in starting out.

1)  No more HFCS-  there are alternatives just as cheap.  In fact many companies are moving away from using it now.  Never assume it isn't in something.  Read your labels.

2)  No processed foods-  Three exceptions; turkey bacon (Einstein likes it and it's cheap), powdered coffee creamer, and chips for Dh lunches.

3)  Butter replaced margarine, and olive oil replaces other oils.

4)  No more American Cheese-  I buy Cheddar, Mozzarella, or other hard cheeses.  No low fat or nonfat cheese.

5)  No artificial sweeteners or anything with them in it.-  we use Stevia or sugar or a mixture of both.  True confessions.  Once in a blue moon I still succumb to a Diet Dr Pepper.  But that is more the exception than the rule.  Rare, maybe 2 a ear if that, but I want to be honest.  But I know it needs to be never.

6)  Whole milk, and whole milk products-  No more skim milk or other non fat dairy.  Skim milk used to be the waste from milk processing.  It is blue normally.  Chalk is added to whiten it.  YUCK!  I can't afford organic and if I could I would opt for raw milk (Unpasteurized).  That is only sold in Georgia for Ahem pet consumption(eye roll).  I buy whole milk and mix half and half with water.  Reduces fat and calorie content and tastes like 2%.

7)  Whole wheat flour- I use mostly in baking bread in about a 4 to 1 ratio with all purpose.  It's used entirely in cookies, crackers, and quick breads.

8) Farm fresh eggs- some what free range with our chicken tractor, but not totally because of predators and my garden.

9)  Pesticide and chemical free fruits and veggies from the garden.  If I buy organic, it has to be a price I can handle.  I also don't buy organic for things where the peeling is discarded (like bananas).


Changes I want to make:

1)  Buy more organic meats when possible.  Eventually I want to raise pastured chickens for meat.  We thought about this year but there was a bird flu out break close to Georgia and we decided to wait rather than bring any new birds into our yard.  Those organic whole fryers I bought a few weeks ago made the best broth and the most flavorful and tender meat.  Sold me!  I just can't afford the prices all the time, but when I can, I will.

2)  Try and begin to use raw milk when possible.  I'm hopeful when we do this, the powdered creamer can go.

3) Master the art of bread making where no white flour is used.

The idea is to start where you are making small changes as you can, and adding new changes when you can.  It's taken many years to get to this point in my grocery buying, and I still have things to change.  You can make the changes too.  A little along.

Squeezing out every last bit of use

I think one of the best weapons in your frugal arsenal is making the most of everything you have.   With every new use, the initial price goes down.  Granted the uses get smaller as more of the item is utilized, but you're still getting more bang for your buck.

Here's a good example.  A week ago I came across three organic whole chickens, marked down at my local grocery store.  They were marked down to $1,74 lb because they were nearing their expiration date.  Now that's about twice what I would normally pay for a whole chicken, but in my range when it came to buying organic.  I can't afford to buy organic very often, so when the opportunity arises, I try.  I bought all three and took them home.  Once home, I immediately removed them from their packaging and put them all in a crock pot to cook.  By using the crock pot, I didn't have to add additional water.  I was very please to see there was not a lot of additional juices added to these birds like when you by the standard birds.  I was also pleased to see the gizzards and organs were included.

***Dh fishes and the gizzards and organs make great bait for him.  These were immediately frozen for him to use when fishing time comes around.  It will keep him from having to buy bait separately.

Anyhoo, The chickens cooked, cooled and then I deboned them, putting about 8-12 oz in each freezer bag.

I then took all of the bones, 2 large carrots, the tops and bottom off of the celery in one package (including the leaves), the tops and bottoms of two large onions (skin included).I reserved the rest of the onions in the fridge for later use in other recipes, and the rest of the celery was chopped and frozen.  BTW, it goes without saying that I washed the veggies first!  I put all of this in the larger crock pot along with 1 tsp salt, 2 Tbs of vinegar, and water to cover all.  I turned the crock pot on low and it cooked for about a day to a day and a half.  I checked it periodically to make sure it wasn't boiling, or to see if the bones had softened.  The vinegar draws the minerals out of the bones and puts it into the stock.  Once the bones are soft, you can take up the stock.  Once the stock was finished, I strained out the veggies and other scraps.  The broth was allowed to cool and then frozen.  Once somewhat frozen, I removed the stock and removed the fat from the top.  I then reheated the stock to thaw it out and then divided it into 2 cup (pints) portions.

***I ended  up with 7 pints of stock in my freezer.

Not done yet, I took the fat I scrapped off the stock, and added it to my doggies "cookies" as she knows them.  I used the fat instead of the oil called for in the recipe.  You can find the recipe in my "recipe" page.  Oh. plu she got the leftover veggies from the broth.  A very happy dog.

*** The recipe made 16 large "cookies for her".  She was pretty comical.  She had no idea what I was making, I think, but as I started making them, she came out and laid on the kitchen floor watching my every move, until they were done.

Mona waiting for "cookie" dough.

So to sum up, from three whole birds I got

3 fishing trips
6-7 bags of chicken
7 pints of all natural, unfooled around with broth
16 large doggie treats.

Well worth the time and cost of three initial birds.

Homemade Graham Crackers

Yes!  She went there!  Yesterday I made homemade graham crackers.  I have to say the internet is a great tool when it comes to finding recipes or how to's.  Not a big techno geek, but I will give them that.  I found a recipe  for graham crackers.  I had tried it a week or so ago and found the recipe was much like snicker doodles, just flat.  They were good, but they weren't graham crackers.  They did, however, give me a base to make the recipe my own.  I have since tweaked the recipe more to my liking and decided to share it with you.  So here goes.

12 Tbs butter softened ( 1 1/2 sticks )
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup honey
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (white wheat)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda

In a small mixing bowl, place all your dry ingredients, except brown sugar, and mix well.  Set aside.  In medium mixing bowl, beat the butter, sugar, and honey til fluffy.  Add the eggs and mix well.  Add the dry ingredients.  You may need to mix this with a large spoon or even your clean hands.  The dough will be dryer than cookie dough, but it will still stick together well.  Refrigerate the dough for at least an hour.

Preheat your oven to 350.  Using about 1/8th of the dough at a time, place dough onto a well floured (use all purpose) sheet of wax paper.  Mash hard with your hand to flatten some.  Dust the top of the dough well with more flour and cover the top with wax paper.  Roll the dough between the sheets of wax paper, turning periodically to kind of square things up.
*** Note, you may need to pull the top sheet of wax paper back and dust will more flour in order to keep the dough from sticking.

Once flat ( like 1/4 of an inch at most), you can be obsessive like me and cut it with a pizza cutter into nice neat squares, or you can just cut it into pieces in whatever shape it happens to be in.  Your choice.  Either way, it needs to be "Crackers".  Brush the top of the cracker with a little water.  This will also remove some of the flour.  Then sprinkle with sugar.  Bake 6 minutes.  Cool on a wire rake.  I store ours in the freezer, using a few at a time.

Options:  You can add 1 ts cinnamon to the mix, and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar for the cinnamon graham crackers.

I take two of the homemade graham squares and put good spoonful of cool whip in between.  Then freeze for some really good ice cream sandwiches.

***  If you are so industrious, you can try this recipe, but I will say that graham crackers, especially if bought at Aldi , are really cheap when it comes right down to it.  I will also say the homemade crackers make the best ice cream sandwiches.  So, again, your choice.

Well it has been an interesting week

Everyone has them and I am  no different.  Everyday of our loves is a hodge podge of ups and downs.  Some ups are higher than others and some downs are lower.  It's life.  It's what keeps things interesting.  It has been a crazy kind of week.  I have been so busy with stuff I haven't been able to do the "homey" stuff with the exception of making yogurt.  Seriously I love the fact that I can make yogurt now.  Its the little things...ya know? 

Anyway, some of my er ah challenges this week include a leaky roof, a leaking sink, and a washer on the fritz.  Wonderful joyous discoveries.  Dh will fix the sink, but I will need to call our fix it guy for the roof and an appliance repairman for the washer.  All of this and its 3 months til Christmas...THREE MONTHS TIL CHRISTMAS!!!!  Okay, uh  Bye!   Just kidding. Not leaving yet, but I do need to start the ball rolling so to speak.  Also everyone's birthday falls in the next 3 months so things will definitely be busy.  

The joys this week greatly out weigh the challenges.  My son in law received a new position at work which will enable him and my daughter to work opposite schedules so my grand boys won't have to go to a baby sitter.  This will help them immensely. 

I had my yearly doctors appointment this week and all my labs are good, and my weight has held steady, which is 20 lbs down from 2 years ago!  In fact my cholesterol is down some from last year.  177 is the magic number.  WOOT WOOT.  What have I been eating?  Why butter, red meat, whole milk, and all the other things they say no no too. HA  so there!  I am resisting the urge to say neener neener to all the low fat diet folks.  Oh why not!  Neener neener!  Full disclaimer here;  everything in moderation, and I still don't fry stuff too much.

Last night was an evening controlled by our sons Einstein and  Rubic.  We went out to dinner and they go to go to some store they like.  Both of them are training to get drivers permits, but they don't have them yet.  Between Rubic's lessens,  my working and only having the one car, they don't get to get out of the house very much so we wanted to take them out.  This morning Dh and I are going out.  We may be going to walk a nature trail or something, and maybe going to an antique shop or two.  Rubic and Einstein are babysitting our grandsons.  Another reason why they went out last night instead of today.  I am looking forward to a day out with my fella.

Tomorrow is a day that I will be spending with my sister.  Will actually will be sewing cause The Ric Rac is closed on Sunday.  Lol.  I will head on over after church.  I love the times we get to spend together.  Dh will be watching his football.  I know he's happy about that.  Watching it on his huge TV we got at The Ric Rac for 20 bucks!

Also on the good news front, our power bill was less again than this time last year; by about 45 dollars.  I'll take that.  Every little bit helps.  

So there you have it; my week in a nut shell.  Do I get frustrated with the challenges.  Yes I do.  Do I still sleep well at night.  Yes I do.  I do because I know whatever happens, A) there are  many people going thru much bigger problems, and B) God is in control.