The Budget Organic

Six Ways to Save on Organics

2010-04-01T13:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, my daughter Brystol (in the middle) enjoyed playtime with her friends while I enjoyed coffee and conversation with mine. At one point, our talk turned to my family's decision to "go organic" and how our food budget has been affected overall. I've not run the numbers for a precise account, but I don't believe we're spending any more to shop organically.

You may ask yourself, "How could that be? Organic products cost so much more than conventional!" But do they? Some things, yes. Some things do cost more. But the prices among conventional items vary dramatically between brands from time to time as well. Organics should not be eliminated just because a higher cost is assumed.

Whether shopping conventionally or shopping organically, there are a number of ways one can save money on groceries. Here are six:

(1) When shopping, don't limit yourself to one store. We live in an area where health food-type stores are plenteous, and yet, most of my good deals on organic products come from regular old neighborhood stores. Some stores, like Target, carry store-brand organics (Archer Farms), while others, like Tom Thumb and Albertson's, carry a pseudo-generic brand (O Organics).

At Albertson's, I purchased organic salsa for $1.00 per jar. At Kroger, I picked up gallons of organic milk for $2.99 each, cage-free organic egg dozens for $1.99 each, organic cabbage for $0.77 per pound, tubs of organic salad mix for $1.89, and bags of organic fingerling potatoes for $1.79. These aren't regular prices, mind you, but large chain grocery stores often have great (unadvertised) sales on their organic goods, and they sometime have organics on clearance tables or in cooler markdowns.

Just because something is marked down doesn't mean it's spoiled, either. The milk I bought today for $2.99/gallon hasn't even reached its "sell-by" date -- a date still five days away! These gallons might have been marked down because the last shipment of organic milk didn't sell as quickly as the store anticipated and a new shipment has arrived. This markdown milk was fresher than some of the conventional milk I spotted in the cooler. Even if it were at its "sell-by" date already, milk is typically good for a week beyond its "sell-by" date and it can be frozen until needed. When you're in the store next, look for the clearance area or browse markdowns still on the shelf in your grocer's organic section. You may be surprised at the deals you find!

(2) Shop the specialty stores. Just because a store seems to be high-end doesn't necessarily mean it is. Many "health food" stores have well-priced products, as well as clearance bins and sale prices. Some products are priced better at a specialty store than, say, at Target. For example, I picked up the Whole Foods store brand organic Coconut Oil for $5.99, and that was the regular price. It's priced less there because that is an item they purchase in quantity. I found Organic Olive Oil on the clearance table at Sprouts -- 50% off because of a package change. Specialty stores often have a bigger selection of organic produce, and because they offer more, they often have more sales.

Some vitamin stores and small Mom-n-Pop health food stores have great deals and sale prices on organic food products. If you see these stores, check them out. You may be pleasantly surprised and may be able to stock your pantry for less. At these small stores, you have the benefit of building relationships. Some of these stores have community bulletin boards promoting local food events and co-ops. Some store owners may be able to direct you to the best local farmer's market or to Ol' Jim and his organic produce stand down the road. Also, small Mom-n-Pop shops are more likely open to bartering -- exchange web design for an annual discount, exchange housekeeping services for organic tomatoes. (You get the idea.) Bartering services for goods should benefit both parties and can be a way to significantly reduce your spending.

(3) Keep your eyes and mind open -- consider non-traditional stores. Like the vitamin stores or the Mom-n-Pop health food stores, non-traditional options can lead you to great savings. But think bigger and even more non-traditional -- for example, Toys R' Us. Our baby daughter is eight months old and she LOVES baby puffs. She likes them nearly as much as she likes breast milk, and if you know how she loves to nurse, you'll know she's a big fan of the baby puff. Our local grocery stores carry only conventional Gerber baby puffs and my specialty stores don't have an organic puff option. One day, though, while browsing around Toys R' Us, I noticed a large grocery section full of organic baby and toddler food products. We bought each flavor of the Happy Baby Organic Puffs at $2.99 each and each container includes a coupon towards future purchases.

Toys R' Us also has sales on their organic food products leading to some of the best deals around. I just got an e-mail about a two-day store wide sale, and Earth's Best organic baby foods were included: 12-packs of jarred foods are buy one/get one free, so $8.99 for 24 jars or $0.37 per jar. Last week, their in-store sale was 10 jars for $5.50. That deal could have been made sweeter if paired with coupons from the Earth's Best website. Here's what the scenario could have been:

Buy 20 jars for $11.00 (two "ten for $5.50" deals) plus one jar at regular price ($0.79, I believe) for a total of 21 jars. Total: $11.79

Apply three "$1.00 off seven jars" Earth's Best printable coupons. New Total: $8.79, or $0.42/jar. [More expensive than this week's deal, but you would have had the option of selecting your own flavors. Still less than regular price at the grocery store.]

(4) Shop online. Stores like Target and Toys R' Us offer organic baby/toddler food products on their websites, often available with free shipping. Other online stores, like Azure Standard and Amazon Grocery, offer good deals on organics for all ages.

(5) Use coupons. The organic segment is growing at a most rapid pace and manufacturers are gaining brand loyalty through coupons. Coupons for organics are not often found in the Sunday newspaper (though someday they may be), but they are easily available. Coupons are sometimes available on or in a product package -- "peelies" are coupons stuck to the outside of a product package and are available for immediate use, whereas other products (like the Happy Baby puffs) have coupons inside meant to encourage a future purchase. Various organic brands offer coupons on their websites or Facebook pages. Some companies (like Earth's Best linked above) make coupons available for immediate download, some companies just request you sign up for a newsletter, other companies make you jump through some hoops. (Earthbound Farms has a quiz for a free reusable bag with coupons. Even if you don't pass the quiz and win the bag, your name will be added to the mailing list and you'll get coupons in the mail.)

Oftentimes, many of those specialty stores offer organic coupon booklets both in the store and by mail. While the stores themselves produce the coupon booklets, the coupons themselves are manufacturer's coupons meaning they can be used in any store. I've picked up coupon booklets at Whole Foods, Sprouts, and The Cupboard. I've also found coupons in newsletters available at The Sunflower Shoppe. Some of those stores will mail the coupon booklets to you directly or will offer it online for immediate download. From time to time, organic coupons can be found on smartsource.com and maybe one day they'll be able to be downloaded straight into your cell phone through companies like cellfire.com.

(6) Networking -- both high-tech and old school. With regards to high-tech networking, social media websites like Facebook and Twitter will go a long way in helping you save money on organic products. Not only can you snag deals on Facebook fan pages, on blogs, and on message boards, but like-minded friends can also clue you in to deals you don't want to miss.

Networking could be a great way to use the coupons you have on hand. For example, though I bought the store brand organic milk today on markdown, the Horizon organic milk gallons were also marked down to $2.99. I don't have one now, but in the past I've had coupons for $1.00 off Horizon gallons. Though I didn't have the coupon in my stash and could not have gotten a better deal today, I could have tweeted the deal and saved my couponing friends even more money. They could help me in the same way.

If high-tech networking is not your thing, keep it old school and network face-to-face. In the couponing world, there is such a thing called a "Coupon Train." That goofy name describes a network in which coupons are shared. A group of people, be it friends, neighbors, coworkers, schoolmates, message board members, etc. gather up coupons and pass them along. You could do a coupon train face-to-face, pass them along, or exchange them by mail. Essentially, everyone would pass long the coupons for organics they have no plans to purchase. Whoever starts the train -- whether in person or by mail -- gathers up the coupons they don't plan to use, then they pass them along to person #2. Person #2 takes the coupons they'll use from the handed-off stash, they add coupons from their stash they don't want, then they pass the selection off to person #3. Person #3 does the same and passes the stash on down the train. The last person would pass the bunch back to #1 and the train can continue on and on and on. Doing a coupon train by mail is similar, only each person mails the stash to the next person instead of personally handing it off. Couponing message boards are great places to find active coupon trains. If you can't find one, start your own!

These are six simple ways to save on organics. I'll post more ideas in the future, but in the meantime, how do you keep grocery costs down?

Raw Milk in the News

2010-03-23T07:14:00.000-07:00

Fat? Don't Just Blame Fast Food

2010-03-08T10:57:00.000-08:00

Since embarking on this journey towards "real food" and choosing organics over conventional food, I feel as if the scales are beginning to fall away from my eyes. I am seeing more and more connections between issues I've long struggled with and the food I've chosen to eat. Autoimmune disorders, thyroid failure, exhausted adrenals, infertility, recurrent miscarriage, lifelong struggle with weight: it all goes back to food.

The issue is not just about food intake and exercise -- "calories in, calories out" as they say. Though overeating and a lack of exercise are a significant issues for many Americans, me included, researchers are beginning to discover there is a whole lot more at work with regards to the destruction of the human body.

According to a recent article on MSNBC.com, "A third factor may be in play: a class of natural and synthetic chemicals known as endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), or as researchers have begun to call them, obesogens.

"Obesogens are chemicals that disrupt the function of hormonal systems; many researchers believe they lead to weight gain and, in turn, numerous diseases that curse the American populace. They enter our bodies from a variety of sources — natural hormones found in soy products, hormones administered to animals, plastics in some food and drink packaging, ingredients added to processed foods, and pesticides sprayed on produce. They act in a variety of ways: by mimicking human hormones such as estrogen, by misprogramming stem cells to become fat cells and, researchers think, by altering the function of genes.

"Endocrine disruptors are suspected of playing a role in fertility problems, genital malformation, reduced male birth rates, precocious puberty, miscarriage, behavior problems, brain abnormalities, impaired immune function, various cancers, and cardiovascular disease. "We have data linking environmental chemicals to practically every major human disease, from cardiovascular disease to attention-deficit disorder," says Jerry Heindel, Ph.D., an expert on EDCs at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). Now new research is finding that some EDCs, the obesogens, may be helping to make us fat."

Real Food on the Road: Texas to Georgia (Part Three)

2010-02-28T10:34:00.000-08:00

Continued from Real Food on the Road: Texas to Georgia (Part Two)...

While in Georgia, we at loads of wedding food. We attempted to use the Happy Cow database -- A Compassionate Eating Guide -- to locate an organic restaurant near our resort in Big Canoe, but we had no luck.

We did find there two be two health food stores in tiny little Jasper, GA. (population 2,167), but one store was closed (on a Saturday!) and the other was too small to have a ready-made or quick-cook food section (though they were hosting a cooking class I felt like crashing. Chili prepared with grass-fed beef and organic ingredients was the menu of the day. Yum!) We had the space to cook in our Treetopper at Big Canoe, but all the wedding festivities left us with little time. Needless to say, we relied heavily on the products we brought from home, but felt left to eat at regular ol' restaurants for the majority of our meals.

Other than just having the forethought to pack a better snack bag, our journey to and from Georgia was really no more revolutionary than any other trip we've ever taken. I felt like I struggled all along the way finding healthy food options for my family. The very best meal we had along our journey, healthfully speaking, was comprised of an organic salad kit and a bag of organic kiwi I purchased in a grocery store in Mississippi, products I purchased only because we've discovered it to be virtually impossible to get a reliable meal through a drive-thru and we had no time to go to a restaurant for dinner. (It was Superbowl Sunday and a certain Mr. Budget Organic had a game to watch.) Interestingly, our organic salad kit eaten straight out of the bowl it was sold in was quite possibly one of the tastiest meals we had all along the way.

I felt frustrated when we returned home again -- frustrated that this process isn't easier. Shouldn't it be simple to find organic foods when it's the fastest growing sector in the entire food industry? Is finding real food this challenging everywhere, or were my efforts stifled because of the states I found myself in -- states known for poverty, obesity, and a general lack of good health? I think perhaps. (We're traveling by car to Washington this summer, and I'm quite curious to test my theory. We're driving north through the Midwest, but home again along the California coast. We'll see which states have more to offer in the way of good, healthy food.)

Since our return, someone I follow on Twitter saw Michael Pollan speak and asked what he ate while on the road. He said he's found it best to embrace a more vegetarian lifestyle when traveling. Not knowing where his meat was coming from was most troubling to him, and I concur. Organic salad kits are widely available at grocery stores -- grab a fork from the deli and you have a whole meal, ready to go. While it's not organic, if in a pinch you can pick up a decent salad from the $1 menu at McDonald's. But, if you just can't bear another salad, be informed. There are some restaurants (like Chipotle) that pride themselves on using organic ingredients and free-range, all-natural meats. I'm hopeful more restaurants will follow suit. The Happy Cow database could be a big help along the way.

I think when we travel again, we'll be sure to pack a small ice chest instead of just our snack bag. Having a space to keep things cool will be beneficial. I will also put together a small "picnic kit" with plates and flatware so we will be prepared for whatever deliciousness comes our way. Lastly, I will pack a small selection of vinegars. That way if we are stuck eating a non-organic salad from McDonald's or another drive-thru, we can at least skip the HFCS-based dressings and the accompanying calories and cravings. Vinegars don't spoil, they don't have to be chilled, they come in a variety of flavors and they taste remarkable on all manner of produce.

I believe preparation and planning are key. I'm ready to hit the road again!

Real Food on the Road: Texas to Georgia (Part Two)

2010-02-25T13:15:00.000-08:00

Continued from Real Food on the Road: Texas to Georgia (Part One)...

Following our lunch in North Little Rock, Arkansas, we pressed on towards Nashville, Tennessee. We opted for this particular route to Georgia so we could see my cousin Sarah and her husband Sergei. Long before we left Texas, long before a late start, long before a rain cloud stalked us across three states, my strategy included a trip to Whole Foods Market -- a store with goods I knew I could trust. I planned to pop in, grab a few things for dinner and for the pantry in our Georgia cabin. We would eat dinner in our hotel room, maybe head down to the pool for a swim, then join Sarah and Sergei for coffee and dessert -- an easy evening, for sure.

Our long drive lengthened exponentially as we were delayed by never-ending rain and a need to stop at every travel center for potty breaks and road maps. All of that on top of our original late start and our not-so-fast-food lunch and we much too far behind on time to be so leisurely.

I called ahead to change our plans with Sarah, moving them back quite a bit, and we drove straight towards the hotel. I scrapped my trip to Whole Foods -- it was around the loop from our reserved hotel and I was in no mood for more driving. I searched for an alternative using the internet browser on my cell phone, and while The Turnip Truck looked like an interesting prospect, it was still a distance away. In the end, we settled for a nearby Publix.

Two summers ago, we spent a week in a Florida condo and ate food purchased exclusively from the nearby Publix. I don't know if we were starving from all the heat or from all of the swimming, but I distinctly remember everything being just so delicious. That to say, when we stumbled across the Publix, we weren't entirely unhappy. We were confident we'd be able to go in and quickly pick up a reasonable dinner.

In all fairness, do allow me to stress that (1) we were all very tired from our super-long road trip and no one was very agreeable nor willing to hunt-and-peck for very long, and (2) I don't live near a Publix so I cannot say with certainty what selection of good, healthy, ready-to-eat real foods are often available. I will say that on that particular evening there was nothing in the ready-prep deli that was not deep fried or bathed in mayonnaise.

The kids didn't want a salad, James did not want sushi, and the only somewhat ready-to-eat organic product we ran across was jar of peanut butter that made no one happy, save Bub. (Publix does have organics available through their GreenWise line, and while we didn't see any of them in the store, we weren't in a position to cook what we might have found.) In the end, we settled for a loaf of HFCS-free whole grain bread, natural cheese and nitrite-free sliced turkey breast. We ate sandwiches in our hotel room, with accompaniments from our snack bag, then met Sarah and Sergei for pie and biscuits at The Loveless Cafe. (The Loveless is understandably famous for its scratch biscuits and preservatives.)

As far as I can gather at this point, though we felt it was our best option at the time, sandwiches made of deli meat would not be considered "real food." Though we picked components that were free of harmful additives, we picked a processed packaged product that was very likely made of battery poultry, not free-range. (Gross.) That first full day on the road I realized we have our work cut out for us. I also learned that taking a "snack bag" was not sufficient -- an ice chest with a meal or two would be far more helpful, as would some kind of a picnic kit with plates and flatware. I learned it was necessary for me to be inventive and far more prepared than I was. But most importantly, I realized I have a long way to go before this becomes second nature to me, and for that I need loads and loads of grace.

continued...

Steals and Deals: FREE Organic Barley Juice Sample

2010-02-18T15:06:00.000-08:00

More to come on our search for Real Food on the Road during our trip to Georgia, but my normally rather needy baby has been particularly clingy lately and I've had my hands more than full. I do hope to achieve a somewhat regular schedule of posting around here, but until I do, please enjoy a free sample of organic barley juice from Green Magma®.

From the Green Magma® website: "Since 1969, Green Magma® has been the world's premier barley grass supplement. Backed by over 40 years of scientific research and consumer satisfaction, Green Magma® contains vitamins, minerals, amino acids, enzymes, chlorophyll, carotenoids, flavonoids, and other valuable phytochemicals that support every system of the body. Consumers report a dramatic increase in energy, increased regularity, and better looking hair, skin, and nails.

"Green Magma® is a juice extract, not a fiber product. Our bodies can more easily and completely absorb the nutrients from a juice supplement than one containing fiber, which locks in many of the important nutrients. Dr. Hagiwara’s award-winning gentle juicing and spray-drying technique concentrates the many nutrients found in fresh, young barley grass juice into a nutrient-dense powder naturally protected from oxidation. Certified organic by Quality Assurance International (QAI). Our barley is grown without the use of pesticides or chemical fertilizers."

(Note: The sample and shipping are entirely free. You will need to enter your shipping address and click the "Continue to Checkout" button about five times before you proceed to the final order confirmation page. Be patient.)

photo and information credit: Green Magma®
bargain credit: Hip2Save

Real Food on the Road: Texas to Georgia (Part One)

2010-02-09T19:35:00.000-08:00

On Thursday, my family and I headed out for another long weekend away -- our second road trip since committing to this real food transition. Initially, I think my husband James was skeptical of my plans to eat real food while on the road. In general, he seems to be a big skeptical of this transition as a whole.

Typically, the way our household happily functions is with me in charge of all of the food planning and purchasing (among other things) with James just along for the ride in that regard. Beyond the dietary changes my doctor strongly suggested, I've explained a few times why I think it's vital that we switch from a standard American diet to a healthier, more sustainable, primarily organic diet. Still, James is skeptical.

He understands the value of a healthier way of life, but he's not read the studies, reports, books and websites I've read. He doesn't realize the many ways conventional food has been modified, nor does he realize the effects these modifications can have on our bodies. Additionally, he's not convinced we can adopt this new, healthier lifestyle without completely breaking the bank, and as our primary breadwinner, his financial concerns are valid. Despite his skepticism, James was willing to indulge me, to support me in my effort to change the way my family eats while on a road trip, even if it meant driving a bit more or making our way off the beaten path.

We left our home in Texas very early that Thursday morning with a quick stop at McDonald's for breakfast. We stopped at McDonald's partly because (1) it's convenient, (2) it's "tradition" (read: habit) -- we always begin road trips with a McDonald's breakfast, and (3) I failed to plan -- though I had mapped out some food alternatives along our journey, I failed to plan for meal #1. We should have eaten breakfast at home, but I dozed off while nursing our baby the night before and was behind in my packing. I finished packing that Thursday morning, but that delay put us far enough behind that I had to nurse the baby one more time than I planned before we left. After all the travel hiccups, we were beginning our trip an hour-and-a-half later than we initially planned and we had a bit of an arrival deadline. A leisurely breakfast of oats and milk felt like it would not work when we were already in such a rush, though in retrospect, it would have worked fine.

After our bumpy morning start, we were quickly headlong into our journey. Again, I had done some planning, but it wasn't until we were on our way that I realized just how unprepared I still was. I knew there was a Whole Foods Market in Nashville where we would be spending our first night. I thought I'd go there to pick up food for dinner, as well as groceries for our cabin in Georgia, where we would be spending the majority of our weekend. Though my plan still seemed great, I did not think about the eleven hours it would take to get from Texas to Nashville. I didn't plan any meals en route.

Along the way, we ate from the bag of snacks I'd packed -- raw almonds, trail mix, etc. -- and we discussed how we'd overcome the lack of real food availability on the road. We talked about stopping at a grocery store along the way, taking our chances with what might be a limited selection of healthy alternatives, but the only stores that dotted the Arkansas roadways were Wal-Marts. I've been in and out of our local Wal-Mart enough to know that if the one lonely bag of overpriced organic avocados is not enough for you, you're out of luck. We felt out of luck.

We pressed on for as long as we could, but by the time we were headed north out of Little Rock, all of our tummies were rumbling. James asked what I wanted to do. "Just stop somewhere," I said, frustrated that we were failing again fresh out of the gate.

We approached a road sign touting that intersection's fare and spotted a placard for BJ's Market Cafe. "Let's go there," I said. I didn't have high expectations, but it was local and it wasn't Taco Bell. We took the exit and wound down a curvy road convinced we'd either missed the place or it was out of business. A moment later, I noticed simple sign tacked to a fence with an arrow pointing us into what, from the road, looked like an industrial area. "I don't know about this," James said, but he turned in anyway.

We drove down a potholed road that flanked a towering drab gray building, and despite our initial worries, we deduced from the parking lot full of cars in front of us that the restaurant couldn't be that bad. As we rounded the corner in search of a spot of our own, I noticed the lettering on the back side of the building: Arkansas Farmer's Mkt. and Produce Terminal. We have stumbled upon the local Farmer's Market! We were going to eat lunch at the Farmer's Market! At a restaurant attached to a produce stand! There is real food on the road after all! I am not exaggerating when I say that my heart skipped a beat and it felt like the rainclouds above us parted for Heavenly angels to sing a little tune on our behalf.

I was SUPER excited about having lunch at BJ's Market Cafe. I think I'd even somewhat convinced myself that we'd see our servers hauling in the bushels of all the delicious fresh local vegetables my enlightened family would order. Sadly, that's not how it all went down.

According to information available on the Internet, the family that owns the cafe has also owned the produce stand next door for the past 30 years, and the restaurant promises "home cookin' for breakfast and lunch using produce from the adjoining farmers market." I am not entirely convinced.

It's wintertime still, but the menu had not been altered to reflect that. Summer vegetables dominated the list of side dishes. Moreover, though we were at the Farmer's Market where abundant vegetables should make for a variety of healthy dishes, the menu was that of your run-of-the-mill greasy spoon. The healthier options were limited to the garden salad, the garden salad with chicken, and the "veggie plate" which consisted of any four "sides." We did the best we could with the choices we were given.

Bub, our nine-year-old, ordered a plain and dry burger off of the kid's menu -- a menu consisting of entirely deep-fried or highly processed food. The burger truly did seem like the best option on that particular menu, and Bub, who is a creature of habit, was, at that late point in the day, allowed to order whatever he wanted. We were hopeful that the burger would be flavorful at the very least, but it was inedible, made up of a stamped circle of what we hope was beef. It was not a "home cooked" burger as promised, but rather a commercially-generated beef-scented circle of curiosity. After three bites or so, he was done.

Gracie, our seven-year-old, and I ordered the chicken and dumplings. Now, when I make chicken and dumplings at home, I butcher a whole chicken and cook it down in the stockpot, often along with the mirepoix, though sometimes without. Then, when the meat is falling off the bone, I debone the chicken, returning the meat to the bone stock, along with fluffy dumplings made from pillows of flour, a pinch of parsley and a whole heap of love. I won my husband's heart with a pot of chicken and dumplings. It's a very serious dish around here. Still, I love trying different variations of this country staple. It's a dish that is not easily destroyed. The chicken and dumplings at BJ's Market Cafe were good -- very tasty, in fact -- but again, I'm not entirely convinced they were homemade. The dumplings were flat like thick pasta and so uniform, and the broth was glossy. My serving looked remarkably like some of the canned chicken and dumplings that I purchased for my long-distance fiance as a forget-me-not. Homemade or not, they were an enormous improvement over Bub's "burger."

To accompany our entrees, we ordered vegetables that were supposed to come from the produce stand next door. Gracie was given canned corn, our "homemade" mashed potatoes tasted like "Fake-O Potatoes" (as my sister lovingly calls them), and our "sautéed squash" was batter dipped and deep fried and too uniform in shape to have been freshly sliced in the back. Out of the six vegetable dishes between us, the only one that was very probably "homemade" was the bowl of turnip greens I was served, and they were delicious with just the right ratio of salty to smoky kissed by a hint of pork. Yum. I wish I had another bowl right now. We finished our lunch and I left more than slightly disappointed that our efforts were for naught. I had arrived hopeful for a local dining experience, but left with a tummy full of greasy spoon standards.

Looking for a little redemption, I thought I'd supplement our snack bag with some goods from the produce stand next door, particularly since they were missing from the majority of my meal. Unfortunately, I was met with even more disappointment. The adjoining stand was full of out-of-season produce, and instead of seeing kale and cabbage and winter squash, I saw tomatoes and onions, only they bore the same UPC stickers dotting the produce section of my local Wal-Mart. This was not local fare, this was brokered produce. I understand this produce store has to make money, but I was deeply disappointed. Even more disappointing: there were no turnip greens to be found. I left the produce stand empty handed and a little sad.

continued...

Start with a Good Breakfast

2010-02-05T08:31:00.000-08:00

"If every U.S. Citizen ate just one meal a week (any meal) composed of locally and organically raised meats and produce, we would reduce our country's oil consumption by over 1.1 million barrels of oil every week. That's not gallons, but barrels. Small changes in buying habits can make big differences. Becoming a less energy-dependent nation may just need to start with a good breakfast."

-- Barbara Kingsolver, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Start Now

2010-02-02T06:02:00.000-08:00

"Though no one can go back
and make a brand new start,
anyone can start from now
and make a brand new ending."

-- Anonymous

photo credit: gault.timothy

Familiarity: Shopping at Big Lots

2010-01-30T15:20:00.000-08:00

"If buying organic is new for you,
it's easy to start almost anywhere.
But make it easy on yourself by buying familiar foods
that you and your family already like."

-- Elaine Lipson, The Organic Foods Sourcebook

I am not new to bargain shopping, but I am new to stocking my home with organic products. When we first decided to transition to a primarily organic diet, I decided we could make this transition by replacing grocery items we used up with their organic counterpart. We live in an area where we have access to stores like Whole Foods, Sprouts and Central Market, so I knew I could easily go there to stock up on necessities, but I want to challenge myself to eat in a healthy way for the least amount of money possible.

So, where did I start? Big Lots.

I've long been known to shop at Big Lots, a discount store that sells a whole variety of things -- hardware, automotive, toys, movies, books, health and beauty, cleaning supplies, craft supplies, canning supplies, storage solutions, linens. You name it and you can likely find it at Big Lots, only you'll find it for a portion of the competitor's cost. Many people know about Big Lots and their selection of general merchandise, but one thing about Big Lots that many people don't realize is their generous grocery offering.

Big Lots has some goods that seem to be branded specifically for their sale, but when it comes to grocery items, Big Lots is very much like a surplus salvage store, or "banana box" store. Like a surplus salvage store, you will find a number of miscellaneous items, some in small quantities. You will find different items at different locations, and you may not ever find the same item twice, not in the same location and not in different locations. Unlike a true "banana box" store, however, you will not typically find items approaching their expiration dates, nor will you find "scratch and dent" items at Big Lots -- unless a can is dropped and dented while in the store.

I hadn't been in a Big Lots store since early in the holiday season, but while I was shopping, I noticed an increase in organic food products on the shelf. After all, the organic food market is growing at a rapid pace, and the overstock has to go somewhere! Big Lots, then, was a natural choice for my first all-organic shopping excursion. I found many organic pantry staples for 50% less than in the big box stores -- for example, the Del Monte organic canned corn that costs $1.59 at Wal-Mart costs 80 cents at Big Lots. I transitioned a significant portion of my pantry from conventional to organic and spent a total of $42.00. Moreover, a few of the packages came with coupons towards my next purchases, and while Big Lots does not accept coupons, I can save them to pair with sale purchases at another store.

Some day, I truly do hope to grow an organic garden, to save money by harvesting my own food, but that is not my reality at present. In fact, it's probably will not be my reality for a while (my ag major husband has no idea how to help me amend the soil to get started -- Oh, college!). Also, while it would be far better (from a health perspective) to eliminate processed foods from the pantry, we need to allow ourselves the grace to transition, to prepare things, to stock the freezer. Without a doubt, my family -- rather, I -- would fail on this journey if I didn't have some quick-cook options for those extra-busy days or when things just crop up at the last minute.

The Haul

Canned Whole Tomatoes
Canned Tomato Paste
Canned Corn
Canned Spinach
Canned Beans: Black, Kidney, Garbanzo
Flax Seed Blue Corn Chips
Chipotle Lime Tortilla Chips
Quick-Cook Stuffing
Banana Snacks
Cereals
Organic Baby Foods (for an upcoming trip)

Chunky Organic Tomato Potato Soup

2010-01-27T09:14:00.000-08:00

Here is a delicious and hearty soup recipe, perfect for a blustery day!

* 2 tablespoons butter
* 2 organic onions, chopped
* 4 cups peeled, cubed organic potatoes
* 1 1/2 cups chopped organic celery
* 1 1/2 cups chopped organic carrots
* 2 cloves organic garlic, minced
* 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
* 2 cups milk (organic, raw, your choice!)
* 1 tablespoon cornstarch
* 1 (14.5 ounce) can organic tomatoes (Muir Glen is a good brand)
* 1 1/4 cups free-range chicken broth or bone stock
* 2 tablespoons organic tomato paste
* salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat, and cook the onions until tender. Mix in the potatoes, celery, carrots, and garlic. (Your vegetables will begin softening as you mix them in if you're peeling and chopping as you go. Just be sure to pause your chopping to give your vegetables a good stir from time to time.) Season with Italian seasoning. Pour in milk, gradually stir in cornstarch, and bring to a boil. Mix in tomatoes, broth, and tomato paste. Return to boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

photo credit: TTV78
original recipe posted by Cloudless at allrecipes.com. modified by the budget organic.

Quips and Quotes: What You Don't

2010-01-25T08:57:00.000-08:00

(I want Pepsi and a Big Mac instead of this perfectly good pear.)

photo credit: twainquotes.com

Eating While on the Road = Real Food Fail

2010-01-20T10:39:00.000-08:00

On Friday, my three kidlets and I hit the road and drove from Texas to Kansas. My cousin Emily and her family live in Germany, but she was flying in with her kids for a month in the states, and since I want my kids and her kids to have the sort of relationship I have with her, off we drove.

The road trip to Kansas was not bad at all, despite the fact that one of my travel companions was a needy five-month-old nursling who prefers being held by mommy over breathing. I timed our departure just-so so that she fell asleep slightly north of where we live and napped entirely through the state of Oklahoma and through a significant portion of Kansas.

Not having been on this Real Food journey for long, I found eating on the road to be challenging. I thought I was being proactive by packing my usual bag-o-snacks, filling it with organic popcorn and other healthy snacks. I was hopeful we would munch on those all along the way and not need to fill up at McD's or other such places. I was wrong. We ate all the snacks, but snacking for seven hours was just not cutting it. I realize now I should have packed a cooler of sandwiches -- perhaps some made of the already-cooked free-range chicken I'd left behind and hoped the husband would eat.

While there, we ate what we were offered. My aunt is a wonderful cook and she prepares healthful meals that we enjoy. I don't know if I ever see myself turning my nose up at something prepared with love, even if it's also prepared with vegetable oil and/or non-organic produce.

That said, there were two or three times the kids and I were left to fend for ourselves at mealtime, and still, I didn't make positive Real Food choices. Traveling on a budget, I found myself immediately heading for the cheap food-like substances that would leave me with enough money to fill my gas tank for the trip home. I didn't even try to find an alternate source of food -- I just allowed myself to feel stuck in that little town. I prided myself on the fact that I at least drove around to find the closed-on-a-Saturday little vitamin store (with what might have been the town's only source of Real Food locked inside!), but I didn't even bother to get out of my car at the tiny grocery store (which may too have stocked Real Food, perhaps some even local!). I felt out of sorts, out of place, and I found it far easier to rely on those same old food-buying habits while on the road and far from home.

Habits are indeed hard to break, but they are no excuse. We made it home safely and have resumed with moving forward towards a more healthful lifestyle -- more to come on that -- but we have another trip upcoming, one in which we'll be driving from Texas to Georgia for a long-anticipated wedding. This time I'm planning on more planning. I intend to pack both healthy organic snacks and a picnic meal. I'm planning to stop first at the grocery store to explore their Real Food offerings instead of just pulling through the drive-thru -- I've already researched a few retail establishments along our route. I'm also planning to prepare easy and healthful meals in our cabin kitchenette while at the wedding resort property.

The moral of this post: eating Real Food on the road is a challenge, but it's not one that cannot be met. I did not take the initiative to seek out healthy food sources during my most recent travels, but instead, I relied on the same convenience foods that have played a big, big part in robbing me of my health. I believe with some planning and minimal effort, I can feed my body and my family in a healthful way. Finding healthy food can be part of the adventure and can add to the joy of our journey.

photo credit: http://www.goldcar.es/blogs

"Bush Legs" Banned in Russia

2010-01-19T21:53:00.000-08:00

Chemical-laden American chicken is frowned upon in the Russian market, according to an article in the NY Times. "The United States under the first Bush administration flooded Russia with American chicken as food aid in the early 1990s, products that Russians came to call 'Bush legs.' These stocks — mostly thighs and other parts, not many drumsticks — helped feed hungry Russians reeling from an economic collapse. They also came to symbolize the humiliation of a once-great nation reduced to dependence on food handouts.

"The Russian government has spent over a decade seeking to do away with this lingering vestige of post-Soviet misery. In the latest attempt, the government imposed an open-ended ban on American chicken imports that started Tuesday, ostensibly because United States companies had failed to adhere to new food safety regulations."

Click Here for More

photo credit: Valeri Nistratov for The New York Times

Quips and Quotes: On Cooking Real Food

2010-01-15T17:31:00.000-08:00

"Fifty years ago George Orwell was struck by the "physical degeneracy" of the people about him. "Where are the monstrous men with chests like barrels and moustaches like the wings of eagles, who strode across my childhood gaze?" he demanded. Where are they indeed? I remember them, too, but it does not surprise me that they are not much in evidence today. For such men were not fed on fish fingers, ready-to-eat this and packeted that. They were reared on good beef, pork and mutton, fine fresh vegetables, fresh fruit, good bread and beer, and their food was properly prepared and cooked for them by skilled women.

"Undoubtedly there is much labor in the preparation of meals from fresh ingredients. To shell a bushel of peas, for example, takes a long while and you can do nothing else at the same time. But those of us who are privileged to live in a home where the ancient skills of preparing and cooking food are still carried out often wonder, as we contemplate another culinary delight, if the time saved by the "modern" housewife is really worth it. For, my God, what a world of difference there is in taste between the heated-up instant meal and the meal that is carefully prepared and cooked from fresh ingredients."

-- John Seymour, Forgotten Household Crafts

A Change for the Better

2010-01-14T06:15:00.000-08:00

This is a new and exciting project for me. I'm not new to blogging -- I've done a couple of short-term blogging projects, and I have a (now rarely updated) family blog. No, blogging is not new to me, but shopping organically, or for "Real Foods," all while minding the budget, is. For a brief while, it was an overwhelming prospect, one I wasn't sure I would even be capable of taking on, but according to the Roman historian Sallust, "Necessity makes even the timid brave."

I've always subscribed to the mindset that healthy, wholesome food costs a fortune, that people eat poorly because the prices are better. My family has always eaten poorly because we thought the prices were better. Why buy name brand when you can buy generic? Why pay full price when you can use a coupon? Why spend a lot when you can spend very little? Those are the questions I've always asked myself. I've been known to stack coupons on a clearance items and stock my pantry for free. The thought of giving that up in the name of "healthy eating," whatever that is, deterred me. Until now...

I've had some health issues over the years -- serious stuff, but nothing life-threatening (at least, not immediately). This past summer, after a long and arduous journey through secondary infertility, I had a baby. Not long after she was born, I began having a pain in my "upper left quadrant." (That's not how I talk, that's a little WebMD speak for you.) It was an intense pain that came and went, then one day it came and stayed. I consulted with a few doctors and had lots of tests run. Fortunately, none of the test results came back with devastating results, but a couple of times during the process, regarding a couple of things that were found, I was told I was very fortunate in my timing. Were I to have waited a few years more for these often routine tests, I would have come away with very bad news.

The doctor told me that it was in my best interest to behave as if I had received the diagnosis I dreaded, to make these screenings part of my health care routine now, not wait until I'm in my fifties when some of these tests would normally become standard. Unfortunately, what he found and removed was unrelated to the pain in my side, so he gave me a vague diagnosis of what I may be dealing with and offered pain medication along with some suggested dietary changes for symptom management.

I declined the pain medicine since that doesn't really fix anything and since I have an intense dislike of being out of control, particularly in a chemically sort of way. I did, however, take the diet suggestions to heart -- particularly since the same dietary changes meant to allay my present symptoms should also, coincidentally, keep a more distressing diagnosis at bay. His advice was not specific in an "Eat this, Don't eat that" sort of way. I did not receive a specific meal plan. Instead, his words were generic and very similar to Michael Pollan's famous seven words: "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants." In reality, I was left to figure things out for myself.

This blog is my place to do that.

I use a notebook to inventory stockpiled Christmas gifts and hand-me-downs, and I make to-do lists to cross off. I chatter away on a Blackberry smart phone, but I carry a paper planner. I process things by writing them down, so when it comes to moving from a over-processed, nutritionally void standard American diet to a healthier whole foods diet, I cannot think of a better way for me to process all the things I'm learning, to organize the information I'm gathering, than to put it all here on this lovely weblog.

My mission is to make this change in the way my family eats by taking baby steps, refilling my pantry with healthier options: swapping over-processed foods for more traditional staples (maybe even someday growing my own garden and canning the harvest), buying organic or all-natural foods as often as I can, taking advantage of the local farms or farmers markets for produce and goods, swapping cheap cuts of meat for grass-fed beef and cage-free poultry products. Additionally, my objective is to make this transition in the most budget-friendly way possible, so as I share my shopping experiences, I'm hoping to see patterns of spending, collect healthy make-it-do recipes, improve my meal planning, and so on.

Organic food is not "diet food." It is food that is grown or handled or prepared in strict and particular ways, ways regulated by the USDA and enforced by law. (Click here for more information on the USDA guidelines regarding organic food.) According to Wikipedia, "since the early 1990s organic food production has had growth rates of around 20% a year," which means many of the products most Americans eat (including processed or convenience foods) have an organic counterpart. My interpretation of the term "Real Food" is food like our ancestors used to eat: raw milk and dairy products, animal meat and fats, healthy oils, minimally or naturally processed foods (like fermented vegetables), etc. The terms are not interchangeable, but they often go hand-in-hand.

This blog is not meant to be a preachy soapbox sort of place. That's not at all my intention. I am not an expert, but rather, a student -- a soul striving towards personal wellness, bringing my family along for the benefits, and making our journey public so that others may benefit too. This blog is merely meant to be a collective, and maybe someday, a community.

À la bonne santé!

photo credit: tiki.oneworld.net