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Eating Organic on a Budget
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Hi all!
I’m interested in this for myself as well as for the Penny-wise blog. For those of you who feed your families organically, how do you do it and not break the bank?
We’ve been eating organically for a while now. The way we do it is by eating less meat, since organic meat is so expensive. We eat meat maybe twice a week. And recently we started ordering from a co-op, but for now the co-op seems to be more of a luxury than an all-the-time occurrence. We’re also growing our own vegetable and herb garden this year.
But those are all pretty basic. I’m wondering if there’s anything really outside-the-box that you have thought of to feed your families the best, un-processed, organic food that you can.
And, please know that I’ll be compiling your suggestions for the Penny-wise blog, as well as using them myself.
Thanks!
Lindsey
Lindsey,
My husband and I try to eat organic and have been for several years. I have tried a lot of ways to save money, including Azure Standard. I live about 50 miles away from a Whole Foods, so getting there on a regular basis (plus spending the gas money) is difficult.
I think one can save a lot by gardening. I, myself, am very new to it though so I can’t offer much advice on that for actual total savings. Also, I go to church with a wonderful family who own an organic farm, raw milk, etc. They offer good prices, but still expensive compared to grocery store.
I have learned to live with what I CAN do, without stressing too much. If I can make a certain food to save money (like my yummy organic yogurt for instance), then I will do it. But life is busy, so many times I have to buy it at the store.
Basically, if one wants to eat organic and not spend a lot of money, then there has to be a lot of time invested in making it happen. There is a balance, and finding that takes time too. I used to be very extreme on good nutrition, but over time I have realized that even a good thing can become an idol. But that’s another topic altogether. :).
If you have access to a Farmer’s Market, they usually have organic foods at much cheaper (and fresher) than you can get at the store. And if you get to know the farmers they can often give you names of people who don’t sell at the markets, but have products you might be interested in like raw milk or eggs. Sometimes they’ll even let you come work at their farm/garden in exchange for mentoring or free products.
We bought a quarter of a grass-fed cow this year and the price came to a little under $4 a pound. Next time we’ll get a half though! We found them by talking with friends who knew someone and that led to our purchase. We were also able to buy organic local wheat at $6 per 25 pounds by talking with someone. I’ve found that if I just start talking about stuff usually someone can direct me to someone who can tell me about someone…..
You can use the Eatwild.com website to find local producers or contact someone in your local chapter of the Weston Price Foundation.
Keeping things really simple helps too. I could create fantastically gourmet organic meals, or I can create simple, nourishing bean dishes, soups, salads, etc. I’m learning to work with what I can find locally or cheaply online and not envy or moan about those things I can’t afford.
Yes for gardens! If you have room try berry bushes and fruit trees. And if you can manage it, raise your own chickens and cows (for milk and meat).
We have a “necessary only” rule most of the time. I use our grocery money for what is necessary, not fun or nice. Organic fruit snacks are fun and nice, but aren’t necessary to our nutritionally development. Same with chips and crackers and other such stuff. We do buy them on occasion, but mostly I try to focus on filling our bellies with healthy, satisfying foods.
I’m not the greatest at this though so I’m hoping there are lots of other ideas!
Heather
simple home, I would love to know how you make your organic yogurt and how it is more cost effective than buying plain yogurt.
We try to eat a clean-eating/whole foods style diet. We usually do some sort of salad and soup almost every week. I try to make a large enough batch of soup to have enough for two meals.
We have a local produce market that always has produce on sale for good prices. I usually try to build some (if not all) of my meals around what’s on sale in the produce and meat. For example, green peppers were on sale this week for an excellent price. So we’re going to have stuffed peppers this week. I already had everything I needed to make the filling so the green peppers were the only thing I had to buy.
Mrs. K- I LOVE Greek plain yogurt, usually mixed with a bit of honey, fruit, and easy homemade granola. We eat it almost everyday for an afternoon snack. The organic kind is pretty expensive in the store, but I can make a big size at home and it costs a little less. I have a Miracle Yogurt Maker. In the evening, I just combine my milk with some leftover yogurt (has the culture needed), set it in the yogurt appliance with a towel wrapped around it, and it’s done by morning. You could make it in a sauce pan too, just be sure to check the temperature. To make it extra thick, you can strain it through a cheesecloth.
I forgot to mention about meats. We do buy a quarter of a grass fed cow every fall and freeze it. It does save money. We are not big meat eaters, so this lasts us many months.
One more thing…pick-your-own fruit farms are good too. Freeze the extra quantities for later use. That one is my favorite. 🙂
I certainly won’t make any claims to “eating organically” although I do try to buy our staple foods that way when I can. Like someone said above, I don’t buy organic snack foods like chips or fruit snacks – just because an oreo is organic, doesn’t make it healthy LOL.
That said, I really don’t have access to that much organic food here except what is in the grocery – like walmart – or at one small health food store. No certified organic farms locally.
Here is something that I did recently that I feel good about though – good enough to think that it is worth sharing. I started thinking about the kids tea that they drink every day – hot tea. I wanted to find organic tea for them, just plain black tea. Nowhere to be found – I could get green tea and white tea and all kinds of flavored teas, but no plain black tea, like lipton. I finally found it on the amazon.com grocery site – but I had to buy a case, six boxes with 100 bags each for about $26 – free super saver shipping. That comes out to a bit over $4per box – if I found that at the store I would be thrilled.
So I feel good about putting an organic product in place of a conventional one on a daily basis for my growing kids, and I am happy to suggest bulk shopping on Amazon.com grocery to find organics with (sometimes) free shipping!
simple home,
We like Greek style yogurt as well. I make what is called yogurt cheese. You basically strain plain yogurt (I put the plain yogurt in a strainer lined with coffee filters, sit the strainer over a bowl with a towel covering it, and place it in the refrigerator). You basically let it sit in the refrigerator until it’s the thickness you want. It can get almost as thick as cream cheese consistency. In fact, we make a spread for toast, bagels, etc. by mixing some of the yogurt cheese that is really thick and a little agave nectar. Sometimes we’ll add in fresh fruit as well.
Hi Lindsey,
We have a very large garden, so eat fresh vegetables many months of the year. I freeze or can vegetables for winter. Our garden is organic – we use composted manure for fertilizer (easier when you live on a farm) and natural pest control.
Grains we buy from an organic farm. We go in with other families to buy a palate (50 bags worth); then it is cheaper.
Making connections with farmers is great, if you can. We farm pork, but don’t eat the stuff, so trade with a neighbor for beef. When he gets his beef butchered, he takes one along for us and we get it at a good price. This same neighbor raises chickens every second year, so we help butcher them when they’re ready and get chickens in the freezer at the cost of raising them (you have to like blood and guts for that though). Our neighbor’s mother raises bees, so we buy unpasteurized honey for a very good price from her. Egg layers are easy to keep, and if you can’t keep them yourself, it is usually easy to find someone with extra eggs for cheap.
We are very blessed to have the neighbor that we do, but everywhere we have lived, we have been able to find a lot of home grown food available. I would try making connections at a Farmer’s Market, or going to a local agricultural fair.
Have to go, nasty gastroenteritis in the house. I am tired of laundry.
Gaeleen
Gaeleen – hope everyone feels well soon.
We do buy organic where we can and in regards treats and any snacks we might eat, we make them from scratch. I do insist on organic milk and eggs, and the veg and fruit that are known to be really bad for pesticides – and after that I buy what we can afford. I make all my own cleaning products, and avoid chemicals in the yard.
I have to go now – I can only be online for a few minutes at a time, I have damaged my shoulder and I am in horrible pain, so cannot sit still for long. Sorry Lindsey – I am still trying to get things together for the blog, but hubby is away, I have this shoulder thing, and one daughter is in bed with a concussion – ugh! There is always something it seems. Promise I will do better with the blog – ladies if you can help out with ideas, please do – I feel bad that I cannot do more at the moment – Lindsey is doing such a great job – lett us have some more great ideas. Linda
Great suggestions, ladies! Thank you, and keep ’em coming!
For those that make their own yogurt, can you share a recipe or how you do it. I do not have a yogurt maker. Is it possible to make yogurt without one? Also, we buy raw milk from a farmer locally. Can I use this milk for yogurt-making?
Linda,
I’m so sorry things are down at your house again. I’ll be praying for grace and mercy for your family. Don’t worry about the blog, please. It’s not a big deal in the grand scheme of things.
Gaeleen, I hope your house gets to feeling better too. Tummy bugs are relentless when it comes to everyone in the house getting sick at once. yuck!
Blessings to all,
Lindsey
Linda, I will be praying for ya’ll today.
Gaeleen, ya’ll too!
Lindsey,
I make yogurt from raw milk without a maker; it is slightly different from chemically altered milk. I’ve done it two ways. I am too tired currently (just finished tilling up Ga. clay for muscadine vine planting, whew!)
I also have links for finding u-pick farms locally to yourself. You have the Eat Wild address.
Talk to you later!
Rachel
Cultures for Health has some great yogurt cultures, some of which you don’t even need to heat the milk. Just stir it into room temperature milk and let it sit on your counter for a while. They are also very mild tasting and you can re-use the yogurt to make more yogurt (just save out 1/4 cup or so and add it to the new milk). I love them!!!! Mainly because I’m lazy and don’t want to deal with heating and cooling and cooking and such. I just stir it into my mason jar full of room temp milk and I have yogurt!
Hi, I’m newish around here but I just can’t help posting the easiest yogurt making ever! I use my crockpot and about 1/2 gallon of milk. Set the temp on low for about 2 1/2 hours. Unplug the crock pot and let it sit for about 3 more hours. When 3 hours have passed, scoop out 2 cups of the warmish milk and put it in a bowl. Whisk in 1/2 cup of store-bought live/active culture yogurt. Then dump the bowl contents back into the crockpot. Stir to combine. Put the lid back on your crockpot. Keep it unplugged, and wrap a heavy bath towel all the way around the crock for insulation.
Go to bed, or let it sit for 8 hours.Viola! In the morning you have yogurt. It is a little runny for my tastes so I line a colander with coffee filters like PP and let some of the whey drain off. It doesn’t take terribly long.
I also second the garden, but we have a large family and it is taking us forever to get our garden to the size that will actually feed us. We don’t really have soil, we live on top of limestone and a small dusting of dirt. 🙂
Also like a PP we just make incremental changes on the things that are most important to me at the time. I try to make all of the things we eat, not many convienence foods. And if I cant buy organic then I just get the least processed.
HTH
I think I’m going to have to try and make homemade yogurt now! 🙂
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