The Final Bits, Cleaning Supplies and Miscellaneous

  My mother seemed to always include any cleaning supplies in with her grocery budget.  It may have simply appeared that way to me because she always bought her cleaning supplies at the grocery store with very few exceptions.  Either way, that's what I picked up so that's what I do.  Could you imagine doing laundry with store bought on this budget?!  Not likely unless you do very little.  We do 6-8 loads a week, that's 24 - 32 loads a month.  I know we're on the low end with this because there are only 3 of us.  If I were to purchase a ready made detergent it would be Dropps, maybe.  I'll be honest, I haven't looked into detergents since about 2008 when I started making my own.  A quick search had the bag of 80 for $14.97 which would last my house about 2 months.  Not bad actually.  Tide, etc. are ridiculous though.  I remember buying twice a month the ones that were supposed to do 66 loads.  My detergent now?  Based on lots of recipes online and what I've found works best for PT funk it's 1 box 20 Mule Team Borax, 2 boxes baking soda, 1 box washing soda, and 1 bar grated soap.  I've learned the soap really doesn't matter - I try to use castile bar soap (if you're lucky you can find it for about $1.50 a 4oz bar online - so make sure it's worth the S&H). Borax goes for about $4 a box (always check for coupons, usually $.25), I get baking soda for $2 a box, washing soda the same.  so for about $9.50 I make a big batch of detergent.  I have a scoop from oxyclean (1 oz or about 2T) and that's how much goes into a load, 2 scoops if it's particularly dirty.  My guess is I get 3 months use out of this.  It takes so long to go through it, I always forget when I made the last batch!  If you feel the need for fabric softener, white vinegar is a wonderful thing.  We don't use any kind of softener in the dryer (initially tennis balls will help reduce static, after about 5 or so washes the static will go away).  I have tried soap nuts, they just didn't work for us for laundry.
  I have 6 other cleaners in my house.  A citrus vinegar - where I've put citrus peels into white vinegar and just keep adding more vinegar to the mix, baking soda, rubbing alcohol, tea tree oil, dish soap, and liquid castile soap.  Dr. Bronner's is the brand I use and I really like the eucalyptus scent.  You can find it at Sprouts or most any other health food store or online.  With these 6 (and water) I clean everything in my house.  Rubbing alcohol has 1 use - glass.  I'll clean it first as needed then get it a streak free shine with the rubbing alcohol.  Bonus - rubbing alcohol is a disinfectant.  Initially I did a simple 1:1 vinegar water mix for my all purpose, but DH couldn't stand it.  I switched to soap nut liquid which I made myself from soap nuts, but it gets moldy smelling very quickly in Texas.  You may have better luck where you are at.  I now do 1:1 citrus vinegar to water plus a few drops of tea tree oil and a few drops of dish soap (Kirkland has a more environmentally friendly one that is less than $9 for 135 oz.  We've had the same bottle for almost 9 months now).  Tea tree oil may throw you a bit at first, you can get 4oz for about $15 - it lasts forever though.  I've had mine at least a year and I'm not even 1/3 through the bottle.  Baking soda gets mixed with castile soap (though it doesn't have to) to make a paste for a scrub or simply used as a deodorizer for carpets.  Sometimes I use castile soap, sometimes I don't.  It works just fine either way.  I have cleared military housing with these plus apple cider vinegar to get out calcium deposits - twice.  My all purpose is even for cleaning the floors now.  Before I used a heavy splash of vinegar, a good squirt of castile soap, and hot water.  Now I just use my spray bottle.  Works great, less work.  To be honest, I haven't picked up a bottle of castile soap since we got back stateside about a year ago.  You can totally do this without it.

Ah, the post housing quick fixes that lead to certain areas more prone to holding grime and bathtub crayon colors.

This is what the consistency of my paste is - I'll work on the faucets another time.  Just baking soda, dish soap, and water.

I know, I should have done the same angle, but it's the same area - and I was tired of being hunched over sitting on the edge of the tub.

  Shampoos, body wash, and poufs get included in this as well.  I'm looking for something more eco and wallet friendly - when I find it, I'll certainly share!  In the meantime, forgive me that most of this is not eco friendly.  This month my total on cleaners was $13.78.
  Miscellaneous means juices, cookies, crap DH wanted when I accidentally took him shopping usually.  This month it was chocolate milk, a gallon juice, ice cream, a cookie mix, and frosting (A&W root beer float mix and frosting - they were excited for it.  It tasted like crap and got thrown away) for a total of $23.95.  Bringing my grand total to $241.82.  Even with the stuff I didn't intend to buy I was $8.18 under.  Usually I would have been the full $32.13 which would have gone straight into supplying pantry with flour, baking soda, pastas, beans, and other grains as needed.  When I get my pantry organized I'll show you before and after pictures, promise.

Menu Planning, Dinner

  This can take me anywhere from 1-3 hours depending on how much I'm interrupted and how many cookbooks I pull out.  I try to stick with just 4 cookbooks.  This time I looked through 4 plus my binder of printed/pulled out recipes.  I also try to make at least 1 meal a week that is health diet specific, as in the Ornish Diet, Dr. Fuhrman, or the TLC diet.  Since the heart scare and with DH having high cholesterol to boot, I try to keep things in check as much as he lets me.  They all have some pretty good recipes, but use very little salt.  I certainly fudge when making and add salt.  I can't do no salt.  I've restricted his intake a lot, and his blood pressure is fine.  I make these choices based on overall heart health and cholesterol health.  All three are good diets and while Ornish can be super pricey, it doesn't have to be.  I skipped one week this month because we cleaned pantry - one of the reasons I'm under budget I'm sure, but you're about to see how crazy under budget I am.

April
12 - Burritos (subbed for steak since under budget and DH and the boy had been asking so much)
13 - Nell's Southern Eggplant Dressing (sans eggs, I used it as a side dish), Ornish
14 - Eggplant Cannelloni with Pine Nut Romesco Sauce, Fuhrman

eggplant cannelloni, too spicy for the boy and next time a different grain.  I blended up the eggplant and made them bowls instead since they don't like eggplant.

15 - Thai Yellow Curry, binder (changed out for Jamie Oliver's Jalfrezi)

scented basmati: bay leaves, cardmom pod, whole allspice 

jalfreizi with california veggies and chickpeas.  DH and I liked it, boy thought it was too spicy without the chilies.

16 - Leftovers
17 - out
18 - Pizza
19 - Baked Chimichangas, binder (they lie, this makes about 19.  I make 2 without rice for the boy)
20 - Sloppy Janes, binder (not the right recipe, but darn close and I may use this one instead)
21 - Simple Italian Sausages and pasta, binder (these make great sandwiches too if you slice and pan fry them)
22 - Panzanella, Klein
23 - Leftovers
24 - out
25 - Pizza
26 - Burritos, I just know these.  I'll share the recipes later.
27 - Mushroom Stroganoff, kale, noodles; Fuhrman
28 - Spaghetti Marinara, I just know.  I'll share the recipe later.
29 - Spicy Thai Braised Kale and Tofu, Fuhrman
30 - Leftovers

I keep vegetable scraps and veggies past their prime in the freezer, when I get enough, I make a batch of veggie broth.

  We have decided to be out of town from the 17 - 20.  All of the things for these meals can be stored until next month.  If that were not the case, I would simply change a few meals around to be able to have that ability.  They will reappear next month instead.  Obviously I care nothing about doing an Easter meal.  We absolutely celebrate the commercialism that is Easter and it makes me crazy.  I make my son do Lent, "If you want to enjoy the awesomeness that is Easter and Christmas, you have to suffer the suck of Lent."  I let us all off the hook this year because, well, pregnancy brain and I couldn't keep it together!  So total on dinners was $99.07.
  Ok, so pizza isn't high on the healthy list.  Well, you can make it much better with a number of things.  For starters, make it yourself.  Dough is quite simple, I double the recipe for 3 pizzas.  Substitute 1/3 white flour with whole wheat flour, I don't even have white sugar in my house so I can assure you that raw sugar works just fine in this.  I also use safflower or extra virgin olive oil in place of vegetable oil.  Then the cheese, veggies, and meats are all as healthy as you choose.
  Tentatively I'm at $204.09 for 3 weeks of meals.  Up next is cleaning, because that is part of my grocery budget.  I reigned it in more than normal because this month I happened to need to do almost 3 full weeks of meals on one paycheck because of dates/the bank we use pays us early.  If you're military you understand that this happens sometimes.  The bank paid us the 11th because of the weekend, it won't be until 18 days after that we get another check.  No big deal when you figure out budgeting, have a few cheap meals, and keep some staples in your pantry at all times.  Eating out does not figure into our grocery budget.  It goes into our entertainment budget.

Menu Planning, Lunch

  Lunch is an awkward beast for me.  My son is pretty simple, but my husband and I try to eat lunch together, so that's a whole different animal.  Weekend lunches are absolutely leftovers or whatever you can scrounge up without going into the food for meals.  Weekdays Kiddo gets bean, cheese, and spinach quesadilla; pbj, rice balls, and pizza bites.  His go with veggies are carrots, celery, and spinach (the boy can chow down on some spinach!).  A few things we need to talk about before we go further, let's start with cheese.  He gets 2 days with cheese (each of these are once a week meals, the rice balls he gets twice), I do not get pre shredded as it generally has cellulose in it.  I am working up the courage to make my own since we almost always use mozzarella and with frequency.  The goal is organic milk and simply using that in the quesadillas as well.  So now rice balls, brown rice doesn't stick as well so I kinda just fake the funk and hope it stays together.  Haven't had any complaints yet.  Finally those pizza bites.  I *know,* pepperoni.  Guess what - I just omit that.  If we have some sort of organic meat, I'll throw that in instead.  Otherwise, they're just cheese.  The spray oil I just substitute with evoo.  Easy peasy.  Don't throw out a well loved recipe just because it has nasty things in it, see what you can do to fix it.  I have also found I can easily do 1:1 with whole wheat flour and white flour in this recipe.
  I'm going to tell you one dinner right now - Wednesdays are our leftovers night.  Which means Thursday and Friday are leftovers for lunch.  We love Indian food, you know what can really easy to whip up?  The very same.  Some basmati rice, tomato sauce, curry, evoo, peas, carrots, and if I'm pushing it chickpeas.  I may use coconut milk in the sauce as well depending on what I feel like - and since Boyo is out of the equation, bird's eye peppers.  Up until recently I used S&B curry - no, this is not a good choice.  While MSG is questionable, I'd rather just avoid it altogether (though it's not a stressing factor for me).  I am looking forward to trying Jamie Oliver's recipes and will let you know what I think - also their keeping/freezability factors.  Pasta is pretty quick to cook up, throw in some veggies and butter or evoo and you're good.  Lastly, adults still like pbj's and we're not exception.  Though I have long since graduated from strawberry jelly to sour cherry (Smucker's is healthy but not moral [GMO labeling], I'm lucky enough to get German brands at the Commissary).
  Groceries:
2 loaves bread (or 1 home made for DH and myself)
Tortillas
Organic Spinach
Cheese
Jelly
Celery
Carrots
Tomato Sauce (15oz can)
Tomato Paste (6oz can)
Fruit Snacks
Organic Chocolate Milk (Kirkland again, individual sizes)
100% juice boxes
Garlic
  Pantry:
Pinto beans
Salt
Brown Rice
Basmati Rice
Ginger (freezes great in whole root form)
Misc. Spices
  That's about $52.78 in lunches, drinks are expensive accounting for about $21.  Yes, we eat a lot of grains and I know the research on grains.  I do my best to stick with whole grains and trying to make sure the ratio is about 1:1 grains to veggies/proteins.  I've tried to cut out and cut down on grains, in fact - we've successfully cut down on grains.  Everything is a process!  I'm no where near perfect.  My long term goal is to get to only 1 lunch a week with a grain - because grains come up at dinner again.  Tortillas are a hard find for healthy as most have hydrogenated oils in them, and making them has proven difficult.  Generally they are not soft and pliable.  Check ingredients on this one, you may luck out and find some that don't have hydrogenated oils.  In the mean time, I keep looking for a recipe that works (sans lard, but that was obvious, right?).  Canned tomato products are a very hard one for me.  Unless I'm at Sprouts, I can either get organic and against my food morals or both not organic and against my food morals.  Obviously I try to get this at Sprouts.  Muir Glenn is organic, and they often have coupons and if I'm hitting the end of my budget I may fudge and just buy Muir Glenn (or if I forgot and need it for dinner that night, Sprouts is on the other side of town).  Muir Glenn contributed money against GMO food labeling more than once, their parent company is General Mills.  Fruit snacks may make you wonder, but there are a number of different better ones out there.  Based on ingredients alone Fruit Roll Ups does Simply Fruit (natural flavor should raise some red flags though), Cliff Kids does an organic fruit twist (which has carnauba wax and a few other questionable things), and Annie's does ones as well (carnauba wax and natural ingredients) - all of which are better than most, but still not perfect.  There are all kinds of ways to make your own, but I do like to have some premade back ups in case I slack.  Also, watch your gelatin if you go that route - no Knox, Great Lakes always gets rave reviews for health benefits.  I'm not knowledgeable on it myself, but one of my personally trusted sources recommends the green over the orange or red.  Juice boxes you can actually save some money on because not only is Juicy Juice 100%, but they don't show up on my Buycott list.  Of course, my important morals may be different from yours so check it out yourself.  It's a great app.  Finally spices.  Spices can often be a source for concern especially if made in China.  Kirkland spices (at least the ones I buy) are made in the USA.  Always check to see where they are made - not just packaged!  Is it always better to make your own?  Yes, but the reality is not everyone has time for that.  I'm all for doing the best you can.  Everyone has their own limitations.  Spice blends are a whole different story for me though, I always blend my own.  It's far less expensive and it takes out any worry of "natural flavors" or the addition of milk products (really taco seasoning, why?).
  I am looking at $47.78 this month with purchasing 2 more loaves of bread and one more box of yogurt (always check expiration dates before buying for the month!). I'm going to add another $5 for surcharges/tax on lunch because I'm terrible at guessing this now after Germany who included it all in the price before the register, so $52.78. Because I came in so under budget for lunches, I picked up 3 Buddy Fruits last minute.  They were $.79 each at the commissary.  I was honestly expecting to have to tell you why you don't make last minute choices like that without consulting your Buycott app, but I lucked out.  Which makes me think I'd checked them before because it's not the first time buying.  We always get banana smoothie - the milk is rBST and hormone free.  Not organic, but it gets another fruit in the boy.  My boy will tear up spinach, celery, and carrots like nobody's business; but it's pulling teeth for fruits.  I knew I would be lazy and not make fruit leather, so I bought 2 boxes.  Sometimes it's about knowing yourself and your limitations.  Things have been crazy, and if I do happen to make some, these will still be fine next month or when at least for a while.

Menu Planning, Breakfast

  Menu planning is the best way to budget your grocery bill.  I've done it with just dinners and with all three meals plus snacks.  All three meals tends to have me slamming my head against the wall frustrated that I can't just write "leftovers" for every lunch and "cereal" or "pancakes" for every breakfast.  So, what to do to prevent total meltdown?  M-F we alternate cereal, pancakes, and toast with Nutella for the boy.  Ok, so not Nutella, but close enough for him.  I alternate it on the schedule knowing that each morning I'll still be asking what he wants.  By alternating with cereal, I mean once a week.  That's his treat, he picks out his cereal (currently it's Krave Double Chocolate - gag.).  Let me tell you, crap cereal once a week is far better than dealing with DH whining - yes, not the boy, DH.  I have to say, he's my biggest hurdle in eating healthy.  You'll notice I make compromises - sometimes more than I should.  Right now, a lot more than I should.  I just don't have the energy to argue, I forgot how tired being pregnant makes you!
  Mostly we're doing toast with Nutella or pancakes.  Chocolate chip pancakes.  Using Aunt Jemima pancake mix.  I know, not healthy.  Again, sometimes compromises are in order.  Boyo used to eat mom's pancakes; ok, PPK's pancakes sans sugar.  Potentially he tried someone else's pancakes and it was over.  So AJ got a bit of a makeover.  The mix is 1/5 AJ 4/5 home made bisquick, I simply omit the shortening.  In almost a year of this, kiddo nor myself have noticed or cared for the lack of whatever shortening is supposed to do.  I'm a total pancake snob.  I also insist on banana chocolate chip pancakes every other time I make them.  It makes me feel a little better inside.  We do a ground flax egg (1T ground flax + 3T hot tap water, I get this together first and let it just sit until I'm ready for it, at which time I give it a quick stir and it's at egg consistency) which saves big $ and gives a boost of heart healthy Omegas.  For bread - again, my kid won't eat home made... seriously, you're killing me smalls.  I looked for the least expensive bread with the fewest compromises that the boy would still eat.  It took a while, and it's not high on my moral scale, but Mrs. Baird's Honey Wheat bread is our best option.  I'd made a honey whole wheat bread in the past (using agave), but the link is dead.  Here's one that looks fairly promising though.  I'd go with regular whole wheat flour, sifted and wheat germ sprinkled on top.  I'd probably also skip the lemon juice.  However, you can make *any* bread recipe you have healthier simply by subbing in some whole wheat flour along with white flour.  You can usually get away with a 1/3 substitution before having to make any major changes.
  Right now the nutritionist wanted me to make sure I got enough protein (which I rolled my eyes at, but I'll play along) so I'm doing toast with pb and green smoothies for breakfast.  DH has home made oatmeal packets at work.  When I get squirrely, I make up some muffins and freeze them.  I have tried overnight oats, maybe it's my lack of ability to heat them but I'm not a fan.  I tend to favor sweet over savory for breakfast, and so does my family, so our choices reflect that.  I menu plan for the whole month, but this is the planner I've found that works best for me.  I simply print out four (which also keeps the fresh foods needed separated, which is exceedingly helpful when shopping).
  So the basic breakdown for breakfast buying is:
2 boxes of cereal (1 for DH on the weekend potential that's what he wants)
1 loaf of bread
1 jar Chocolate Hazelnut spread (making your own is really your healthiest option, but if you don't have a high powered blender, don't bother)
20 bananas
4 bags frozen fruits
1 jar peanut butter
Oatmeal (look for bulk)
Brown Sugar 1lb
Cinnamon
Milk 5 gallons
1 box AJ pancake mix (breaks my heart to buy this)
Soy milk case (Kirkland Organic)
  Pantry staples are:
Kale (freezer, every other month purchase)
Dates (6+ months, they dry out some but are still good)
Chocolate Chips
Vanilla (I actually use rum since we tend to have it in the house, you can see mine is not quite done yet)
Flour
Baking Powder
Salt
Ground Flax seed
Eggs (weekend use only)
Oil
Cocoa Powder
[Hazelnuts if making my own spread]

   So that's the majority of my breakfast staples.  2 boxes of cereal, my husband makes a better health choice but Kellog's is not on my list of brands to buy; soy milk (though we get the case), bread, vanilla (brewing in an old Kirkland vanilla bottle), peanut butter, coco powder, Dateland dates (in Arizona, we pick up when we drive through to San Diego, I really enjoy the Halawi so I'll snack on them as well.  I see cooking ones on the site, may be order only or new), my frozen fruits are mostly covered - you can see peaches and a bit of blueberries, kale (from Costco), milk, "bisquick mix," chocolate chips, and that jar is ground flax.  Oats, brown sugar, and cinnamon are missing.
   Many of the Budget shoppers have a big freezer, we do not.  Maybe one day.  In the mean time, that means I do weekly shopping.  *However,* having just spent 7.5 years in Germany, this may be the best way I've found to shop.  I get fresh produce weekly and stick within my budget.  If you can stick to your list, this may be the healthiest option for you as well.  I shop so little in the middle aisles, that when I need something from them I'm never sure where it is anymore!  We are military, so the commissary is an option for us.  There are things I get there, but there are a lot of things I do not.  Cereal, bread, hazelnut spread (if I'm lazy), frozen fruit, peanut butter, pancake mix, ground flax seed, and baking powder come from there (baking powder mostly because I can't find aluminum free in many places).  I never buy fresh produce there unless I *need* it for dinner that night.  I'll be honest about the ground flax - I buy it there because that's usually where I remember to buy it, I haven't shopped it because I buy it so infrequently and it's already less than $3 for at least a 3 month supply.  Sticking with the breakfast list only, oatmeal and brown sugar come from Sprouts.  Milk, soy milk, cinnamon, chocolate chips, vanilla (should I not have any ready), flour, and salt come from Costco.  If you're lucky your Costco will carry Eagle Mills Ultra Grain flour.  If not, I wish you the best of luck finding anything but ConAgra at a decent price.  I cannot seem to find online where Sprouts gets their bulk flour from.  Bananas I get as need with whomever has them cheapest (which is usually the commissary.  Look for the bagged ones on sale because they're "ugly").  We cannot always afford organic milk or eggs, but depending on what's already sitting in my pantry I try.  Kirkland brand milk is RBST-free, and they are a great company to buy from, so there's those 2 aspects.  We're looking at about $60 of the grocery budget right here - without needing pantry staples, should I need everything on the list.  Sometimes we use less milk, pancakes, oatmeal, brown sugar, bananas, cereal, or even soy milk; so even this can fluctuate greatly.  This is one of the reasons I like shopping weekly or every other week as opposed to once a month.  Things that are about to spoil simply don't get purchased the next week (read bananas).  I did put the soy milk as a monthly buy, it's closer to 2 cases for every 3 months.  So far I'm sitting at $38.27 for breakfast, I still have 3 gallons of milk to buy for a total of about $47.24.  My guess on taxes/surcharge will be to add an additional $5 for a grand total of $52.24.

Before we get started...

  ...a little about me.  I am far from a perfectionist.  If you are experienced in both of these areas, this blog will likely be little help to you.  I rarely coupon, most coupons are for either stuff I won't put in my body or brands I am opposed to buying.  That being said, a search will result in some organic coupon sources (there are more, but most repeat what's given in these 3, even these repeat).  I compromise on food with my husband.  I am the tree hugging, vegan, hippie in the house; not him.  He fights me when he really wants something or he really wants the boy to experience something food wise.  Sometimes we compromise, sometimes one of us caves.  It's not always him who caves.  Oreos have graced my shelves far more times than I would like to admit.  As have brownie mixes, white rice, ConAgra white flour, and other things.  My son loves Aunt Jemima's pancake mix - I cut it with a home made version 1:5 before he notices.  I haven't tested whole wheat flour in this yet, and I'm pretty sure it will fail his pancake test.  I don't make everything from scratch.  I love baking, I enjoy cooking.  I hate cleaning with a fiery passion that knows no bounds.  Dishes are the worst, especially baking dishes - all those dang corners.  In my house, cleaning supplies are part of the grocery budget.  A lot of budgeters separate them (or maybe they're all Molly Weasly and magic filth away), but my mom always included them so that's what I learned.  If you do not, I'd say that I spend about $25 monthly on cleaning supplies at most.  Since I include cleaning supplies in my groceries though, I'll include telling you what I use and how.  Mostly, I'm still learning.  Every day I find something else to omit from my diet, or add to my diet, or change in my diet, or some other cause that leads me to have to find a new brand.

DH and I in Trier, I believe.

 
  ...a little about you.  You need to decide where your values are and what potential compromises (if any) you are willing to make.  Do you care about the LGBTQ community?  If a brand, including it's parent company, had donated against GMO labeling at any point?  Are you looking for cruelty free?  Buycott is a great source and it's even a app for your smart phone.  Just scan the barcode and if it's in their resources it will let you know if the product conflicts with any of your chosen campaigns.  It will list what campaigns the product conflicts with or supports (you may find that a particular brand does both).  If it conflicts with something that is very important to you, how will you respond?  Will you drive across town to buy a different brand?  Take the time to think about these things and work them in.  It doesn't have to be all or nothing, and it certainly doesn't have to happen all at once.

  The most important thing I want you to take away is that this is your life, your body, your food (well, and your family).  Outside opinions do not need to be your own, they do not need to influence your choices.  Your morals and values and willingness to compromise are your own and no one on this blog will look down upon you for that.  That's why I'll try to stay away from most political issues on this page.  Buycott includes some, but mostly it's about food issues.  Food issues I will attack and research and try to make you as knowledgeable as possible on them (you will find there are times where food issues and politics go hand in hand, that is the only time I will discuss politics).

  You may wonder where I get my information.  I will always do my best to link back to a source, even if it means I'm giving you an Amazon link to a book.  I have done a lot of reading in the past few years and sometimes I forget where I read something.  When that happens I generally back track and pull that information, but sometimes I may not realize I've put out information that I should have sourced (because it's become such common knowledge in my world); please, feel free to make me aware!  You'll also notice this blog is short on pictures.  I'll get there as we go along, promise.  Pictures of dinners, cleaners, before and afters of things I've cleaned.  We're just not there yet.

2014 Food Revolution Summit

  I just ran across this today and am super excited!  Free information from a number of respected sources?  Hi, yes, sign me up now!  I hope you all take this opportunity!  The speakers I will for sure be listening to are Dr. Dean Ornish (we had a bit of a heart scare with my husband a few years ago and while his diet is not cheap, it's amazing!  I blend his with TLC and Fuhrman) who is the first speaker, Jane Goodall (yes, as in Gorillas in the Mist), and Jonathan Safran Foer.  If you do not know who Foer is, I fell in love with his approach to ethical eating in Eating Animals.  Unlike many vegetarian or vegan sources, in this book he talks about his personal experience and simply puts it out there.  He's not trying to convince you or change you and even leaves it open to if he could find a way to ensure his meat was ethically raised, he'd eat it again.  I'm sure some people would find that a cop out, but I enjoyed the honesty of it - I thought it made a very strong statement about his values as well; even though he enjoys something, he won't contribute to the mistreatment of food.  Michael Pollen tries to gloss over this issue, but Foer really takes it to heart and comes up with a solution that works for him.  After all, isn't that what it's all about?  Finding your own balance of morals and ethics and how to apply them to your life in a way that is sustainable and honest.
  Vani Hari will also be speaking about "how your voice can change food systems."  I may not always agree with Food Babe, but she is amazing at activism and getting results!

What is healthful & moral eating?

  For purposes of this blog, moral eating has more to do with how the food is grown and the policies and politics of food manufacturers.  Full disclosure, I am vegan though my husband and son are not.  I'd like to think the "healthful" part was self explanatory.  There are so many people out there that already talk about eating on the cheap, and I've learned some things from them.  One of the things I've learned is the automatic correlation between cheap and unhealthy.  It makes me sad to think that people have relegated themselves quite often to foods that are not even good choices for our bodies, let alone our environment.  Given that I am vegan, you will not see much meat or dairy on here.  My compromise for my husband and son is that I will cook meat once a week and they can have vegetarian meals the rest of the week provided he grates the cheese or whatnot that needs to be prepared.

  Some of you may see the $500 a month goal for a family of 3 plus a baby on the way as a big one, but the reality is that there is a huge grocery struggle in my house.  DH and I often butt heads on what goes in the cart, which is why I always try to do my shopping without him.  I also want to point out that for a first world county, the United States spends far less on food than other countries; we are also near the top for food waste.  Comparing the two sets of statistics, you can easily draw a correlation between the cost of food and the value of food.  It appears to be much easier to waste cheap food that you can easily replace.  I'm horribly guilty of this.  So with these ideas, the reality of what I deal with, and the goal of feeding my family as healthfully as possible - I set my food budget.

  Healthy means a lot of different things to different people.  We all grew up learning the food pyramid, some of us have seen the new food pyramid as well.  A few of you may have even read In Defense of Food by Michael Pollen.  What I'm guessing many of you have not seen is Dr. Fuhrman's food pyramid.  This is one that settle well with me.  

Doesn't that just look more reasonable?  I'm not going to say I agree wholeheartedly with everything Dr. Fuhrman says, sometimes he makes me roll my eyes.  However, he is a great resource overall and I am more likely to agree with what I've learned from him than what I learned in school.  So yes, I will do my best to show you what I've gathered an learned.  Think of me as that friend that has to know what's going on and does lots of research to get the answer.  You get to benefit from all that work in one place.  I'll share books, articles, and resources.  I'll make it clear when it's my opinion based on the information presented or when the information is very clear cut.  I'll make excuses, I'll make mistakes, I'll be human.

  I have read one of Dr. Fuhrman's books and picked up a cookbook of his.  I enjoy reading articles by him or based on his studies.  Fasting and Eating for Health, and the cookbook Eat to Live are good resources.  Fasting and Eating for Health absolutely had me thinking he was a quack at times, I'm not going to lie.  On a whole, it has a lot of great information.  It got me to try fasting, with a bit more research into it, and I was pleasantly surprised when my period regulated.  Up until that point I'd spent my entire pubescent life fighting to regulate my period and hormones.  Fasting for two days regulated my period for just about an entire year.  I fasted again when irregularity came back up, and once again it regulated.  I'd had no idea the impact of food on my cycle!  It was one of the better discoveries I've made in my journey and it was due entirely to reading this book.  I was told at about 16 that my body was "an inhospitable environment" and I would be lucky to have children, but I'd have a better chance the younger I was.  No, she was not promoting teenage pregnancy.  We had our first child in 2005 and while we wanted a second, it wasn't happening.  We didn't go in for fertility, there was a bit of a language barrier as we were living in Germany and I'd had friends who'd had awful experiences.  I didn't want to go through that myself.  About three months after my second fast I was concerned the fasting didn't work this time.  Maybe I hadn't done it for long enough?  Two months later we all decided I should take a pregnancy test, and there it was.  

  The food that goes in your mouth, how much and what, has direct influence on your health and well being. Make the most of it!