Healthy Food on a Budget part 3

April 27, 2018 The Provident Princess 0 Comments

In an ideal world, all our food would be grown locally and organically. Instead, most of our conventionally grown food is drenched in toxic pesticides, fungicides and poisonous gases originally developed for chemical warfare and banned in most developed countries, including the European Union.

For example, lets take the worst offender: strawberries. The USDA is responsible for making sure our food is safe. It washes the produce like a normal consumer would and in some cases peels it, then tests it to see if there are any remaining substances. In 2014 and 2015, 99% of all strawberries had pesticide residues with almost a third having 10 or more pesticides per strawberry! The dirtiest had over 21. On. one. strawberry.

How can I as a mother feel good about feeding my little babies that? These hazardous chemicals are linked to cancer, developmental damage, reproductive disorders or sterility, hormone disruption and neurological problems.

I wish the United States had tougher regulations on what could be added to or used on our foods. Unfortunately it's not the case so we have to rely on optional labeling guidlines like Non-GMO project verified, USDA Organic and others to try to keep our families safe.

But, having those extra companies or programs checking and verifying our food adds to the cost and most of us can't afford to buy everything we eat grass-fed or pasture-raised, organic, local and humane certified.
So what can we do to keep the budget down but still afford healthy food? Here is the last list of ways I keep our food costs down while ensuring I am providing my family with healthy, safe food to eat. You can find part 1 and part 2 here and here.

If you can't afford buying everything organic then prioritize what would make the biggest impact on reducing your family's pesticide exposure. I love the Environmental Working Group. They do all the hard work for us. They analyze all the USDA testing results and rank our produce from those containing the highest pesticide residues to the lowest. If you can buy organic items of the top 12 foods with the most pesticide residues, you can reduce your family's pesticide exposure dramatically.
You can find the new 2018 Dirty Dozen list here. If you have a recipe that calls for an item that is really expensive to buy organic, substitute with a more budget friendly option.  Also, a great tip I have found it to buy from local farmers in my area. Many times they have great organic practices but they haven't gotten the 'organic' certification because it is so costly.
dirty dozen list, switch ingredients. local might actually be better but just not have the label.

MEAL PLAN  ____________________________________________________________________
 Do you know that the average family of 4 throws away almost $2,200 of food every year! That is a vacation somewhere every year you could be paying for instead. One way to avoid throwing so much money away is by meal planning. I am the worst at meal planning. I am used to just having a stocked fridge and pantry and 'shopping' from that when I want to make something. But I am trying to be better this year and plan out our meals. If every item you buy has a plan and a purpose, there will be very little waste left over.

BUY IN BULK   __________________________________________________________________ 
If you were to choose just one of my previous tips for saving money while still buying healthy, organic food; the one that would make the biggest impact is to cook all your food at home. It saves so much money. But, if you are cooking a lot, you will start going through ingredients a lot quicker so it's a great idea to buy food in bulk. Especially your cooking staples. Usually it seems you can save at least half by buying in bulk vs smaller packages. Costco is the best. Or Sprouts Farmers Market if you have one. That is my favorite store for getting great quality produce at a fraction of it's normal price. You can even buy their bulk bin items in bulk if you ask. I bought a 25kg  bag of quinoa for $1.99 a lb. If you wonder how to store all of your bulk item, stay tuned. I have a post about that coming up.

PLANT-BASED DIET  _____________________________________________________________
You probably knew this one was coming up but it really is such a money saver. We aren't vegans but I love to make a lot of vegan meals. 1- because they are super healthy and full of essential vitamins and minerals our Standard American Diet sorely lacks. 2- because they are so inexpensive. We love eating quinoa tacos, even my husband who is leery of my plant-based aspirations for our family. Just think about how much a pound of grass-fed ground beef costs ($6.99/lb). Now think about how much a pound of quinoa costs and how much more food that actually is volume-wise. Just in case you don't know off the top of your head. A pound of quinoa is about 2 cups dry. When it cooks, it turns to about 4 cups! So that is 8 cups of cooked quinoa per pound. Even if you are paying $3.99/lb for a tiny bag of organic quinoa you are still way ahead of the game over buying meat. When I make our quinoa tacos, the recipe calls for 2 cups cooked. So I could make the same meal 4 times for almost half what it would cost to make the grass-fed meat version once. If you are not sure how your family would view meatless meals, start slowly, maybe mixing half and half.

Last night I made grass-fed ground beef mixed with an even volume of cooked wheat berries. I just browned them up together so the wheat berries pick up the beef flavor and no one could tell the difference. This was for chili, but I made a similar thing a few days earlier and I just mixed it with taco seasoning and refried beans to help it all stick together in the taco. And they were delicious. Meatless meals really aren't as intimidating as they seem.

My oldest asked me the other day if she could have fruit if she were a vegetarian or just vegetables. I then told her of course she could have fruit and explained everything else she could have as a vegetarian then surprised her by saying, "everything you have eaten for the past 3 days has been vegetarian." She had no idea we eat vegetarian or vegan so often. I just don't make a big deal of it and avoid labels. I just talk about eating a rainbow of food because our body needs all the nutrients that come from all the different colors.

FREEZER SOUP  _________________________________________________________________
The last tip I have is related to not wasting any food. Many times I have little odds and ends of food that aren't enough for a meal. Extra noodles, beans, grains or meat and left-over veggies. The best thing to do with that is to throw it in the freezer bag and keep adding to it til you have enough to make a soup out of it. You could make an Italian soup with noodles, Mexican with beans, or countless ones depending on the meat you have let over. I love throwing extra gravy in with the broth to make it extra flavorful or mashed potatoes really help thicken a soup without needing cream. That is a trick I use often when making a chowder or other creamy soup.

I would love to know what tricks you like or use to help keep your family on budget while still being able to eat healthfully. Leave me a comment below.

PP