Does it Cost More?

After reading Nourishing Traditions I have begun to change how my family eats. We are making the switch to a whole food diet based on several factors... my previous cancer diagnosis, my current heart condition, my oldest daughter does not handle artificial flavors, dyes, or other unnatural additives well, and many other reasons. At first glance my husband freaked out thinking that A. it would cost an arm and a leg and B. he wouldn't get to eat any junk food again. Thankfully that has not been the case so far...actually our budget has stayed the same and I think for November will actually be lower than normal and I've found some great whole food snacks that are just wonderful...I've made graham crackers, cheese crackers, caramel corn, and some awesome brownies.

Do you long to make the switch but think it's out of reach? Here are some things to think about...
Raw Milk $5 a gallon.... gallon of milk from the store $2.25-3.19
Organic 100% grass fed beef $5lb.... Organic/Natural beef from grocery store $4-6lb ( I'm hoping to bring our cost down even further by purchasing our meat through our raw dairy farmer or if my husband gets a deer this year this won't matter!!!)
* Another item that I have been buying is real butter if you buy the Walmart brand it's only $2lb not much more than margarine...however I'm making the switch to grass fed butter this coming month. I'm not sure the cost on that. I'm also buying a cream share from "my cow" so I can make our own butter.

* I bake all of our own breads and cookies. Currently I am finishing up my stockpile of Unbleached Flour and when that's finished I will be buying a grain mill and wheat berries.
* I've switched to Sucanat instead of plain sugar but I haven't found the cheapest place to buy that yet. I will on the lookout for the best price on that this month.
* I will also be on the lookout for the best price on Olive Oil as I don't have near enough on hand. I no longer use any other oils. I'm also looking for the best price on Coconut Oil.

At first glance it does seem to cost more and take more time but it doesn't. Our trash was significantly reduced in October and my budget was the same $560 for a family of seven. I have also had much more energy and my swelling in my arm from not having lymph nodes has really improved.

For more frugal Friday ideas check out Life as Mom

Would you say no?

Would you say no to a gift from God? Do you believe your babies were sent from above? Have you thanked the Lord for the gifts in your life?

I own a cow....

Well, not completely but the kids and I went to a farm today. And guess what?!? We are the proud share holders of a dairy cow! I am now entitled to one gallon of raw milk a week. The kids are loving the milk and have already drank 1/2 gallon. I will be buying more shares as money allows. I would like to eventually be able to get five gallons of raw milk a week. In our home we can go through a gallon of milk in one day so we'll have to ration the milk out but I think it's doable. I've noticed that even the "normal" milk in the stores is creeping up to over $3 a gallon and I think paying what I'm paying for milk isn't too bad.

Have you done anything to help you not depend on the grocery stores today?

This post is linked to Works for me Wednesday

Menu Plan Monday

It looks like our weather is going to be pleasantly warm this week...so I'm planning on making some of our Summer favorites.

Here is what's cooking at our house this week...

Breakfasts-
pancakes
waffles
muffins
coffee cake
toast/fried potatoes

Lunches are usually leftovers or I'll make soup

Dinners-
Sweet and Spicy Herbed Chicken/rice
Baked pasta/garlic bread
hamburgers/fries
Crock pot bbq pork/fries
Stromboli
shredded chicken sandwiches
chili

For more menu ideas check out I'm an Organizing Junkie

Kitchen Happenings

Wow! I was busy in my kitchen this week. Did you know that you can make your own chocolate chips? Or graham crackers? Or cheese crackers? You can and I totally made all three of those things this week.

I have to say that it will take some tweaking on the homemade chocolate chips, the family said they were just okay but a little too bitter for their taste. The graham crackers and cheese crackers were awesome. They received two thumbs up from all the children. The only bad thing about the crackers is that it is hard to roll the dough thin enough, however once I master that these snacks will be on my weekly baking list.

I also made the switch to Sucanat instead of regular sugar. I think the taste is really wonderful, however it is a little grainy so my family is noticing that. Hopefully after a few weeks they'll be used to it.

I am no longer using vegetable oil. I bought some coconut oil and have used that. I also have just been melted the same amount of butter instead of using oil and that is working as well.

What's been happening in your kitchen this week?

Waiting

A couple months ago my son started asking for a new bike, but not just any bike he wanted a bmx bike. We started looking at garage sales and the thrift stores but we never found the kind he really wanted. Finally, after waiting all Summer we found "the bike" for $4.99 at a local Goodwill. Sold!! The savings by not buying a new bike...huge...to buy the same kind of bike we bought would have cost us over $100!!

Waiting till you find the item you need/want can really save you money!! For more frugal tips check out Life as Mom

Too Many Toys?

Do you get tired of tripping over toys? Do you have to fight with your children to get them to pick up? Here's what works for us... we have five children, one boy and four girls. We have gotten rid of all toys except ones they can play with together or that will fit in each child's set of three drawers. Here's some examples of what we still have...

* each child still has their favorite stuffed animals and their webkinz ( of which they have 5)
* my daughters each have a drawer full of little pet shop toys
* we keep a basket full of baby dolls and baby accessories in the living room
* my son has GI Joes and cars in tubs under his bed.
* We have blocks...legos/wooden/duplo/etc. in the living room closet
* We also have two drawers full of random plastic animals in the living room closet
* In our game closet we keep games and all the Little People toys
* We also have 6 bookshelves full of books and a yard full of leaves to play in, balls to kick, bikes to ride, and trees to climb

Since we have been reducing our toy clutter I find that my children actually play with the toys they have and they also take care of what they have!! My children are also quick to point out that they don't need a lot of toys. Cutting the clutter works for me

For more Works for Me ideas check out We are that Family

Amazon Organic Deal

Does your family love pure maple syrup? Do you long to buy organic maple syrup but don't have a place to buy it? Amazon is currently running a really great deal on pure Organic Maple Syrup... Coombs Family Farms 100% Pure Organic Maple Syrup Grade B, 32 Ounce Jug is on sale for $26 use code BASCOM35 to get another 35% off. If you sign up for the Subscribe and Save program you can also save another 15% off. Total spent for 32oz. of pure organic maple syrup $13

Thanks 5dollardinners!!

My Heart is Full

Yesterday I was feeling a little put upon that I was in the kitchen making three meals a day plus snacks from scratch when I realized that five years ago I didn't know if I would be blessed to see this day. Yes it can be tiring to cook all of our meals and homeschooling our blessings. It can be hard to wake up before the rest of the family for some much needed quiet time with my Lord. The days are long when all five of the children and the dog are running wild and screaming/barking at the top of their lungs...but I wouldn't trade these days for anything. I always tell myself that I'm going to miss these days... some day I'll wake up when I want to and do what I want...all day long. I'll be able to go somewhere without all five kids begging to go with me and I'll be able to have a phone conversation without being interrupted every 3.5 seconds.

But right now I can enjoy watching our 17 month old ask her oldest sister (8) to tickle her...and watch our almost 4 year old play babies with my baby. I can watch my 6 year old "teach" our almost 4 year old her colors and shapes. My oldest is almost 11 and he loves nothing more than cuddling the "baby" and making her smile. These days won't last forever but the memories will and for that I'm grateful!

Check out Heavenly Homemakers to see what others are grateful for today

Getting to know my Kitchen

Today I ran three full loads of dishes in my dishwasher and no all our dishes were not dirty at the beginning of the day! I am finding that eating the whole foods way is definitely taking more time than eating junk. I have to plan my day and our menu out. I have to stay on top of time so I can have hamburger buns ready for lunch. I have to think about breakfast after our dinner so I don't end up feeding the kids cold cereal.

Before I started changing our diet we ate pretty well. We didn't buy a lot of packaged foods and if I did it was always organic or all natural junk food! I cooked our meals from scratch but it wasn't healthy meat. I have realized that even "healthy" junk food is still junk food and that was eating up a lot of our food budget. Our budget is $560 for a family of seven and it can get so tight it squeaks! We are eating mostly vegetables and fruits. I make all our breads and snacks. Our snack is popcorn.

I'm glad I enjoy cooking for my family and this has also shown me that I need to stick to a schedule for our school day. I need to stay on top of planning our meals and snacks. However, I need to keep a balance in my day.

What are you best tips to get food fixed fast and healthy?

Nourishing Traditions

Originally I started this blog to share ways to pinch pennies and find great deals and I was using a lot of coupons. However, now this blog is taking a turn... I'm in the process of changing our lifestyle. I am a breast cancer survivor and my mother in law is also a breast cancer survivor...we have four daughters that I don't want to ever see battle this disease so we're going back in time... to a time when our food was real food. My hope is that this blog will be able to show our journey from fast/easy food to real whole food. I'm also in the process of removing all the shampoo, toothpaste, deodorant, and cleaning supplies from our house and replacing them with homemade alternatives.

Please join me in my journey to whole foods.

One book that I read recently is Nourishing Traditions, it gave me many many things to think about. It also gave me a list of things to change....I thought I was doing well by making our food from scratch but now I see there are more things to change...sugar, the types of oils I use to cook with, the type of butter I use, using raw milk, and many other things. It can almost be overwhelming...where do I start? How much will it cost? How much time will this take?? My first project has been trying to replace our sugar and our oils. It is proving to be a little difficult. I really like baking...I'm having a hard time knowing what to use in place of the sugars. I've been told that I can use olive oil in place of vegetable oil or use melted butter. There are so many things to think about!!

Have you ever done this? How did it work for you?

Surprise....

Today I had a few frugal surprises and others that just made me happy. First I traded four tubes of toothpaste for two dozen free range/organic eggs. I also bought two more dozen from a home school family. Total...$3

After getting home from coop my mom stopped by with 50lbs of potatoes for me...she also had some pie pumpkins, carving pumpkins, straw bales, and 10lbs of red potatoes. Total cost to me $14

I love getting frugal surprises. I am stocked on potatoes for about a month or so. I'm hoping to get at least 100 more pounds of potatoes at a good price to last till Feb. Tomorrow I'm planning on heading to an orchard to buy some Honey Crisp apples, these apples aren't very frugal but they are the best apples ever and I'm supporting a local orchard. We also still have a half bushel of golden delicious left from when we went apple picking.

How was your day?

Homemade Dish Soap/ Dishwasher Soap

I'm looking for a tried and try recipe for making my own dish soap and dishwasher soap. I still have a huge stockpile of dishwasher soap but I'd love to use some that works and doesn't have all the chemicals in it. Any suggestions?

Got Winter Gloves and Hat Clutter?

The weather is turning colder and it's time to start pulling out the mittens, hats, and scarves. Here at our house this used to mean that we would loose at least two pairs of gloves and four hats but not anymore!!

Here's what works for me...
I bought an over the door shoe organizer and hung it on the back of our laundry room door. Each child has a row for their hats, gloves, and scarves. I also put their winter snow socks in their row. The pockets are clear so everybody can see where everything is. This keeps all the winter items in one place and it's much neater than having them all piled into a basket!!

For more works for me tips check out We are that Family

Putting the Garden to Bed

Today while the sun was shining the kids and I put the garden to bed for another year. We pulled up the last remaining plants and weeds. We cleared out all the garden buckets. We took the summer toys to the basement.

It's always sad to see the garden looking so sad and barren till spring. However, this year it is nice to come into our kitchen and see the many jars of goodies we canned from our garden. I already am making plans for our garden next year and what I need to plant more of and what to plant less of. I love planning for Spring!!

The weather is supposed to be rainy and chilly tomorrow so I'm planning a baking day. I'll be preparing overnight cinnamon rolls for breakfast tonight for breakfast. My other plans include bread, monkey bread (from scratch), and more chocolate chip cookies. Wednesday is our at home day so after school is done we'll also be cleaning the house!!

Our Financial Goals for September

I'm not sure that we ended up ahead this last month. We seemed to spend more than usual. The kids are all taking some classes that we haven't done before and I'm trying to figure out a way to budget them in. I think I'll just put $10 week for my son's two classes and $20 a week for the girls dance/gymnastics and that should help. Our major downfall is that we don't have a budget. We just spend until we need to pay bills then we stop. We end up cutting it close every month and it's nobody's fault but our own.

We did cut out almost all our eating out and this month my goal is no eating out at all. I also will be limiting our thrift store shopping...I like to browse but I almost always come home with a couple bags of stuff we didn't need!!

Our financial goals for October are-
-no eating out
-save all my husband's photography income
-save $250 for our house fund

To see how other people are managing their goals check out Money saving Mom

My Next 30 Years

Today is my 30th birthday. This birthday marks a huge milestone in my life, when I was 25 I was diagnosed with breast cancer and wasn't expected to make it. I begged and pleaded with the Lord to let me live to see 30... I wanted my kids to all know and remember their mommy. God has blessed me and here I am. I want to glorify Him in all I do to thank Him for my first 30 years and my next 30 years.


This post is linked to Gratituesday

Christmas on Your Mind?

Are you looking for a great gift but don't have a lot of cash? If you have a kid who loves sports Amazon has Sports Illustrated on sale right now for $5!! That's a huge savings and a great gift for a nephew, grandson, or son (or daughter)

Here's the link

What Does a Large Family Cost?

When people find out that we have five children many of them assume that it costs an arm and a leg to feed them, clothe them, house them, and that we are taking a huge toll on the World's delicate balance...as in having a huge carbon foot print. Here are some ways to keep your large family living small...

We have switched to cloth diapers, I wish I would've made the switch years ago but I didn't. We no longer buy disposable diapers at all. We also use cloth wipes.

We don't buy paper towels, we use rags or dish clothes.

We don't buy cleaning supplies, I use vinegar and baking soda for 99% of our cleaning needs

As a family we only put out one trash can of garbage out a week. We put out 2 30 gallon tubs and two trash bags full of recyclable items. We also have a compost bin to further reduce our trash. We no longer purchase convenience foods and now that I've begun canning our trash should be even less.

We don't purchase any clothes new. They are bought at yard sales or thrift stores. We also buy shoes used at Once Upon a Child. The same thing for toys and books. We do purchase some books and toys new but 95% are from yard sales or thrift stores, by buying used we don't have to dispose of the packaging.

Our home is small and we have well loved furniture, we have only one piece of new furniture.

Our electric bill is less than $75 a month. Everything in our house is electric except our furnace. Six of us are home all day long.

For more frugal tips check out Life as Mom

Overnight Cinnnamon Rolls

The other day I told you about a new site I found called My Best Bites, I made the overnight cinnamon rolls last night and we ate them for breakfast. These were the best I've ever eaten. I love homemade cinnamon rolls and I have tried many different recipes without success but this one is a keeper.

If you're looking for some wonderful cinnamon rolls look no farther!! It's easy to make them too. I made them last night.

Check Out This Give-away!

Sara over at Learning the Frugal Life is giving away a copy of Once A Month Cooking Family Favorites. This looks like an awesome book and if you've ever thought about trying bulk cooking this is a frugal way to get some tried and true recipes. There is even a Gluten Free section!!

Head over and see Sara to enter to win a copy! Here's a link

Menu Plan Monday

I recently ordered 40lbs of chicken breasts at a rock bottom price that I will be picking up on Friday so I need to clear out a little space in freezer!! I decided to plan out my menu for the rest of October. Here is what we'll be eating for dinner for October...

Week of Oct.5-10
Crock pot pork tenderloin/mashed potatoes/salad
Dump Pepper Lime Chicken/rice/peas
Carolina Pork
Hamburgers/fries
Homemade Stromboli
Lunch meat sandwiches/chips

Week of Oct.11-17
Garlic Lime Chicken/rice/salad
Roasted Lemon Turkey
Meatloaf/mashed potatoes/rolls
Chicken/dumplings
Tacos/rice
Homemade Pizza
Subs

Week of Oct.18-24
Buttermilk herb chicken
Crock pot Pork BBQ
Caribbean Turkey
Cajun Style Chicken
Homemade Fast Food
Homemade Stromboli
Marinated Flank Steak

I haven't planned out all of our breakfasts but here is our usual list-
pancakes/eggs
waffles
snicker doodle coffee cake
muffins
toast/sausage
cinnamon rolls
homemade doughnuts

I try to have enough leftovers for lunch the next day. If we don't and the day is warm enough I'll make soup and grilled cheese or chicken tenders.

For more menu ideas check out I'm an organizing junkie

A New Favorite...

I was blog surfing tonight and found a really neat blog, our best bites it has some awesome recipes and great ideas you could use for Christmas gifts. I have found several recipes that I am planning on making this week, starting with this for breakfast on Tuesday Overnight Cinnamon Rolls.

A Fruitful Day...

Today my oldest daughter and I headed into Westerville to get rid of some book clutter at Once Upon A Child and Half Price Books. We were also looking for new tennis shoes for her since it's getting colder and she can't wear her flip flops as much. We left home with $10 cash and came back with like new Sketchers tennis shoes and a bag full of new books.

Once we got home both my oldest girls helped me can 12 quarts of grape juice. Tomorrow after church we will finish canning apple juice and bake some bread.

How was your day?

The Thermostat

One of the many things we do to try to keep our utility bills down is by setting a goal for when we turn on the air conditioner and the heat. Our air conditioner goal is August 1 and our heat goal is November 1. Now these aren't set in stone...if we get a wicked freaky early snow storm we turn on the heat but usually we can manage by wearing more clothes during the day and adding some extra blankets to our bed at night. I also do a lot of baking on the cooler days so the oven can help heat up the house. We have a gas furnace and it costs us usually 90.00 a month and that's keeping it set at 66 degrees so every month we keep it turned off is more money saved.

We also set a turn off date as well. The air goes off on September 1 and the heat May 1. Sometimes the heat goes off in April depending on the weather.

For more frugal tips check out Life as mom