Cooking TF on a budget

[MrsBone]

We're about to go from two incomes to one and I'd love to continue cooking as much TF as possible. Right now, with working part time, I cook mostly tf, but I still use processed grains, etc for convenience b/c we are gluten free too. I'm really into all the natural organic, meat, raw milk and pastured eggs, but my husband isn't..he doesn't really get it. The first place he would cut our budget is the food because he doesn't see why I want to spend so much money on TF foods. I don't think he quite gets that I really don't spend that much more on cooking TF than if I just bought prepared, convenience food. I'd definitely cut down on the processed gluten free goodies to only a treat every now and then, and we can definitely cut down on our dining out since we do dine out at least twice a month, sometimes every weekend, and my husband spends close to 100 a month on lunches. That can be eliminated too since I'll be staying at home with the LO and can make all of our food from scratch. Am I being unrealistic hear? Our budget is currently $400/mo for a family of 3. Can I stick to this or even go lower and still eat organic, local and free range? Need some insight! His salary is strictly commision based, so that makes it hard to budget.

[Magelet]

Can you stay on the same budget and eat 100% local, pastured, organic? maybe..... Can you cut your budget? It really depends on the cost of food where you are.

We spend $400 a month for two adults and eat mostly local produce, mostly organic produce (with some of the least contaminated non organic), all pastured beef and mostly pastured chicken. we eat like teenagers (quantity wise) (well, ok, I guess I'm still a teenager, and he's still young too ), however we don't eat a lot of meat. 1-2 pounds of ground beef, or a chicken, stretched over several meals is the norm for a week. plenty of dairy and eggs as well (since they're cheaper. not raw dairy, it's too expensive though we may switch to it with a new opportunity coming up.) I feel it's quite likely that we could add a toddler and not increase our food costs greatly and not decrease quality (by adding more grains, more filler produce, etc).

I'd say that you may or may not have to change your standard of buying. Personally, I'd cut non-dirty dozen organics first, and I'd keep pastured fats and eggs (which are more affordable) til the very end. If I had to, I would feed our family conventional meat. You do what you have to. Even if you have to feed your family conventional meat, and produce, you can still use TF preparation (like making stock, sourkraut, eating yogurt, soaking what grains you use that you can, etc.)

Eating pastured/grassfed/organic is only half or less of TF. It's even more important to use proper preparation of foods.

[ghostlykisses]

When I have been on the TF wagon I had to make do with a lot of less than ideal substitues. BUT even making substitutes our health was better than those on a standard American diet. I was not able to buy pastured animals products of any kind and few organics but in the end proper preparation and whole foods were what mattered. You are better off eating regular grocery store meat, dairy and produce than a diet of cheetos, hot dogs and koolaid right?!?!?!

[Harmony08]

Originally Posted by ghostlykisses

When I have been on the TF wagon I had to make do with a lot of less than ideal substitues. BUT even making substitutes our health was better than those on a standard American diet. I was not able to buy pastured animals products of any kind and few organics but in the end proper preparation and whole foods were what mattered. You are better off eating regular grocery store meat, dairy and produce than a diet of cheetos, hot dogs and koolaid right?!?!?!

Yep. This is where we are. We just couldn't make it on all pastured and organic food. Food is very expensive where we are and keeps climbing. sigh. I have compromised one thing after the other but I still feel great about our diet. I only really worry about buying the dirty dozen fruits and veggies organic now. I buy pastured meat and poultry when on sale and stock up. I mix up Amish chicken with regular chicken etc depending on price/use/and when we last had the good stuff. Same with eggs. Making yogurt and sourdough slices those costs. Mostly, I just had to let go my ideal of the perfect 100% pure diet and shop smarter. We eat unprocessed, natural, TF foods. Like the PP said, this is way better than chicken mcnuggets and lean cuisines. I dream of a time that we can buy all the gorgeous pastured meat and organic produce we want. Some women dream about buying expensive shoes or designer coats... for me it is grass fed beef and local, organic, peaches!

[skybluepink02]

Originally Posted by Harmony08

Some women dream about buying expensive shoes or designer coats... for me it is grass fed beef and local, organic, peaches!

This is me. I'm on such a strict budget right now. We can hardly afford any organics. I'm trying to eat lots of bulk food items until my garden comes in. Once it comes in, we'll be swimming in organic veggies. We eat lots of oats, which are organic because we can afford them. Organic beans (dried and cheap) make up a lot of our lunch and dinner meals. We eat meat very sparingly, unless I can get some organic on sale. We eat veggies, but if they're not the dirty dozen, they're probably not organic. I work a lot harder at feeding my kids organic, than feeding me and my hubby organic. I'd love for us all to be organic, but it's not in the budget right now.

[ltlmrs]

We've always been on a strict budget. Here's what we do:

1) Meal plan meal plan meal plan: when I don't plan we don't eat TF and we spend tons more on food. And I mean about twice as much.

2) Use regular milk for making cultured dairy products. Yes, there would be periods when I would use non-organic milk that was growth hormone free to cut expenses. Ladybug and I drink almost a quart of kefir each day between the two of us and raw milk gets expensive! When we can, I get organic milk for the cultured dairy. In our area the non-homogenized pasteurized milk costs as much as the raw milk, so we never get the non-homogenized milk, if it were cheaper, I'd use that instead of the certified organic. Use raw milk sparingly for making raw cream cheese/whey, drink sparingly, get most of your dairy from cultured dairy products.

3) Make raw cream stretch by using small amounts in your food as creme freche. We also buy Daisy sour cream to use in our soups. I've found this brand has the least additives and even the organic sour creams have stuff added to them. If I could find a source for cheaper cream I would make my own.

4) Make your own when it makes sense: bread, crackers, pasta, kefir, yogurt, kombucha, fermented veggies. Home made crackers and pasta are actually both more TF friendly and cheaper than the whole wheat equivalents from the health food stores.

5) Learn to make lots of egg dishes. We will have at least one egg meal daily. Sometimes two. And I don't mean just @ breakfast. We'll have hard boiled eggs, omelettes, frittatas, baked egg/greens casserole, etc. for lunch or a light supper. Once a week we'll have carbonara for dinner, it's a great way to have bacon (which we love!) on the cheap (bacon is actually pretty expensive when you think about how much is needed per serving).

6) Learn to make one chicken stretch: roast chicken one day, chicken salad the next, white chili, then we make stock. Same with beef or pork: I'll roast it, then use leftovers in fried rice (fried in lard, of course) or quesadillas (we buy the ezekiel tortillas, but I hope to start making our own soon). Same with beef. I always try to buy our roasts bone in so that I can use the bones for stock.

7) Remember that TF does not need to mean lots of meat, but rather animal products. We have lots of soups made in stock, I may or may not add meat to them. Plenty of chili. Beans and rice where the beans were cooked with a ham bone.

8) Buy dirty dozen organic. Everything else, only buy organic if it's cheaper. See if you can split a CSA share with someone. A full share is too expensive for our family of three, but half a share provides a good variety of vegetables. We actually don't eat a lot of vegetables. Our diet is based on legumes and grains and we round out with meat products and veggies. This will be more difficult for you being gluten free, but definitely doable.

9) Grow as much of your own food as possible. Be careful, this can end up costing a lot, so make sure it's a necessity rather than a hobby. We live in an apartment, but I have many herbs (in the winter they take up every last bit of space in front of the windows, I actually have my furniture arranged in such a way that I can put herbs on it in the winter). I grow salads in pots on our porch. Salad can be grown on the windowsill too. Unfortunately, we don't have a community garden close enough to us. Be careful of intensive gardening. Raised beds, sf gardens, etc can end up costing a lot...

10) Pack lunches, snacks, everything. Once again, if I don't plan ahead and we end up buying food when we're out, or I don't pack DH's lunch, etc, our food budget sky rockets.

Our family of 3 spends anywhere between 400 and 500 on food each month. It could go down if I were to follow my own rules! I actually have found in the past that we spend a lot more on food if we don't eat TF because TF requires planning and when we eat SAD it's quicker and more convenient, but also more expensive because we're buying premade/etc.

Also, we can't afford to get a part of a cow because we never have the funds up front. I stock up when I can, but most of the time I pay full price but just get less.