Extremely small food budget and TF - Page 2

[NoTiGG]

One recommendation I can make is eating a slightly higher fat diet. You see if you spend a little extra.. to get good quality fat... it is worth it because fat is energy dense. Therefore the price per calorie isn't so bad. For instance...

Regular butter may be 3 bux a pound. You can probably find grass fed butter for 6 bux a pound. This may be twice as much but remember a pound of butter is 3200 calories. 6 bux for 3200 calories is a great deal. My advice is to go higher in fat.. but make sure you are getting the good fats.

[harrietsmama]

[QUOTE=Skrimpy;8778463]
One thing I do which may not be acceptable to some families is I plan a week's worth of menus and I repeat that menu for four weeks.]

This is an interesting idea - I'll have to put some thought into what I could do in a week. I haven't been cooking much lately because the kids spend most of their summer with dad, but I want to find a way to get on track for the new school year. Thanks for the idea!


[I normally serve a fermented condiment with my heavy meal of the day - kimchi or sauerkraut, which I can get the "real thing" from a local grocer here - or kvass which I make myself. ]

I just made the salsa with mild peppers and a tomatillo and it turned out sooooo yummy! I just looked at what I had from my veggie share (I belong to a CSA) and wanted to do something before it all got mushy. I tolerated the tomatoes this way too! Hmmm...

[crispy nuts (from NT) with the milk.]
Love them! I have a giant mason jar and I made 5lbs of crispy pecans over 3 or 4 days using a dehydrator rather than he oven. They turned out awesome and it's easy to just grab a handful here & there.


More great ideas, thanks!

[harrietsmama]

Originally Posted by NoTiGG

One recommendation I can make is eating a slightly higher fat diet. You see if you spend a little extra.. to get good quality fat... it is worth it because fat is energy dense. Therefore the price per calorie isn't so bad. For instance...

Regular butter may be 3 bux a pound. You can probably find grass fed butter for 6 bux a pound. This may be twice as much but remember a pound of butter is 3200 calories. 6 bux for 3200 calories is a great deal. My advice is to go higher in fat.. but make sure you are getting the good fats.

Yep I have noticed I hardly eat any added fat, so that's why I started putting coconut oil in my smoothies everyday (or when I am being good

[abharrington]

skrimpy...thank you so much! your post is just what i needed. we are switching to NT/real foods but it is tough with the budget. for dh and i and dd (6 mo, so not really eating yet) we would like to spend $250 - 300, but so many of the "essentials" like CO, CLO, EVOO, flaxseed oil are pricey. i am trying to space them out over a few months but i am also itching to get started.

[Skrimpy]

Originally Posted by abharrington

skrimpy...thank you so much! your post is just what i needed. we are switching to NT/real foods but it is tough with the budget. for dh and i and dd (6 mo, so not really eating yet) we would like to spend $250 - 300, but so many of the "essentials" like CO, CLO, EVOO, flaxseed oil are pricey. i am trying to space them out over a few months but i am also itching to get started.

I'm thrilled it was helpful to you! For a long time it was very stressful for me and I felt it impossible to afford and prepare all these foods. But as I thought over Dr. Price's studies I realized most of these people ate very simply. There are times to make fancy things, but for the every day simple fare works well for us. And it's usually not too expensive.

I did and do what you are saying about spacing the big purchases. I bought CLO first because I felt it the most vital to myself (still nursing my youngest) and the children. I bought it in bulk to save a bit (6 jars). Then I bought the gallon of CO the next month and that is going to last us a long, long time even using liberally! I buy the large bottles of EVOO (I settle for the best my grocer has, I don't mail order that one), and that lasts us for awhile because I use butter more. I just bought my first bottle of flaxseed oil this month and yikes! 10 bucks! But I think it will last a month or two b/c I plan to use it mostly in salad dressings and that's a small amount. Mostly my EVOO and flax oil go into the dressings a few nights a week so they last.

I forgot to mention that I modeled one meal of the day off of one of Dr. Price's nutrition programs. He describes this program on p. 290 of Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, and I also think Sally Fallon mentioned it in the most recent edition of the WAP journal. The meal is basically a daily CLO supplement in juice, high vitamin butter, a rich meat and veggie stew, cooked fruit, and whole wheat rolls with butter. Two glasses of milk were served with the meal.

I thought this sounded quite reasonable and do-able, especially since I can make a pot of soup/stock and put a lot of it in the fridge/freezer for other days. I do as I said before serve my milk apart from the big meals (two "milk snacks" a day and my kids anticipate them! Sometimes we have eggs instead of a milk snack and then I serve a cup of warm milk before supper)

Anyways I'm going to get rambly, but I found that by just sticking to basic meals and planning I'm able to get much in. My milk is my biggest expense. For a long time we went without milk but I truly feel it's important for my kiddos so I've worked hard to fit it into my budget.

[akmeg]

Great info Skrimpy! Very inspiring for those of us on limited budgets! Would you mind sharing your 4 week menu plan with us? I've tried to do that, but I'd like mine to be a bit more NT and I love the idea of being able to shop about once a month.

[Skrimpy]

Originally Posted by akmeg

Great info Skrimpy! Very inspiring for those of us on limited budgets! Would you mind sharing your 4 week menu plan with us? I've tried to do that, but I'd like mine to be a bit more NT and I love the idea of being able to shop about once a month.

Sure, I'll post my current rotation I don't stick to this to the letter, I sometimes have Tuesday's supper with Sunday's lunch, for instance But I do usually put a tick mark by a meal so I know I've had it if it gets mixed up. For instance this Sunday I realized I'd forgotten sprouted bread so we had Tuesday's meal (fish) and I went by the store on Tues (our "on the town" day and got the bread).

Right now I'm also doing big meal of the day at lunchtime and a lighter suppertime meal because that seems to work better in the oppressive heat (did I mention we're trying to do without AC to save on the bills too >.>;; )

Also, some of this is probably regional to me, being in the SE

Monday - Breakfast: Oatmeal w/ yogurt (just a spoonful), butter, honey, fruit (frozen), CO.
Lunch: Hamburger with Heman Sauce (out of Eat Fat, Lose Fat), squash sauteed in butter, kraut, warm lamb broth w/ butter.
Dinner: Refried beans on corn tortillas (fried in CO), fruit (often what is on sale/in season at the grocer; in the winter I sautee fruit lightly in butter, summer serve it cold), cucumber + tomato slices, cheese on beans(two "grates" down the grater for each child - I'm sparing with the cheese!)
Snack - glass of milk morning, hardboiled eggs afternoon, glass of warm milk before bed.


Tuesday - Breakfast: Grits with cheese. Some weeks we have bacon with the grits (good bacon is more expensive so this isn't every week). Fruit (again what is on sale/in season)
Lunch: Turning Island Baked Fish (this is a Dr. Sears salmon recipe I really like), steamed cabbage, pickles, bowl of gazpacho.
Dinner: Scrambled eggs (scrambled in CO - some people don't like that flavor, I do), rice (cooking in stock/broth with butter), carrots (heated gently with butter and sprinkled with cinnamon for a treat), steamed greens (any variety).
Snack: milk morning, milk and organic popcorn afternoon.


Wednesday - Breakfast: Scrambled Egg Platter (recipe here: http://stronglifts.com/breakfast-rec...-ground-round/ it's really good! I used butter instead of EVOO b/c I do not like the taste of eggs cooked in EVOO!)
Lunch: Sesame Buffalo Chicken (NT recipe, just used two chicken breasts instead of the wings it called for), kimchi, corn w/ butter, rice, bowl of gazpacho.
Dinner: Peanut Butter on corn tortillas (strange I know but my kids like it! corn tortillas are also a steal!), fruit, salad (I make up my own dressing from NT to put over it)
Snack: milk morning, milk and popcorn afternoon.


Thursday - Breakfast: Oatmeal breakfast again
Lunch: Jamaican Beans and Rice (from NT - this recipe has the broth/stcok in it!), sliced avacado, salad, pickles.
Dinner: Tuna salad, sweet potatoes, fruit, steamed greens.
Snack: milk morning, hardboiled eggs afternoon, warm milk before bed.


Friday - Breakfast: Grits breakfast again
Lunch: Spaghetti (I use NT recipe but make it all day in crockpot), marinated cucumber slices, broccoli w/ hollandaise (homemade). I serve over rice noodles or spaghetti squash tossed in butter. I like the squash best! Almost forgot! This is my sneaky liver recipe - I add grated cooked liver in with the ground beef. I like the flavor it gives, kiddos don't notice or don't complain This recipe also has stock in it
Dinner: Refried bean meal again
Snack: milk morning, harboiled eggs afternoon, warm milk before bed.


Saturday - Breakfast: Egg platter again.
Lunch: Steak tartare (NT recipe), rice crackers, corn with butter, kraut, cup of lamb broth w/ butter.
Dinner: Tuna salad meal again. Some weeks I treat the kids to sushi on saturday because a grocery store near our farmer's market has a chef in the store on saturdays.
Snack: milk morning, milk and crispy nuts (NT recipe) afternoon.

Sunday - Breakfast: Oatmeal breakfast again.
Lunch: Hot sandwiches (this is an adapted Taste of Home recipe using sprouted grain bread, tomatoes, meats, a few slices of cheese, and a homemade dressing drizzled over the bread - EVOO, djion mustard, and some vinegars I think - then the sandwiches are warmed under the broiler), kraut, salad, bowl of gazpacho
Dinner: Scrambled egg dinner again.
Snack: milk morning, milk and crispies afternoon

Also: I work from home doing web development. I usually keep those little YoBaby whole milk yogurt cups around and if I have an important client call I settle the kids into their room with a cup of yogurt each during the call hehe. Thankfully most of my interaction is via email I also make popsicles with coconut milk and fruit for fun snacks pretty often.

Whew! It sounds hard but really it's not. I fill out the main meal with sides, which are usually simple sliced fruits and/or veggies. I vary the fruits a lot. Veggies stay pretty standard based on the season. My soup/stock/broth tends to be a little fancier in colder months when it's more of a soup-y season I want them to get the bone broths now, but in the winter I feel they are really vital because my kids want to eat a lot more! I usually arrange meal making in cold weather so the soup is ready and eaten by the kids about 20 minute before the rest of the meal is so it has time to register to them that they've had that rich food. Otherwise I get asked for thirds and fourths then. That is not a problem in the warm weather though - I suppose it is their bodies telling them to bulk up for the winter.

Also, I'm blessed with kids who are 100% not picky! So I feel for you mamas who have picky ones!

[Anna06]

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