Let's share what tips we all have for making TF more cost-effective! I'd love to get some more ideas. What I do:
-- Choose what "superfood supplements" are most essential. For me, it's coconut oil, cod liver oil, and raw liver (frozen and cut into "pills" for swallowing). I add butter oil in the winter. I also have some Mt Capra whey and some azomite for mineral supplementation, and both of them last a long, long time. Pastured beef liver has almost every nutrient out there in it, and is really affordable.
-- I use eggs as one of the main sources of our protein. It's a really cheap source of protein when you break it down. We pay about $3.50 per dozen for pastured eggs, which is about 72 grams of protein. When you do the math, you just can't get protein cheaper than that. I never skimp on eggs.
-- When getting grass fed beef, I either buy the half cow, or if I can't raise all that money at once, I buy hamburger weekly, which is about the same price per pound as the half cow.
-- For pastured chicken, I buy only chicken backs, not whole chickens. Chicken backs are really reasonable, even when pastured. I use the backs for stock and then add the meat to recipes or soup.
-- Now that we use the no-knead recipe, I can manage to make bread every day, instead of making it every other week or so. So no more money on store-bought bread.
-- I only buy organic on the higher-up-the-food-chain stuff, like animal products and oils, or the stuff that's really high in pesticides, like fruits. If it's not a fruit or an animal product or an oil, I suck it up and buy regular. Unless it's kale or carrots. Kale and carrots are very reasonable even when they're organic.
Hmmm.... if I think of more I'll post... Anybody else have some tricks or principles to share??
-- Choose what "superfood supplements" are most essential. For me, it's coconut oil, cod liver oil, and raw liver (frozen and cut into "pills" for swallowing). I add butter oil in the winter. I also have some Mt Capra whey and some azomite for mineral supplementation, and both of them last a long, long time. Pastured beef liver has almost every nutrient out there in it, and is really affordable.
-- I use eggs as one of the main sources of our protein. It's a really cheap source of protein when you break it down. We pay about $3.50 per dozen for pastured eggs, which is about 72 grams of protein. When you do the math, you just can't get protein cheaper than that. I never skimp on eggs.
-- When getting grass fed beef, I either buy the half cow, or if I can't raise all that money at once, I buy hamburger weekly, which is about the same price per pound as the half cow.
-- For pastured chicken, I buy only chicken backs, not whole chickens. Chicken backs are really reasonable, even when pastured. I use the backs for stock and then add the meat to recipes or soup.
-- Now that we use the no-knead recipe, I can manage to make bread every day, instead of making it every other week or so. So no more money on store-bought bread.
-- I only buy organic on the higher-up-the-food-chain stuff, like animal products and oils, or the stuff that's really high in pesticides, like fruits. If it's not a fruit or an animal product or an oil, I suck it up and buy regular. Unless it's kale or carrots. Kale and carrots are very reasonable even when they're organic.
Hmmm.... if I think of more I'll post... Anybody else have some tricks or principles to share??
