I hate how articles like this one make it seem so easy to switch to organic foods.
Our family of five tries to stick to a food budget of $600 a month, including raw chicken for our four English Bull Terriers. It's tough enough without buying everything organic! We stopped buying dairy milk, (here is some information on why) unless its from a local farm that sells raw milk. I prefer to buy our eggs there too, but a separate trip to a farm for just milk and eggs isn't always in the cards. We drink coconut milk in our house, and besides the kids not liking it with cereal, no one misses the cows milk. Besides, cereal is really only another junk food, so its a win/win in my opinion. I do buy cage free eggs in the grocery store, but not organic.
I buy all of the fruit and veggies that the kids will be eating, but organic strawberries can be as much as three times the price of regular. If its in the dirty dozen and i cant afford organic, I don't buy it.
I buy Sanderson farms all natural chicken by the cartload on the days its marked down at HEB, for 50% to 75% off and spend the same or less than i would on traditional chicken. I even manage to score organic chicken the same way quite often. I have a small deep freezer in the garage that i bought on craigslist for $50 about 3 years ago. It has really helped us eat better and save money since I can stock up when I see deals like these.
The hardest thing for us to change in our house has been the snacks. We were never big on pop tarts, but god, i love me some little debbie! When I buy awful junk like this I usually try to keep it hidden from the kids and eat it after they have gone to bed. I have two ice cream makers so I make our own ice cream with raw milk and whatever fruit or nuts i have on hand.
Here are some home made, real food, alternatives to the over processed junk even I am guilty of buying.
Cheese crackers
Pop tarts
Chicken noodle soup
Chocolate truffles
Check out a whole list of Whole Foods recipes here.
In most cases its not the organic part that really matters. You should focus on cutting back as much on processed foods as you can. It does take more time and effort, but as you can see from the statistics below, it is well worth it.
Our family of five tries to stick to a food budget of $600 a month, including raw chicken for our four English Bull Terriers. It's tough enough without buying everything organic! We stopped buying dairy milk, (here is some information on why) unless its from a local farm that sells raw milk. I prefer to buy our eggs there too, but a separate trip to a farm for just milk and eggs isn't always in the cards. We drink coconut milk in our house, and besides the kids not liking it with cereal, no one misses the cows milk. Besides, cereal is really only another junk food, so its a win/win in my opinion. I do buy cage free eggs in the grocery store, but not organic.
I buy all of the fruit and veggies that the kids will be eating, but organic strawberries can be as much as three times the price of regular. If its in the dirty dozen and i cant afford organic, I don't buy it.
I buy Sanderson farms all natural chicken by the cartload on the days its marked down at HEB, for 50% to 75% off and spend the same or less than i would on traditional chicken. I even manage to score organic chicken the same way quite often. I have a small deep freezer in the garage that i bought on craigslist for $50 about 3 years ago. It has really helped us eat better and save money since I can stock up when I see deals like these.
The hardest thing for us to change in our house has been the snacks. We were never big on pop tarts, but god, i love me some little debbie! When I buy awful junk like this I usually try to keep it hidden from the kids and eat it after they have gone to bed. I have two ice cream makers so I make our own ice cream with raw milk and whatever fruit or nuts i have on hand.
Here are some home made, real food, alternatives to the over processed junk even I am guilty of buying.
Cheese crackers
Pop tarts
Chicken noodle soup
Chocolate truffles
Check out a whole list of Whole Foods recipes here.
In most cases its not the organic part that really matters. You should focus on cutting back as much on processed foods as you can. It does take more time and effort, but as you can see from the statistics below, it is well worth it.
great post.. I would also love to switch to organic foods, but you're right, they really are more expensive.. That's why I grow some of our own vegetables in our garden like tomatoes, eggplant, beans etc..
ReplyDeleteBy the way I just followed you, I hope I get a follow back.. Here is my blog:
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What a great post! Thank you for sharing all your tips. We are trying hard to switch to organic whenever possible.
ReplyDeleteI can understand how you feel. I know eating organic can be expensive. You almost have to way what foods are more important to you. It sounds like eating organic meats are more important than produce, which can really be expensive. I find that eating within the dirty dozen when those foods are in season make a huge difference in my pocket book. It is a commitment, but maybe looking into co-ops for your organic produce can be a good option. I know it depends on locations, but with ours we get 40 lbs of produce for $50. It is a lot of produce and we just eat meals around those foods. We are a family of 6 and have to be creative with our budget. We do eat a lot less meat than most families, so it comes back to what foods are more important to you. Using Organic meats are so great and you are doing a wonderful thing for your family. I think steps are the way to go. Just replace a few things a month and before you know it an organic green home is all you know. Great Post :-)
ReplyDeleteI go back and forth too - we don't keep any "junk food" in the house, but the kids just love crackers! I always feel guilty about the crackers even though they don't have corn syrup or hydrogenated oils. I also wrote a post about how depressed I get that I can't buy strawberries or grapes most of the time because they are SO expensive!
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely all about baby steps! You are on your way, and will be eating all organic before you know it. :) We avoid the dirty dozen too... we only buy grapes and strawberries if they are on sale since organic is so expensive. They are definitely a treat! It's hard to always buy what we know is right, but we all just have to do what we can and not beat ourselves up for what we don't do!
ReplyDelete