Healthy Green Moms » Green & Simple Living

11 Ways to Eat Healthy on a Budget

Monica — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 20:46:54 +0000

Food prices have risen. I sound like my mother now, talking about the days when I could buy a dozen eggs for $3.50. This last month I have been trimming the fat in our budget to be sure we are ahead of the game in the next few years of uncertain economic times. If you are following the markets and have a critical mind, you’ve already realized that the US’s governments addiction to printing money is going to be a painful blow to all of us in the coming years.

I’m hesitant to say how much I spend on groceries. It’s easily been over $1000/month….?!*&^%

As a champion for health, I feel quality food is vital but as I look at my budget I am beginning to feel how challenging eating healthy on a budget can be when, especially when we are talking about a budget of $500 or less each month.

But I am always up for a challenge.

Here are some of my tips for reigning in your food costs without sacrificing your health or quality of meals.

1. Get a binder with sleeves. Put an envelope into each sleeve with your allocated budget in each department in cash.When you shop, take cash, no more debit or credit cards! I have a sleeve for food, clothing, personal care, gas, gifts…etc. Only my recurring bills for essential home operation get automatically debited from my account. The rest is organized into my binder.

2. Budget for each week of meals. I was notorious for buying up 7 cans of beans when they were on sale. This month, we’ve simply been eating up stored food to get back to a TRUE EAT and USE UP philosophy. I do have an emergency kit though, filled with about two weeks of food stored. I will leave this alone for now.

3. Eliminate junk food If you have family members who love to snack, start doing shopping on your own. Choose your vice and stick to it. We love bean chips. They are about $3.50/bag. So instead of eating 2-3/week, we opt for 1/week as long as the budget allows. We save $14/month on “snacks” alone. Eat frozen blueberries or other fruits in the evenings if the craving strikes. Make home made apple crisp anytime by freezing chopped peeled apples now that they are in season. Get creative so that the ice cream and treats are slowly eliminated for more healthy treats.

4. Buy food in quantity when they are end of season

Heading into winter, we have budget for some end of season tomatoes and fruit for canning that will take us through the winter. This means I will be spending half of what I would normally spend on imported fruit that has been picked to early. Organic tomatoes are a healthy option when used from glass jars rather than buying cans from the store.

5. Quinoa and Brown Rice

Most people think that quinoa is expensive, but I have been getting large bags for about $7 that easily last one month. We make tabouleh, bean salads, mix into miso soup, puree quinoa with other soups or eat plain with olive oil and Sea Salt.

6. BeansBeans…

…The magical fruit….never mind. Beans are one of the best sources for protein and go a long way on a budget. I LOVE beans and we eat them often. I only buy one brand and I would gladly give up other items on my list for Eden Beans. They are packed with sea veggie that breaks down the exterior coating on the beans which helps us digest them easily. We never have “bean issues” from these beans. They also have put in place “NO BPA” practices. I’ve tried soaking and sprouting many times now, but life as a stay at home mom and entrepreneur? Something had to give. Eden is my best choice. Eat a large variety of beans. Add then to rice, pasta sauce, soups, salad’s etc.

7. More Salads

A general practice in my family since I was a child is to have a salad with every meal, or at the very least, with dinner. Most health issues stem from being overly acidic. Our bodies increase in acidity when we consume processed foods, drinks, meat, alcohol etc. Even stress and negativity in our life creates acidity in our bodies. All disease is born an acidic environment. On the flip side, even raw vegans can have issues with being too alkaline, as I was a few years back. The point is to strive for balance and for most people today, eat more alkaline foods. Salads boost your health and your meals without taxing your budget. Sorry, iceberg lettuce does not qualify as a real salad!

8. Drop Take Out and Restaurants

If you do take out or restaurants, have a look at your monthly bank statement and tally it up. Starbucks here, Macdonald’s there…it really adds up the food costs and unfortunately adds nothing to your health. But I know, when we are out for the day and the kids get hungry, it’s always a dilemma about what to do? I look at nearly all food establishments with disdain since we switched to a wheat free lifestyle. There are very few places that provide a “home meal away from home” so over time I have lost my affinity with feeling that Restaurants are “special”. On occasion we do eat out, but we carefully select where we go. I always take food snacks with me in a cooler when we had out so that we can avoid being in a hunger craze with the children.

9. Choose to drink MORE WATER!

Milk is highly overrated. Juice as well. Let’s not discuss soda because there are no health benefits from adding this to your budget. The fact is that we are chronically dehydrated. Water, from the purest source available is the best choice. It’s all we drink now. My latest passion is learning about REAL WATER and the effects it has on our blood. WOW, how many of us even realize that the water we drink is actually processed? Milk is not the best choice for calcium, and it causes more problems that it solves. This week we will be heading up to a local spring to collect pure water in glass bottles to hydrate ourselves on a cellular level. Check if you have a spring near you?

10. Set Eating Times

There are times when I have felt like a short order cook for my family. It does not help when I cook 3 meals a day either plus snacks! This particular advice is really most beneficial for stay at home mom’s or dad’s. I have set times with my children for food. The know that at 8am the breakfast table is cleared and that a snack will not appear until 10am. This has eliminated (almost!) the whining and provides them with the responsibility and power to manage their own hunger. This also helps us with eating constantly and draining and dipping into the food budget by eating up things I have allocated for meals. The other option is to set plates of fruit and veggies out for your children to snack on. Once it is gone, they must wait until meal time.

11. Build a garden!

I have been canning up a storm this year, compliments of the bounty from our garden. If you wait till the end of the season, even organic foods like tomatoes are quite cheap. This is the only exception I make with my budget. I won’t drop $4 for a can of tomatoes, organic or not when BPA is still an issue. I prefer mine in hoe canned glass jars.

These are some of the ways we have been able to cut our food budget in half while eating healthy.

Other special recommendations would be eating towards a more vegetarian diet and meal planning.

How do you eat healthy on a budget?

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11 Ways to Eat Healthy on a Budget

Online Eco Store Allows Consumers to Buy and Sell Green Products

Monica — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 20:11:58 +0000

I rarely to “sponsored”posts anymore however when Brandon contacted me, I really liked the vision behind his eco website neerg.com and decided to put in a good word. Imagine a place where you could go to ONLY browse green products. No plastic, no crap. They launched about six months ago and since then have had over 1,500+ green and eco friendly products listed by green merchants.

As a regular visitor of craigslist, freecycle and castanet, I love that this site solely focuses on GREEN.

The rapidly growing online green store is a great place for consumers of all sizes to list green items but it’s also a valuable resource for eco friendly sellers too. neerg makes shopping for green products easy with their six “categreen” breakdown: biodegradable, energy and resource efficient, fair trade, organic, recycled, and sustainable.

Sellers enjoy the site because it’s 100% free to get going and list items. There are no sign up fees, hosting fees, or listing fees! After an item sells, the site takes a 7.5% fee for helping you bring traffic to your product; it’s a great deal (not-to-mention they also donate 3% of revenues to charities listed on their site).

neerg is based upon 100% transparency and asks sellers to list all materials and ingredients used in each of their green products. neerg’s rule of transparency with buyers and sellers is helping to keep the online eco friendly store thriving and growing.

Please contact Brandon(at)neerg.com if you’d like to feature a green or eco friendly product

It’s Winter Somewhere

Monica — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 22:55:52 +0000

We have yet to see any real winter weather in our area. No real snow to speak of and temperatures hovering around zero for weeks. Since we love snow, mountains, snowboarding, snowshoeing and making big huge (and teeny tiny) snow angels we decided to head over to our local hill for a few days of R&R.

I thought you would enjoy a moment of our sleigh ride through the forest. Evan is keeping warm by nursing under the thermal blanket while Olivia (and Tom and Jerry) take us for a ride.

And this is why I pray when my hubby goes out for a few turns. Even still, I cannot wait to join him. Likely next year when Evan will be old enough to be away from momma’s milk for a decent period of time.

Nothing refreshes me the way a little time in nature does.

Homegrown Revolution: Radical Change Taking Root

Monica — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 20:23:48 +0000

Giveaway: 3 Eco Books For the Whole Family

Monica — Mon, 04 May 2009 22:17:50 +0000

We are definitely not a green as I’d like to be. Although we do a good job on some fronts, there are still so many ways we can be more conscious on a day to day basis. Now that Liv is getting older, I am excited to learn more about going green through her eyes. I normally like to get cool green tips from my favorite bloggers but in Liv’s world, books and outings are a great way for us to learn and discuss.

The following eco books are a great addition to the family library. All three of these books are sure to spark discussion about what kids of all ages – and their families – can do to help the environment.

Earth in the Hot Seat : Bulletins from a Warming World by Marfe Ferguson Delano (National Geographic Children’s Books, March 2009, $16.95, ages 10+)

Laid out with a magazine-like format, this visually beautiful book clearly explains the dangers and challenges of global warming. Unlike many “doomsday” books regarding global warming, Earth in the Hot Seat is an uplifting and positive book that explores both global and local approaches to climate change, with personal accounts and real-life stories. The book also includes a quiz and tips on how to calculate and reduce your personal carbon footprint.

Michael Recycle by Ellie Bethel, illustrated by Alexandra Colombo (Worthwhile Books, March 2009, $15.99, ages 4+)

Michael Recycle tells the adventures of a young superhero whose power allows him to teach people about recycling. This is a very easy to read, fun adventure that is not at all preachy or full of facts and figures. The illustrations and rhyming will keep your kids interested while learning what we can all do to keep the town clean and beautiful. After cleaning up a town, the people declare: “To Michael Recycle! The green-caped crusader, our super-green hero, the planet’s new savior!” This book is a perfect pick for the Pre-K through Elementary school crowd. Helpful tips and resources about recycling can be found in the back of the book.

True Green Kids: 100 Things You Can Do to Save the Planet by Kim McKay (National Geographic Children’s Books, September 2008, $17.95, ages 10-14)

True Green Kids is an innovative collection of fun and practical ways to help kids become agents for environmental change in their world. The fresh ideas for environmental stewardship can be applied everywhere from the living room to the local park – and encourages the involvement of parents, teachers, friends and neighbors. I love the way it is laid out, colorful and like a design book of ideas!

WIN IT: One lucky reader will win all three books – compliments of yours truly!

There are 3 ways to enter:

1. Leave a comment on this post, answering this question: What is your child’s favorite book right now?

2. To get a second entry. Subscribe to the HealthyGreenMoms feed and then email me the “code” at the bottom of any article either in your feed reader or HGM email feed.

Email the code to healthygreenmoms (at) gmail (dot) com. Put the entire “code” directly in the subject line. (The subject line is all I need!)

(There is only one secret code and email required for all the “babymoon giveaways.” If you emailed me on this or the previous giveaway – you automatically have a second entry for the rest of the “babymoon giveaways” There’s no need to email me again)

3. To get a third entry. Blog, tell your Facebook friends or tweet about this giveaway and leave me another comment telling me what you did!

Winner selected randomly. This contest ends next Monday, May 11th at midnight. Good luck!