JEFFERSON\WAUKESHA WAPF CHAPTER

I often hear the comment that eating organic foods is too expensive. At first, it seemed that way to me too. I’m a stay at home, home schooling mom. We only have one income so I have to be extra careful with our money.

As I’ve mentioned before, when we started out, we only changed one thing at a time so it didn’t seem so financially painful. (We are still in that process.) This helped greatly and was less overwhelming.

Next, find sources that won’t break the bank. At first I did visit big name stores like Whole Foods and not so big name such as Basics and Outpost which are stores in my area. Very expensive, but it was what I knew.

Years before, I was already part of a local buying co-op. Mostly I was just buying bulk items as they were cheaper. Now I buy most of my bulk sugar and grains, yogurts and many of my supplements and frozen foods this way.

The co-op I belong to is just a group of families who order every 4 weeks from UNFI (United Natural Foods, Incorporated) Most of us meet the truck, help unload our order and work together to sort & distribute everything. We’re fairly large so we receive a 15% discount which makes many things less expensive than grocery and health food stores.

I do grocery shop, but I really do keep an eye on prices. My favorite store in the world is Woodmans. For the most part, their prices are very reasonable. I buy most of my organic fruits and veggies here in off seasons. They also have carts at the entrance of discontinued, dented or day old items. I have found some amazing affordable organic items here.

I also buy things I like only when they are on sale. If it’s not on sale, I don’t need it. If I really need it, I’ve already figured out the best place and price to buy it.

Some things I am just willing to pay more as it is the healthiest option. I found a local butcher that sells naturally raised sides of beef. No antibiotics and locally grown. They know the farmer they get the beef from. Last year it cost us just over $900 for one side. Our freezer is full and I trust what we are eating. I also don’t have to continually buy meat when I do shop.

This year, we have also decided to invest in a CSA - Community Supported Agriculture. To learn more about what a CSA is, please visit this site: http://www.localharvest.org/csa/
We look at this as an opportunity to support a local farm and receive fresh produce for 20 weeks. We know who produces our food and how it’s grown. The cost, when compared with what it costs to travel to the grocery and my time spent, is quite reasonable. It will also encourage me to seek out other local sources.

Eggs. We eat a lot of eggs. Organic can be quite expensive in comparison to conventional. However, if you purchase them for $4/dozen and eat 2 eggs at a meal, that only works out to .98 for that meal. I get eggs from friends that run $2-3/dozen. They aren’t organic, but I know what they are fed.

Organic isn’t always necessary. Do your research as to what is o.k. as conventional and what isn’t. Seek out suppliers. Once you do the leg work, it’s really not that complicated or expensive. Your family will be eating better. Your health will improve. You’ll feel better. You won’t need to visit the Dr. as often. (another big savings)

_Because of my hypoglycemia, I need to be careful about what I eat, especially breakfast.
Years ago breakfast was usually cereal (either hot or cold) with sugar topping it or pancakes with syrup or jelly. Within an hour or so, I would be shaky and crabby. I then would eat another sugary high carb item. This was my cycle of eating all day, every day.
Once I started to change how I eat, breakfast became a healthier starting point. For a while I was frying chicken breasts with veggies, but that was a bit expensive & time consuming.
I then fell into a routine of eggs & a glass of milk.  Most often I would fry 2 eggs and have a large glass of milk. Eggs can be fun though. Omelets are easy to make and you can add veggies and cheeses and meats getting a great balance of protein and complex carbohydrates. The same can be said of scrambled eggs. One of my favorite ways to make scrambled eggs is to fry up some spinach, add the eggs and at the end, mix in  some feta cheese. Yum.
Most recently I’ve discovered Raw Eggnog. I’ve always been a fan of that nasty stuff that comes from the stores in cartons, but I no longer drink it as the ingredients  leave much to be desired. 
This is the ingredient listing for Kemps Holly Nog egg nog flavored low fat milk: Lowfat Milk, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Corn Syrup, Egg Yolks, Sugar, Natural And Artificial Flavors, Spices, Salt, Guar Gum, Carrageenan, Potassium Phoshate, Turmeric And Annatto Colors), Vitamin A Palmitate And Vitamin D3. That’s a lot of sugar/corn syrup and seriously, what are those flavors and spices?!?!
I do now make my own, much simpler, healthier version:
In a blender add:
2 c. raw milk
1 Tbsp raw honey
2 raw eggs
Ground nutmeg to taste.
I really enjoyed this version but along the way, I’ve started to add cinnamon which helps my blood sugar and about 2 tsp of nutritional yeast as I felt I needed more vitamin B12 in my diet. This seemed like a great place to add it. I like how it tastes in there too! We did try it with stevia, but it just wasn’t a rich enough flavor.
This has been my breakfast for the last month or so. My blood sugar stays on an even keel and I am satisfied until lunch.