Frugal Healthful Food

It is almost the end of September and I still have money left in my food envelope so I have nearly made it through the month on $600.  It wasn't too hard really.  Eating out declined sharply for us.  I had much less coffee out.  I packed cheap lunches -- a la pbj for everyone.  I still bought organic milk (with the Organic Valley coupon).  I did make more conscious choices to have less expensive dinners.  The kids seem to prefer a light dinner of bread, cheese, and fruit anyway.  We took advantage of the u-pick apple farm and bought 42 pounds of apples at 35 cents/pound.  They were deeelicious and provided many side dishes -- apple sauce in the crockpot, fried apples with breakfast, apple pie, dried apples, and apple fruit leather and of course just apples.

Here are some general tips on eating green and healthy on a budget:
1) Don't buy organic junk food.  If you are going to eat chips, just eat chips and don't waste your money.
2) Eating out is the most expensive.  If you can substitute ready made healthy food for eating out you save.  If you can substitute a mix for ready made, you save.  If you can substitute home made for a mix you save.  You have to decide where you are on the financial food chain for that particular meal. 
3) Buy organic staples in bulk: rice, beans, flour, pasta, coffee (this is a staple, isn't it?). 
4) Some more processed foods are no longer more expensive than totally unprocessed.  For example, shredded cheese is nearly the same as block cheese for many brands now.  Shredded cheese saves me a little time, effort and a dish or two. 
5) Eat simply -- 3 or 4 ingredients in a meal can suffice. 
6) Consider cooking less -- have hummus, veggies and pita wedges for dinner.  Frittata and fruit.  Goat cheese, slices tomatoes and crostini.  These meals are complete, simple to make and simple to clean up.  I pile everything on one big plate in the center of the table and everyone takes as much as they want.

There are many great recipes out there to try but if you'd like to make your own staples, I would suggest starting with bread and yogurt.  Here's a great yogurt website:  http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/cheese/yogurt_making/YOGURT2000.htm .  A loaf of whole grain organic bread usually costs me about 50 cents to make.  Organic home made yogurt costs about $1.25 per quart. 

Free food

The girls went with some friends today to pick blackberries along some old railroad tracks in the countryside.  The berries are abundant this year, and it seems as the economy gets worse everyone is happy to get them.  A pint sells for $3, so the girls' small yield is worth about $12.  But, free food is free food -- especially free, pesticide-free, wild-gathered food.  The picking and nearby farm provided free entertainment.  Our friends took the girls and provided a little downtime for me and my sprained ankle. 

I also dried tomatoes and made some sauce for the freezer with some cull tomatoes from my friend Kate's farm.  Cull tomatoes (or other food) is too mis-shapen, too small or too blemished to sell.  With a knife and a pot or a knife and a dehydrator, cull tomatoes are just fine though. 

Thursday I made crab apple jelly from our friend Kelly and Russel's house and farm.  Of course jelly is mostly sugar and that wasn't free but it was still fun to use the crab apples.  I dried some in the dehydrator too and I think they will make a nice substitute from cranberries.  They have a sweet, tart flavor. 

Next week I need to check and see if the plums growing wild in a neighborhood alley are ripe yet.  If I can hobble around well enough by then.