Food Archives - Kristen Anne Glover

Eat Healthy Without Breaking the Bank

Because I’m talking about the Ultimate Healthy Living Bundle on my blog this week, I thought I’d take some time to discus one of the biggest obstacles to eating healthy: money. Budgets can be a roadblock to your good intentions, but finances don’t have to prevent you from feeding your family well. Here are some ways our family of seven eats healthy without breaking the bank.

1) Not everything has to be organic

There’s a difference between eating healthy and eating organic. Too often, the terms are confused. Eating a 100% organic diet can be very expensive, or even prohibitive if you do not have the means to grow or raise any of your own food.

We eat organic whenever we can, but we certainly do not eat a 100% organic diet. I use the Dirty Dozen list as a starting point. Those foods are the “worst offenders” so we try to purchase the organic options. I also include grains in my list of organic must-haves because many non-organic grains are genetically modified (especially corn and soybeans, and the others are at risk of contamination from the GMO crops). Fats are another good item to buy organic because toxins are stored in the fat of plants and animals.

In everything, I do as best I can and do not worry about the rest. God is big enough to bless even my imperfect efforts, and He will bless yours too!

2) Know your price points and take advantage of sales

I once came upon a flash sale at my local grocery store. The manager had marked whole chickens down to $0.39 a lb. Whole chickens for about $2 each? I started loading up my cart, silently calculating how much room I had in my freezer.

Meanwhile, people mingled past. They would look at the price, think about it, and walk away. Occasionally, someone would take a chicken, but usually, only one chicken. Not two. Never three.

I asked one lady, “Why don’t you buy more?”

She looked at me funny and said, “I don’t know what I’d do with two chickens!”

You eat it. Eventually, you eat it!

If you find a great deal on the food you eat, purchase all you can afford and all you can reasonably store because it will save you money in the end.

3) Buy in bulk

Not everyone has the space to store food, but if you have a little space in your garage or even under your bed, it is wise to take advantage of buying in bulk (my favorite bulk food resource is Azure Standard). I invested in some food-grade buckets and keep my dry goods stacked up against one side of the garage. It takes up very little space in my home but makes a great deal of space in my food budget.

Purchasing in bulk means saving ahead because the initial expenditure is larger than purchasing on an as-needed basis. One year, we used our tax refund to purchase a side of beef. Purchasing that much beef at once saved us dollars a pound, but it was a huge one-time expense. But all year, when I pulled meat out to thaw, I thanked God that I was able to feed my family so well on so little.

4) Invest in a dehydrator

I am a very frugal person. For years, I used a hand-me-down dehydrator that took days to finish a batch of food. When it finally broke down, we made the hard decision to purchase a quality machine. This is the one we purchased:

My Excalibur dehydrates food so efficiently, I have never regretted the purchase. It takes a fraction of the time to dry food, and I never have to rotate trays or flip food half-way through. The energy savings was astounding. I actually noticed a savings of tens of dollars each month when I tossed my old machine.

I purchase food in season when it is at its lowest price-point, or grow my own when I can, and then dehydrate it so I can store more food in less space for longer amounts of time. I make special treats like fruit leather or apple slices that I would not be able to afford to purchase for my children. I dry copious amounts of herbs that I grow myself and use them all winter long. I even use it to culture yogurt, saving myself tons of money over store-bought yogurt. It’s all organic, it’s all homemade, and it’s all inexpensively nourishing.

For more dehydrating ideas, check out the Dehydrating book included in the bundle!

5) Use freezer space to your advantage

We bought a large, commercial freezer for $100 on craigslist when we purchased our first home. Like the dehydrator, it has been one of the best purchases we have ever made. Of course, having an extra appliance means a slightly larger energy bill, but the extra freezer space allows me to take advantage of below-prince-point sales, seasonal abundance, or even that extra-large meat purchase. It is a money-saver!

6) Can!

Canning is making a comeback! Canning allows you to store large amounts of food without refrigeration. I tend to dry more food than I can because dehydrating preserves more nutrients, but canning is a great option for seasonal overflow. I even dry can goods like nuts and brown rice, which tends to go rancid quickly. To do this, simply fill sterilized jars, leaving a small amount of head space, bake in the oven on a tray at 200 degrees for one hour. Carefully pull the tray out, seal the jars, and return to the oven for another ½ hour. Allow the jars to cool in the oven. They should seal tight! If they do not seal, repeat.

7) Save the scraps

If you spend the money on organic food, don’t waste it! I love the From Garbage to Gourmet book included in the Ultimate Healthy Living Bundle because she trains us to see food as money. Don’t throw away that leftover coffee or those vegetable scraps! Gather up the scraps and treat your family to a gourmet meal you’ve gleaned from what you might have thrown away.

8) Clean out your refrigerator once a week

This sounds silly, I know, but I am notorious for wasting food because it gets shoved to the back of the fridge where I forget all about it. I have started the habit of serving a “leftovers lunch” after church on Sundays. Sometimes I remake the leftovers into something new; other times, I just heat and serve. But once a week, all the leftovers get eaten!

9) Grow what you are able

Did you know, you are able to grow a lot of nutrition in a very small space? Jami Balmet’s Apartment Gardening book, included in the Ultimate Healthy Living Bundle, is a great resource for those who do not think they have the space to grow anything but a Chia pet.

I have used these principles, along with sprouting, to grow a lot of nutrition in very little space.

Part of my container garden as it looked in May last year

10) Live simply

Feeding your family well can be expensive, but it is the most fundamental thing you can do for your children to ensure a lifetime of physical health and well-being. It is a short season! The sacrifices you make now will reap benefits in the years to come when your children and grandchildren are able to reach their potential because they are physically equipped to do so. Be encouraged in your efforts! You do not run in vain.

Get even more help in your efforts to eat healthy by purchasing the Ultimate Healthy Living Bundle, available for $29.97, through November 9, and receive the following FREE bonus offers!

Non-Dairy Coconut Creamer

Coconut creamer and coffee

Breaking news: I have given up half-and-half.

I have long since given up sugar and white flour. I even gave up Diet Coke, though I think I’ve been drinking it since birth. I walk right past the processed foods in the grocery store like they don’t even exist. My counter is crowded with things I sprout, ferment, and soak in the name of better health and nutrition.

But. I love my half-and-half.

Deep down inside, I knew my health would benefit if I gave up this dead, nutritionally void food. So, when I came across a recipe for coconut creamer, I thought I’d give it a try. I didn’t have the exact ingredients, but I tried it anyway. Surprisingly, I liked it. It was by far the best option I had tried for a non-dairy, non-soy, minimally processed creamer. In fact, I liked it so much, I haven’t used half-and-half since, even though there’s still half a quart in my fridge. Now that’s saying something.

Here’s my modified recipe:

Coconut Milk Creamer

1 can coconut milk*, room temperature

1 very fresh, organic egg from 1 very happy, pasture-raised hen

Optional:

Stevia (I don’t like sweet coffee, but I find a few drops of liquid stevia makes up for the lack of lactose in the coconut milk)

1 t. Vanilla

Cinnamon

Whirl the egg in a blender. Be sure to use the best eggs because you’ll be eating them raw. Slowly add the coconut milk and any optional ingredients you like. Blend until frothy and somewhat thick, about a minute in my Vitamix. Pour into a container and store in the fridge. Mixture will continue to thicken as it cools.

Coconut creamer makes a yummy topping! Try a breakfast parfait of bananas, raw granola, blueberries, and coconut cream.

*The original recipe calls for regular coconut milk. The first time I tried it, I used light because that was all I had in my pantry. I thought the creamer was tasty even so. I’ve since tried full-fat coconut milk, and even half-light, half regular. In my opinion, the taste difference between light and regular in this recipe is minimal, especially if I add a couple drops of stevia. Sure, the full-fat is creamier, but the fat and calories are more than double. In fact, full-fat coconut milk is much more calorie-dense than half-and-half. Eep!

In the end, the choice is yours. But, if you choose to use light coconut milk, look for a brand with no additives, like Trader Joe’s (a steal at only $.99 a can).

The original recipe also calls for 2 T. of coconut oil. She blends the egg and the oil slowly to create an emulsion, then adds the coconut milk. This creates a very thick whip. In fact, you have to spoon it into your coffee. She does this to keep the coconut milk from separating, but I find the lecithin in the egg is enough to keep the coconut milk from doing funny things in my coffee. So I cut out those extra calories. However, add the coconut oil in if you want a divine topping for a bowl of berries or a diary-free dessert!

Questions

Won’t a raw egg kill me? No. But it’s important to use farm-fresh eggs from reliable sources. See Nourishing Traditions for more about rawness.

Does the creamer taste like coconut? No.

Does a carton of coconut milk work as well as a can? No.

Is this coconut creamer gritty like the coconut milk creamer you buy in the store? No. In fact, it tastes much, much better than store-bought coconut creamer.

How long will the creamer last? I would try to use it up in about a week (I have no trouble with that!), although it may last longer than that.

Ready to give up dairy in your coffee? I hope you give this a try!

Fasting for Health–The Update!

Two weeks ago, I challenged myself to do a three-day juice fast. It was the longest fast I have done in the last ten years, and if I wasn’t convinced it was the best thing I could do for my body, I wouldn’t have done it at all.

Fasting is scary to me, but the more I read about the benefits, the more I had to do it. I put a date on the calendar and tried to be brave. I was nervous about it, not just because I don’t like to be hungry, but because I wasn’t sure I actually could fast for three days and still take care of five busy kids, my husband, and all my responsibilities. Could I really fast for three days and NOT kill someone?

I planned my fast for a time when my husband was going to be away for the weekend. I thought it would be easier to have him gone because we tend to indulge in special snacks and extra coffee when he’s home on the weekends. I couldn’t imagine watching a movie with him and not making popcorn!

As it turned out, our area of the country was hit with a significant (for us) snowstorm the week before my fast. Everything was shut down, and my husband didn’t have work for a week. His duty weekend at Ft. Lewis was cancelled (he’s an Army chaplain). I barely made it out of the house to load up on fruit and veggies for my juicing.

The first day of my fast, I had to endure my husband’s coffee-making ritual as I downed a glass of the worst tasting juice I have ever made. I felt a little sorry for myself. Did you know there’s such a thing as too much kale? There is.

But, having my husband home turned out to be much more of a blessing than it was a temptation to eat. He is extremely supportive and it was nice to have someone to talk to, and to have an extra hand with the kids (always a plus). I found out that I wasn’t very tempted to cheat. I had decided to do this fast and I didn’t want to break it. I wanted to see if I could do it.

The first day was the hardest for me. I had a sinus headache that made it difficult to function. And I was hungry. Some people say they aren’t hungry when they fast but I think they are all liars because I WAS HUNGRY. Granted, I’d been eating nothing but salad for a week ahead of the fast in an attempt to really, really clean out my system, but still. The kale-juice-of-awfulness was just not cutting it. I could barely drink it. Finally, I gave up and dumped it down the sink. It was liberating. Starting afresh with far less kale in my juice, things began to get easier.

That night, my mother-in-law invited us over for pizza and games. We’d been stuck in our house for a week because of the snow, with no one to entertain us but the neighbor kids zipping down our hill on their sleds, so we jumped at the chance. Even though I was going to be around food, I didn’t care. It was nice to think about being around people and doing something fun. The pizza and the snacks didn’t really bother because I don’t usually eat that kind of stuff anyway. But the salad looked good. And then my husband made a pot of coffee and I thought I was going to have to keep kissing him just to get a taste of it. Ah! Coffee is my downfall!

Day two and three were much easier for me than the first day, and not just because my hubby was happy from all the smooching. My headache went away and I felt great. I had a lot of energy and was even able to work out like normal. I wasn’t nearly as hungry, either. I only drank juice at meal times and didn’t feel like I was suffering beyond reason. I did drink a lot of herbal tea, especially Echinacea because it supports the lymph nodes and helps to detox. Plus, it was cold outside and I was freezing. Not eating made me feel colder than usual. I just wanted to hold a cup of soup!

By the time the last day of the fast came around, I knew I could do it. I went to bed with the happy thought that I’d be able to get up and make my usual cup of coffee. It was reassuring to know that I could eat again, but I wanted to make sure that I didn’t overdo it. I ate a pear for breakfast and it felt indulgent. I tried to eat the same things I’d juiced and avoided even healthy oils and sprouted nuts for the first couple days.

Before I began the fast, I wondered if I would lose much weight by not eating for three days. I didn’t need to lose weight, but like most women, I wasn’t going to complain if I did. The first two days, the scale didn’t move at all. I was a little annoyed. Here I was, practically starving myself, and the scale didn’t show it. I kept telling myself that I was healthy and that is all that matters (lies, all lies). But still. Not an ounce?! I woke up the third day and gave the scale a dirty look. Why do I even own one of those things? But I hopped on anyway and was shocked to see that I’d lost five pounds overnight. I don’t know how a person loses five pounds while they sleep (I guess I toss and turn a lot), but that’s what happened. And it hasn’t come back. I feel a sense of redemption in that.

More importantly, I feel a great sense of accomplishment because I did something I didn’t think I could do. And it wasn’t awful and I didn’t kill anyone and I was (mostly) my usual delightful self. But, I did feel like three days wasn’t quite long enough. I have read several doctors who say that a three day fast removes the toxic build-up in the body, but it takes five days (or longer) to really begin to undo any past damage. Five days lets the body really accomplish something. So, my next challenge is to complete a five day fast. I haven’t set the date yet, but I think it will be sometime this month. Stay tuned, and please consider joining me!