Every person regardless of religion or culture should be concern
with what they consume and how its consumed. It affects our body as well as our
world. As a Christian I look at it in a Christian prospective. Let’s look at
the Old Testament Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heavens
and the Earth". With that being said, God made everything that we
need.
He did not make cows that were injected with hormones, steroids
and antibiotics, nor did He give us corn that was modified
with pesticides and chemicals.
Buying Organic can be a little more expensive on the front end
when you compare at the grocery store but there are many ways it can be cheaper
and it has a lifetime of health benefits.
I have a few tips to live on a budget and choose healthy and real
food...
1. Do most of your shopping at your local farmers market, this
helps support local farmers and gives back to the community. In addition, you
are able to meet the people who grow your food, you can ask questions and they
are the best people to be asking! However, please beware just because they are
local farmers does not mean they grow without pesticides,
chemical or GMO seeds.
2. Eat what is in season! Find out more at Eat
Well Guide
3. The best way to cut your grocery bill down is grow your own
garden! We recently just bought a house and we will have our first real garden
this coming spring. I have grown many herbs and other vegetable in containers. Do
not think you need a full sized garden or greenhouse to provide for your
family! Go to your local library to find book in your area and contact your
local extension office. In addition buy GMO-free seeds, try Sow True Seed.
4. Regrow your organic scrapes. Find out more Alternative Gardening.
5. Store foods properly, know how and where to store
your organic foods.
6. Buy your meat from farmers markets and local farmers that feed their
animals what God created them to eat. We recently bought a whole cow and pig,
had it cut to our specifications. We spoke to many farmers to be sure they did
not consume any GMO products, any steroids, antibiotics, hormones, etc. We
were able to look at the animal to verify the health as well.
7. Don’t forget about hunting and fishing. Hunting wild animals is
a great way to balance the world out, if you have too many deer in an area they
will become deformed and they will not be healthy. God made us hunters to help
balance out the earth. Remember humans were made to eat meat and produce. Just
look at our teeth.
8. Buy things in season is going to save you money big time. Buy
in bulk then freeze or can what you are able. This is a great way to save money
all year round.
9. Buy clearance items when available. Its good (that I can find
cheap organic food) and bad that in the area I am in, people do not think
about organic food as much as some other places. I know when I go to the
local grocery store there will be organic fresh produce clearance off.
I take advantage of this opportunity and stock up.
10. Buy online! I have addressed this previously with coupon
codes. Read more here.
11. Use coupons! Unbelievably many stores such as Earthfare, Whole
Foods, Sprouts and other stores will have coupons. Even Kroger has organic
coupons on their website.
12. Check out organic off brands. Simply Organic can be bought at
Kroger stores.
13. Know your clean and dirty foods as well as which foods are
more likely to be a GMO. An example would be that papayas are in the clean 15,
but all the ones from Hawaii are most likely to be a GMO. Therefore, I only buy
organic papayas. EPA
14. Going back to meat: buy organic chicken as a whole chicken. I
boil the whole chicken with a variety of herbs and veggies. I can the broth and
I usually can get three meals out of one chicken. In addition, I do not have
to buy organic broth, which is a good saving!
15. Buy beans, rice, grains, dried fruit, nuts, etc. in the bulk
section. You can usually get it cheaper per ounce and you can get what you
need.
16. Buy organic coffees and teas in bulk online. Then use the
grounds for a variety of things, I will soon be touching on what to do with the
remains in an upcoming blog.
17. Buy organic eggs from local people or better yet, adopt a
couple of your own chickens! We are hoping to add them to our yard this year as
well. They do not get a whole lot of room. Check out City Girl Farming and Mother Earth News. Also, check out your local library for
books.
18. Honey, find a honey man/woman. You want to get raw honey. Most
places cannot place an organic label on it because bees travel so far to get
pollen.
19. Find a local dairy to get fresh perfectly raw
milk. Raw Milk Benefits.
20. Make your own yogurt, cheese, kefir, ice cream, butter and
much more. Cultures for Health.
21. Make your own almond butter and almond milk. I will touch on
this soon as well.
22. Make everything you can such as dried fruit, fruit leather,
granola bars, etc. instead of buying organic packaged.
23. Don't buy what you do not need; you do not need a bunch of
junk food, no chips, no soda drinks, etc.
24. Freeze foods before spoiling. If I notice that I have bananas
that are about to be too bad before eating I freeze them. I use them
for smoothies and making banana swirl.
24. Use the lovely world of technology! Sign up for coupons
at Mambo Sprouts, Saving Naturally, Organic Deals, Organic Food Coupons, Organic Deals and
Steals, Simply
Organic, Bargains to Bounty, Amys, Brown Cow Farm, Barbara's, Coleman Natural, Cascadian Farm, Horizon Dairy. Stonyfield. Muir Glen, Eden, Earths Best, and any
brand! Just go to their FB page or website to see if they offer coupons.
25. Buy from Amazon! Many items are available for auto
shipment with a discount.
26. Don't buy bottled water; instead buy stainless steel water
bottles and water filters. This will save a lot of money and is better for you
and the planet!
27. Make plans to serve several vegetarian meals a month. Beans
are cheaper than meat!
28. Don't bother on flavored waters with chemicals; instead make
your own flavored water with fruit and herbs. A few of my favorite add-ins are
lemon, rosemary, mint, berries, cucumber, limes, lemongrass and ginger. All are
fresh and organic. The herbs come from my garden! I make a gallon at a time and
use this wonderful Quick Stir Pitcher.
29. If you are looking to add some electrolytes to your drink,
add ½ tsp. baking soda
2 Tbsp. agave nectar and ½ Tbsp. of sea salt per each liter.
You can even mix it in your flavored water! Yum.
30. Avoid chemicals and cancerous additives in your food! This
includes food coloring, sodium nitrite/nitrate in processed
foods, artificial sweeteners in everything, monosodium glutamate
(msg), butylated hydroxyanisole (bha) & butylated hydroxytoluene
(bht), hydrogenated fats/trans fats, hydrogenated
oils, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in
popcorn, 4-methylimidazole (4-MI) in sodas, refined white
foods such as flour and sugar, acrylamides, carrageenan this can be found in organic foods and well anything you don’t
know you should research.
31. Educate yourself on what you are putting in your body. God
gave us our body as our temple, try to remember that when you are about to put
a gallon of cheap ice cream in it.
Here is a site that offers some more info,
www.eatlocalchallenge.com
http://eatwild.com/
http://www.localharvest.org/
http://www.foodroutes.org/
http://www.greenoptions.com/wiki/seasonal-produce
It is important that you start making a change in your diet and
educate yourself on what is in your food. You have the right to know what
poisons you are consuming and how they are going to react in the body.
You can save money and live very well!
I hope this helps you all and let me know if you have other ways of saving!
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