Wow, what a great and exciting response to this post, where I promised to take you shopping with me and share more about how I buy food and feed my family a good, wholesome diet on a tight budget!
Over the weekend, I sat down for a couple of hours and put together a list of all the subjects you mentioned either in the comments or by email that you would like to have me cover about Feeding the Family. Here’s a list of the questions from you that I came up with:
- Where/how do you shop?
- Where do you buy household products and what do you use?
- How do you buy in bulk…where/how do you store it/…what about people who have little to no storage space?
- How did you find a food co-op? What are the options?
- What is your food budget? How do I figure out which products to buy organically? How do I find good prices for good foods?
- Share some inexpensive recipe ideas! How about inexpensive healthy snack ideas?
- Where do you buy your grains? How do you store them? Do you use a variety of grains?
- Share how you make different kinds of breads.
- How do you cook to please everyone in my family?
- How do you go about finding good, local meat, milk, etc.?
- What are the benefits of organic and/or raw milk?
- How did you get your husband on board with healthy eating AND spending the extra money for good quality foods?
- Are you in the kitchen all the time? How do you get all of this done? Is it possible for women who work outside the home to feed their families this way?
- Tell me more about gardening. What if I only have a small garden space?
- Where in the world do I begin when I want to make changes toward eating healthier?
- And…last but not least….I DO want to see your OATS. All 50 pounds of them! What all do you do with them?!
So…those are some of the topics we’ll be covering here over the next few weeks (months?). Far be it from me to keep my bag of oats all to myself. And…I can’t wait to take my camera over to shoot footage of the cow!
Before I tell you all kinds of information about how I feed my family I thought I’d take you on a little tour through my kitchen. I figured it might help you understand all the ins and outs of the way I cook if you could first see the kitchen I work in!
Malachi (my 4 year old) came in during part of the filming of this which makes it SO much more fun to watch than simply hearing my voice and looking at my jars of beans. Also, at one point you’ll hear a big bang in the background where Malachi drops his “kintar” (guitar).
Now that you’ve been through my kitchen, I can more easily explain the ways we shop, store, cook and eat our food! If you have anything else you would like to see added to the above list…let me know.
ALSO…so many of you mentioned wanting to know more of my frugal, healthy recipes. I’d love to share more of my recipes with you…but help me out by letting me know what YOUR idea of a frugal amount is? What do you feel like is a reasonable cost PER PERSON per meal?
Diana says
WOW! I’m so jealous of your pantry space, what a great design! Thanks so much for all of your helpful information. I just bought my first bag of soft wheat berries today and I’m ready to grind!
Lee Anne says
Wow…I am so impressed! You are so very organized and neat. I need to get a hold of my pantry again and clean it out…you may have just motivated me to do that tonight. :)
Sara says
I have been reading your blog for awhile and am trying to make some “more natural” changes. I grew up on hamburger helper and fast food. I would LOVE to hear more details on how you do what you do with some frugal recipes. For me, as long as it isn’t a $10 meal for 4 people I am willing to give it a whirl….still cheaper then buying frozen stuff or going out!
Amy says
Oh, I’m excited about seeing all the answers! Thanks for the tour!
The Southern Housewife says
OK, so I was drooling when I saw your pantry and then you opened it up to a whole other storage area!!! AAAACK! I about lost it- you lucky lucky girl! :)
Melonie (Momma & More) says
I’m inspired – I’ll have to do a little kitchen tour some time as well. And Malachi did a lovely job wrapping things up. ;-)
I have to say, it was funny listening to you talk – we sound very similar. I’m tempted to send that to MY Nana since she desperately wants me to send pictures of our new home. I’m pretty sure Malachi will tip her off though – he’s got a few years on my son. haha
Kristy Howard says
I love it, thanks for the tour! You keep a very lovely and welcoming home. :o) I’m really looking forward to your upcoming posts on frugal and healthy cooking! ~Kristy
sally says
oh Malachi! That boy is SO cute. Sorry, I missed some of the tour wishing he would come back on the screen! =) Tell him Lil Major is all ready to play at the Hamm Bash this year!
momstheword says
Apparently my sound isn’t working so I couldn’t hear anything you said. I am impressed with your pantry though and hope to be able to take the tour again, this time with sound.
I am looking forward to your series! I wish I could tell you what I thought a good price would be but I have never broken it down that way.
Tarena says
love the pantry too!
did you have it custom built?
Elizabeth says
Thank you for the tour! One thing I feel is lacking in my kitchen is storage space, but I think I’d be OK if I didn’t store my kids’ art supplies in my peninsula cabinet. *blush* But really, your kitchen is wonderful. :)
Erin Bassett says
Wow, what an awesome pantry!! The double shelving is a great idea!
Can you tell us more about your nutritional supplements?
Thank you for your hospitality!!
Jenny says
We spend $4/per person/day so meals that fit less than that amount and balance out to be healthy with appropriate proteins and not cheap carbs are my idea of frugal.
Thank you for doing this series!
Donna says
Malachi- he’s a superstar!
What a cutie~
Good job with the video! Lovely kitchen!
Frugal….maybe you could just take your next menu and break it down by price?
The snacks/quick foods are often the weak areas around here and I’d say with lots of other moms as well! Can’t wait to hear more about how you deal with that!
Jill Roper says
WOW Laura. Sure beats the kitchen in Security! Looking at the pantry I thought, Thou Shalt Not Covet, Thou Shalt Not Covet etc etc etc :)
Great tour, thanks
Erika says
Your kitchen is amazing! (And much tidier than mine would be with 4 boys home all day, haha)
One question that wasn’t asked (and I realize this is a dumb question) is what types of resources you’d recommend for starting the journey. We’ve bought Nourishing Traditions, and I read it and enjoyed it, but I’m wondering if there are any practical guides to change, as well as a “How to Convince your Husband that a $300 Grain Mill is Not a Waste of Money” book.
Thanks for doing such a great job with your blog–I love it!
Beth@Not a Bow in Sight says
What a wonderful kitchen! Did you customize that yourself?
I’m looking forward to your future posts- especially how you have time to prepare all these fabulous items with children tugging at your heels all day :) I think that’s my only area where we resort to convenience items- on days when the kids just really need me all day.
Carmen says
Thanks for sharing! I wish I could make my kitchen look like that. I love the use of the trunk/bench for bulk storage!!
To me, a frugal meal would be $1-$2 a head for the full meal.
Cammie says
You have an amazing kitchen! But, I just want to encourage others that having a small kitchen and home should not limit you. There are many creative ideas for storing bulk goods and making the most of the space you have. Healthy cooking can and should happen in whatever kitchen you have been blessed with. Maybe I will give a tour of my little kitchen on my blog…when I get a new camera…I found my last one in the dish water! Anyway…sorry…I seem to be long winded today. I am so excited to read your recipes as I have really been enjoying the ones I have already tried! You are an awsome cook and major encouragement.
Cammie says
Oh, I agree, $1-$2 a person is frugal.
Emily Kay says
Love your kitchen! Thanks for allowing us a peek:) Also, your son is precious!!! Thankyou for being such an encouragment. I always get motivated when I look at your blog!
Elizabeth Quigley says
Hi Laura,
I would like to see more post encouraging women that it ok to spend money on food. There seems to be a movemet going around the blog world that we shoule try and get by as cheap as we can when it comes to food shopping. Recently The Weston Foundtation had an article in thier newsletter about setting realistic food budgets. 1-2 dollars a person isn’t realistic for a healthy balance meal.Eat nourishing and balanced whole food meal cost but the end resupts are worth it. It may be mean we have to cut in other areas of our budget like cable,cell phone,home phone and ect but when it comes to food we should be willingly to spend the money it takes to feed our families. I do lots of post on cooking from scratch and getting the most our of my food budget but you will never read on my blog how to feed your family on 40.00 a week and I don’t use many coupons. I look forward to seeing your next post.
Blessings,
Elizabeth
blair says
elizabeth, tonight i made laura’s cheesy beef and rice recipe, and made green beans, and steamed cauliflower with it. i just added it up and divided it, and it came out to $1.42 per serving. plus the home made bread we had left over from another meal. it is possible to do some of the time, but not reasonable to think it can be done every night. :-)
Lisa says
What a blessing to have a kitchen like that. I could also learn some organizational tips from you, but that will probably be another series, huh? :) I also really appreciate your blog. It is one of my favorites. It is also SO encouraging to read that it’s okay to spend money on good food. I have been implementing things slowly around here; lots more whole grains, making my own sour cream and buttermilk, more fruits and veggies, etc. But I would get so dejected when, trying to feed my family good food, I would constantly go over my grocery budget that I realize now was just not realistic. So thanks for all you do and your wonderful recipes (every recipe I’ve tried on here my family loves).
Laura says
You have a wonderful kitchen! And it is so clean. I am amazed. My kitchen is significantly smaller, but actually has ample storage space if I am creative. I need to work harder at keeping it all neat and tidy. :)
This series and the earlier posts that you linked to have been very encouraging for me. I’m working towards a healthier lifestyle but right now am really struggling with balancing home and career. I really appreciate your encouragement through all those posts to go slow and take baby steps.
As far as budget is concerned, I think that Elizabeth is right on. But I do think it would be interesting to break down the cost of what you prepare in a typical day. That would give folks a place to start from.
Joelle says
So nice to see your kitchen and hear your voice after reading your writing. :-) You’re so organized! I love it. I hope that someday I have a nice big kitchen too.
Pam Smith says
I too am a fan of your site (and think your son is adorable). Our family has a food budget of $500 per month:
– $33 for beef (we purchase 1/3 of a grass fed cow in the spring so for the next 3 months I will be setting aside $130)
– $9.50 raw milk
– $24 free range eggs from a farm
– $14 raw organic cheese (I purchase $40 worth every 3 months)
So once I’ve figured in the above I have roughly $78 per week for other groceries (grains, seeds, honey, produce, poultry, olive oil, dairy, etc)
And we have $150 for our sundry items (household items, kids vitamins, paper products, hygiene, etc)
With all that said I’m making weekly menus to help me stay within the $78 range.
Tamie says
Thanks for taking the time to give us a tour. I love looking at other women’s kitchens…I always learn something helpful! And I am looking forward to the next post in this series!
~Tamie
Org Junkie says
Great kitchen and cubbies!! Two sinks would be so nice for sure.
Have a great weekened!
BarbaraLee says
We are planning to remodel our kitchen so it is bigger. I can’t wait.
Cheryl H says
Thanks, Laura, for the tour! It was fun :)
Two questions–can you please, please, pretty please:) post on how you keep your counters so spotless, especially with little boys? I won’t even go into the strange assortment of random items that are cluttering mine right now, but would sure appreciate your advice.
Second, if you didn’t have your pantry, where would you store stuff? Any tips for those of us without pantries? Thanks!!
PS-When can we all stop by and have coffee/tea? I’m pretty sure we could all fit in the pantry (wink) :)
Kate says
That was way too much fun Laura! I am in love with your kitchen. Okay, so my question to add to your list…how much would you charge to let someone spend a day in the kitchen with you? Because I would be there in a second! :)
Denai says
We spend $600 a month on food so that breaks down to $3 a day per person… I actually just started a blog to blog about how we eat health on that amount!
(pst, it is randombitsofknowledge here….just posted under the new blog addy!)
Can’t wait to READ more (I can’t watch, we have dial up, so sad :-(
Barbara says
I love your pantry! And Malachi is adorable! Don’t you just hate that they grow up so fast?! 3 was my favorite age . . .
Kitten says
I’ve recently decided on an amount per meal that seems pretty reasonable for our family.
Breakfast – $.50 per person
Lunch – $1.00 per person
Supper- $1.50 per person
It has given me perspective on why eating out just can’t work for us.
Kitten
Shannon Lea Fowler says
That was fun!!!
Your pantry could eat my kitchen! LOL
I love your trunk! That is just so neat!! Well, your whole kitchen is just AWESOME!!! Thanks for sharing it with us!
momstheword says
I finally got our speakers fixed so that I could hear your tour. I enjoyed it very much and am impressed with your pantry and all that canning. Awesome!
Amanda says
OK, I’m a little late to this but I love your kitchen set up. I wish we had a pantry but we only have a cabinet. I will definitley be showing yours to my husband as inspiration.
Amy Carter says
I love your website. The kitchen tour was fun. We have very similar kitchens. WE also cook a lot a like. I recommend your site to everyone. Thanks for doing all of the work.
Cheri says
Thanks for the tour. I noticed I didn’t see any aluminum cans of anything. I’m trying to get away from buying aluminum canned goods. I also wondered about your nutritional supplements. Does your Chiropractor do Nutritional Response Testing? I’ve also been researching that, as well.
Laura says
I rarely buy canned food, except for tuna or salmon.
I buy supplements through my Chiro – Standard Process brand. He does muscle testing to see what we are lacking in so that he knows what to recommend, and how much to recommend we take.
Cheri says
My chiropractor does the same testing with Standard Process,
but does it work for you? My husband is not willing to really spend
the money on it because he is not sure if he believes in it. Would
like to know your testimonial on the subject. Thanks!
Laura says
Yes, these have helped us very much. They are not a QUICK fix however and sometimes it takes 2-3 months to see results, which is hard because during that time, you feel like you’re spending money on something that isn’t working!
Kelly says
We are adding onto our house & so will be able to completely redo the kitchen. If you were able to build a kitchen from scratch, Laura (& anyone else!), what kinds of things would you put in? I definitely need the bottom of the shelves high enough to put big plastic storage buckets for wheat, sugar, etc. I want a built-in toaster or smaller oven for reheating so can get rid of microwave but not have to turn on big oven all the time. A nice counter for rolling out dough. What’s the best surface? Other ideas?
Laura says
Oooh, fun question. I like all of the ideas you mentioned. I’d say LOTS of cabinets, lots of counter space, large lower cabinets to store larger appliances (like the grain mill), and well, I LOVE the way my pantry is designed and highly recommend it!
Gayle says
That Wiggles guitar has been a favorite in our house for many years. My oldest son called his “big-tar” : )
Maria says
Why didn’t I see a button for a video? Is it my computer? I wanna see your kitchen!
Laura says
I’m not sure why it isn’t showing up for you on the post, but here’s the link directly to you tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUsGmiOtpQg&feature=player_embedded
Jill says
Hi Laura, Lovely kitchen and pantry indeed! Can you tell me or reference sites about why microwaves are a big deal? I had a friend who did a bit of research and concluded that it’s fine as long as you use glass….
Laura says
Here’s one helpful article have referenced that helps explain about microwaves: http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/health-hazards-to-know-about/microwave-ovens-the-proven-dangers.
Jill says
thank you