Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

What Are Your Best Real Food Money Saving Tips?

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Our family has been driving, and driving, and driving some more. Today we’re on the home stretch! After four days in the car driving home from California, we will be home tonight. Can’t wait!

I’m excited to get back into the routine of posting Money Saving Monday tips around here. Today, since I haven’t been able to write a tip, I thought it would be great to hear from all of you instead!

We all have different ways of saving money along our healthy eating journey. Leave a comment to share what works for you!

I’d like to put together a free downloadable resource filled with all your great ideas. This will bless so many who are striving to feed their families well.

Thanks in advance! Can’t wait to hear all the great tips you have to share!

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Don’t Waste Food ~ Money Saving Monday

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Here are some real food grocery budget suggestions for you.  (Please note, I didn’t say they are good suggestions. They are just some suggestions.)

1. Spend time and energy making an organized grocery list. Load up the kids and go to the grocery store. Spend an hour (with a potentially screaming baby and run-away toddler) comparing prices, making wise choices, and filling your cart with food. Stand in line (with the baby who now insists on being held, bounced, and patted constantly on the bottom – and the toddler who has suddenly grown eight hands, all of which are grabbing candy bars). Watch prices get scanned incorrectly, manager overriding the purchase, another employee having to run check on the actual price and thirty-two hours later, fall exhausted into your vehicle. Drive home, unload the kids, unload the groceries, find everyone a snack, wearily survey the food that needs to be put away.

With resolve, pick up 1/3 of the food you just brought home from the store and carry it directly to the trash can. Dump it in, walk away. Your job here is done.

Why? Why would you do that?  The next scenario makes much more sense:

2. Get $40 out of your wallet, walk to the trash can, throw it in, and walk away.

Ah yes. That is much easier than Option #1. Why should you actually go to the trouble to make a list and go shopping when you can just stay home and throw the money away before you spend it? Definitely, pick door number 2. Or…

3. Do everything mentioned in Option #1, only do not throw any of it away, because how silly would that be? Put all the food away in the freezer, fridge, or pantry. Shove the raw chicken all the way to the back of the fridge, and promptly forget about it for three weeks until it has turned green and smells like {don’t finish that sentence}. Ignore the lettuce and grapes in the crisper drawer until they are slimy. Open a package of rice, but don’t close it so that bugs can crawl right in.

And last but not least, Option #4:

4. Organize and shop as suggested in Option #1, putting food away like a responsible citizen in Option #3. Go so far as to plan a menu and actually go to the trouble to cook the food before it spoils. Put it on your table, filling your plates. Eat only half. Throw the rest away.

dont waste food

These four options are obviously absurd, until you recognize that every time we throw away food, we are throwing away hard-earned money and wasting all kinds of time and energy. We would never put cash in the garbage, so why would we think about spending that money on food and then throwing it away?

Obviously, sometimes food can occasionally go bad before we get to it. It happens. Don’t beat yourself up. This isn’t about all the hungry children in other countries, unless you need it to be.

But one of the biggest ways to save money on your grocery bill, especially if you’re trying to figure out how to eat healthy food and save money at the same time is to: buy your food with a purpose, then make a point to eat it.

It’s too easy to ignore the great food choices we spent money on and let them go to waste. Get out of the habit of putting more food on your plate or your child’s plate than you or they can eat, then throwing away what’s left. Don’t want to eat leftovers after a meal? Freeze them for another time or re-purpose them (like make soup with leftover veggies).

In summary:  Buy good food. Eat it.

Or, just throw some cash into your fireplace, whichever you prefer. :)

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Add Spinach for Extra (Inexpensive) Nourishment

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Have you heard the news? Spinach is the new chocolate. It’s showing up in everything. People can’t get enough. It’s highly addicting. Spinach makes people sooooo happy.

I just made all that up.  Chocolate will always be chocolate, and spinach will…not. But at our house, the “can’t get enough spinach” statement is very true. I’ve been adding spinach to everything. (Actually, I haven’t been adding it to my coffee. I do draw the line there.)  It’s almost become a joke. The boys sit down to eat and say, “So did you add spinach to this, too?”

The good news is:  They are eating it. ALL of it. And they aren’t complaining. Even the pickiest one. Why aren’t they complaining? Because you can add spinach to many, many recipes and it will not change the flavor. It will only add nutrients. And…it might turn the food green, but whatever. I’m not trying to hide the spinach. I’m just trying to add goodness to our food in every way possible.

While I continue to learn more about eating well, the biggest lesson I’ve learned is this:  Healthy eating is not just about what you eliminate from your diet. It’s about making sure you’re filling your body with as many good nutrients as possible so that it can thrive. I’ve also learned never to overfill my blender, which is an equally important lesson, though not so much about nourishment as it is about the regret of finding crusty peach milkshake on the ceiling three days after the episode. But about adding nutritional value to our food…

Spinach has 19 amazing nutrients. Nineteen!!!! Vitamin K, vitamin A, manganese, folate, magnesium, iron, copper, vitamin B2, vitamin B6, vitamin E, calcium, potassium, and vitamin C, fiber, phosphorus, vitamin B1, zinc, protein, and choline – all in a spinach leaf.  Impressive.

Add Spinach for Extra Inexpensive Nourishment

The best news of all? Adding spinach to your recipes is a very inexpensive way to eat healthier. I paid $6 last week for a pound of spinach. That sounds like a lot of money until you recognize that spinach is very light weight and one pound of spinach is enough to stuff my pillow. I add spinach to meal after meal after meal. Just think of it. For about 75¢ per meal, I can add 19 fantastic nutrients to my dish.

How to add spinach to your food:

I find that simply tearing up handfuls of raw spinach with my hands and throwing it into the cooking pot works great. My cousin said that she dumps a package of raw spinach into her food processor, adds just enough water to help it spin, then purees it. Then, she freezes the pureed spinach in ice cube trays, throwing a frozen spinach cube into recipes. Brilliant!

What I’ve added spinach to successfully:

What I haven’t tried yet, but you better believe it’s on my list:

If you haven’t tried adding spinach to your recipes, I highly recommend it! If you have tried it, leave a comment to share what has worked for you.

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Switching to Whole Food Sweeteners Without Breaking the Bank

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While switching from processed food to nourishing food doesn’t have to be terribly expensive, there’s no way around this one:  White and brown sugar are cheap. Sucanat, real maple syrup, muscovado, honey, and stevia are not cheap. I can get a 2-pound bag of brown sugar at the store for $1.78. Sucanat, on the other hand, is usually $5.00 for 1.5 pounds. Ouch! It’s worth it to buy the good stuff, but it isn’t fun to pay for.

While I don’t have any earth shattering advice about finding fantastic deals on these wholesome sweeteners, I do have some suggestions based on what works for me.

Switching to Whole Food Sweeteners Without Breaking the Bank

1. Stop eating so many sugary desserts.

I know. You’re rolling your eyes. I feel your pain on this one because I’m a recovering sugar addict. Pray about this and let God’s power be your will-power. You don’t have to cut out desserts altogether (unless you feel called to). You simply need to keep sugary foods a treat instead of pouring on the sugar like it’s a food group. You’ll be amazed at how much money you save on sucanat, honey, and maple syrup when you stop eating so much.

2. Cut the sugar in half.

When baking muffins, quick breads, and breakfast bars, I find that half the sugar called for in many recipes (even mine!) works just fine. The baked goods are still sweet and tasty. This saves quite a bit of money on wholesome sugars!

3. Drizzle your syrup.

Dousing your pancakes or waffles in real maple syrup? That’s an expensive breakfast! A little drizzle of rich, flavorful maple syrup goes a long way. It’s also fun to pour a tiny quarter-sized bit of syrup onto your plate, then dip the corner of each bite to sweeten it just a touch.

4. Pull out the cheap stuff when feeding a crowd.

If I’m feeding 40 teenagers, I leave my sucanat in the pantry and pull out the cheap brown sugar. There’s no need to use $6 worth of sucanat when I can use $1.50 worth of brown sugar for a big group of kids who really don’t care about whether or not the brownies were made with organic sugar or not. I certainly don’t mind sharing “the good stuff” with company occasionally, but it just really isn’t worth spending extra money when three pans of dessert are going to be devoured in two minutes. I never compromise on using real butter (instead of margarine), and I always use my freshly ground flour (no one can even tell) – but compromising on sugar? At least it’s actual sugar instead of artificial sugar or high fructose corn syrup. Which leads me to…

At the end of the day…

It’s all sugar.  Sucanat is healthier because it’s processed very little and still contains nutrients. Real maple syrup is straight from the tree. Honey is made by bees and is as natural as it comes. But to our bodies? It’s all sugar. Read this post about Breaking Free of Sugar Addiction for more of my thoughts on this.

This means you may decide that switching to sucanat (and paying the higher price tag) is just not worth it.

I believe the bigger focus needs to be on cutting back on sugar (in all its forms). Focus on filling up on fruits and vegetables instead. You’ll be amazed at how sweet your fruits and vegetables taste when your palate isn’t coated with a cookie.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Which sugars do you choose to purchase and use for your family?

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Make Homemade Broth ~ Money Saving Monday

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Welcome to our very first Money Saving Monday tip! I have to start with talk about making broth. Why? Here’s the back story…

Once upon a time (otherwise known as two weeks ago), we were having a houseful of company for the weekend. I had the meals planned, and worked to get as much cooking done ahead of time as possible so that I could enjoy my guests once they arrived.

The only task left on my list was “make broth for soup” which kept getting pushed down because of everything else that kept getting added to my list – you know how it is. I decided, “Fine, I’ll just buy the broth. No need to kill myself and be exhausted before guests arrive.” So I checked “make broth for soup” off my to-do list and added “broth for soup” to my grocery list. (This has got to be the most intriguing story you’ve ever read…)

Fast-forward to the part where I was standing at the store in the aisle of broth. I saw the tiny little box of broth along with its price tag. Out loud to the shelf, the broth, the price tag, and likely to a few other shoppers passing by, I said, “Ugh. $2 – for this??” I cringed as I put three boxes in my cart. I cringed even more when I poured the watery broth into my soup pot. When I make broth, it’s thick and rich, full of vegetables, fat, and gel from the bones.

Purchasing broth that day really was a life saver. But a money saver it was not. Plus, what I make at home is much more nutrient packed. So Money Saving Monday tip for today:

Make Your Own Nutrient-Packed Broth

For the price of three boxes of store-bought (watery) broth, I can make 2 gallons of homemade, nourishing broth. I pack it full of veggies. I cook it slow and low until the good fat and nutrients seep out of the bones. You haven’t had broth until you’ve had homemade bone broth. This is incredibly delicious, and so very good for you!

Even better, beef bones are very inexpensive to purchase. I purchase beef bones from a local farmer who raises grass-fed beef. You can also check butcher shops and your grocery store meat department to see about getting a good deal on beef bones.

I personally love how easy beef bone broth is to make. In addition, I often make Chicken Broth, which is also incredibly nourishing and rich. But it does take a little more effort if you are starting with whole chickens. Making broth from beef bones requires very little effort – and very little money – just to restate one of our main points today!

Below you’ll find links to our Beef Broth and Chicken Broth instructions:

How to Make Beef Broth

Homemade Beef Broth

How to Make Chicken Broth

How to Make Chicken Broth

So, three cheers for homemade bone broth! It’s one of the most inexpensive ways to get loads of nourishment into your family.

What to do with Beef Bone Broth or Chicken Broth:

In case you lost count, that’s 12 amazing ways to fill yourself and your family with nourishment in a very inexpensive way. Homemade Beef and Chicken broth are amazing!

Make it Ahead

Beef and Chicken Broth can easily be made ahead and frozen for future use. This means you are not only saving money, you’re saving time! To freeze broth, be sure it has completely cooled. Pour it into jars, leaving 2-3 inches of space at the top of the jar to allow for the broth to expand as it freezes. You can also freeze the broth in freezer bags. Just be sure the bags are sealed well before putting them in the freezer. Otherwise, they will spill and leak, creating broth-sicles all over the freezer – ask me how I know. :(

What are your favorite ways to make and use beef or chicken broth?

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Money Saving Monday ~ Stretching Your Dollars While Eating Healthy Food

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Never before have I recognized the need to find money-saving grocery methods as I do now. My boys have always been big eaters. But now that 2-almost-3-out of 4 of them are teenagers? There is no sentence to follow that question.  It’s just. The food. They eat. I’m so. Wow.

It’s a pleasure to watch them eat actually. Big appetites are fun for a food lovin’ Mama like me. But I have to find as many ways as possible to make our grocery dollars stretch. Just last week, I decided to buy some thick deli-sliced ham for a quick lunch. It was on sale, so I bought several inches of it, hoping I could stretch it with a bunch of side dishes, and therefore save about a half pound to go with eggs for breakfast the next day. Y’all.  I fried every last bit of that ham, fried some leftover baked potatoes, opened a can of baked beans, pulled out half a pineapple, pulled out a pint of pickles, pulled some tortilla chips to go with leftover Cream Cheese Salsa Dip and leftover Spicy Avocado Dip, pulled a bowl of raw broccoli with homemade ranch dip – and nothing was left at the end of the meal. Then they said, “Can we have the rest of those peanut butter cookies?”

This is why their legs keep growing and their shoes are too small before they even get them broken in. (Praise God with me! Two of our boys found brand new pairs of very nice quality running shoes at our church clothing exchange last week for FREE. Hallelujah! Put the money we would have spent on shoes toward more eggs and meat.)

You know how I share that I buy in bulk all the time? A friend of mine came over to take a look at my food purchasing and storage system. She saw all of the containers of pasta. She saw all the jars of home-canned produce. She saw all the 50-pound bags of wheat, oats, and rice. She saw my all my cocoa powder, bottles of ketchup, jars of mayo, and cans of tuna. She saw my three freezers (THREE!) full of meat and frozen fruits and veggies. She saw it all. Her question:

“So, would this food last you for about a year do you think?” Oh dear, no (said I, with a giggle). What you see here will be gone in three months.

Well anyway, money saving tips on food are necessary – for all of us, wouldn’t you agree?

Each Monday for the next few weeks, I plan to share a way to save money while eating healthy food. Healthy food is so important so that we can all thrive physically and emotionally! These posts won’t be about skimping on nutrition, but rather attaining nutrition without breaking the bank.

Money Saving Monday at Heavenly Homemakers

Of course, I’ll continue to share all the great online deals I find at anytime throughout the week. But I continue learning new tricks to keep my healthy food grocery budget reasonable. I can’t wait to share!

Will you help out as we start this series? Leave a comment letting us know:

1. What are your favorite ways to save money on healthy foods?
2. What are the areas you struggle with most while trying to save money on healthy foods?

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!