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Confessions of a Chocolate Shake Addict

July 11, 2021 by Tasha Hackett Leave a Comment

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Hey, it’s Tasha. Remember me? I’m Laura’s friend. The one who fell off the cliff and didn’t die. I homeschool a few kids and eat chocolate, AND I DRINK IT. Eating paleo took a turn for the better once I discovered some amazing chocolate tricks, but today is the day for the confessions of a paleo chocolate shake addict.

Chocolate Shake Confessions:

I drink a chocolate shake every day. Sometimes more than one.
Secretly, not so secretly anymore, I am happy a few of my kids don’t like my chocolate shakes—more for me.
16 oz of cacao powder barely lasts me one month = that means I eat approximately 3 Tablespoons a day.
Once, mid-shake preparation, I was ravenous. Hungry, grumpy, starving. The cacao powder was not where it was supposed to be. I searched frantically through the cupboards to no avail. Mean Tasha came out. I yelled across the house to my husband and kids, “WHO MOVED THE CHOCOLATE STUFF??” No one answered Crazy Mama. Climbed up on the counter and searched the top shelf while yelling at my family that there was a crisis upon us. Turns out, the almost empty bag was found behind the Blentec. Right where I’d left it I’m sure.
No, I’m not misspelling Cocoa. Cacao is a real thing.

Cacao vs. Cocoa?

Cacao is the name of the tree that grows pods with beans that are harvested and roasted like coffee to make cocoa powder and chocolate. But—woah—if you don’t roast the beans, it’s called cacao instead of cocoa. Unroasted beans are raw and contain significantly higher levels of minerals, fiber, and even some protein. So that’s what I chose to eat. Please check out the Subscribe & Save options available for Organic Cacao Powder.

Paleo Chocolate Shake RecipeYum

Clearly, Laura’s salad-drinking habits are commendable. But, another confession: I’m not a grown-up enough human to submit myself to such torture. What I meant to say is that Laura is a super human blessed by the Almighty with taste buds of steel. Hmm. Okay, how about this: I’m so deeply in love with chocolate shakes and I see no reason to give them up.

Sorry. The recipe(s).

I mostly make it the same every day, but has been evolving over the year. Therefore, I will give you two recipes. The first is when you only have 30 seconds to spare. The second is when you have 2 minutes.

Quick Fix Chocolate Shake

8 oz. coconut milk
2 Tablespoons cacao or cocoa powder
2 pinches salt
1/2—1 teaspoon Super Sweet from THM or stevia/blend sweetener of choice
Large handful of spinach
3 cubes ice
Blend until smooth
Drink

The above smoothie has approximately 4 grams of protein and 92 calories. It is enough to satisfy a chocolate craving and sweet tooth. If you want to trick your mouth into thinking you’re having a treat, and you’re in a hurry, give it a try. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of nutrients in the spinach, cacao, and coconut milk, but I wouldn’t recommend replacing a meal with this shake. Unless you’re planning to starve yourself to death, which I highly discourage.

Paleo Chocolate Shake with more stuff…

8 oz. coconut milk
2 Tablespoons cacao or cocoa powder
2 pinches salt
1/2—1 teaspoon Super Sweet from THM or stevia/blend sweetener of choice
2 Tablespoons integral collagen (paleo friendly dairy/soy-free protein)
half of a banana (sliced and frozen is nice)
1/2 cup frozen fruit (blueberries or sweet cherries are good options)
1 Tablespoon almond butter
Large handful spinach
3 cubes of ice
Blend until smooth
Drink in secret or make double to share with all the toddlers

This is the shake I drink daily. If we’re heading out and I’m not sure if there’s going to be paleo food for me, then I make a shake. Sometimes I drink with breakfast, or later in the day if I’m hungry and there’s no food in front of me. The full recipe is approximately 320 calories and 17 grams of protein.

What do you eat everyday?! Does it make you ask happy as this shake makes me? If not… maybe you should make this shake instead.

Paleo Chocolate Shake

Save Print

Author: Tasha

Recipe type: snack

Ingredients

8 oz. coconut milk
2 Tablespoons cacao or cocoa powder
2 pinches salt
½—1 teaspoon Super Sweet from THM or stevia/blend sweetener of choice
2 Tablespoons integral collagen (paleo friendly dairy/soy-free protein)
half of a banana (sliced and frozen is nice)
½ cup frozen fruit (blueberries or sweet cherries are good options)
1 Tablespoon almond butter
Large handful spinach
3 cubes of ice

Instructions

Blend until smooth
Drink in secret or make double to share with all the toddlers

Tasha Hackett is a friend of Laura and author of the Christian Romance, Bluebird on the Prairie; available wherever books are sold and from her website, www.TashaHackett.com. She spends most of her time (drinking chocolate shakes) with four chatty children and an incredibly supportive husband. They give her the kind of love people write books about.

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Groceries I Order From Azure Standard

February 12, 2020 by Laura Leave a Comment

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Curious about what groceries I regularly order from Azure Standard? Today I’ll share what’s often on my list!

Real Food Groceries I Buy From Azure Standard

First, let’s review.

Here’s a post to share what Azure Standard is and why I shop with them regularly. (Spoiler: They’re a food co-op that delivers even to small towns all over the U.S. Their prices on whole foods are fantastic!! More details here.)

Real Food Groceries I Buy from Azure Standard

5-Pound Bags of Frozen Organic Peas, Green Beans, and Corn

We usually go through two bags each of frozen green beans and peas each month and one bag of corn. These are fabulous to have on hand!

5-Pound Bag of Dry Roast, Unsalted Peanuts

I buy one of these each month to make several jars of Creamy Peanut Butter for my family.

10-Inch Tortillas

Yes, I used to make them. But during this season in our lives, I am so grateful to have ready-made tortillas in our freezer! I buy them by the case and use them for Meat and Cheese Burritos, Breakfast Burritos, and Quesadillas. My favorite brand if tortillas from Azure is Stacey’s.

Hard and Soft White Wheat

I grind our wheat fresh in my Nutrimill, so I like to buy 25 pounds of hard white wheat and soft white wheat every month or two from Azure so I can always make whole wheat flour as needed. Read more about grinding wheat and which flour works best in various recipes here.

Oats

It’s so nice to buy a 25-pound bag of rolled oats to have for Homemade Instant Oatmeal, Breakfast Bars, Granola, and Cookies! I keep the oats in our extra freezers to pull out as needed. (Here’s a list of other great food I make with oats!)

Brown Rice

Just like oats and wheat, I like to buy 25-pound sacks of rice (if I still have room in my freezer!).

Active Dry Yeast

It’s awesome to buy a 5-pound bag of yeast to keep in the freezer and use it for baking as needed!

Fresh Produce

Some of their organic fresh produce is too pricey for my budget. But I find that most of the time their yellow potatoes, varieties of apples, peaches, and pears are usually super reasonably priced! And depending on the season, other produce options are a great price too!

Sale Items

Azure runs monthly discounts so I always scroll through them to see what is marked down 20% or or more and take advantage if I feel it will benefit my family!

I used to always buy butter and cheese from Azure Standard also, but the prices on those have gone up so now I just get those at a regular grocery store.

How Azure Standard works:

Become a member. (It is completely free.)
Join a local drop point (or start one).
Order online each month according to your needs. (There is no obligation to order if you don’t need or want anything. Just shop any or all months of the year as needed.)
The drop coordinator for your group will be informed of the truck delivery time each month. He/she will send information to let you know when/where to meet.
Meet at the designated pick-up time and location to help unload the truck and take home your order! This unloading and sorting process usually only takes 15 minutes.

Are you a regular Azure Standard customer? What do you like to buy?

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Just Say No to Russet Potatoes and Red Delicious Apples (When Sub-Par Food Doesn’t Inspire You to Eat Well)

June 28, 2018 by Laura 13 Comments

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Could it be that you’ve only been eating sub-par food and have been missing out on what better varieties of real food have to offer? It’s possible that you might actually enjoy healthy eating – you just don’t know it yet!

While ordering a burger with a friend during a dinner out recently, I said, “No cheese please.” The person taking my order teased me by saying, “Ok, but you’re missing out on the best part!”

I agree. Cheese on a burger is fabuloso. But not when it’s fake, American cheese. I just can’t. It ruins the taste of my burger, it sticks to the roof of my mouth, it comes off the bun like a weird piece of plastic. I certainly don’t want to appear to be a food snob. I just like my food to taste good.

This is why I don’t buy russet potatoes any more. I mean, they’re fine. They’re okay. But Yukon Gold potatoes? Now those are incredible!!! They make every potato dish taste better. And they are more nutritious too. Score!

Red delicious apples? I’ve never liked them. They are flavorless and grainy and the skin is weird (bless their hearts). But give me a Gala, a Pink Lady, an Empire apple – oh the list goes on. There are so many fabulous apples choices available to us. Why settle for what doesn’t taste great?

I usually skip Iceberg Lettuce and go for more nourishing greens that are more flavorful and fun. Margarine is a non-food and you already know how I feel about that. But I will say that since I switched over to real butter a few years ago, my baked goods and all food using butter tastes 100% better.

Fresh or frozen veggies vs. canned veggies? There’s no comparison. Real cream compared to commercial creamer? Oh my.

In summary: Real food tastes incredible and when you eat it you will feel that you are eating like royalty.

Stop settling for sub-par food and go for what tastes amazing!

The prices of these great food varieties are only slightly higher (if they are higher at all) than their sub-par food counterparts. (I did a big real food price comparison here. You’ll LOVE the results I found about the price of real, healthy food!!)

Leave a comment to share what some of your favorite real foods are! It’s fun to hear what inspires others to eat well!

Did you get this awesome FREE PRINTABLE yet? It shares all our favorite real food substitutions that makes food tastes so delicious! Get yours here.

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Does Azure Standard Deliver To You?

June 16, 2016 by Laura 22 Comments

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As many of you know, I’ve been a member of the Azure Standard food co-op for many years. They played a huge part in gently transitioning our family from processed food to real food, and still play a big role in our daily life. Here’s why:

Their prices are very reasonable (much less than a typical “whole food” grocery store).
I can shop their online site and place my order easily.
Their delivery truck drives right to our town every month.
Their food is top quality.

See, I went from buying poptarts with coupons and doing everything I possibly could to get cheapo groceries to learning that we needed to revamp our entire diet. The financial burden of this felt enormous to me. Plus, I live in a small town where there are very few organic options. So when my friend told me about Azure Standard, I felt I’d been given a gift.

Through the years, I’ve saved oodles of money and time by shopping Azure Standard. Their healthy options are abundant! Matt and I are even buddies with our truck driver. Ultimately, we feel that Azure is family. They are great in every way.

Where does Azure Standard deliver?

There are hundreds of routes all over the U.S. Check here to see if there is a route near you. More than that, I recommend you read over this page to learn all about how Azure Standard works. It’s the least complicated co-op I’ve been a part of, which is why I’ve stuck with it for so long!

azure_standard

Here’s a picture of one of my Azure orders from a few years ago.

Azure Standard keeps expanding!

I’ve loved watching Azure Standard grow through the years. They continue to add routes to reach more and more states and communities across the U.S. Just recently, they added routes to Florida – so if that’s where you’re from, check to see if there’s a drop point near you. If there’s not one, you can easily get one started. (There wasn’t one in my town until I called and set one up. Easy peasy!)

What’s more is that if you don’t see your state or area on the delivery route list, you can contact Azure Standard to let them know of your interest ([email protected]). They want to hear from you so they know how they can serve best. If there is enough interest in a particular area, they may try to add a route that comes to you!

Have questions?

Look over this page to learn the basics about what Azure offers and how it works. They’ve served our family well for many years. How great that they are continuing to provide great service and grocery options to many more families!

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How to Make Quick Oats and Oat Flour

August 24, 2015 by Laura 6 Comments

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There’s nothing magical about these instructions and many of you probably know how to do this already. I’m not even entirely convinced that this will save much money, as there isn’t much price difference in whole oats, quick oats, and oat flour.

However, here’s why I find these tips to be beneficial:

They save my brain. And also storage space in my pantry, but my brain is obviously a much bigger issue now. Anything that saves my brain makes me so, so happy. (Hello, 40’s. I love you truly. But why do you make it harder to think straight? I think it must be because my children are coming and going more than they used to and also, I have more profound, wise thoughts floating through so I have less space for silly little unimportant things like remembering where I put my phone.)

So see? If I order Whole Rolled Oats, then I can make my own Quick Oats and Oat Flour as needed. My brain is thus saved from ordering three different items and making sure I have them on hand. It takes turning 42 to come up with stuff like this. Be amazed.

How to Make Quick Oats and Oat Flour

Why do I need Quick Oats? Well, I rarely do, except for when I make Homemade Instant Oatmeal – which is da bomb. And Oat Flour? Well, that’s just nice to add to muffins or pancakes sometimes when I want to include a variety of grains. I guess that’s another nice reason to not buy each of them individually. I mostly use whole rolled oats. The rare occasion I need quick oats or oat flour, I can just make it quickly with my whole oats.

So, how to make these delightful oat products? It’s as easy as putting Whole Oats into your blender and turning it on. Whirl for a few seconds until quick oats are formed. Whirl for a few more seconds until oat flour appears. It’s almost the easiest thing in the world.

How to Make Quick Oats

Making Quick Oats and Oat Flour

Below you will see, from left to right: Whole Rolled Oats, Quick Oats, Oat Flour. Beautiful, right?

oats 3

With that, I will tell you that if you’ve never needed this information before today, you will need it tomorrow because I have a Monster Cookie Bar recipe to share that includes no flour but it does include both whole oats and quick oats. Get out your oats and your blender. You’re going to want to make these bars.

monster bars1

What do you prefer to use at your house? Whole oats or quick oats? Do you use oat flour much?

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Trying To Figure Out What to Cook or Bake? Check Out Our New “Search By Ingredient” Feature!

February 21, 2014 by Laura 14 Comments

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I am doing a little dance (don’t picture it) with excitement over what I’m about to share with you! Our hope is that the new feature we just completed for our site will be super helpful for all of you.

Introducing, the Heavenly Homemaker’s Recipe Search By Ingredient Box. It looks like this:

You will find this lovely search item over on the top, right hand side-bar of our site, just waiting to help you figure out what to make for dinner. Or breakfast. Or snack. Or dessert. Or potluck. Or party. Or brunch. Indeed, the search box will do your thinking for you and help you plan!

How does this work? You simply tell the search box what ingredients you have on hand to use – and it will pull up recipes from our site that will hopefully fit your needs. Easy as that.

For example, say you need something quick for dinner. You know off the top of your head that you have chicken, cheese, and peppers in your fridge, but you can’t think of what you should make with those ingredients. Simply type in “chicken, cheese, peppers” and three great recipe options pop up for you to scroll through. Or what if you need to use up some apples – and you know you have oats and sucanat that you could use to make some sort of dessert or breakfast? Type in “apples, oats, sucanat” and instantly, several recipes will appear for you.

Now, smart as this box is, it’s not a miracle worker. So if you type in “fish, cocoa, tomatoes” – it might roll its eyes and say, “Are you kidding me?” But as I’ve been testing it, most of the time I’ve had very relevant recipes pull up.

The search box won’t work if I don’t have any recipes that include every ingredient you list. So, if no recipes come up for you, try narrowing your search to the basics. It may take some trial and error until we all get used to how this works. But how wonderful that we can take some pressure off by letting this search box do some of our thinking for us. And it’s always fun to find new recipe ideas, right?

Okay, head over to the top right of the Heavenly Homemakers Site and start searching for delicious food to make!

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Funky Fresh Kitchen Challenge #1: Toss it Out ~ Make a Switch!

September 2, 2012 by Laura 306 Comments

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It’s time for our first challenge during the Month of the Funky Fresh Kitchen! Are you ready?

This challenge might just take a few minutes of your time — or it might take a few hours, depending on what you’d like to do. It’s all up to you – whatever you are ready for. No pressure, I promise. Small changes can be big changes, right? (That sounded so incredibly profound in my head…)

This week, your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to throw something out. Easy, right? Right. Although I’m not talking about your holey socks or your junk mail. (Although for Pete’s sake, please do something about your holey socks and your junk mail.)

I’m asking you to take a look around your kitchen. What needs to be thrown out? Is it a box of processed food you are trying to avoid eating as you are working your way toward eating more whole foods? Is it a plastic container that isn’t safe for serving or storing food? Is it a seasoning mix that has MSG in it?

Whatever it is…don’t look back. Just make the decision and throw it out. Pick just one thing – pick twenty things – pick whatever you’re up for.

Then replace what you’ve thrown out with a healthier choice. You can do it.

Here are just a few ideas to inspire you to make a “Toss it Out ~ Make a Switch” plan (but don’t feel as though you are limited to just these few ideas):

~ Toss out your sugary cereal and replace it with Homemade Granola
~ Toss out your bottled salad dressings that have MSG and high fructose corn syrup and make a homemade salad dressing
~ Toss out something plastic and replace it with glass. (I LOVE jars!)
~ Toss out your Hamburger Helper and make homemade Cheeseburger Macaroni
~ Toss out your white rice and replace it with brown rice
~ Toss out your chemical filled cleaners and replace it with a non-toxic cleaner
~ Toss out your boxed brownies and make homemade Fudgy Brownies. (Seriously, what an incredibly happy switch to make.)
~ Toss out the chips and replace them with fruit for snacking.
~ Toss out your sugar filled beverages and replace them with…water. :)

The possibilities are endless. Just pick one thing. Make one small baby step on your healthy eating journey. Then, if that goes well, consider tossing out something else and making another switch.

You’ve got until Friday, September 7 to meet this challenge. If I were you, I’d get off the computer right now (um, after you finish reading this post…) and jump right in before you lose your motivation. We’re all in this together. Be brave! Chuck the junk lurking in your pantry! (I refuse to be responsible for angry husbands, so if it’s his favorite snack, do consult him first before you chuck it. You knew that, right?)

Leave a comment here letting us know you’re taking the challenge. Have a plan forming in your mind? Share it! Participants (who leave a comment here) are eligible for our $25 and $50 Heavenly Homemakers Shop gift certificate drawings.

Are you a blogger? Share this challenge on your blog, tell your readers your Funky Fresh Kitchen plan to “Toss it Out ~ Make a Switch”, then come link up with us here so we can learn what you’re up to and be motivated!! Be sure to link back to this post so your readers will know how they can join the challenge too.

Are you ready? The trash can (or local food pantry, if you wish to donate) awaits…

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Real Food – Low Cost Challenge: Easy Noodle Stir Fry, Chicken Noodle Soup, And My Heart-Felt Free Range Chicken Speech

February 5, 2012 by Laura 49 Comments

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It is high time someone stood up and said a word on behalf of the free range chickens. I mean, if I don’t say something, who will? The birds can’t speak for themselves, you know? Bless their little chicken hearts.

Ok, real quick – I’ll interrupt this crazy chicken rant to let you know that it would seem that the Real Food – Low Cost Challenge has sent me over the edge to the land of insanity. You know me well enough to have guessed that this was likely to happen some day soon, and probably saw that the end was near when I was struggling so much last week in my effort to figure out the cost of a (stinkin’) cup of whole wheat flour.

But back to the speechless chickens, and my determination to see that they are no longer misunderstood.

I currently pay $12.50 for one free range chicken. Twelve dollars and 50 cents. Many people think that’s a crazy amount to spend on a chicken when I could instead go the store and grab a whole chicken for $3-$5.

But, I hold firm to the belief that my chickens are not expensive. The chickens I buy are very large – usually around five or six pounds each. In fact, I always, without skimping, get at least four meals out of my chickens, if not six. Read here about how I can stretch a chicken to get six meals. Therefore, my one $12.50 investment in chicken costs me, at the most, only $3.13 for a nice amount of meat/broth per meal.

Based on this figure, and on the fact that making homemade whole wheat noodles is also very low in cost, I was thrilled to learn today that I can make a big pot of Chicken Noodle Soup for only $4.03. Four dollars and three cents!!!!! This, for one of the most nutritious meals on the face of the earth. That is $0.67 per family member at my house. Doesn’t that just make you want to stand up and do the chicken dance?

Well, doesn’t it?!

Okay, me neither. But still, I’m pretty excited. In addition, I learned that a batch of Easy Noodle Stir Fry costs about $8.53, which breaks down to $1.42 per person.

I’m thinking that I need to make chicken meals more often since I’m able to pull them together for such a low cost. It is amazing what all I’ve been learning as I’ve broken down the cost of our favorite, real food meals.

So, tell me about the chickens where you’re from. Have you found a good price for a good chicken? Are you able to find free range chickens where you live? How big are your chickens?

I tell you what, nothing beats a good discussion about poultry. ;)

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How We Afford Buying in Bulk

July 10, 2011 by Laura 24 Comments

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I’m working through a series on buying whole foods in bulk!
If you haven’t read them yet, you may be interested in :
Why I Buy in Bulk, Buying in Bulk: Do You Have the Space? and
Buying in Bulk: A Year’s Supply. And now: How To Afford Buying in Bulk:

Guess what? Last Thursday was Maple Syrup Day! We now have five gallons of maple syrup to last us the year:

The total price tag wasn’t small, and yet, we got an excellent price per ounce on high quality maple syrup for our family. This means that even though we had to pay quite a bit upfront, we just saved quite a bit of money!

I’m sure many of you are wondering how we afford to purchase our year’s supply of maple syrup all at once, or three months worth of meat at one time, etc. Hopefully you took the time to read the following posts: How I Grocery Shop and Our 2011 Grocery Budget which will answer some of your questions.

But overall, I would say that we can’t afford NOT to buy in bulk. We are a family of six big eaters, plus we feed a lot of extra people each month. Buying large quantities of many different foods saves us hundreds (maybe thousands?) of dollars each year. I can pay $1.60 for a small 21 ounce bag of organic rolled oats – or I can pay almost half that amount per ounce and buy 50 pounds of organic rolled oats for $35.55. It may feel like I’m spending less if I only pay $1.60 for a bag of oats, but since I’d have to buy so many bags of it, overall, I’d actually be spending more.

If it’s food that will keep well without spoiling and I know it’s food that we’ll eat – buying in bulk is usually the better option for our family.

And now, a little bit more about our budget and how bulk purchasing is possible for us:

We have $550 in our monthly grocery budget, which equals $6600 for the year. Some months I only spend $200, some months I spend $800. It all balances out. I don’t need a bulk quantity of every single food, every single month. Some months I buy a huge amount of wheat and a few months worth of organic brown rice. Some months I buy a case of butter and order several big bags of organic nuts. Some months I hardly buy anything at all, except for milk, eggs and produce. And by the end of the year, all the purchases have averaged out to $550/month.

If you’re just getting started with bulk purchasing, it may feel like your budget is taking a big hit. Here are some suggestions for buying in bulk while staying within your budget:

Try to hold back part of your grocery budget from one month in order to apply it to bulk purchasing the following month. For instance, if your grocery budget is $300/month, eat a few less expensive meals this month. Anything under $300 that you spend can be applied toward bulk purchasing next month.
If there are other areas of your overall family budget that you can cut back on or skip for a while so that you can save up, be intentional about saving that money for bulk purchases. Can you eat out less? Skip the movie? Pass by the coffee shop? Avoid paying the electric bill? Just kidding. Please pay your electric bill. ;)
Begin with very basic staple foods that you know your family will eat. I recommend starting with foods such as oats, rice, wheat or flour, sucanat, honey – any foods that you know won’t go to waste if bought in a large quantity and kept in storage for 3-12 months.
Don’t buy everything at once. Maybe pick just one or two items each month to get started. If you buy rice in bulk this month, you’ll be able to check that off your grocery list for the next few months, freeing up a little bit of your budget for other bulk purchases.
Buy in bulk according to your family’s needs. I tend to buy 50 pound bags of food because we go through a lot of groceries at our house. Ten pound or 25 pound bags may be better for your family.
If you find a good deal and buy a bulk quantity of an item, ration it if necessary. It won’t save much money when you find a great deal and stock up on chocolate chips, if your family begins to eat way more chocolate chips than normal. Not that this is easy when there are bulk amounts of chocolate chips in the house. Why did I have to use chocolate as an example? I should have brought up baking powder or salt or something less tempting. Yes, don’t overindulge in baking powder. There, that’s better. :)

Next time, I’ll talk more about what food items work well for bulk purchasing, what keeps well in the pantry and what freezes well.

How do you budget for bulk purchases?

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Why I Buy in Bulk

June 12, 2011 by Laura 80 Comments

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Hello my name is Laura and am obsessed with buying food in bulk. I love purchasing large quantities of food at one time – and then staring at it. Staring at bulk groceries makes me happy. Dreaming about all the delicious food I can make with my large food stores gives me a thrill.

I’m pretty sure (pretty sure?) I am a little weird (only a little weird?) when it comes to my love of food. I know there are people who only give food a thought at the moment they become hungry and they think I’m strange for caring so much about my coconut flakes. They see my pantry and storage room and think I must have some weird phobia about losing our food supply, which must be why I buy up to 500 pounds of wheat at one time. They hear how many tomato plants we have in our garden and wonder if we know that we’ll have tomatoes coming out of our ears.

Yes, we’re aware. We did this last year too. And the year before that. We happen to like having tomatoes coming out of our ears. We think it tickles.

So why do we buy food (or preserve food) in such large quantities?

We do it because it’s practical for our family and saves us a good deal of money. Buying in bulk has made our real, whole food eating choices much more practical and affordable. We are blessed with a good amount of storage space, making the idea possible in the first place. Overall, I have found that purchasing food in bulk makes my kitchen duties much, much easier. Instead of buying a package of pasta every time we need a package of pasta (which is at least once each week), I buy a case of pasta once every two months and forget about it in between. When I need pasta, I go to my storage room and get pasta.

Maybe I like bulk food so much because I don’t have to think so hard. Yes, that’s why I like it. I may like staring at my food and dreaming about our meals, but I’m not a big fan of thinking so hard every time I need to make a meal. I like buying ahead, buying in bulk, then having the capability to grab whatever food I need out of my storage and getting right to work in my kitchen. It’s all rather lovely.

I also really love that by having a large store of food, I can make bigger quantities of food if we have spur of the moment guests. It’s so nice to be able to say, “Stay for dinner – we have plenty!”

Buying in bulk (and preserving large quantities of food) just works for me. I love it.

During the next few weeks, I’ll share more about how buying in bulk works for our family, more about how we store our bulk, and most importantly, how we afford making bigger bulk purchases. I’m also working hard to put together a reference page sharing what food I always like to have on hand and what my favorite sources are for these items.

I know bulk purchasing doesn’t work for everyone. My intent with these posts isn’t to encourage everyone to buy in bulk. There may be just one of you in your household, making bulk purchasing impractical. Or you may have a small living space and then where are you supposed to store your bulk – on the roof?

So do share. If you buy in bulk, what are your reasons? And if you don’t buy in bulk, what are your reasons? For all of you who have no interest in bulk food purchases, thank you for putting up with my obsession and embracing my “I smile at big bags of oats” insanity.

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