10 great money saving grocery tips

I cook healthy. yes. I cook yummy food, yes. But I am horrible at doing those things AND not spending our retirement on our meal of the day, a la mode.

A few of my closest friends in town, who also eat like we do but do so for 1/3 of our cost have inspired me to try to improve this. Now, they don't have the dairy, wheat or organic restrictions on their diets which alone will create havoc on the bottom line, but they do have 3 children and both families spend about $400/month on food.

My friend in the valley is a master at couponing - so much so that she does talks, leads seminars, and has this blog. I read it and truly don't get it! I am horrible at detail management so this blows my mind - but many of you are gifted here so her tips will help you! It works - she feeds her family of 6 for CHEAP!! check it out: http://momsequipped.blogspot.com/

Anyway, here's what I did. We spend $800 to $1200 on food. Now granted, since we started eating clean, we don't spend money on doctors. So, in the end, we spend less then we used to on cheap food and doctors/drugs/supplements...but, I still sought to improve this as I know I can do better then $1200! Hubby is losing money this year and next year at work, so we really don't have a choice and I enjoy the challenge.

1. I stopped creating my meals from recipes. I used to sit down with my favorite recipe books and sketch out a month of recipes and create my shopping lists this way. It forced me to purchase lots of extra food to create gourmet type entres. No more!
2. I pull out $600 in cash and keep it in an envelope and that's how much money we get for groceries, period. When it runs out, we call you and come over for dinner. :)
3. I create my meals by looking in our freezer and pantry and seeing what meat, beans, and grains we have to create an entre around. I then go online to sites like www.cooks.com and do a search with that ingredient. I pick the healthiest recipe with the fewest exotic ingredients that contains the most amount of ingredients that we already have and print it out.
   
4. We purchase our dairy and eggs from our friends - I make our cheese and yogurt from the raw milk and the eggs are so rich in flavor and nutrients, we tend to need less of them to feel satisfied. By not having to go to a store to buy milk, cheese, yogurt and eggs I have avoided that easy temptation to throw spontaneous purchases into the cart.
   
5. We stopped buying cereal and make granola each week from whatever we have around: I currently have 5 pound bags of wheat germ, ground flax meal, oat bran, and coconut that all add depth of flavor and nutrition to the organic oats, walnuts, almonds, raisins, dried apricots, dried mangoes, and sunflower seeds.
6. I hit the Canned Food Outlet now first - and then supplement with the more expensive Fred Meyer and Costco store second. Canned Food has surprised me with a nice selection of organic and clean foods. But, you do have to be careful here.
7. I don't go to Costco as much, if at all these days. I thought it saved us money, but really we end up just buying more of what we only "kind of" needed. Some things we need to get from there but I sat down with the husband and outlined exactly what we need from there and disciplined myself to not throw other random things in the cart. Those random things at Costco add up super quick as it's large quantities which means $10 to $20 each - that's a lot to spontaneously spend I have realized.
8. Eat meat once in awhile, not weekly. We are getting really creative with all kinds of beans.
   
9. Eat rice or potatoes almost every dinner.
   
10. We buy in bulk from Azure Standard, as always. Cheaper then any store, fresh, with every item offered in organic as well.
    

It worked!! April we actually spent $530!! And that included a few household cleaning supplies that I never included in my $1200 food months.

Share your tips in the comments! I could use all the help I can get and I am sure everyone else can too in these penny pinching times

Cornbread - Running Gal Style

Nothing I cook is ever actually what the recipe says - Chocolate chip cookies are the code word for something entirely different. But, if kids like it, then we all win in this War Against American Food.

Cornbread - Running Gal Style

Preheat oven to 400

Mix together

1 C cornmeal (I get fresh ground, organic cornmeal which makes all the difference to the taste from www.azurestandard.com)

1 C flour (I do a random mixture of these flours to equal 1 C: Quinoa, Rice, Barley) Of course, you could just use Whole wheat pastry flour or white too

4 t baking powder

1/2 t salt

2 T brown sugar (I use agave nectar, raw honey, or Dehydrated Cane juice here)

1/2 c dry milk powder (optional - I didn't use this)

make a well and add:

2 beaten eggs

1 C milk (I use rice milk)

1/4 C oil

Stir just until smooth. Pour into a greased 9x9" pan and bake 25 min.

OPTION::

Reduce cornmeal to 3/4 Cup. Add 3T soy flour, 3T wheat germ and 3T bran (I did not do this that night but have done this, not using Soy flour but quinoa

What's Cookin'? - April Edition

I'd love to hear what's cookin' in your home! If you decide to join me and post a recipe, leave a comment and I will list you with a link to your blog in a post next week. I am not too into recipes that use Cream of something soups as that takes the fresh, homemade, healthy bend out of the recipe. If your recipe idea is fresh, healthy, and yummy - send a comment and I'll list you in my post coming up!

Got this recipe from my cooking expert friend Sacha. Culinary materpieces happen daily at her home.

Here's a yummy way to get the health benefits of squash into your life and kids life:

Roasted Butternut Squash & Thyme Soup

1 large butternut squash (halved, seeds removed, roasted, cooled, peeled and chopped)
1 potato, peeled and cut into small dices
1/2 stick butter
1 cup chopped yellow onion
1/2 C chopped carrots
1/2 C chopped celery
1 T minced garlic
2-3 Cups chicken broth
1 bunch fresh thyme, stems removed
2 sprigs fresh rosemary, 1 picked and chopped, 1 whole
1 bay leaf
1 T brown sugar (I omitted this)
1/2 - 1 C half and half (I omitted this)
Salt and freshly ground pepper

1. cook squash
2. Saute onion and carrots in butter until onion is translucent and carrots begin to soften. Add celery and then garlic, cooking for several minutes more.
3. Add squash, potato, broth, 1/2 of thyme, chopped and whole rosemary and bay leaf
4. Bring to boil and then reduce to simmer for 20 min
5. Remove whole rosemary sprig and bay leaf
6. Puree soup with hand blender or with a regular blender.
7. (I did not do step 7): Add half and half, brown sugar, remaining thyme and salt and pepper. Simmer soup for 10 - 15 min more.

YUM!! Family test:

they loved it!

Made cornbread too. Recipe to follow on Friday, April 3rd.

Barley Soup

Barley is one of the oldest cereal grains, being one of the main foods of the Greeks. Make sure you soak it for at least 7 hours before using it or the results will be difficult to digest. You might not notice the difficulties, but research shows that the nutrients in Barley are much more available if you pre soak it.

Cool news if you have cholesterol issues - barley reduced serum cholesterol levels by as much as 15% in hypercholesterolemic persons in 2 studies cited by Rosemary K. Newman of Montana State university. Why?:

1. It contains betaglucans and other viscous soluble fiber components which reduce absorption of fats and cholesterol. (Oats also contain these betaglucans.)
2. Fiber tends to bind to bile acids, which are removed from the body rather than recycled, thus requiring the conversion of more cholesterol to bile acids.
3. Contains fat-soluble antioxidants related to vitamin E called tocotrienols that reduce cholesterol syntesis in the liver.
   

From James F. Scheer Health Freedom News

Beef Barley Soup

prep: 25 min ~ Cooking time: 1 1/4 Hours ~ Servings: 6

12 oz beef or lamb stew meat, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 T cooking oil (olive oil!!)
4 C water
1 C chopped onion
1/2 C chopped celery (1 stalk)
1/2 C pre-soaked barley
2 t Non-MSG instant beef bouillon
1 t oregano or basil
1/4 t black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
1 cup frozen mixed veggies
1 14 1/2 - oz can diced tomatoes (I just used my prefozen tomatoes from the garden)
1 cup parsnips in 1/2 inch slices or peeled potatoes in 1/2 inch cubes

1. Brown meat in hot oil. Stir in the water, onion, celery, barley, bouillon, oregano, pepper, garlic, and bay leaf. Boil then reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 1 hour for beef or 45 min for lamb.
2. Stir in frozen veggies, undrained tomatoes, and parsnips. Return to boil, reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 15 min. discard bay leaf.

This was definitely a hit with the whole family. Quite yummy.

Berry Muffins

My princess sprout and I love our weekly muffin making dates. Here's what we are cookin up this week!

Soak 3 Cups of spelt, kamut, or whole wheat pastry flour in 2 C of buttermilk, kefir or yogurt overnight. (Milk allergy variation - soak flour in 2 c water plus 2 T whey, lemon juice or vinegar instead of the buttermilk and yogurt).

Runninggal's tip: I used a combination of Whole wheat pastry flour (helps keep it together), rice flour, barley flour, and quinoa flour. This gives the muffins all the wonderful nutrition from these various sources and reduces the gluten. In these winter months, we stay very low on the wheat intake as it's a mucous producer and keeps any colds that come lingering for weeks. The other flours have lots of protein and vitamins. Quinoa, for instance, is an almost ideal balance of amino acids plus vitamins and minerals. It is probalby the least allergenic of the grains and makes baked goods so nice an moist. Used a ton in South America, discover quinoa for yourself! I also buy quinoa and make it like a rice.

Blend in:

• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 t sea salt
• 1/4 C maple syrup
• 2 t baking soda
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 3 T melted butter

Pour into well buttered muffin tins, fillng about 3/4 full. Put a few berries on top of each muffin and push into the muffin.

Bake at 325 for about an hour.

Sweet potato cookies

In the spirit of sneaking veggies into your kids diet, here's a great recipe that we are eating this week!

Sweet Potato Cookies

1 c cooked sweet potato or squash

1/2 c butter, softened

3/4 c maple syrup (not Aunt Jemimas - real maple syrup - expensive but it's FOOD!)

1 egg

1/2 t sea salt

1/2 t powdered cloves

1/2 t ground nutmeg

1 t cinnamon

1 t baking soda

2 cups bulgar flour (see below for how to make this)

1/2 c raisins

1/2 cup crispy pecans (See below for how to make this)

Place all ingredients except pecans and raisins in a food processor and process until well blended. Transfer to a bowl and fold in raisins and nuts. Form in walnut sized balls and place on buttered cookies sheets. Bake at 325 degrees for about 20 min. After 5 min, press cookies down lightly with a fork. Let cool completely befre removing to an airtight container for storage in the fridge.

Bulgar flour

Remember those wheat berries we soaked and sprouted over the last 3 days, we need those now! Drain well. Spread the sprouted berries on a cookie sheet and set in a warm oven, no more than 150 degrees, overnight or until the berries are well dried. A dehydrater works great too.

Once dried, grind coarsely in a grain grinder (or try using a coffee bean grinder). A food processor might work too. Experiment! Store the bulgar four in the fridge.

Crispy Pecans

Like all nuts, pecans contain enzyme inhibitors that can irritate the mouth and cause digestive problems. Native Americans new instinctively that pecans had to be treated in some way before they were consumed. They'd grind them up and soak them to make a rich nut milk. Pecans contain about 70% fat. This stable oil protects pecans from rancidity. They contain calcium, iron, magnesium phosphorus, potassium and selenium. Exceptionally rich source of manganese. Good source of trace minerals as the tree they grow on has roots that go deep into the earth's rich soil. They contain B complex vitamins, carotenoids and vitamin C as well.

Take 4 c pecan halves and mix with 2 sea salt and filtered water. Leave in a warm place for at least 7 hours or overnight. Drain. Spread the pecans on a stainless steel baking pan and place in a warm oven (no more than 150 degrees) for 12 to 24 hours, turing them occasionally, until completely dry and crisp. Store in airtight containter.

Great school lunch snack! These taste so light and wonderful! It's so simple but transforms them into a delicious treat that is much more digestible.

Recipes and tidbits from my fav cookbook, "Nourishing Traditions" by Sally Fallon

Mother-in-law refried beans

Yummiest refried beans on earth! Seriously, creamy and perfect. And I am half hispanic who grew up with my Mexican family whipping out the most authentic Mexican food in their sleep. And I think these beans would win head to head with their beans!

Soak 1 1/2 C Organic pinto beans overnight

Next day, saute in a pressure cooker pot:

• 1 T Olive oil
• 1 C chopped green onions
• 1 seeded jalapeno
• 2 cloves garlic

Add in:

• 1 T flour
• 1/2 t chili powder
• 1/2 t paprika
• 1/4 t cumin

Blend in:

• 2 to 3 cups water

Put pressure cooker top on and turn the heat up until that puppy is spewing steam. Keep it at this level for 40 minutes (in pressure cooking terms, cook it at 15 pounds of pressure for 40 minutes). Take off heat after 40 min and let it cool so that you can take the lid off. Put the beans in a food processor and blend until totally creamy.

Add 1 to 1 1/2 t salt.

Trust me - these beans are perfect!

Delicious herb bread

Your family will rise up and call you blessed if you serve them this! We'll be eating this herb bread this week with my prized Pea soup recipe.

Yogurt Herb bread

I'll be using yogurt I made in my crockpot from my yummy raw goat milk I get from a little farm near my house. Of course, mix your 3 Cups of whole wheat pastry flour, kamut or spelt flour with 2 C of yogurt for 12 to 24 hours.

Place flour mixture in food processor and process for several minutes to knead the dough. Add remaining ingredients and process until well blended:

• 1/2 cup filtered water
• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 t sea salt
• 2 t baking soda
• 1/4 stick melted butter
• 1/3 c maple syrup *real maple syrup friends! Not pancake corn-syrup
• 1 t dried dill
• 1/2 t dried oregano
• 1/2 t dried thyme
• 1/2 t dried basil
• 1/2 t dried tarragon

Pour into a well-buttered and floured loaf pan (preferably stoneware). Bake at 350 degrees for at least 1 1/2 hours.

Running gal's Famous Pea soup *famous in my house anyway!*

Soak one pound of Organic green peas overnight then drain. I buy mine from Azure Standard.

In a crockpot in the morning, put 1 pound of green peas, 2 quarts of water, 2 smoked ham hocks, 1 chopped carrot, 1 chopped onion, and 1 chopped celery in the pot and turn on medium for the day. Should be ready by dinner. Sometimes, for the last 3 or 4 hours, I turn it to high to make sure those peas get cooked.

Friendship Burritos

This recipe has circulated through my close friends - I think it's Ruth's - but I first tasted it from Jen who made it for me when I was recovering from my sinus surgery in 2006. Love these friends!

So, I soaked the beans on Sunday night, cooked them while I taught piano on Monday, and kept them in the fridge until I needed them on Thursday, when we ate them up.

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Burritos

5 C peeled cubed sweet potatoes

1/2 t salt

2 t oil

3 1/2 C diced onions

4 large garlic cloves, minced

1 T minced fresh green chile

4 t ground cumin

4 t ground coriander

4 1/2 c cooked black beans

2/3 C lightly packed cilantro leaves

2 T fresh lemon juice

1 t salt

8 eight-inch flour tortillas

salsa, as garnish

Preheat oven to 350.

Cover sweet potatoes with water and salt. Bring to a boil then simmer till tender, about 10 min, Drain and set aside.

Suate onions, garlic, and chile with oil till onions are tender, about 7 min.

Add cumin and coriander. Cook 2 -3 min longer, stir frequently. Remove from heat and set aside.

In food processor, combine black beans, cilantro, lemon juice, salt and cooked sweet potatoes and puree. till smooth

Mix in cooked onions and spices. Lightly oil large baking dish.

Spoon 2/3 to 3/4 c of filling into tortilla, roll and place seam-side down in dish.

Cover tightly with foil and bake 30 min till hot.

Serve with salsa and enjoy!

What's Cookin'?

Periodically, I will detail what's happening in my kitchen. I spend hours planning for how to feed my family (and I also spend way too much, so I am not necessarily the frugal example to follow, but it's healthy!) AND realized how you all might be able to benefit too from these efforts. So, check in to see What's Cookin'? in RunningGal's kitchen!

I love an active kitchen! One with sprouts growing, beans soaking, flour fermenting overnight, nuts sprouting, and the dehydrator whirring. It’s so fun to have all these mini projects brewing, cause the final result, is food that is alive and full of active enzymes.

Right now I have 5 different bowls with beans soaking overnight. I have soft wheat berries soaking too, and starting tomorrow for 3 days, I will rinse and drain them 2 times a day so that in about 3 days, they will be fully sprouted.

The pinto beans will soak overnight and tomorrow I will do my monthly routine of making about 8 batches of my most famous refried beans, as taught to me by my sweet mother-in-law. All recipes posted throughout this week. This is one to cherish! I make a ton, and freeze it in gallon bags for our weekly taco night. These are organic pinto beans from Azure.

The black beans are soaking so that tomorrow I can get them simmering and cooked for a delicious sweet potato black bean dish that my amazing cook of a friend, Ruth, made me during the "sick" era of my life to keep in my freezer for a night that I was just too out of it to cook. No wait, this is Ruth's recipe but our friend Jen actually made these for me to have on hand. Don't you just love dear friends!

The wheat berries are soaking. Once they are sprouted, I will lay them out on a cookie sheet and dry them out in a 150 degree oven. Once dried, I will throw them in the food processor and grind them into a flour called "bulgar Flour" to be used in another recipe later this week.

Tomorrow night, I will soak a couple of cups of rice and wheat flour so it's ready to make delicious honey sweetened berry muffins the next day. Why am I soaking my flour? Well, flour should always be soaked for at least 12 hours, preferably 24 hours in buttermilk, cultured milk, youghurt, or whey to activate the enzyme phytase, which works to break down phytic acid in the bran of grains. Sour milk products also provide lactic acid and lactobacilli that help break down complex starches, irritatin tannins and difficult to digest proteins. Soaking increases vitamin content and makes all the nutrients in grains more available. It makes for light and moist baked products that my family just loves. Civilizations have followed this procedure for thousands of years, and it's been lost in our modern, fast paced society and with it we lose those "good bacteria" that we need for a strong immune system and a well-functioning digestive system. (info taken from my favorite cookbook "Nourishing Traditions" by Sally Fallon).

Friday night is Pizza night - using homemade pizza sauce that we made from our summer's garden tomatoes, canned and ready to go. Here's what we are eating tonight:

Turkey Meat Loaf with Mashed Potatoes

1 1/2 pounds lean ground turkey - free range, organic

1 onion, chopped

1 bunch fresh ORGANIC spinach (spinach is a MUST for Organic!) - about 4 cups

1 cup flat leaf parsley

1/2 cup whole wheat bread crumbs

2 T Dijon mustard

1 large egg white

Salt and pepper

1/4 cup of Organic Ketchup (make sure your k-up is sugar free. This is yet another product that cheap k-up makers are sneaking corn syrup and sugar into. Azure and Trader Joe's have good k-ups)

2 pound of organc red potatoes, quartered (Potatoes are HIGH priority to make sure are organic. Horrible stuff on regular taters, growth retardant and pesticides are used a ton on the innocent tater making it one of the most lethal veggie to get conventionally)

1 cup buttermilk

1 T olive oil

1.4 c marinara sauce

1. Heat oven to 400. In a bowl, combine the turkey, onion, spinach, parsley, bread crumbs, mustard, egg white, and 1/2 t each salt and pepper/

2. Transger the mixture to a baking sheet and form it into a 10 inch loaf. Spread with the k-up. Bake until cooked through, 45 to 60 min.

3. Meanwhile, place the potatoes in a large pot of cold water. Simmer until tender, 15 to 18 minutes. Drain the potatoes and mash in the pot with the buttermilk, oil, 1/2 t salt and 1/4 t pepper

4. Serve the meat loaf with the marinara sauce and potatoes.

Keeping a keen eye out!

I love observing and learning and have so many friends around me that naturally seem to know their way around a kitchen better than me. I had a working mom growing up, so I never cooked with mom in the kitchen and started my marriage with basically no understanding of cooking at all. That's strange to me - I spent so many years going to school but was totally unprepared for what I do day in and day out - manage my home!

So, in my early days of being a mom, I remember wandering over to my friend Mandy's house around lunch time and watch her start boiling noodles...then added in flour, butter, and some cheese....instant, homemade mac n' cheese! No preservatives. No Sugar. Just food. Then she'd chop up some apples and put it on a quick platter in the center of a table and we'd be set for lunch. My sweet friend Mandy is just plain good at creating a lunch out of any kitchen.

On other days, I'd find myself in a longer than expected Bible study with my dear friend Ruth...."wanna stay for lunch?" - "sure!"...She'd start chopping all kinds of veggies in what seemed like seconds and stir fry them in a few more minutes and within 15 minutes, we'd be eating fresh stir fried veggies on rice she had brewing in her rice cooker. After lunch, as I clean up, she quietly starts stuffing dates with almonds and has them on the table for the girls - instant dessert!

Then there's Jen - her cabinets are full of nothing but Ball jars with various organic beans and grains in each jar. Eating a mexican meal together means everything is made from scratch while her hubby sits on top of the counter methodically putting balls of dough in the tortilla maker - flattening each one out to a yummy fresh and most delicious burrito wrap.

And finally, my professional chef friend, Sacha, showed up last weekend to my house with the most delicious chocolate chip cookies - she is experimenting with baking without sugar and you'd never guess it! She used apple sauce and honey to create this incredible treat! I will nab the recipe and post it when I get it!

And someone had the non-hydrogenated Adam's Peanut Butter upside down in their cabinet which, I found out, helps the PB and oil mix better so you don't have all the oil at the top. (Adam's PB is a simple way to reduce sugar and hydrogenated oils as it is simply peanuts and salt!)

I have so much to learn but it's good that we are not alone!! Next week, I will feature What's Cookin'? in our kitchen with recipes, tidbits, and more! We'd all love to see what's cookin' in your kitchen so we can learn from you more ways to eat fresher, healthier, and simpler. Just grab the What's Cookin' logo above and paste it in your post next week on a day that you want to share a recipe you are cooking up. Put a link on the logo back to my blog, if you would! Thanks! I need more healthy lunch ideas. I love creating dinners but don't have it in me to do much for lunch.