First Week of April with $200 out of $400

$400 per month on groceries. Yes ma'am. Or sir. Whichever you prefer. $400 to shop for all natural/organic products.

Right now, we really cannot afford to buy a whole cow or poultry straight from the farm. It's literally hundreds of dollars. Well, maybe not for 1-2 whole chickens.

Vons, Albertsons, Save Mart, Wal-Mart, and other big chains are starting to carry all natural meats, eggs, and dairy along with their organic produce. Granted organic produce is absolutely not the best quality (its still in the grocery store nevertheless), but you still have to look around. Yes, you can drop $100 per week at a health food store like Trader Joe's or Whole Foods. But really, where do we shop to find the best deal?

It depends on what your plan is. Yes, that nasty P word. You must meal plan before you buy anything. Otherwise you will drop that $100 and try to figure out what you're going to make each day. Who wants that stress?

Meal planning usually takes place on Sundays. It doesn't matter what time, but this gives me time to figure out how much and what I need to get me through the week.

It's quite easy and if you have a hard time meal planning, check out plantoeat.com (I am not an affiliate). I did use their free trial, and you know what? It's simply amazing. If we weren't on such a tight budget, I would definitely use them. If you are trying out a new diet, you can search Pinterest, other blogs and websites and actually bookmark the recipe. The best part about plantoeat.com? It even makes a shopping list for you!

After you get your meal plan written out, find a store you like best and watch their sales. I know there aren't a ton of organic produce, meat, or dairy on sale every week, but when there is, pick up a couple extra items if you can freeze them for later. If not, then don't worry about wasting your money.

I personally hate shopping at Wal-Mart, Albertsons, and all those big national chains. I dread giving them such big portions of my husband's hard earned paycheck. So what store <i>do </i>I shop at?

I love Fresh and Easy for their organic, reasonably priced, smaller sized stores. I can get in and get out rather quickly. They always have a large selection of almost everything organic in their store. Some items are priced higher than others, but hey, I'm not buying everything that says organic. If I'm in a quick pinch, they do have organic-not raw- milk. They have organic honey, organic syrup, along with non-organic foods (for when hubby goes with me-bad idea).

As for flour, I purchase sprouted flour at a local health store. We have a Lassen's that carries their whole wheat sprouted flour in the bulk section. I love bulk bins! Especially when this particular flour costs $4.19 per pound (don't tell hubby). My body cannot tolerate white flour (no gluten allergy), so I buy this when I know I will be baking something (tortillas, bread, etc.). I still am working on learning how to bake with this flour, so bear with me!

We also did try drinking the grass-fed milk. My son loved the cow on the front and how can I tell him no to milk? The only weird thing about it was the lumps in your glass (cream tidbits). Other than that, we loved the flavor! Cost: $5.69 for half gallon.

Another awesome find at Lassen's was their selection of One Degree sprouted grains cereals. They had four or five to choose from! :) My tummy was so happy! Add this to the grass-fed milk and my body loved me. Now since this cereal is a little expensive, only I eat maybe 1/2 a cup of cereal. Not kids. I'm not big into sugary cereal and cannot stand the taste of cornflakes, so this was perfect for me. Cost: $5.69 for a 12 oz box.

Early this month, I ran out of laundry detergent and dishwasher detergent! Agh! Not a good thing when your brother is coming from Washington! So for these items, I get my washing soda, borax, and lemi-shine from Winco. They do have organic dairy, but I have yet to see any organic produce besides lettuce. I will write another post on household cleaners on here soon!

What has Jenn bought so far?
Lassen's: Ancient Sprouted Maize Flakes Cereal  $5.69
          Grassmilk, Whole, Half Gallon                   $5.69
Fresh N Easy: Eggs, Brown, Cage Free Dozen     $3.99
          Bananas (Not Organic)       6 bananas         $1.14
          Organic Mini Cucumbers                            $2.99
          Organic Carrots                                           $1.69
          Organic Kale (won't buy again)                  $2.99
          Organic Apples                                           $1.99
Winco: Washing Soda            3 boxes @ $3.15    $9.45 (seems really high compared to the last time I bought it)
       Borax                                                              $3.97
       Fels Naptha                6 @ $.97                      $5.82
       Spicy Tuna Roll    tsk tsk tsk                          $4.98 (how did that sneak in there?)
       Lemi-Shine                 2 @ $3.97                   $7.94 (ouch)
       Cream Cheese (school snack)2 @ $1.78       $3.56
       Non-Organic Baby Carrots (school snack)    $ .98
       Whole Olives (school snack)     3 @ $.98      $2.94
       Sliced Olives                   2 @ $.58                 $1.16
                           Bring your own bag                  -$ .06

                              Grand Total:                            $71.94

                                                 $200.00 (first half of month)
                                               - $71.94

                                                127.00 left for groceries until next week. I always put all my change into the piggy bank to go towards debt at the end of the year (hubby doesn't know this).

That's not too terrible is it? Other than the household cleaning supplies and school snack- I'll have to show you what I made with these three items. Big hit with 5 year olds!

Although my brother is coming into town this week, we also have a 5 year old turning 6 that I have to buy groceries for... all for $127.00 Can we manage feeding three adults and two young kids until the 15th?


Even if you don't have these stores or enjoy swiping your rewards card at other stores, you can always shop for the conventional clean 15 at regular grocery stores. <a href="http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/list.php">Here </a>is the full list of the EWG's clean list. The numbers with the lower number have the most pesticides. Yuck! Eating organic should not be considered a trend.

Clean 15:
andpoint of pesticide contamination:

    Onions
    Sweet corn
    Pineapples
    Avocado
    Cabbage
    Sweet peas
    Asparagus
    Mangoes
    Eggplant
    Kiwi
    Cantaloupe (domestic)
    Sweet potatoes
    Grapefruit
    Papayas
    Mushrooms

Not a lot of these are on our weekly shopping list :( Sad.

Meal/Menu Planning.

The goal is to get out of debt. We will be in 2 years. However, when there's only one of you wanting to get rid of debt now, it's a lot harder. What's this got to do with menu planning?

Well, it's a great way to cut back on the grocery expense. Another reason is I am trying to incorporate more organic and natural foods into our diet. Can I do this on $400 per month? With meal planning,  I think it's possible.  We'll see how April's grocery budget goes while planning and purchasing healthy food for a busy family of 4.

Top 10 Reasons to Love Bakersfield

When you move to a new city, you more than likely dread it. That's how I felt when I first moved here. I was new to California, had no friends or family around, and had the hardest time finding a house. After living here almost four years and finding out we may move yet again, I've come to love my crazy Bako family and the small city itself. These aren't in any order, but they are my top ten reasons for loving it here in Bakersfield, California and Kern County.


10. Free admission on certain days for the city and county museums. Some museums don't even charge admission. Crazy, huh?

9. Melting pot. Although Bako is considered one of the "armpits of Cali", the citizens are demographically diverse. You can find white, wealthy, Hispanic, African descent, middle class, Indian, rednecks, Asian, and several other cultures. It's great to expose the kids to different people and backgrounds. Makes a great geography lesson at home. So when people talk about the small dot on the map called Bakersfield, it's NOT 95% Hispanic population. Should I include all the ufo sightings we have? Seriously.

8. Speed limits. Where else can you drive 55mph down a major road in a city? Last time I drove through Omaha, Sacramento, Vegas, and LA, most of them have to drive 35-45 in town. The only thing about the 55 mph is people here don't know how to drive when the roads are *gasp* wet.

7. With our great melting pot in the greater Bako area, comes food. Almost in every corner of the city, you'll find awesome breweries, restaurants, and bakeries. We don't eat at many franchises, so when I see a Sequoia Sandwich or Lengthwise Brewery, I know it's going to be yummy.

6. Speaking of food, farmer's markets are abundant in the city. For a city of 300,000 (last time I saw the population sign), there's 5 farmer's markets available. Ours, on Brimhall, is the closest on Saturdays. There's also one on Sundays at Ming and Haggin Oaks. We live in a farming community, why wouldn't you take advantage of that

5. Like I said, Bakersfield has around 300,000 last time I looked at the sign. There's probably more than that now, but whatever. There's also a mixture of cultural backgrounds and with that, it usually creates a diverse community. Not here. People are friendly and will usually help you with anything they can. The city's motto is "Life as it should be." So Bako has tons of people with a small city atmosphere.

4. Trying to find a place to live is a breeze here. Since it's one of the armpits, house prices are much lower than other cities (Sac, Fran, LA). Right now there's actually a housing shortage and they are having to develop more housing communities. Even the older houses are scarce to come by.

3. Bakersfield: NorCal or SoCal? We're actually CenCal. According to NorCal residents, we live in SoCal and vice versa for SoCal residents. Do they even know where Bako is? "Yeah, I drove through" doesn't count. It's great living in Bako. You're five hours from anything. 1 hour from the mountains, 3 hours from the coast, 4 hours to Sac, 5 to Fran, 5 to Tahoe, 2-3 from LA (depends on Grapevine and traffic), and 5 (with no traffic) to San Diego. Oh and don't forget Vegas... a mere 5 hours away. Talk about the perfect location!

2. The summers are 100+ degrees outside. I don't know how pregnant women make it through the summers here. Luckily, the city and NOR have installed sprayparks- an alternative to large swimming pools. Kids of all ages can run through large sprinkler heads to beat the heat. I'm not sure about the hours, but they are typically open before Memorial Day and are open until September or October (depending on the weather). It's great for toddlers and those of us who don't swim.

1. Another family favorite is the San Joaquin Valley library system. I use Beale Memorial for my book needs. They have a great selection and if you need a book from another library in the system, they can get it for you! I can't tell you how many different books I've checked out. The Beale Memorial is the largest library in Kern County. They have 4 levels of books, a section for audio-visual, a computer lab, reference, and much, much more. There's no reason to educate yourself through the library. Anything you want to learn is at the library. The best part of the library is storytime. I take the kids to the preschool storytime where the librarian reads 4-5 stories with rhymes and songs in between. Then afterwards is craft time. It's a simple creation made out of basic items. Best of all-it's free! A big thank you to the library for providing mommy one hour of almost freedom.

I'm going to put in another great thing about Bakersfield: year round gardening. It's the perfect climate to grow lettuces, broccoli, carrots, and many other veggies right in your own backyard. You can grow tomatoes and summer type produce if you throw a plastic sheet over your garden. It makes me wonder why Bakersfield doesn't have more vegetable gardeners when the city is in a zone 8b and 9! Not only does it help the environment, but also the grocery bill. Too bad there aren't any tax credits/incentives for gardening...

New Plant-Based Cookbooks

Cookbooks. You don't really need them, but they sure are handy to have. I have two. Sad, I know. Most people I know have ten or more. Time to get some more cookbooks. Before buying anything, I wanted to make sure the recipes were good. So I headed to the Beale library (great library system). They have almost every book you can think of and after looking online for books, I decided to check out three particular books. Notice I check out books. Not e-books. There's a major difference between the two (anyone can publish an e-book, not everyone can publish an actual book).


"Forks Over Knives" by Del Sroufe: I had to wait after 40+ people to get it, but once I did, I cooked a few of the recipes and I have to say: yes! This book is a must buy. It doesn't have every plant based recipe known to man, but it's much better than it's competitors I found. This is my number one buy.

"Skinny Bitch" by Kim Barnouin had very few good recipes. At first she describes why people should eat healthier, but instead of using vegetable oil or canola oil, she uses other various oils such as olive and grapeseed. Doesn't help if you are trying to stay away from all forms of oil. I am steering clear of this book.

"Happy Herbivore" by Lindsay Nixon. Seriously? She had a lot of specialty items such as agave nectar. What the heck is that? I know its a sweetener, but I don't think its something I can grow in my backyard. She also uses kelp powder and (whole wheat) bread in her recipes. This is my number 2 cookbook choice. I just wouldn't use those recipes with the specialty items. I should have got a picture of this book to show you, but you can look it up on Amazon.com.

I'm trying to grow our own produce so cookbooks using oil and kelp powder make no sense to me. There are a few recipes I can use out of the "Happy Herbivore", but "Forks Over Knives" has been the best cookbook so far.

Since trying these recipes, we (as a family) feel better, have less trash, and are able to figure out what's for dinner quicker. There's no waiting to defrost meat or leaking bags in the fridge of meat juice. Happy, healthy Bako Depot residents! Great way to treat yourself and lose that weight!

I am not advertising this books for any money. I'm just excited these cookbooks follow my new eating/cooking guidelines.

Lost my Diet

A few weeks ago, I started really watching what I ate. No processed foods, no meat, no dairy. Well, what's happened? It seems every meal I'm finding myself eat the same old foods since before I promised myself I wouldn't eat anymore. I lost my 10 pounds in 14 days and by now, I'm sure I've gained it back. I know exactly what happened. Hubby came home.

I'm not blaming him for my poor eating choices, but when the pantry is stocked with extremely unhealthy food and a family who wants the processed junk, it's unbelievably hard. The kids don't want to drink soy or almond milk. They want cow's milk. Even after I explained to them that the baby cows need their mommy's milk. Isn't that disgusting how we drink that?

And when going on vacation, doesn't the wafting smell of hamburgers make you drool for one? Yup. While the family isn't on board with the eating better change, we have been eating more fruits and vegetables. Isn't that more than I can ask for? Yes and no. Maybe I can find a group of people and actual recipes for this proper eating ritual in my area? Or online?

Eating better hasn't become a way of life for me yet. As long as the house is full of junk food (thank you Halloween), we will have to continue eating that unhealthy junk until it's gone. I do have to say we have been eating more fresh veggies and fruits than before. So maybe this is a step by step process that I'm continuing losing my focus.

How do I fix my problem? Getting healthier doesn't happen overnight. Loosing weight takes diligence and motivation. I just need to get back onto the bandwagon and lose that darn weight. I need to find a way to replace that junk with the family's motivation to live and eat healthier together. Blue Box macaroni and cheese and corn dogs need to find a way to disappear from the grocery aisles. Let's start paying for a home grown tomato and not a crunchy orange ball from the store. Weight be gone!

Thanks for reading!

Homesteading. Is it worth it?

Homesteading. Some think it’s a day's long list of chores on a plot of land. Others see it as a way to avoid any communication with the retail grocery stores. Me? I’m just trying to provide for my family. I want to be able to provide the best for them. What do you get at the grocery store? A ton of processed, preservative filled food. Crackers, juice, canned vegetables- you get the idea. Now I don’t plan on raising my own cattle or pigs, but I do plan on raising chickens. If you don’t have one, you should. Not only do they eat leftover food, they also provide eggs without the rooster (and I enjoy watching them). Currently, we don’t have a homestead thing going on, but hopefully soon.

Currently, we purchase our groceries at the Farmer's Market. This way I know hubby's hard earned money goes back into the community -local farmers. They work so hard to produce a quality item that benefits you and them. I do admit there are some items we can't get at the farmer's market that we will buy from Sam's or Costco since their organic doesn't cost an arm or leg like the typical grocery store. For household items, we will buy after realizing we can't DIY it. I know it sounds cheap and crazy to try making your own pillowcase or tiling the floor, but we are on a fixed income (halfway to becoming senior citizens).

One time at Sam's, hubby (not quite 100% on board with my new plant-based diet or saving as much as we really can) bought an 8pk of canned peas, 8pk of canned corn, and 12pk of green beans. All because he can just open it and heat it quickly. That added up to over $20. $20.00! Each canned item is full of salt, laden with pesticides, and will last through another ten years. If I have to purchase canned vegetables, I'll buy the salt free canned vegetables or frozen, but only sparingly if I can't get it at my farmer's market. I could have grown these vegetables and saved plus grow triple that amount! All for convenience. I looked at the canned peas ingredients. They actually put sugar in their canned sweet peas. They have absolutely no taste, not even a slightly sweet one.

So the true question is this new urban homesteading phase worth it? There will be a higher water consumption for our household, but I know I won't be using any pesticides or insecticides on my mini farm. I will have more flying insects around to pollinate the plants, but the chickens will eat the crawling ones. I will have to learn how to organize our produce and properly can, freeze, and preserve, but we will save money in the end. I, as well as hundreds of others, think homesteading is worth it.

The initial start-up cost will be a few seeds, egg cartons (seed starting trays), plastic wrap (keep moisture in), and tomato cages. Plus the water. I will have to install a sprinkler system, but a hose or my yard's sprinkler system is just fine for now. I don't plan on building a greenhouse. It's not in our budget. It might be later, but we have to start small and save what we can. I don't work, so this will be my "job" to provide fresh produce for our family.

Homesteading takes planning and commitment. We are able to start a winter garden here soon, but I haven't quite planned that yet since we are waiting to find out some news about hubby's career. We are praying he transfers to Sac although I really do love the Bako Depot. I think homesteading will be worth it, not only for me, but also for my family. This way, I'll be able to find what I need when I need to- unlike the grocery and department stores. My produce will be original, unlike the orange crunchy "tomatoes" imported from Mexico year round. My kids will learn what it is like to grow and do instead of shop and depend on others for food (sounds like a homeless or welfare person). Plus, if I fill my yard with growing produce, I can sell the extra (if I want to) and have less lawn to mow (sounds like a win-win).
Do you homestead? What do you think?

Lost weight

Loosing weight has been an uphill battle since my last pregnancy. My son was 9 1/2 pounds and I gained roughly 25lbs onto my usual 130 pounds. It was sad. I was around 120 in high school, but when college started and dating my now husband, I ate again.

My husband and I have always eaten a somewhat well balanced diet. At first, we ate no salads with our meals unless we had people over. I mean, come on, who loves salad that much?

Recently, I've been adding salad to every dinner. Hubby and I have been wanting to lose weight. The salad is the main factor why I've been loosing weight. However, after eating everything on my small portioned plate plus a huge salad, I felt like I was overdoing it. So I decided to cut up a small portion of meat to add to my salad. It was really good.

Hubby went out of town and I wanted to watch something different. I ran across "Food, Inc.", "Food Fight", and a bunch of other food documentaries. All I can say is wow. It really makes you look at the supermarket/grocery store and government in a whole new light.

I haven't weighed myself in 14 days, so I thought I would see where I'm at after eating salad for lunch and dinner for the past week. I do have salad dressing, but its not allowed to have any oil in it. Not canola, not soybean, not even olive oil. Smash an avocado and add either a small amount of lime or lemon juice. You have your dressing.

Very little if at all meat and poultry. Whole grains. Some beans. No oils, fats, or sweets. You want to really lose weight? Fruits and Vegetables only. Plus water. Period. Some people don't cook their food (raw foods diet) and others don't eat fish because of the contaminants in oceans, rivers, etc.

I don't like beans, so beans are out. Although I may make them for the kids and hubby. I guess we'll end up throwing out the all purpose and bread flour since we won't be using them anymore! Its going to be a challenging challenge (actual phrase?) to invent and find recipes for the family.

It feels great to loose weight- especially when I have an extremely hard time doing it. All I had to do was change my diet. So in the last 14 days here at the Bako Depot, 10.4 pounds have disappeared. In a way I'm decluttering me and my family.

:)