Getting the Most from Organic Meat

One of the hardest items to eat organically is Meat.  It's so expensive!  I bought organic, grass fed beef and it was $7 a pound!  Obviously, this is not something we can have often when trying to eat healthy on a tight budget.  The problem is my husband wants meat, meat, meat.  He's a big fan of the Paleo diet, mostly because of Rich Froning Jr.  He's the two time crossfit champion and my husband's pretty much obsessed :)  So, because good ole Rich eats tons of meat, Doug feels like he has to as well.  I've been trying to tell him that beans are a great source of protein as well, but he's not really going for it.  So, how are we supposed to have meat, still eat clean and stay on budget?  Well my answer is Bulgar.

Bulgar is basically a version of whole wheat with all of it's health benefits.  It is low in fat and high in fiber and minerals.  It is not gluten free however, so if you're moving towards a gluten free diet, then this is not for you.  I was very intrigued when I came across it and read that it was a meat extender.  What?!?  So, I had to try it out.  I decided to make taco salads.  Here's the original recipe that I slightly tweaked.  I bought 1lb of grass fed beef and Doug browned it up.  I also cooked up one cup of Bulgar.  Once they were done, we combined them.  It more than doubled the amount of "meat" we had.  We did have to end up adding more of the spices since the first amount used was geared toward 1lb of meat.  It was a ton of Bulgar, however.  So, next time, we'll use 2lbs of meat for the cup of bulgar.  That will give us probably 3 1/2lbs of taco meat the next time.

You could tell a difference in the taste, but my whole family liked it.  I think it will be even better when we up it to 2lbs of meat.  That will also allow me to freeze half and have an easy dinner ready another time. I'm excited to see how it might work for grilled hamburgers as well.  So, $7 for one pound of meat.  You get a bag of Bulgar for under $4.  If I double the meat, add the Bulgar, it will even out to around $4 a pound.  That's what I was paying for 90/10 hamburger anyway.

What else did we put on our salads?  Well, the base was leaf lettuce.  I left them whole for a pretty picture but would definitely tear them up next time.  Much easier to eat! Also layered on top were organic black beans - rinsed, organic corn - rinsed, diced avocado (my very first one I've ever eaten and it was good!), organic diced tomatoes, shredded organic cheese and organic salsa.  It was so yummy!

A few comments.  I do not endorse the Paleo diet.  I don't think any diet that's based just on meat alone is good.  You need a nice healthy balance of fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts and so on.  I also know a lot of people don't eat red meat.  We eat it in moderation and will probably continue to do so.  I'm pretty much of the mindset that if our ancestors didn't eat it then we shouldn't either.  I'm against all the new processed foods.  Cows have been eaten for 1,000 of years, so I guess I'm OK with eating them as well.  If I come across other information on this journey, then maybe I'll rethink my position at that time.

Newbie tips:
1. If you can't afford organic cheese at least buy the blocks and shred them yourselves.  Shredded cheese is highly processed so that it won't stick together in the packaging.
2.  Don't buy taco seasoning.  You never quite know what's in it.  Make your own, it's cheaper and healthier.    Check out this blog for a great recipe!
3.  Try making the base of your salad with spinach.  It won't taste different but offers a ton more nutritional value.  I will be doing that the next time!

So Confusing!

I don't know about you, but I'm finding this whole journey to clean eating so confusing!  It seems like the more I read, the more confused I become.  The problem is just how different everybody's views of clean eating are.  One person says this and another says that.  One person says no sugar at all and I just came across a blog with a sugar that she uses and still considers herself processed free.  Ugh!  How do I know what to think?

The answer I came to and the stand I've decided to take is that if my grandmother didn't cook it for her kids then I probably shouldn't be cooking it for mine.  If I'm using something that wasn't even heard of 100 years ago, then it's probably not the best thing for me.

Now I'm pretty sure that that there are still going to be times when I'm just not sure if I'm doing it right.  But I have come to realize that every little bit counts.  The lifestyle my family and I are embracing is so much better than the one we were doing before.  So, if I make a bad decision every once in awhile, that's ok.  I'll just try to get it right the next time.

My Crutch

I've been cleaning eating for a little over 3 weeks now.  Well, that's not true.  I've been on a journey to clean eating for a little over 3 weeks now.  There's a huge difference!  Clean eating is definitely a process!  If you're thinking about getting started or are a newbie like me, it's ok to take it slow!  These habits were learned over years so it's not going to change overnight.

Things are going really well for me.  So well, that I really can't believe it.  As I'm comparing this time to all the other times I've I tried to eat healthy and failed, I've tried to figure out what was different this time.  Why am I successful for over 3 weeks now when I couldn't even make it 3 days before.  I honestly think one component of the answer is soda.  You see, a can of coke has always been my huge stumbling block, my huge crutch of the past.  I talked briefly about this in a previous blog post.  I've done a pretty good job in the past of changing my breakfast. Where I would always fail was at lunch.  I would come in to the kitchen, trying to decide what to have for lunch and knew that whatever it was, I just had to have a soda with it.  The additional factor of this problem was the food I ate when I drank a soda.  I would eat things that "tasted good" with soda.  So, I would have nachos, chips, things like that.

What's amazing for me to say, is that I sit here now with not having had a soda in a week.  Wow!  I have never done that before!  The best thing is, is that I eat so much healthier and I don't even miss it.  What I have to come to realize is that I probably can't ever have soda again.  There will be things that I will allow myself in moderation, probably all will center around dessert.  However, with a soda, it's just not the same.  If I have one, then I want another one the next day and I feel like I have to "quit" all over again.  Some say food can be an addiction, and I can see where that can be the case.  So, soda is gone for me and I'm fine with that.

So, what's your crutch?  What's that one thing, maybe the biggest thing you need to stop eating?  Try getting rid of it first.  If you save it for later than you're really just giving yourself an uphill battle.  Yet if you take that hard thing and get rid of first, well, it's all downhill from there!

Newbie tips;
1. Remember that this is a lifestyle change, not a diet!  It's ok to take it slow.
2. Everybody has that one food they love, whether it be ice cream, chocolate or a sugary drink.  Identify what it is and if you can't make a healthy alternative, then cut it out!  The process of moving to a clean eating lifestyle will be much easier if you do.

Pancakes for Lunch!

I have always had such a hard time with changing my eating habits. I normally do breakfast really well, but lunch always trips me up. Pretty much it revolved around my need for a soda. If I would eat something healthy, a soda wouldn't "taste right" with it. So, I would go back to normal junk because with it, soda tasted oh, so good. Well, I have not had a soda in over 4 days! I can hardly believe it! The best thing for me is when I came down for lunch today, having a soda didn't even cross my mind. Wow! That's a huge change in just 3 weeks.

Today I decided to try out a recipe I saw on Pinterest for pancakes. If you want to see other meals I plan on having throughout the week, check out my Meals for This Week board. I also try to review them after I make them and repin them to here. This has made my life so much easier in planning meals. I don't know how many times I've bought groceries and then forgot what they were for. So, now they're conveniently located in one spot. And let's be honest, who really plans meals outside of Pinterest now anyway. Well, at least I don't!

Ok, back to the oatmeal. The original recipe is here, but I'll copy it so you don't have to link all over the place. I was a little, ok, very hesitant over this recipe at first because it has cottage cheese in it. I do not like cottage cheese, at all! But, this whole journey of eating better is being willing to try new things, and besides, the lady from the original post didn't like cottage cheese either and she liked the pancakes, so I thought it was worth a try.

Protein Pancakes

Ingredients

• 1 egg
• 2 egg whites
• 1 cup low-fat cottage cheese
• 2/3 cup rolled oats
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Preheat griddle to medium-high heat
2. In a small bowl, lightly beat together the egg and egg whites and then add to a blender
3. Add the remaining ingredients to the blender and blend until smooth
4. Spray griddle with non-stick spray
5. Pour pancakes from blender onto griddle, about 1/4 cup per pancake
6. When bubbles start to come through, flip over and continue cooking until both sides are golden brown
7. Serve with pure maple syrup and fresh fruit

Notes

This made eight 3 – 4″ pancakes.

I used 100% whole wheat oats I had on hand. I'll have to research and see how much better steel cut and/or organic ones are before I decide to switch over. As stated before, I did not buy organic cottage cheese and so used the Fiber One brand. I am ashamed to admit that I did not read the label. That's one thing I'll have to get better at!

Well, the pancakes were really good! Austin, my oh so picky almost 16 year old even liked them. Well, he said they were good but tasted funny. I don't understand how something can be good and taste funny, but at least he said they were good. The batter was very thick, so next time I might try to add a little water. Not too much, but it would help it pour a little better. I had mine with my cheap organic milk. I topped them off with real maple syrup, blueberries and bananas. All in all, it was a fantastic lunch and they are packed with protein, so I think my husband is going to love them as well! It looks like they are going to end up costing about $1.65 for 8 pancakes. I was paying $1.45 for 10 frozen waffles, so not too big of a difference for a huge health impact!

Newbie tips:
1. Don't be afraid to try new things, especially if they're used in a recipe. You may not even end up knowing it's in there!
2. Look for ways to add berries to your diet. They are so good for you! I reluctantly added blueberries to this, since they're not my favorite. However, mixed with the bananas, they tasted amazing with the pancakes!
3. Watch your children with the real maple syrup! It is expensive and you don't want to have to rinse a bunch down the drain because they're so used to their pancakes floating in syrup (again, not that I know from experience :) A little bit will go a long way!

Organic Milk on a Budget

My kids drink a ton of milk. Well, two of them do, so we go through about 3-4 gallons of milk a week. My oldest will come into the kitchen and just want a drink, pour himself a tall glass of milk and just chug it down. Ugh! I could not imagine doing that. Don't get me wrong, I like milk...with a big piece of chocolate cake or a handful of chocolate chip cookies. Uh, Oh! I'm not sure how much milk I will be drinking in the future :)

So, in trying to move to clean eating, I checked into organic milk. I could not believe it was over $6 a gallon at Meijer, my local grocery store. That would be an extra $40-$50 a month for milk. Yeah, there's no way we can afford that. So, after doing some research about how bad the hormones and things that are in milk are for girls, my husband and I decided to buy organic milk only for Jazlyn, our daugher.

Then I read more about milk here. Towards the end of her post, she talks a bit about 2% & skim milk and how they may not be great choices, even worse than I thought! Then I remembered a conversation I had with a close friend, Brooke. She's frugal like me :) You can check out her Frugal Friday blog posts here. Anyway, she read a book where a mom bought whole milk, poured half in a separate jug and added half water to both to make skim milk. Ah, you probably see where I'm going with this! So, I thought, why not buy organic whole milk, add a little water and make it 2%. It should taste like their normal 2% they like without having the processing done to it to get it that way.

When I went to Earth Fare yesterday, I decided to check out their organic milk. Imagine my surprise when it was only $5.48 a gallon! That was cheaper than Meijer & Walmart! So I bought one gallon, poured half of it (2 quarts) into another gallon I had on hand. I then added about 1 1/2 quarts of water to each gallon and presto! 2% milk. My husband and I both tasted it and felt it tasted extremely close to what we were buying in the past.

So, I buy 2 gallons of organic whole milk to get almost 3 gallons of 2%. That's only $3.65 a gallon which is less than a dollar more than what we were paying for our old milk! So, an extra $12-$15 a month for my kids to be so much healthier. Totally worth it!

Newbie tips:
1. Be sure to save your old milk gallons so you have something to pour the new gallons into. Just rinse with very hot water when they're empty!
2. Invest in an inexpensive funnel to keep in your kitchen. This will help the entire process go so much easier and keep milk from getting all over the counter (not that I know from experience or anything).
3. You can freeze milk! So, if you're like me and are not going to be making weekly trips to the Health Food store, then buy enough milk for several weeks and freeze the extra!

Earth Fare!

Today, I went to my very first Health Food store. My husband and I braved Earth Fare. Since it's a Saturday and they had something special going on, it was pretty crowded. I wish I would have made my first experience at a little less crazy time, but that's ok. We just braved the crowd :)

The good news is that I found a lot of great stuff that really wasn't that expensive. The bad news is that I found a lot of great stuff that was terribly expensive! So, I really am going to see what all stores are available in my area and see what are the best deals at each store. Then I'll have to rotate where I shop each week and stock up on what the best deals are at each store.

So, the big question, what did I get? Well, I really wanted to take a picture, but got home and washed all my fruit and vegetables and put everything away before I remembered. So, you'll just have to be happy with a list.

Unsweetened Almond Milk, Organic Applesauce, Organic crakers, citrus soda (ok, this was a Bob Marley brand that my husband just HAD to try), Organic peanut butter, Gallon of Organic Whole Milk, Frozen Berries, Organic Strawberry Jam, 2 Jars of Organic Salsa, Organic cookies, 3 Lemon Yogurts, Whole Organic Chicken, Bunch of Organic Bananas, 2 containers of Organic Blueberries & a Container of Grapes.

Wow, that's a lot of stuff! And guess how much I paid for everything? Drum roll please....$31.64! Can you believe it? Ok, so I have to confess that this is probably a once in a lifetime thing. You see, when you sign up for their Tomato Bank program, they give you 1,000 points which is $10 off. They also send you a coupon for a free whole chicken and to get five of their organic products for $1. That was the peanut butter, strawberry jam, applesauce, cookies and crackers. I honestly would not buy the cookies and crackers again. I wasn't that impressed with their ingredients, while certainly better that what I used to buy!

All in all, it was a great stop and I got some great things. It's always easier once the first shopping trip is behind you! There were a couple of things that I felt were pretty pricey and so didn't buy while I was there. First was organic apples. They were a little over $7 a bag and I knew Walmart had organic apples. So I decided to check out the price on them there since we had to return something anyway. I was glad I waited when I found out they were only $5 a bag there. I also waited on cottage cheese, big mistake! No organic cottage cheese at Walmart, so I had to buy normal and it was only about $1 cheaper than the organic at Earth Fare.

So, for you newbies, like me, here are some tips:
1. Grab the small book of coupons that are in a basket by the front door. I saved 75 cents on my frozen berries.
2. Bring you own bag! You get Tomato Bank points if you do!
3. Still read labels! There were some yogurts that had a ton of sugar in them!

A Bad Day, Yet a Good Day

Today, we buried my husband's Uncle Tom. He was an amazing man. It's so good to go to funeral's like that. One where the deceased had lived a life pleasing to God and you heard it over and over again from so many different people. What a privilege we had to be able to know him as part of our family.

After the burial, we returned to the church for the meal they had prepared for us. I took one look at the table full of food and told Doug that we would just have to forgo our new healthy eating stance. So, we piled our plates with a ton of food and I had two desserts. When I got done eating, I looked at Doug and said I feel sick. He was like, yeah, me too. This is why we're making this change. You should finish eating and feel great, not like crap! What a great reminder. We've only been working on this for 2 weeks and we can tell a difference. I can't imagine what it will be like once we're completely free of processed foods and free for a long time. What a great thing to look forward to!

On another exciting note, I'm visiting my first ever healthy food store tomorrow. I have a stack of coupons to use at Earth Fare. So excited to get my feet wet in this area. Next on my list is Trader Joe's. Living outside of Indy, I'm sure there will be plenty of more I can try out. I'm hoping to get a list of the best deals at each store and then rotate when I go to each store to stock up. Being on a tight budget is going to make this change hard, but I am determined to make it doable!