As we move into May, our nation continues to be in unprecedented times. Some states are still on full lockdown. Others are open at least to some degree. And many fall somewhere in between. Offering meal plan ideas has proven to be a challenge. So this month, instead of giving a designated daily/weekly meal plan …
Great, something else to think about? As if the last several weeks haven’t been enough of a whirlwind, we now need to prepare for a recession? Yes, we do. And I’ve got five great suggestions to help you with your preparations. What started as a warning from afar, soon became a warning at home. When …
The question I receive most often is “how do you afford real food on a meager (small, tight, limited, paltry, minuscule, tiny, wee, etc) budget?” I’m happy to share what we’ve found to be helpful in our quest for real food. Please keep in mind, what I share is what has worked for us. For …
General Resources The Complete Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn. This should be available in your local library. Back in 1999, I borrowed it three separate times before purchasing. The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. Also available from the library in not only the physical book but possibly audio too. Check your local library for …
Just before Christmas one of the community Facebook groups that I’m a part of had a post from a family asking for assistance to help replenish their bare cupboards. There were several posts from people indicating that certain churches in the area had pantry assistance programs. One post really stuck out to me: “Churches are no …
With winter in full force we have a fire going in our wood stove pretty much all of the time. The wood stove is our main heat source. Originally we had planned to install a lovely antique wood cook stove but decided that while it would do the job for cooking it wouldn’t be adequate …
2014 was an expensive year for us. Our biggest expense was building our cabin. In 2013 we bought 20 acres a few hours away with the plan to eventually build a Tiny House type structure to live in while we slowly, over time, built our permanent home. Then early in 2014 our plans changed and …
As I’m writing this post it’s late-June and I have a pot of soup on the stove for supper. Two days ago it was quite warm and more salad weather than soup weather but last night a storm came through and has left a cold dreary day behind. Once again perfect for soup weather. When …
The cost of beef is going up. I’ve read a few different articles that peg the increase anywhere from 4% to 10% and this is a following a record increase of 5% in 2013! When I was in Oregon last week I bought beef at Trader Joe’s I was shocked at the prices. Almost $10 …
8 Weeks. 8 loooong weeks. That is how long I’ve had either a cast or some sort of splint on my right hand. Considering that I am right hand dominant it has really put a damper in many things of the day to day things I need to do. Writing is very difficult and hardly …
You may know that I have a slight obsession with beans. Beans are a wonderfully frugal whole food, they have an excellent nutritional profile, and are extremely versatile. There are hundreds of varieties of beans/legumes available which really helps keep things interesting. Beans also make an excellent addition to your food storage. For ease of …
In my post yesterday, 5 Ways to Afford Real Food on a Meager Budget, I talked about how we ate less meat but still had high quality meals. In this post I share a few of our favorite meat-free meals. Creamed Onions with Thyme and Sage This is a dish that we love and I …
Happy 2013! With the new year here I thought it would be a great time to give an overview of our food philosophy and this blog. When I started this blog late in 2009 I struggled with a name for it. I had been writing about food on a family blog that I …
Last week’s menu plan turned out great. Planning for breakfast, lunch and dinner really helped me with my organization– something that had been lacking quite a bit lately! We didn’t 100% stick to our breakfast and lunch plan but having it was a great reminder to staying on track. We did stick with our dinner plan …
For the month of October, we’re focusing on tightening our belt and reducing our food costs. The main thing my family does to help with our food budget is menu planning. Close to 6 years ago I began meal planning. At that time we were not eating a real foods diet. In fact, the entire …