Budget Strategies for Real Food {or Community Counts}

For those of you who have been following this year's health journey, you've seen us go from gluten-free and mostly raw, to staying gluten-free and moving towards a GAPS diet, but also needing to eat up all our non-GAPS staples (we buy in bulk, so this is taking a while).

As we introduced more GAPS-friendly ingredients into the kitchen, my grocery bill jumped right out of our budget and into the red, something we cannot afford to do.  Debt is not an option anymore.  Needless to say, some serious number-crunching has been going on around here.  Bottom line: meat and nuts are way more expensive than grains, but grains are way less healthy than meat and nuts.  How can I get the cost down?  Here's what I've been up to to answer that question:  Ask any friend of mine and they will tell you that I've become a crazed bulk buyer/organizer. 

• I've organized a raw milk run rotation to a local dairy.  It's grown into three separate groups.  I'm now spending way less money on gas for raw milk from grass-fed cows.  Milk is covered.  
• I signed up to be a group buyer with Tropical Traditions and Green Pasture.  Coconut oil and fermented cod liver oil are covered.  
• Our pastured pullets should start laying a dozen eggs a day beginning late July, allowing us to sell just enough eggs to cover the cost of their supplemental feed, making our eggs free.  
• I've been a drop coordinator with Azure Standard, letting our budget afford quality, organic bulk staples, and splitting what we can with friends.
• After learning phrases like "hanging weight price" compared to the packaged price (and bringing our newly-formed real food buyer's community for a ride along the way - sorry, friends), we have managed to buy a whole organic, grass-fed, local cow for half the price we've been paying for beef.  Beef is covered.
• Eventually (hopefully next year), we will dig an irrigation pond, allowing us to water a garden, orchard, and livestock, providing (practically) free food.  In the meantime, we buy locally-grown produce at the farmer's market, and in the fall, our beloved Abundant Harvest Organic boxes will be delivered to our area again, which also saves us a pretty penny.  Produce covered.

Does this take time?  Yes.  Is it really worth it?  It has been for me.  I might not be making a single penny's profit for all the extra work, but I'm gaining in other ways.  Not only are we able to afford way more real food than before my group buying craze... 

We are growing as a community (nothing brings a community together like good food). 

We are supporting local, organic farming.

We are helping the local economy.

U-Picking it up at a local farm.

We are making our grocery budget take a stand for what we believe in, not compromising with cheap food where people and the earth are being mistreated.

Stewarding the earth was our first job in the garden of  Eden.

This makes me happy.  If you are interested in group buying as well, here are some resources (again, not gaining a penny by promoting these folks, I just believe in them):

• Find real milk locations near you here.
• Look into becoming a Healthy Buyer's Club member with Tropical Traditions here (and please do learn about their company.  They are Christian-owned and hire locals to harvest and make coconut oil the way their forefathers have been doing it for centuries, preserving their heritage.  I'm happy to support this company.)
• Apply to be a group buyer with Green Pasture here (there are perks for the group buyer coordinator).
• Look into Azure Standard for organic bulk items here.
• Find a source for local, grass-fed meat here.
• Locate a local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) group for local, organic produce here. (And if you're in California, definitely give Abundant Harvest Organics a look).

We can do so much for this world, our health, our community, and our budget, just by putting in a little extra time to find good folks to buy good food from.  Let's be a movement with our grocery money.

I'm sharing this at Traditional Tuesdays, Simple Lives Thursday, Pennywise Platter, Fight Back Friday, & Save the Farm Friday.

Soaked, (Un) Refried Beans ~ A Simple Recipe

Growing up so close to the Mexican boarder, I thought refried beans were a staple in everyone's home.  We had them in one dish or another almost every day.  Our favorite way to eat them was in the form of what my mom called quesorritos (pictured above): a cross between a bean burrito and a quesadilla.  We loved them.  My kids categorize them as a comfort food now, too.  Add a dollop of creme fraiche and your favorite salsa and/or some guacamole on top and you've got yourself a pretty tasty meal, I tell you.

Making your own refried beans (consequently, this recipe never fries the beans) is too simple for words.  So skip the phytic acid-layden, BPA-contaminated, bad-salt-filled, canned beans and make a batch of these.  Besides the many health benefits and superior flavor, making your own is so much cheaper.  Also, they freeze well, so why not stock up?

Soaked, Refried Beans

Yields 4 quarts

4 cups dried black or pinto beans

Warm, filtered water

4 Tablespoons whey or lemon juice

1 onion, chopped

1 sweet pepper (like bell), chopped

1 jalapeno or Anaheim chili, chopped, or several drops tabasco sauce (optional)

3 cloves garlic, seeded & minced

1 1/2 Tablespoon Celtic sea salt

• Place beans in a large bowl.  Add whey or lemon juice and fill with filtered water.  The beans will greatly expand, so be sure to use plenty of water.  Stir, cover, and let soak 12-24 hours.

1. When you're ready to make the refried beans, the beans should be nice and plump, some of them splitting apart, from soaking.  Goodbye phytic acid, hello, phtase, the happy enzyme that helps us digest and absorb the nutrients!  Drain and thoroughly rinse the beans.  Place them in a large pot and add filtered water; just enough to cover the top of the beans.  You can always add water if needed, but too much water will give you soupy beans.
2. Place lid over beans and bring to a boil.  Remove lid and skim off any foam.  Now, you can either saute onions, pepper, & chili in some butter or oil (it will yield a yummier flavor), or just add the onions, pepper, and chili straight into the beans if you're short on time (like I usually am 90% of the time). 
3. Stir, cover, and simmer for 2-4 hours.  You'll know the beans are ready when they start to fall apart (as seen in picture number three, below).
4. If there is still too much water, you can skim some off.  Add garlic and salt.  Then, either use a potato masher or a hand-held blender to turn them into refried beans.  I store them in wide-mouthed, quart-sized mason jars and use these handy dandy lids.  Be sure not to over-fill the jars if you plan to freeze them.  I've done this... more than once, and you'll end up with a cracked jar.

** NOTE:  Charis reminded me that you can easily make these in the crock pot (thanks, Charis!).  I do recommend to start the beans in a pot so you can bring it to a boil and skim off the foam, but you can definitely finish them off in the slow cooker.

~Browse more riddlelove recipes here.~

I'm sharing this at Real Food Wednesday, Fight Back Friday, & Fresh Bites Friday.

I Never Want to Forget

Because I never want to forget the sweet things our children say during these tender years (that I know will fade away before we know it), and because what they say is too sweet or hilarious to keep to myself, here are a couple things our 5-year-old has said this month:

Do you want to know what will hold my heart forever?  My family.

(While squeezing my arm) I'm hugging Jesus who's in you!

Melt.  Times.  Infinity.

Excuse me while I grab all my kids in a massive, blubbery, sobby, hug as they wonder what on earth has come over their mom.

I'm sharing this at Gratituesday.