5 Ways to eat Organically on a budget

5 Ways to eat Organically on a budget

5. Eat seasonally 

Simple as that. Just eat what is in season. It will be so much cheaper.  

4. Costco 

Costco is the #1 nation wide seller in organics.  Some things at Costco you can't even buy non organically.  If you have not checked them out for Organics, please do so.  Yes, they have membership fees. But you will get that money back fast with the savings.  They have so many organics from produce, meat, dairy, all the way to canned foods and vitamin kids gummies.

3. Grow your own / Canning 

Starting a garden of your own can seem like a lot of work, but its SO MUCH cheaper than always having to pay someone else to grow the produce you want to eat.  Start with simple things to grow like tomatoes and spices.  And canning is making a come back.  Canning is NOT hard but it does take a lot of time.  Start out simple with some salsa with things you grew in your garden.  There is some initial start up costs (jars, lids, tongs, etc) but in the long run it's worth it.

 2. Eat less meat

Meat is one of the most expensive parts to any meal.  We buy our whole chickens from a local farm for just under $20 a bird.  Hard to swallow that price.  However if we can use that bird for 3 to 4 meals then it's not so bad.  Also when I would cook a meal like tacos, I was using 2.5 pounds of meat.  I started cutting way back now we are down to 1 pound for tacos.  I fill the hard shell tacos before moving them to table and then there is lots more room for the veggies.  Try to do Meatless Mondays, and soon it will be easy and you will be enjoying many meatless meals you love.  

1. Get a CSA box 

I was skeptical about getting a CSA box. It seemed like a big price tag for a summers worth of produce that I was not even picking out.  I was a really picky eater when it came to produce, so I thought for sure I would end up trashing half of what was given to us.  Plus I am a crazy planner and I like to plan my meals out for the month so not knowing what is coming at first put a cramp in that.  However I am so pleasantly surprised.  I feel so good about supporting a local farm in raising locally grown organic produce.  If anything comes in the box that I have not cooked with before I just type it in on Pintrest and get all kinds of yummy ideas on how to cook it.

Chia Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes

Chia Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes 

I love this recipe for Pancakes.  You don't need a box mix to have fantastic pancakes.  This recipe is my go to recipe.  We have breakfast for dinner A LOT and this is my kids favorite!!!

What you need:

1 cup Flour

1 cup Milk

1 beaten egg

1 tablespoon melted butter

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder (if possible use aluminum free) 

1/8 cup chia seeds (add more or less I normally just dump some in)

This recipe double or triples or if you have a big family like me quadruples nicely.   

Add all ingredients to mixer but make sure the butter is last or it may not be melted when you go to mix.  Less is more when it comes to mixing.  I only mix a few seconds with the electric mixer.  After that i use a rubber scraper make sure all mixed in from bottom of the bowl.  Then let the pancake batter sit while griddle warms up to 350 degrees at least 5 minutes.  When griddle is warm pour batter on to desired size and add blueberries as few or many as you like.  

Should look something like this

When the blueberries are almost hidden and the edges are starting to look a little dry time to flip.

At this point I like to add a nice piece of butter to the top then remove it from griddle. 

Ready to enjoy.  

Camping activities to keep your little campers busy in campsite.

Camping activities to keep your little campers busy

There are times when camping with kids that you just need them to keep themselves busy.  Like trying to cook on a hot fire.  I took a trip to the dollar store and found things around our house for our four kids to do when we are camping when not out exploring.

1. I filled a shoebox with books. This is great to have them sit and page through the books in their beds for a little quiet time..

 2. Make your own look and find jar.  I put things I had around the house such as pom poms, plastic bugs, beads, and popsicle sticks.

 3. We had this small foldable train track and a few engines, perfect for camping.

4. Mr. Potato head!  All his parts fit inside so great for camping.

5. Puppets!!!  Our kids had a ball putting on a puppet show for us.  The kids also love watching a puppet show. Lots and lots of laughs.

6. Make some patterns with Legos that they must complete.

 7.  Got this little basket at the dollar store, great for keeping all our bags together.

 8. For each of my children I made up a "Monster" bag.  I added: pom poms, glue, wiggle eyes, feathers, and a tp tube.  Then I asked them all to make the tube into a monster.

 9. My kids love to have there own "stuff" so I made a bin of random stuff for each kid.  Found all of this at dollar store.  Stickers, sun glasses, a bug bucket, glow stick, and net.

 10. Using another tp tube (I never throw these away and I have family members saving for me)  Write all of the letters of alphabet.  Then do the same on a sheet of stickers.  Have your child match them up.

11.  More handy stuff to buy from dollar store!  Bubbles, Play dough, balloons, frisbee, markers, and alphabet activity book.  The biggest score from this stuff was the play dough. It was only one dollar so we let the kids use it on the picnic table while we were cooking our meals. It got gross and we didn't mind tossing it after the weekend.  The kids got some acorn shells and made imprints in it so on...

12. Sorting beads.  I thought this one would have been their least favorite, but boy was I wrong.   This was my 6, 4, and 2 year old favorite thing to do.  They actually did it a few times in one trip they liked it so much. My oldest got the idea after sorting to make me a bracelet using the beads and pipecleaner. 

She was not really "sorting" but it still kept her busy!  

Thanks for reading. Love comments and pins.  :-)

Chicken, Chia Seed, and Gravy Sandwiches with Broccoli Risotto

Chicken, Chia Seed, and Gravy Sandwiches with Broccoli Risotto 

Tonight I made one of my family favorite meals.  I thought I would share it with you.  Hope you try it.  Its soooo yummy!!

First you start by baking a whole chicken.  I got our chicken from a local farmer.   Dominion Valley Farm.  Here is there website http://www.dominionvalleyfarm.com/index.html  We just LOVE them and what they stand for!

Start with: olive oil, parsley, paprika, salt, and pepper 

Place your chicken in a Large roasting pan

Cover it with olive oil.  

Olive oil inside and out.

Now cover it in the spices.  Again Inside and out.   

Should look something like this.  

Cover the roasting pan.  We let it sit now for about 30 minutes before cooking. 

I bake @425 for an hour. Than I turn off the oven but don't remove the chicken for another 30 minutes

After 30 minutes I move it to cutting board to cool.  Then remove bones and shred meat. 

Now using a strainer dump the juice from the  roaster pan into a large frying pan.  This will make all the difference in the flavor. 

To finish the gravy you will need: 1/2 cup Chia Seeds, Chicken stock, 1 cup milk, 1/3 cup cornstarch, Italian seasoning packet (found by the salad dressing), garlic salt, salt, and pepper. 

  

In the frying pan with juice from roasting pan add chicken stock 

Add italian seasoning 

Mix Cornstarch and milk with whisk 

Add generous amount of all seasonings and 1/2 cup chia seeds 

Turn on High let come to a boil 

Add in Cornstarch and Milk mixer 

Let it come to boil while whisking 

Turn off heat and add Shredded chicken.  

Broccoli Risotto 

What you will need: Chicken stock, Olive oil, half of an onion, arborio rice, Lots of parmesan cheese, and frozen broccoli.

Dice the onion and add to large pot with olive oil.  Over Med heat cook the onions till they are soft.  

Add 16 oz of rice.  Stir and cook for a few minutes 

Add a few cups of room temperature chicken stock.  You will keep adding chicken stock as it is absorbed.  I used almost 2 boxes.   

Meanwhile steam the broccoli. 

Keep constantly checking stirring the rice.  Adding more chicken stock still rice in soft.

When broccoli is cooked and rice in soft mix together 

Should look something like this now.  

Add a ton of parmesan cheese.  At least a cup worth.  

Add salt and pepper.  Mix it in and you are done! 

I used a Sheboygan Hard roll for my sandwich but any bun will do.  I buttered it and added a thick slice of cheese.  Enjoy!  

P.S. If you have extra gravy left over you can add it to Broccoli risotto or make mash potatoes.  Both are really yummy.