The following is the first in a series of interviews on eating well on a budget.

This series began in talking with my friend Rachel (featured below) about saving money while making eating nutritious foods a priority.

Rachel is mom to three boys, Isaac, 10, Adam, 4, and Noah, 3. Her husband Alan is a 5^th grade bilingual teacher.

Rachel is an amazing volunteer and a very generous friend, who doesn’t mind being interviewed the week school starts. She is also a writer and someday hopes to return to her previous career in social work, but her current focus is on her family and what they are eating.

 TVNT:  How would you sum up your family’s food philosophy?

Rachel: My personal food philosophy (which in turn has become my family’s) is that foods should be eaten in as close to their natural state as possible.

As I learn more and more about how food is produced, I find more and more things I want my family to avoid eating (GMOs, meat, conventionally produced eggs and dairy, fruits and vegetables saturated with pesticides, etc.)

It can honestly make me a little crazy and I’m still working on finding a balance so my food philosophy doesn’t run our entire life. I think it’s important to have principles and to stick to them, but when it comes to eating in this country where so many things fall into that category of things I want us to avoid, to hold on to some semblance of normality sometimes I have to let go.

TVNT: Do you purchase convenience foods? If not, what do you try to make at home (cookies, crackers, pretzels, etc?)

Rachel: No, I don’t buy many convenience foods. (It can be a little embarrassing at times when we are around other people with something simple like a bag of pretzels and my kids gobble them down like they’ve never seen such a thing before.)

For me it’s not that I have anything against these foods as much as it is that I find them too expensive for my budget. Convenience snack foods don’t fill us up, they are mostly empty calories because of that, it’s hard to stop eating them which in turn makes them seem more expensive to me because they never last long!

We make our own cookies and granola. (I’ve stopped buying cereal because of the cost and the kids have homemade granola instead now.) I’ve never ventured into the cracker or pretzel making arena but would like to try sometime.

TVNT: I know you do things like bake bread and cook your own beans … how does that help your budget? Do you plan for baking and cooking? How do you make time for that, or does it just become part of your routine after a while?

Rachel: Oh I wish I was organized enough to say I plan for baking and cooking! I don’t at all unfortunately.

Cooking beans does take some forethought because of soaking time. Usually I pull out the beans sometime the day before to remind myself to soak them that night, then the next day I stick them in the crockpot all day and wah-lah, a cheap healthy form of protein.

Yes, this helps my budget a lot. Dried beans are a lot cheaper (and healthier!) than canned and making my own bread sure beats the price of buying it.

“I used to throw the ingredients into my bread machine and let that do the work. Now I prefer the act of making bread. I find it soothing to knead the dough, comforting to have a bowl of yeasty dough rising, waiting for me to punch it down. I love the entire process. I think that’s key with all of this– it helps tremendously if you enjoy making these things. I love baking and cooking but I don’t know if I could do half the things I do in the kitchen if I didn’t! “

Though I do think these things can grow on a person over time so I would say that someone who hates cooking and baking could learn to love it with time.

TVNT:  What are some things that you always buy organic?

Rachel: I always buy anything with soy (like tofu) organic, as well as milk and fruits and vegetables off the dirty dozen, like strawberries.

TVNT: Are there certain foods that you rarely buy organic?

Rachel: I don’t usually buy my grains or legumes organic, unless I can get a good deal or the price difference is negligiable

TVNT:  Do you buy in bulk? How does that help your food budget?

Rachel: Yes, I love buying in bulk! I do think it makes a big difference with things we eat a lot of, not so much with things we don’t. (Something I just learned… if we don’t eat it a lot, it’s not worth getting in bulk.)

I mentioned earlier that I make my own granola so buying a fifty pound bag of oats allows me to buy them at 38 cents a pound, rather than about 75 cents a pound. Over time that makes a huge difference! The same is true with flour or yeast.

TVNT: What tips would you give someone looking to eat well but not spend a fortune?

Rachel: I have three tips for eating well and not spending a fortune:

 First is cook! It is expensive to eat out and those restaurant dinners and fast food lunches add up fast. Sometimes I splurge and buy something that costs more than we usually buy– portobello mushrooms or something and make a meal that costs more than our usual meals but then I like to play the game of figuring out how much such a meal would cost in a restaurant. It’s always amazing to spend what seems like a lot of money but then realizing that everyone is eating for 2 bucks a plate. So the first thing you have to do is start cooking yourself!

My other tip is that eating low on the food chain makes a big difference. My grocery bill dropped dramatically when I stopped buying meat. I’ve found the most expensive grocery bills are not the ones when I buy all organic as much as it is on how high on the food chain I’m going. Dairy adds up fast.

 The last tip is to try to stay out of the grocery store as much as possible! I buy way too much at grocery stores. I prefer buying through a dried food co-op once a month (where I can buy grains, beans, and sweeteners) and then doing my weekly shopping at a tiny local fruit and vegetable market, and then going to the grocery store once a month.

“I make a rule for myself that I’ll just make do in between grocery store trips. This forces me to be creative and use up that stuff that wouldn’t get used if I didn’t have any other choice!”

TVNT: What are some of your children’s favorite school lunches that you pack?

Rachel: My oldest has packed his own lunch for a while, but now I’ve got a second one in school needing a lunch every day. Their school has a microwave and last year my oldest often brought dinner leftovers. Otherwise peanut butter sandwiches with raw fruits and vegetables and a homemade cookie are pretty standard fare. The kids bring water to drink.

TVNT: How did being part of a CSA this year impact your family’s diet?

Being part of a CSA has forced more creativity with meal planning. I’m in a pick your own CSA though so I did have control over what I was bringing home. In weeks with surpluses I was able to freeze things and I’m looking forward to tapping into all the fruits and vegetables I’ve frozen this winter.

TVNT: Would you be willing to share a recipe that your family loves?

 Rachel’s Zucchini Boats

(to put use to those ridiculously gigantic zucchini that pop up at this time of the year)

 1. Cook brown rice (I always make 2 cups).

2. Chop 1 onion, add onion to some oil in a pan with some garlic (1-4 cloves to your family’s liking), a couple of tomatoes or you can use a can of them or some sauce, cook, then add cooked rice.

3. Peel zucchini (this is optional but recommended as the skins get tough) and then cut into halves, thirds or fourths depending on size of zucchini. Cut those in half and hollow out the insides, scooping out seeds.

4. Stuff the zucchinis with the brown rice mix, top with Parmesan cheese or Parmesan substitute (I use a mix of toasted sesame seeds ground up with nutritional yeast and a little salt). Breadcrumbs are optional.

5. Bake at about 375 for about 20 minutes or until zucchini is tender.

 Please join the conversation! How do you eat well and stay on a budget?

 And please come back soon to read about a family that has reduced their grocery bill 40 percent during the past two years.

My husband and I often say that if we had unlimited money, we would be Tourschoolers. 

We’re not sure that’s an actual thing, but our idea is that it sure would be neat to show our kids the world by taking them places, and giving them opportunities to see, feel and hear about history, science and all those other wonderful school-type subjects. 

But since we can’t so that, we do like to make our family trips and vacations as educational as possible. 

Our most recent trip to South Dakota made that easy. 

We began our week-long adventure at the Laura Ingalls Wilder Homestead in De Smet. 

I knew we had found a gem when we saw the “rules” which encourage children to touch and explore. For $10 per person, the kids rode ponies, met kittens, pumped water, took a ride in a covered wagon, visited a one-room schoolhouse, made rope and designed corn dolls. 

But the Ingalls literature kick that has started here is absolutely priceless. 

Prairie dogs abound in South Dakota, and so do opportunities to feed them. Locals think of them much like how we in the more easternly Midwest think of squirrels, but one 6-year-old I know thinks of them as South Dakota meerkats. 

But when you are Tourschooling some places you visit because of their intrinsic educational value and some places you visit because they are fun or Grandpa used to climb on those same dinosaurs 50 years ago. 

Thomas Jefferson, part of the Presidents' Walk in historic downtown Rapid City

 Rapid City has embraced its proximity to Mount Rushmore and in 2000 began a project to honor our nation’s presidents, the Presidents’ Walk. We spent an afternoon meeting the presidents and restocking food supplies at Staple and Spice Market. 

Oh give me a home, where these guys roam ...

South Dakota has beautiful wide-open spaces, and offers many  opportunities to see wildlife. 

We visited Custer State Park on back-to-back days and saw bison, pronghorn antelope, deer and prairie dogs in addition to several varieties of birds while driving on the 18-mile-long Wildlife Loop. The park also offers camping, educational programs and  trails. 

Oh. And donkeys. Not sure how I could leave out the very friendly donkeys. 

South Dakota, and this donkey, welcome you

 A definite highlight of our trip was our day spent at Mount Rushmore. 

So much more than four famous guys on a mountain, the national monument and park offers educational films; a mile-long hiking trail featuring various views of the presidents; a museum; the sculptor’s studio and nature, science and educational displays all set in the beautiful Black Hills.   

Most exciting for our family was the Junior Ranger program. After completing workbooks, the kids were sworn in as Junior Rangers — a responsibility they take very seriously, but mostly just the part about protecting animals. 

But our trip was not all rangering and protecting — or even official learning. There was also lots of time for camping, books on CD and feasting on watermelon and popcorn. 

But, of course, you can learn stuff from all of that sometimes too. 

A few other things we did and saw: Mammoth Dig Site; Crazy Horse; and lots and lot of sunflowers!

What was your favorite family trip? Do you “Tourschool” too?

There was a time, not so very long ago, when each week followed a rhythm and Sundays were a day of rest.

In our family, we are trying to recapture that feeling of having a day of peace, togetherness and reflection.

This isn’t always the easiest thing. Dishes need to be done, groceries bought, clutter … uncluttered.

But our family has recently made a comittment to try to slow down and simplify, and focusing on Sundays seems like a good place to start.

Will you join us for A Simple Sunday?

There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child.  There are seven million.  ~Walt Streightiff

Packing a Healthy School Lunch (Great pdf!)

Crazy Crayons

Upcycled Notebooks

Everything you ever, ever, ever wanted to know about pencils

Alphabet Chart from The Small Object

Almost six months ago, when our family’s diet changed due to suspected food allergies, I began to adore oatmeal in a way I never would have anticipated.

We were struggling with a very limited diet back then, and on the first day, when I was grappling with what I could make that wouldn’t make anyone sick or take three hours, I turned to oatmeal.

Sure, oatmeal is usually considered a breakfast food, but when you are hungry enough, sometimes you don’t really care what time it is (sometimes I miss college …)

Our family had quite a few meals of oatmeal as we navigated the world of gluten-free oats, and corn being in just about everything on the planet.

And as the days got longer and warmer, we were lucky enough to be able to add some foods back into our menu.

As we gear up for the school year, though, we have begun to embrace our old friend oatmeal again. Oatmeal is so nourishing and cozy. And there is something that just feels really great about serving up a hot breakfast.

But if you are like me, morning is not always the peaceful oasis of calm you wish it was. My children often wake up starving, as if they spent the night dreaming they were running a marathon.

And our family is still dealing with some “food stuff,” meaning we often find ourselves eating slightly different variations of the same meal, even when that meal is a morning bowl of oatmeal.

So what we do here is what I like to think of as almost instant oatmeal. By creating our own versions of the  stuff in the packets, we save money, skip the excess sugar and preservatives, and everyone gets oatmeal their way.

The basic recipe is ¼ cup oats + 1tbsp ground oats (or oat flour)+ dry sweetener (optional) + other fun toppings.

These ingredients can be placed in a small zip-top bag for travel to work, school, etc. (camping?)

We have chosen a slightly different path toward the same end goal. In our family, the kids load up the ingredients in a small reusable container before bed. They choose what they want from whatever nuts, fruits, etc. we have on hand. In the morning, we transfer all the ingredients to a small glass bowl, add hot water and stir.

Some favorites here include: dried cherries with sliced almonds; dried pineapple and coconut with macadamia nuts; cinnamon and brown sugar; and dried peaches with a bit of vanilla bean.

I like to add honey or agave after the water has been added to sweeten my oatmeal instead of using a dried sweetener, and yes, once or twice I have even seen a small 3-year-old type person here add 5 mini chocolate chips to her bowl.  All things in moderation.

We still love our oatmeal from scratch, but on those mornings when I wake to realize the household is running out of towels or the cat made a bed out of the rice box I set up for my pre-schooler, it sure is nice to know that a warm and hearty breakfast can be ready in minutes.

Even if I’m pretty sure I can’t be.

People are sometimes surprised when I tell them that we celebrate half-birthdays.

And honestly, before my son was born, half-birthdays weren’t a family tradition. But then I had two babies born in winter, just a few weeks apart (my daughter was actually due the day before my son’s birthday).

And up until this point, those two winter babes have been very, very good sports about celebrating their birthdays together. This makes it easier on relatives and friends who travel to be with us, usually in three feet of snow.

But that also means no outdoor picnics, no pool parties, and half our guests turn down offers of ice cream with their cake.

And so, we celebrate half-birthdays too. These are little family affairs — just the four of us. The birthday child gets to pick a special dinner, we have cupcakes, and there is one small gift to open.

But as my children get older, this little family tradition has evolved into something a little more. It is a special celebration that we keep really basic, which means no fretting about planning a party — we simply celebrate our kids, and who they have become in the years (and half years) since their birth.

Today is actually my son’s 6-and-a-half birthday. More than anything, he wants to go to the bookstore to pick out a new book.

He would love some pizza, but because of a special diet, he currently can not have wheat or cheese. So Mama is working on that and hoping for the best.

There will be cupcakes – I don’t care if I have to sculpt them out of flax seeds and tofu.

Because my boy deserves a special day — for all the special things he has been doing lately,  like reading to his sister, and helping me carry watermelons to the car, discovering puns, losing teeth, learning about cars, climbing mountains and playing Scrabble.

It hardly seems possible that six and a half years ago, I became his mom. And yet now, here I am, trying to remember a time when I was anything else.

And so today we celebrate him – the boy who made us a family.

Maybe that is one other reason we celebrate half-birthdays. 

They remind us just how lucky we are.

Do you celebrate half-birthdays in your family too? Or do you have another special family tradition? Please share it here!

We were preparing for a week-long family vacation, and I had a nagging worry. How could I keep my two young children, ages 6 and 3, busy and content while on the road and camping without blowing our vacation budget before we even left home?

Inspiration hit while roaming the aisles of a school supply store. I saw flashy lapdesks for about $30 each — not a bad investment, really. I could add some new books, maybe a few boxes of markers and crayons, and construction paper. I saw many a sticker a few rows over …

And then I stumbled upon chalkboards.

Within a few minutes I had a plan that went like this — I could make my own lapdesks, with chalkboards for tops (doubling as a flat work surface) and detachable pillows underneath, meaning the kids would have something special to snuggle with at night.

I am by no means a seamstress, but Mrs. Kelly did spend 9 whole weeks teaching me how to sew a square in 7th grade Home Economics, so I figured the project just may work.

And I think it did… I can only judge by the approval of two small people who spent hours happily drawing, erasing and, of course, snoozing while using the desks and later, the pillows.

My daughter also really enjoyed the small feltboard we made by covering a piece of sturdy cardboard with felt and cutting out small animal shapes, a house and cars for her to move on the board. My son’s favorite part of having his own lapdesk is that he can now draw and write in his room, undisturbed. 

If you want to make your own lapdesk — either for an upcoming trip or for a student starting school, here is …

WHAT YOU NEED:

A small chalkboard (ours are 9 1/2 by 12 inches )

A yard of soft fabric

A pillow form (ours are about 10 by 15 inches — you could also use an old pillow and recover it too!)

Hot glue gun

Chalk

A binder clip or other clip (OPTIONAL — ours are the suction cup style)

WHAT YOU DO:

Begin by placing the pillow form on top of the fabric and trimming it to fit, leaving a little extra fabric for the seams.

With right sides facing, fold over and sew up the long side. Turn right side out and pin 2 long strips of Velcro (about 6 inches each works well) to one side of the pillow. IMPORTANT: Make sure you use the “soft” Velcro if you intend to make a detachable pillow for your child. Using a zig-zag stitch, attach the Velcro to the pillow.

Flip pillowcase inside out again and sew up the bottom.

Flip right-side out and insert pillow form. Fold fabric from remaining side over and pin. Sew pillow shut.

The last step is to hot glue the “sticky” Velcro to the bottom of the chalkboard, matching it with the pillow.

Allow glue to dry before sticking the chalkboard to the pillow. Use binder clip or other style clip to hold papers to the chalkboard.

Give your child a few pieces of chalk and a soft cloth or leftover piece of fabric to use as an eraser.

How do you keep your little ones busy in the car — either during a road trip or just during the school run to pick up older siblings?

I’m Organic is thrilled to introduce its newest blog: The Very Next Thing.

One of our favorite Organic Family members, Kara Anderson, will share her family’s journey toward an intentional and self-sustainable existence.

Named after her mother’s sage wisdom, that when you are feeling overwhelmed you should simply focus on “the very next thing” that needs to be done, Kara hopes to give families practical inspiration for living a little more organically one step at a time.

Whether it is ideas for cooking up the mystery vegetable in your CSA basket, how to make your own cheaper, safer versions of common household products, or even simple ways to make every day worth celebrating, The Very Next Thing is meant to encourage the small steps we can all make to care for ourselves, our families and our planet.

We are both happy and excited to let Kara take it away:

—————————————————————————————–

It started for us the way I think it begins for a lot of families — as a tiny bean of a person grew in my tummy, we began making small changes.

We started reading labels a little more closely, and our love of gardening, which had long nourished our souls, was nourishing a baby, and so it took on a new purpose.

Those things felt right.

What didn’t feel right was the fear. It could be overwhelming at times — were we doing enough?

I was reminded then of perhaps the best and most frequent piece of advice my mother has ever given me: “When you are feeling like you can’t handle what surrounds you, take a deep breath and focus on ‘the very next thing.’”

All tasks can be broken into smaller parts, even becoming a more organic family.

I know it doesn’t seem like it sometimes. I read articles I wish I could unread. I falter. I think we all do.

But when that happens, when I start to feel like we will never get where we want to go, I try to stop, breathe and focus on the very next thing that needs to get done.

Sometimes that is:

• Washing the dishes
• Reading a story
• Buying eggs
• Hugging a child
• Taking a shower
• Finding my keys
• Making a snack
• Letting go

It isn’t always easy. Sometimes living a “natural” life doesn’t exactly come naturally.

But I hope that through this blog, I will be able to share my family’s journey toward living more organically — what we have learned so far, and the new things we learn every day.

I hope that you will join me here often, find some ideas that fit for your family and share your own thoughts and experiences too.

Because even the smallest things really can make a difference, especially when you tackle them one at a time.

Kara is a writer, wife and mother of two children, ages 6 and 3. She spends her days learning with her kids, growing things, making stuff, cooking up trouble, taking pictures and telling long, involved stories about the family dog and his adventures.