Cottage Cheese in Da House!

February 10th, 2014 | Posted by Alison Spath in Healthy Snack Attack - (3 Comments)

Today we’re going to look at cottage cheese as an affordable health food option because it’s on The List.

Honestly, I rarely buy cottage cheese.  I like it, but it’s not what I would call My Most Favorite Thing Ever.  I try to buy organic dairy products (not always, but most of the time) and organic cottage cheese always seems kind of expensive to me… with a $4.99 price tag (!!) on a 16 oz container of Organic Valley cottage cheese, this is one item I only buy when I’ve really got a hankering for cottage cheese.  (i.e., not that often.)

Organic Valley 2% Cottage Cheese

When I was comparing prices at Wegmans, I found non-organic brands (of the same size) ranging in price from $1.99 to $2.79.  (The larger containers were cheaper per ounce, as is usually the case for many food items.)  A 16 oz container has four (1/2 cup) servings, so this means that each serving of cottage cheese could range in price from $.50 to $1.25.  (Non-organic and organic, respectively.)

Add a little fruit, nuts, seeds or some spices, we could round the total price of a cottage cheese snack up to somewhere between $1 to $2.50.  When you look at it that way – it does seem like a pretty affordable, protein packed snack that comes with a decent serving of calcium and Vitamins B6 and B12.  Even the more expensive version is arguably affordable, especially when you compare it to all the things you could spend $2 on in a vending machine and get very little (if any) nutrition for your money.

The next question was my usual “what if I make it myself at home?”  I looked up a couple of homemade cottage cheese recipes (this one and Alton Brown’s version) and as soon as I saw how simple it was to make at home, I got to work.  Making your own involves warming up some milk, adding a little vinegar, letting it cool, straining off the whey and a-whey you go!

From the first recipe (linked above), she reports getting nearly 1 c of cottage cheese from 2 1/2 cups of milk.  When I followed the same instructions with the same amount of milk, I only got 1/2 cup of cottage cheese.

Homemade Cottage Cheese

So let’s break it down:

Homemade Cottage Cheese Math

1/2 gal organic milk = $3.49 for 8 cups = $0.436 per 1 c of milk

2 1/2 c milk makes 1/2 c cottage cheese = $1.09/serving cottage cheese

2 cups of homemade organic cottage cheese = $4.36

vs 2 cups of store bought organic cottage cheese for $4.99

So there is some savings when making your own, but you probably won’t be going a tropical vacation with your cottage cheese savings any time soon (unless you buy a lot of cottage cheese.  Like, a lot A LOT.)

Key Points on Making Your Own Cottage Cheese

It’s very simple and only requires a few ingredients.

Even though the cost savings is minimal, it could be especially worthwhile it if you buy local or raw milk.

I was very happy I could make full fat cottage cheese!  I only ever see 4%, 2% or fat free on the grocery store shelves.  And as you can see on the label here, even though I bought “2% milk fat”, it appears to be made with skim milk and then cream is added to fatten it up?

You can save the whey and use it for baking or cooking.

Organic Valley 2% Cottage Cheese Nutrition Label

There are other gums and added ingredients too that I was able to avoid when I made my own.

That said, the Organic Valley cottage cheese had a better consistency and tasted better too (mostly because it was saltier, if I make my own again I will definitely add more salt next time!)  It also more closely resembled ricotta cheese than cottage cheese in terms of texture.

I ate my homemade stuff as a snack with a chopped up clementine – I packed this same snack for yoga teacher training this weekend too, this is a good combo of flavors.

Cottage Cheese and Clementines

I also remembered this crazy cottage cheese smoothie and used another serving of cottage cheese to make a smoothie with frozen strawberries, mango with a splash of milk that was totally delicious!

Strawberry Mango Cottage Cheese Smoothie

It tasted like strawberry cheesecake – I’m not kidding.  (I shared this with Kaz and I think he drank more than I did.)

So there you have it – another food item to consider when you’re making your grocery list and are trying to get the most nutrition you can out of your money.  Are you a cottage cheese fan?  Do you like it sweet or savory?  Have you ever made your own?  Traditionally you make cottage cheese with rennet.  I’m no cottage cheese making pro and have no idea if using vinegar is cottage-cheating, but it certainly was easy!


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


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Oatmeal is Cheap (and this post is random)

February 7th, 2014 | Posted by Alison Spath in Breakfast - (11 Comments)

(It’s Friday night and I’m writing about oatmeal.  See –> “this post is random.”)

With all the reading and blogging I’ve done about eating less grains and cutting down on carbs, I have a confession to make.

I still love oatmeal.

I know, I know, who cares!  It’s just oatmeal.  The world has much bigger problems than this.  But it sort of feels like a dirty carb secret.  I READ GRAIN BRAIN!  I’VE READ THE PALEO BOOKS!  I’m not supposed to like oatmeal anymore!

But I do.  I admit it.  Sometime I eat oatmeal.  Love me.

So!  Oatmeal is on the list of affordable health foods, and while oats might not be for the Paleo-minded or low carb enthusiasts, there are definitely worse things out there that we could be eating for breakfast.  So let’s talk about oatmeal and I’ll try not to feel guilty about it because feeling guilty about oats is stupid.

Apples and Rolled Oats

I can find oatmeal in bulk for about $1.49 a pound.  A half cup of uncooked oats weighs just under 2 oz – that’s less than $.20 per serving of oats.  20 cents.  I think we just hit the jackpot when it comes to affordable healthy breakfast options.  Even the most expensive, organic, certified gluten free oats would cost $.40 per serving.

Really?  40 cents?  No, no, put your wallet away… breakfast is on me.

Oats are technically gluten free, but they are often processed in food plants where gluten products are also processed so they can be contaminated with gluten.  This is really only worth knowing if you are gluten sensitive or gluten intolerant.  For the rest of us who read low carb books and only eat oatmeal once in a while (or even every day), my Random-Lady-On-The-Internet opinion is that a little bit of gluten dust in our oatmeal is probably no big deal.

Oats have a decent nutritional profile.  A half cup of uncooked oats has 150 calories, 4 g of fiber, 5 g of protein, iron, folate and some calcium too.  And you probably know that there’s a few different kinds of oatmeal – oat groats, steel cut oats, rolled oats and quick oats – pretty much in that order.

Oat groats are the original oat that haven’t be cut or flattened and take a long time to cook.  (I made something very, very weird with oat groats once.  I never made it again, no Paleo books needed.)

Steel cut oats are oat groats that have been cut (with steel?) and cook in less time (but still 25 minutes!)

Rolled oats (or “Old Fashioned Oats”) are oat groats that have been hulled and rolled.

Quick oats are rolled oats that have been cut and then rolled some more so they cook (get this!) quicker.

And then there’s instant oats, but in my opinion, skip the packets of instant sugar and just go with rolled oats.  Psst!  Rolled oats don’t have to be cooked.

My favorite way to eat oatmeal is as overnight oats soaked in yogurt with a little water or milk, a dash cinnamon, topped with fresh fruit and a little almond butter, shredded coconut or chopped nuts.  But you don’t even have to soak them overnight, or eat them cold.  You could pour some boiling them over them and let them soak for a few minutes hile you hum the tune to Jeopardy! and then TA DA!  Your 20 cent breakfast is ready!

I love cold, creamy overnight oats, but I was recently in the mood for a warm bowl of not-at-all-guilty oats, so I decided to make apple cinnamon oatmeal.

Apple Snatcher

Cooked on the stove top according to the directions on the canister, I added the apple to the water and let it simmer for a while to soften up some before adding the oats.  

A dash of cinnamon, a little butter, it’s time to rock this cozy bowl of wallpaper paste!

Oats Cooked on the Stove Top

Fun toppings like crushed nuts, shredded coconut or a little almond butter completely fix the wallpaper paste issue, by the way.

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal

(Pre-topping.)

In other related oatmeal news, when I was looking at internet articles for anything blog-worthy about oatmeal, I stumbled upon this Buzzfeed post, 23 On-The-Go Breakfasts That Are Actually Good For You.  I was happily grooving through all the ideas, but then I started reading the comments.  Be warned: lots of complaining about these meals being too expensive, too time consuming, too off the wall, not Pop Tart-y enough.

So let’s talk about the portability of oatmeal and remind ourselves of the two most important takeaways in this train wreck of a Friday night blog post:

1.  Rolled oats don’t have to be cooked!

2. Don’t read the comments.

Here we go!  Portable, fast, healthy, cheap.  NO complaining, no oatmeal for you!

Oats Almonds Yogurt

Just kidding.  You can have oatmeal.  Breakfast is on me, remember?

Sliced almonds, yogurt, cinnamon and 1/2 cup rolled oats all in one container.

Oats Almonds Cinnamon Yogurt

Add a little water or milk, a little honey or maple syrup if you like it sweet, stir it up, slap the lid on, grab a banana, hurry up let’s go the bus is here!

Cheap and Health Breakfast To Go

(If you’re throwing this into your work bag/backpack/purse, perhaps consider a screw top lid.)

Breakfast is served.

To conclude, let’s take a little walk down oatmeal memory lane to visit some old versions of overnight oats with different toppings, just because this is what I call fun on a Friday night.

Berry Christmas in July featuring oats topped with berries from our own city yard black raspberry patch, some sliced bananas and hand crushed pecans.

Black Raspberry Banana Pecan Overnight Oats

When You’re Not Eating Bagels for Breakfast, overnight oats with chia seeds and cute little frozen blueberries, bananas and ground flax seed.

Oats Soaked with Chia Seeds

Pumpkin overnight oats.

Pumpkin Overnight Oats

 

More bananas, raspberries and almond butter.

Banana Raspberry Overnight Oats

Simple overnight oats with almond butter, banana and coffee from 15 Random Facts About Today’s Long Run way back in 2010, in which I make a joke about waddling around like I’m 9 months pregnant, and little did I know less two summers later I really would be waddling around 9 months pregnant.

Breakfast

Freaky.  (And man, I eat a lot of almond butter.)


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


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Make Your Own Laundry Detergent

February 1st, 2014 | Posted by Alison Spath in Healthy Habits - (7 Comments)

Over the summer I saw an article from Make Magazine about making your own laundry detergent.  While we’re talking about eating healthy on a budget, this is a nice time to talk about a slightly different way to save some money at the grocery store.  (On a non-food item of course, but still might be a part of your grocery budget.)

I like to buy the more earth friendly, natural brands of household cleaning products (Seventh Generation, Ecos, Citra Solv are a few of my favorite brands) for both the environmental and health concerns.  These natural cleaning products are typically more expensive than commercial brands and can quickly increase your grocery bill.  Much like saving money on preparing your own food – making your own cleaning products at home can totally pay off too.

When this homemade laundry detergent recipe presented itself, it looked promising and was I excited to try it out.  Would it work?  How much does it cost?  How much time is it going to take?  Can I get any more hippie?

Ingredients for Homemade Laundry Detergent

Does it Work?

Yes!  We’re 6 months in to regular use of homemade laundry detergent and I’m here to tell you that it works great!  We had a bit of a bumpy start, but I eventually figured out I wasn’t using enough detergent in each load. (More details about this below.)

How Much Does It Cost?

Borax (4 lbs, 12 oz) $3.79

Washing Soda (3 lbs, 7 oz) $3.49

Fels-Naptha (2 bars) $2.58

I can find all three of these items in the laundry detergent aisle at Wegmans, but any big shopping center should have them in stock.  You can also use any brand of bar soap, just beware of strong scents.

I use Fels Naptha and use two bars per “batch”, that leaves me with plenty of washing soda and Borax left over for a few future batches before needing to restock these two items.

How Much Time Does it Take?

From start to finish – from collecting and measuring ingredients, grating bar soap to putting everything away and cleaning up – I can expect to spend about 15 minutes making my own laundry detergent.

The most time consuming part of the whole homemade laundry detergent shebang is grating the bar soap.  It takes me about 4 minutes to hand grate each bar (I timed it!)  Alternatively, you can use the shredder attachment of your food processor, but in my experience, the set up and clean up of using the food processor made it a draw in terms of time and effort.  I’ve done it both ways and prefer to hand grate.  It’s simpler and gives me an extra arm workout to boot.  (Bonus!)

Shred Fels Naptha

Using one of the finer sides of my cheese grater, I pop it straight into the box and get grating.

Shred Fels Naptha

Each finely shredded bar of soap gives me about 2 cups.  The ratio of ingredients for bar soap : borax : washing soda is 2 : 1 : 1 

(I’ve got the ratio written right on the lid of the box so I don’t forget!)

I make a double batch each time with:

4 cups (2 bars) of soap

2 cups borax

2 cups washing soda

Homemade Laundry Soap

If you store your detergent in an air tight container, the Make article says it will last longer.  My container is not perfectly sealed, but it’s tight enough that I haven’t had any issue with my detergent going “bad”.  (Although let the record show that I do a lot of laundry, so mine isn’t sitting around for a long.)

Mix together and you’re done!  Use 4 tablespoons per load in a standard machine, 2 Tbsp if you have an HE washing machine.

Homemade Laundry Detergent

Did you notice the 2 X’d out and replaced with a 4?  I was using 2 Tbsp per the instructions in the original recipe that did not give details or specifics about what kind of washing machine you have.  We have a standard machine and I quickly began to notice that while our clothes felt and looked clean, they did not SMELL very clean.  It was gross (and sort of depressing – I was so psyched for this to work!) until I realized I just needed to use more detergent per load, problem solved!

As you can see, once all the ingredients are combined, it’s not perfectly uniform.  I usually give it a quick stir each time right before scooping it out of the container and into the washer.  Like any powdered detergent, I put the detergent in as the washer is filling and let it begin to dissolve before adding clothes.  There are instructions in the original article for making a liquid detergent on the stove top with the same ingredients – it looks a little more time and labor intensive, but you can add some essential oil for scent that way if you like.

More Homemade Laundry Detergent Math

I wanted to know the cost of each batch of detergent so I could more easily compare it to what’s for sale in the store.

With a couple sheets of scrap paper, my trusty kitchen scale and a calculator, my math tell me:

Show Your Work

(My chicken scratch, show your work!)

Borax – $.05/oz

Washing soda – $.063/oz

2 c washing soda = 20 oz * .063 = $1.26

2 c borax = 14.75 oz * .05 =  $0.74

2 (5.5 oz) bars of Fels Naptha = $2.58

45.75 oz total weight, $4.58 per batch, which works out to be $0.10 per ounce.  Take a look at the unit price of what you currently buy and perhaps this is a savings for you! It definitely was for me.  I was spending a lot of money on natural laundry detergent and there is no question that this is saving us money.  I’ve only done a little reading about the environmental friendliness of Borax and Washing Soda, mostly because what I’ve read hasn’t lead me to question what Make has to say on the subject.

I took a couple of average scoops and weighed them – they varied from 2.75 oz to 3.25 oz each – so I get around 16 loads per batch.  This means that each load costs me about $0.27.  If you have a HE washer and can get away with less detergent, each load could potentially cost you 50% less.

Homemade Laundry Detergent Airtight Box

Since we’re talking about laundry, I’ll add that I stopped using fabric softener years ago but I just recently learned that you can use white vinegar in place of fabric softener.  I’ve been pouring a few tablespoons of vinegar into my fabric softener dispenser with each load too.

White Vinegar for Fabric Softener

Vinegar helps reduce static cling (especially right now with this dry winter air) and is said to help dissolve soap too.  I’ll say that I do notice my washing machine will sometimes smell like vinegar when I’m transferring clothes to the dryer, but our clothes don’t.  For $2.59 for a gallon jug of store brand white vinegar, it was a worthwhile experiment that is proving to work well for us.

What do you think?  Do you already make your own detergent?  Do you make other household cleaners?  I always enjoy reading your thoughts and experience in the comments, please share!


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


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Sweet Potato Hash

January 28th, 2014 | Posted by Alison Spath in Lunch - (3 Comments)

Today we’re making sweet potato hash.

Sweet Potato hash

And by we I mean *I*, and by today I mean *yesterday*.

Whoever, whenever – sweet potatoes are cheap, healthy and delicious.  One of the best things about this series of affordable healthy foods is that it’s encouraging me to find new ways to prepare a bunch of my favorite foods so I don’t bore us all to tears with the same old, same old.

Well cry not my potato loving friends!  Sweet potato hash is new to me and was a welcome change from my default roasted sweet potatoes that I always make.  (If sweet potato hash is not new to you – then here, have a tissue.  And I guess I did still roast them, but still – THIS IS DIFFERENT!)

Pre-heat oven to 350.   In a big oven safe skillet (mine is cast iron) saute a bell pepper and white onion in some coconut oil,

Peppers and Onions

and let your vegetables cook while you peel and cube a few sweet potatoes.

Peppers and Onions

Add your sweet potatoes to the skillet, season with salt and any desired herbs and spices (like thyme, parsley or garlic) and then transfer to the oven to bake for about 40 minutes.  Cooking time will vary based on the size of your potatoes, so don’t be afraid to check on them and stir them around a bit, especially after they’ve been in the oven a while.

Sweet Potato hash

I chose to pull them out oven at about the half way point and cracked a couple of eggs straight into the pan when the potatoes were soft but still had some cooking left to do.

Cracked Two Eggs

(It would have been 4 eggs but Zak wanted his eggs scrambled so I cooked his separately.)

With the eggs in the pan, this went back into the oven for the rest of the 40 minutes, until egg whites were firm.

I had never done this before, the appearance of these eggs was totally deceiving –

Eggs over sweet potato hash

They never stopped looking underdone, but I finally poked them at the 20 minute mark to discover both the white AND yolk were cooked completely through!  My intention was for the yolks to be a little runny but they were solid.  Word to the wise: if you want runny yolked eggs, check them sooner rather than later.

Eggs over sweet potato hash

Either way, the eggs were still good, especially served in a bed of soft sweet potatoes that were perfectly paired with the peppers and onions.

Eggs over sweet potato hash

The next I make this I will cook some sausage or bacon first and then cook all vegetables in the rendered fat.  You could shred the potatoes if you like shredded hash browns – they would cook faster that way too.  I prefer cubed hash browns though, and next time I will leave the skin on.

We had this for lunch, but this would make a great breakfast, brunch or dinner.  No matter what time of day, this is one affordable, good-for-you, meal.  Three sweet potatoes (nearly 2 lbs) cost me just over $2.50 – a steal!  (a steal that I paid for, yo.)  Sweet potatoes are high vitamin A, vitamin C, potassium and manganese – “a pivotal component in the metabolism of carbohydrates which helps support healthy blood sugar levels” and can help you leaving more satisfied for a longer period of time.

I’m sold!  Let’s eat.


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


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Red Pepper and Cauliflower Bisque

January 26th, 2014 | Posted by Alison Spath in Dinner Time - (12 Comments)

This was supposed to be post #9 of 44 into this series of Healthy Eating on a Budget.  Cauliflower was on today’s agenda.  Unfortuantely, it wasn’t until after I made, photographed, devoured and sat down to write this post about Red Pepper and Cauliflower Bisque that I realized cauliflower is NOT on the list of affordable healthy food items under a $1 that I’ve been working from.

Can you hear me groaning from here?  Planning fail.  Well guess what!  I’m going make a case for cauliflower anyway, because that list of 44 healthy foods is not the boss of me.  More importantly though, this soup was too delicious to not share.

I typically buy cauliflower to make a very boring (yet very filling and very good for you) mix of steamed broccoli and cauliflower to have on hand as a fast, ready-to-go side for lunches or dinner.  Cauliflower is a cruciferous vegetable from the cabbage family and is praised for much of the usual benefits vegetables are commonly known for: cancer prevention, anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory properties and cardiovascular health.  One interesting note about cauliflower is that it contains glucosinolates (broccoli does too), a natural detoxifier that helps eliminate carcinogens from body.

So while I’m usually steaming cauliflower and topping with a big old pat of butter, I bought this guy with the specific intention of making a cauliflower soup.

Cauliflower

(I really thought cauliflower was on that list!  The cost per serving is definitely under a $1!)

Cauliflower gives this red pepper bisque much of it’s volume, while also giving it a creamy texture without needing to use milk or cream.  And of course, it brings those aforementioned nutritional benefits along with it too.

As an aside, bell peppers are on the dirty dozen list, but I don’t usually buy organic red peppers.  <hangs head> Organic red bell peppers are very expensive, especially when they aren’t in season.  But I love them and do buy them occasionally.  The peppers I choose to buy are grown in a greenhouse that uses integrated pest management, making them more affordable than organic with fewer chemicals and pesticides than conventional.  I’m OK with this compromise.

Red Pepper and Cauliflower Soup

Red Pepper and Cauliflower Bisque

Print this recipe!

Yield: 6 (generous 1 cup) servings

1 head of cauliflower, cut into florets and steamed

2 Tbsp butter (or coconut oil)
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 onion, sliced
3 red peppers, sliced
1 c broth or water (reserve water from steamed cauliflower!)
salt to taste

Saute peppers, onions and garlic in butter or coconut oil. Once soft, add in steamed cauliflower and broth (or reserved water), transferring to blender or food processor (in batches if necessary), or pureeing with an immersion stick blender.

This soup was very simple and way more interesting than my usual steamed broccoli and cauliflower routine.  It made a great lunch side yesterday with some leftover chicken breast, I will definitely be making this soup again!

Red Pepper and Cauliflower Soup for Lunch

The Cost Breakdown

The bell peppers in this recipe cost me $3 (total), the cauliflower cost $3.50.  If we add in another $1 for the 2 Tbsp of butter, onion and garlic – I’d say the ingredients for this soup cost $7.50.  For 6 servings, that $1.25 for a cup  of soup.

While not the cheapest soup you could ever make, we could still call this “somewhat affordable” by comparing it to what you might pay for a cup of soup in a restaurant.  Soup at place like Panera or a coffee shop could run you $3 to $5.  This big pot of soup was a part dinner and of a couple lunches for both me and Zak, it was well worth $7.50 for the whole pot.

If you love red peppers and cauliflower, give this one a try!


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


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Spinach: Keeping the Green in Your Wallet

January 22nd, 2014 | Posted by Alison Spath in Breakfast - (2 Comments)

This is the container of spinach I typically buy from Wegmans.

Spinach Container

For $3.99 you get 3.5 (2 cup) servings.  $3.99 divided by 7 cups of spinach works out to be $0.53 cents per cup.  This is in line with the spinach price listed in the 44 Healthy Food Items Under $1.

Spinach and kale are among the dirty dozen – I rarely make an exception when it comes to buying leafy greens, I feel strongly about sticking with organic when it comes to spinach, lettuce, kale and the like.  Conventional greens are said to be highly sprayed, spinach alone is covered with 48 different pesticides and chemicals.  (ACK!)

Nutritionally speaking, spinach is a source of calcium, magnesium, Vitamin D, Vitamin K and iron.   It offers protection from certain cancers and is beneficial for cardiovascular health too.  It’s worth noting that spinach contains oxalic acid, which blocks the absorption of calcium and iron.  You can remedy this by pairing spinach with something that contains Vitamin C or cooking it to help break down the oxalic acid.  Spinach is one of those vegetables that is good to try and eat both raw and cooked to get the maximum health benefits.

(Blah, blah, blah.  I heart spinach!)

I buy one of those big tubs of organic spinach every week or so and use it in salads with other greens (usually red leaf and/or green leaf) to make my own “mixed greens”, sometimes for sauteing and adding to eggs or pizza or a quinoa bowl.  Or straight from the tub into the blender to make an infamous green smoothie.

Spinach Top Green Smoothie Profile

I make green smoothies for one of two reasons:

1. Because I want one.

2. Because the spinach is going to go bad soon and we need to eat it in a hurry.

On this particular day, #2 was the primary reason for a green smoothie – our spinach had passed its expiration date the day before.

Green Smoothies

(If it looks OK and smells OK, it’s probably OK.)

And so it was green smoothies for breakfast for me and the boy.  This green brew contained frozen strawberries, banana, frozen mango, plain yogurt and enough water allow it to blend and give it my desired consistency.

Breakfast Craziness

This would be Kaz climbing into his seat to get at his smoothie that I’m trying to take a picture of.

This would also be my argument for learning to eat better BEFORE you have kids.

Kaz Vitamix

Of course, eating well yourself is no guarantee that your kid is going to eat anything and everything that you put in front of them – but for the time being, Kaz happily eats and drinks much of what I eat, mostly because he doesn’t know any different. I also know that he might not be as willing to eat a wide variety of foods as he gets older – but for today – he eagerly drinks the bright green beverage that makes his big sisters run screaming into the other room. I’ll take what I can get.

Kaz Green Smoothie

At $4 a container, I have a hard time calling organic spinach “cheap”, but if you’re comparing a big container of spinach to some pre-made green drink for nearly the same amount of money, then yes, spinach is the winner when it comes to how much green goodness and nutrition you get for the other kind of “green”. In that case, go with the spinach, save some bucks and make your own green drink at home while still having a lot left over to use in a myriad of other meals and snacks. Good stuff.


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


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Potluck Lentils

January 20th, 2014 | Posted by Alison Spath in Party Time - (6 Comments)

I’ve blogged about this recipe before (it’s one of my favorites!) but today we’re going to talk about the cost break down of this giant pot of Coconut Curried Red Lentil Chili.

I made this yesterday to take to a winter (indoor!) picnic with a bunch of our homeschooling friends.  This is one of my go-to potluck meals because it’s inexpensive, it’s “something different” while also being delicious and healthy.  All of my favorite adjectives in one big pot!  Another reason I like this chili for a potluck is because it’s a good option for people with dietary restrictions – it’s gluten free, nut free and made without any animal products for our vegetarian and vegan friends.

Potluck Lentils

Lentils are #6 on the affordable healthy foods list, they are a good source of protein, fiber and iron.  They are kind of high in carbs, but their glycemic index is fairly low so they won’t spike your blood sugar like other high carb foods can.  While doing a little bit reading to write this post, I learned that lentils that don’t contain sulfur (like beans) so they don’t produce gas.  Talk about the perfect party food!  Eat up everybody, no worries about offending anyone with fun sounds or smells a few hours after your meal!  (Except for some potential garlic breath?  Good thing cooked garlic is a little more forgiving.)

There are many varieties of lentils and of any that I’ve ever tried, red are my favorite – for their texture, taste and for how quickly they cook.

When it comes to price, lentils are pretty affordable.  I paid $1.99 for a 1 lb bag of Goya red lentils and if I cook the whole bag to make a giant pot of chili for just my family, it easily makes 3 or 4 meals between dinner and leftovers for multiple lunches – all for very little cost!

Cost Breakdown of Coconut Curried Red Lentil Chili

(printable version of this recipe is here)

$2.00 1 lb of red lentils
$1.69 14 oz can coconut milk
$3.00 28 oz can of Muir Glen fire roasted tomatoes
$1.00 red bell pepper

This big pot rounds up to about $8 bucks – but I should also point out that my pantry was already stocked with garlic, onions, Indian spices and coconut oil*, so the price for these items seems incidental to me.  This is why I rounded up to “about $8” from $7.69.

If you need to buy those pantry staples, then it will obviously raise the cost to make those investments.  Also know this is still very good without the coconut milk – you can leave it out and just make “Red Lentil Chili” or replace the red pepper for some diced carrots (or just leave out an added vegetable all together) to bring the cost down as well.

*I know I’ve mentioned this before, but I buy coconut oil in bulk through Amazon Grocery because it’s cheaper per ounce than it is at any brick and mortar store around here (with the possible exception of Trader Joe’s).

The spice combo I used this time was cumin, garam marsala and turmeric.  If you don’t have any Indian spices and had to pick just one, I would suggest cumin.  Curry powder is another good way to go (but $4-5 a jar) for an easy way to get that Indian flavor all in one heaping tablespoon.  I often buy Indian spices in bulk packages to save some money too.

I took this straight to the party in the pot because I knew there would be a stove available to keep it warm, but other times I have transferred this to the crock pot and put on “low” to keep it warm until it’s time to eat.

Potluck Lentils

This chili was a hit!  Only a small amount remained in the pot by the time we were packing up our things and getting ready to go.

Love lentils?  Love potlucks?  Give me whatchya got!


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


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Broccoli and Cheese Mini Frittatas

January 18th, 2014 | Posted by Alison Spath in Breakfast - (5 Comments)

Broccoli shows up at #37 in the list of 44 Healthy Foods Under a $1 and this is at least true for conventional broccoli – organic tends to be more expensive.

Broccoli is at low risk for pest invasion so it’s supposedly sprayed less than other vegetables, but the Environmental Working Group puts broccoli right in the middle list of their list of Fruits and Vegetables with Pesticide Residue (ordered from worst to best) – what’s a semi-paranoid produce penny pincher to do?

Because broccoli isn’t among the dirty dozen, I split the difference and buy cheaper, conventionally grown broccoli in the winter and go for organic and/or local broccoli in the summer when it’s more readily available and less expensive.  I refuse to fret about it too much – it’s just broccoli for crying out loud, lady!  Put it in the cart and keep moving.

Broccoli is currently ringing up at about $1.69 a pound in my neck of the woods, making it an affordable choice to have on hand for an easy, filling veggie side at lunch or dinner with a bunch of great things going for it.

I steamed a few small crowns of broccoli yesterday while making dinner and decided to use it this morning in some mini broccoli and cheese frittatas.

Mini Frittata Prep

I’ve never made mini frittatas before, but I’m not unfamiliar with the concept –  an easy way to make a healthy, portable breakfast in individual servings thanks to a muffin pan?  Love it!

(Spoiler alert: I did not love the way these mini frittatas stuck to the pan despite greasing it well.  I will make these again, but I will use wrappers next time or just make a big frittata and cut it into squares if I’m desperate for the single serving effect.)

Broccoli and Cheese Mini Frittatas

12 eggs, beaten
1/2 c heavy whipping cream
1 c steamed broccoli, finely chopped
1 1/2 c shredded cheese
salt and pepper to taste, other dried herbs or seasoning as desired

I used my 2 quart measuring cup to mix all the ingredients so I’d have a handle and spout for easy pouring into the muffin tins.

Beat eggs, add cream and chopped broccoli –

Steamed Chopped Broccoli Egg Broccoli Mix

fill each muffin tin near to the top, leaving a little room for cheese.

Mini Broccoli and Cheese Frittatas

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes, until they are set in the middle.  They will puff up as they finish cooking but will sink when cool.

Mini Broccoli and Cheese Frittatas

If I add up the cost of ingredients (local, free range eggs were $3.50) rounding up to $5 factoring in the cream and broccoli, these frittatas work out to be about $0.40 a piece.  Math, I think I love you.  Broccoli and eggs, you’re the cat’s pajamas too.

There are of course lots of possibilities with mini (or not-so-mini) fritattas, but broccoli is the featured player in today’s Healthy Eating on a Budget post, so I’m not going to steal broccoli’s thunder with a laundry list of other veggie and meat options.  Rock out with your bad self Broccoli!  You da bomb.  The breakfast bomb.  The cheap breakfast bomb.  The cheap paranoid breakfast bomb.  

I’ll stop now.


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


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Much Ado About Yogurt (and an Orange Creamsicle Smoothie, Revisited)

January 16th, 2014 | Posted by Alison Spath in Breakfast - (3 Comments)

Yogurt is on the list of affordable healthy foods, but I have a good feeling that you’re not sitting there thinking “Oh Alison, please tell us more about this curious food item that I’ve never heard of before!”

Yes, yogurt is good for us – this is not news.  But it’s also worth saying that not all yogurt is created equal.  There are plenty of yogurt items in the dairy section that are not what I would call “healthy” by any stretch of the word.  I recommend taking a close look at the label if you’re eating yogurt for the health benefits and put back anything that has an especially long list of ingredients or additives like coloring or flavors.

I eat yogurt for the protein, healthy fats, pro-biotics and active cultures for gut health.  I use to eat sweetened, low fat yogurt but made the switch to plain full fat yogurt around the time I read Deep Nutrition (also known as The Book That Changed Everything) to reduce my sugar intake and to skip the fillers typically used to make low fat and fat free dairy products more palatable.

Plain yogurt is definitely an acquired taste, but I’ve come to truly enjoy it.  (Maybe the high fat content helps?)  I found it easier to eat plain Greek yogurt first, so my suggestion based on my personal experience would be to start with Greek if your ever inclined to make the switch.  Plain Greek yogurt makes a great sour cream substitute too.

I will also say that my daughters (age 9 and 7) like sweetened yogurt because it’s what they’ve grown up eating.  They willingly voice their opinion about how they think yogurt should taste –> read: sweet.

I struggle with this because I want them to eat yogurt for all reasons I already mentioned, but even some of the better brands of yogurt have a lot of sugar.  Like many kids, change isn’t always welcome when it comes to the foods they eat.  I know more about nutrition and eat a lot differently now than I did when they were younger, it’s tough to expect them to easily accept every change I’ve chosen to make for myself.

I’m sure I’m not the only parent out there (please tell me I’m not!) who has a hard time getting older kids on board with food changes.  I don’t have all the answers to this dilemma, I try not to be a total control freak food martyr mom that drives them nuts with nutritional drivel.  (I save that for the blog!)  We just keep talking about the way sugar can sneak into the foods we eat, why I won’t buy certain brands of yogurt, all while trying to be mindful that it’s supposed to be a conversation, not a lecture.  It can be a fine line between “teach” and “preach”.

For now, I’m buying them the sweetened yogurt that they like (sometimes cutting it with a little plain to reduce the total sugar content) and remind myself that they will come around with time – even if that “time” means “not until adulthood”.

With that, let’s get back to talking about the awesomeness that is yogurt without all the contemplation.  Yogurt makes a great breakfast or afternoon snack.  I’ve been known to top yogurt with fresh or frozen fruit, homemade granola (with oats or grain free) or to make overnight oats.  The other thing I use yogurt for?  Smoothies.

Delicious, delicious smoothies.

Orange Creamsicle Smoothie

It’s the middle of winter and not exactly smoothie weather right now – but when I was thinking about different ways to use oranges, I remembered this Orange Creamsicle Smoothie from a couple years ago and decided it was time to revisit this old friend, cold weather or not.

This time I swapped Low Fat Mango yogurt with a 1/2 c frozen mango and a 1/2 c full fat plain yogurt, plus two peeled clementines and a little bit of water.

Orange Creamsicle Smoothie Ingredients

Into the blender for a dreamy, creamy orange smoothie that is amazingly delicious!  A little mango goes a long way – this smoothie bordered on “dessert” for how sweet it was, without any added sweetener.

Orange Creamsicle Smoothie

The combination of orange and dairy always seems a little off putting at first, and oranges are never something I think to put into a smoothie – but it really does taste like a creamsicle and is a great way to use both oranges and yogurt.

Orange Creamsicle Smoothie with Fresh Orange

I pay $3.99 for a 32 oz container Stoneyfield Organic yogurt, that’s 0.12/oz, which works out to be only a slight savings compared to buying the individual serving containers.  It’s still something though and either way, I consider yogurt to be pretty affordable.  18 month old Kaz and I are the only ones who eat plain yogurt right now and we eat it frequently enough that we can easily work through 32 ounces before it expires.  If I ever want to take yogurt “to go”, I just put some into a small, reusable container to make my own individual serving.

That’s what I’ve got today, any thoughts on yogurt?  Love it, hate it, tolerate it?  Tell me what you think!


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


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Orange Juice in Salad Dressing

January 14th, 2014 | Posted by Alison Spath in Lunch - (8 Comments)

Oranges show up on the list of 44 affordable healthy food under $1 and I have to agree.  When it comes to saving money on produce, the best (and sort of obvious) tip I have is to buy what’s in season.  Oranges are showing up front and center in the produce section right now, coming in by the truck load from California and Florida (as there are no oranges trees in upstate NY, also sort of obvious).

We’ve been enjoying clementines in particular – they’re small, easy to peel and everybody here likes them (which is definitely not something I can say about all fruits and vegetables).  And of course, oranges are good for you.  Vitamin C, fiber and folate are the front runners in their nutritional profile, they are good for heart health, vision and disease prevention too.

I plucked a clementine from the 5 lb box yesterday and instead of peeling it to eat as a snack, I sliced this sucker in half with a salad for lunch in mind.

My Darling Clementine

Squeezed into a bowl with a dollop of olive oil,

Orange Juice and Olive Oil for Salad Dressing

and whisked together with my fork with a little salt, pepper and garlic powder at the bottom of my favorite big blue mixing bowl, right before loading in my salad ingredients.

I transferred everything to this salad plate for photo purposes only,

Salmon on Tossed Salad with Orange Juice Dressing

most days I’m eating straight out of the blue bowl.

This salad was comprised of red leaf lettuce, canned salmon (also on the list of affordable healthy food items, but we’ll revisit this one in a future post) with some red pepper and cubed avocado.

I stopped buying bottled salad dressings about a year ago after reading Deep Nutrition and came to understand why it’s important to avoid vegetable oils as often as we can.  Just about EVERY bottled salad dressing (even the “organic” ones!) have some vegetable oil in them, and I’ve come to find it’s much easier on my psyche to just make my own (I haven’t run the numbers, but I would guess it’s cheaper this way too).

This was the first time I’ve ever used fresh squeezed orange juice in a salad dressing (usually it’s apple cider vinegar or balsamic, lemon, lime or Dijon mustard for the “acid”, typically paired with olive oil and seasoned simply with some garlic powder, salt and pepper) and I have to say, orange juice as salad dressing was a winner!

Salmon Salad with Orange Juice Dressing

It was delightfully sweet and a nice change from my usual salad dressing ingredients.  I went looking for more orange juice salad dressing recipes after I enjoyed this so much, I plan to make this again today but am inspired to add a little balsamic into the mix as well after looking at this Spinach Salad with Orange Vinaigrette Dressing.  Lots of possibilities here, I’m excited to play around with this orange juice as salad dressing idea.

Simple, easy, good for you and delicious – thanks Oranges!  Let’s be friends.


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


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