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Equipping the Minimalist Kitchen

Jenny — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 04:26:13 +0000

Recently, Jeanne asked about equipping a tiny, minimalist kitchen. She wrote, “Most recently I’ve been thinking more about my kitchen (talk about minimalist, it’s so so small) and what I’d like to invest in next. Weighing pros and cons of a cast iron pan, but I don’t yet have experience cooking with one. You use one often in your videos, maybe you’d like to weigh in.” And while she asked most specifically about cast iron pans, which I love and use with nearly every meal from roasts to cakes, I thought it might be a good opportunity to address kitchen essentials and must-haves for minimalist kitchens.

So if you’re tight on space, you can skip the food processor for a good knife set, ditch the stand mixer for a mixing bowl and a couple of wooden spoons and settle in with these ten kitchen essentials. Stock pots and sauce pans, a good cutting board and Dutch oven and, of course, a cast iron skillet. Ten simple items for a simple kitchen

	A Scaled-down Knife Set Sure, it’s easy to fall for inexpensive knife sets (and I have – think 22 pieces for $13.99 at Ross), but if you’re serious about preparing home-cooked real food from scratch (and you are, right? I mean why else would you be reading Nourished Kitchen), then you need a good quality knife set. In reality, while extensive knife collections are fun, you’ll only ever really use a few knifes in set. All you really need is a good chef’s knife, a utility knife, a paring knife which can double for a peeler and a pair of kitchen shears which are particularly helpful in preparing meats for roasting and other tasks where regular scissors just don’t do. Everything else is just fluff. Big Budget: Wustoff Classic Ikon 4-piece Chef’s Set ($249.95) Medium Budget: Wusthof Classic 4-piece Chef’s Set ($159.95) Small Budget: Calphalon 3-pc. Simply Cutlery Cutlery Set ($29.99)
	A Cutting Board And if you’re going to get knives, you need to get a good cutting board. I’m partial to a nice, solid bamboo cutting board. We have three actually (my kitchen is most definitely not a minimalist kitchen): a large bamboo cutting board, a very small bamboo cutting board and a teeny bamboo cutting board for our mezzaluna. You really only need one of a decent size. I don’t particularly care for the noisy clink-clink-thud that comes from chopping vegetables or meat on a glass or ceramic cutting board, and I love the feel and heft of a solid wood cutting board and think that bamboo makes an excellent, and very attractive, choice. Big Budget: Large Bamboo Cutting Board (149.99) Medium Budget: Mountain Woods Bamboo Cutting Board($37.99) Small Budget: Wusthof Bamboo Finish Cutting Board ($9.95)
	A Cast-iron Skillet If there is one piece in my kitchen that gets used more than any other it is, undoubtedly, my 12-inch cast iron skillet (I also have a 15-inch). Seriously, it’s sometimes used three times a day: in the morning for frying pastured eggs and bacon, at noon for grilling a sandwich and at supper for roasting meats or braising vegetables. It is the single-most important piece in my kitchen. I prefer to cook in cast iron (though I also use stainless steel) for many reasons but primarily because it provides superb heat conduction, is easy to clean and can go from the range to the oven without a problem making it remarkably versatile and minimizing dirty dishes. If you can afford enameled cast iron, it certainly makes a superb choice but most of us can get by with plain, old non-enameled cast iron. Big Budget: Le Creuset 11.75-inch Enameled Cast Iron Skillet ($139.99) Medium Budget: Lodge Logic 12-inch Cast Iron Skillet ($45.00) Small Budget: Emerilware from All-Clad 10-in. Cast Iron Fry Pan($22.95)
	A Stock Pot Traditional cuisines, all across the globe, made heavy use of bones for nutrient- and mineral-rich stocks and broths, and in our kitchen we make a lot of stocks and broths (like chicken feet stock, fresh chicken broth, roast chicken stock and beef stock). In fact we make stock at least weekly and use it daily – and in the winter time, almost at every meal. Stock pots can also be used to prepare pasta, pilafs, stews, soups, curries and other warm, filling and unctuous dishes. I use an 8-gallon stock pot, though you can purchase large or smaller pots. Big Budget: 8-qt All-clad Copper Core Stock Pot ($444.95 … I know … what?!?!) Medium Budget: Cuisinart Classic 8-quart Stock Pot ($59.95) Small Budget: Le Creuset 6-quart Enamel on Steel Stock Pot ($39.95)
	A Sauce Pan You’ll also need a small sauce pot for making sauces, heating soups, making compotes and for preparing cooked vegetables. We make a lot of sauces in our home: reduction sauces and gravies for roast meats, custards for ice cream and other desserts. I use a stainless steel sauce pan and would strongly encourage you to avoid non-stick cookware. Big Budget: Le Creuset 2.75-quart Precision Pour Sauce Pan ($169.99) Medium Budget: 2-quart Cuisinart Chef’s Classic Sauce Pan ($39.95) Small Budget: 1.5-quart Krona Saucepan with Vent ($24.95)
	A Mixing Bowl Set While you can potentially mix ingredients for batter, sauces and egg dishes together in a soup bowl or even a sauce pan, a 3-piece mixing bowl set can make things a lot easier. When preparing elaborate meals, they can also help to organize prepped ingredients. In our home, we have a 8-bowl nested ceramic mixing bowl set that I love, and while 8 individual mixing bowls might be a little too much for a minimalist kitchen, certainly a set of three can help tighten the kitchen. If you purchase ceramic mixing bowls, they can serve the dual purpose of mixing bowl and serving dish. Big Budget: All-clad Stainless Steel Bowl Set ($99.95) Medium Budget: 3-piece Stoneware Mixing Bowl Set ($44.95) Small Budget: Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls ($29.95)
	A Couple Wooden Spoons You’ll also need a couple of wooden spoons for mixing ingredients and stirring sauces. While at the bare minimum one spoon will do, if you plan to prepare multiple dishes simultaneously as for a Thanksgiving supper, a set of three to five will certainly help. A set of at least two will eliminate the need for salad claws, and we use our wooden spoons in preparing almost every meal. Wooden spoons can vary in price, with the beautifully and richly striated olive wood coming in as the most expensive, followed by bamboo and then by plain wood. Big Budget: Set of 5 Olive Wood Utensils ($59.95) Medium Budget: Bamboo Tool Set ($9.99) Small Budget: 4-piece Wooden Spoon Set ($3.95)
	A Whisk You’ll also need a wire whisk for beating eggs, whisking sauces, cream and egg whites for dishes like molasses custard and hollandaise sauce and definitely for making mayonnaise without a blender or food processor. Big Budget: All-clad Stainless Steel Balloon Whisk ($21.95) Medium Budget: MIU Stainless Steel Whisk ($9.95) Small Budget: Silicone Ball Whisk ($4.95)
	A Clay Baker or Dutch Oven Excellent for roasting chickens (like minimalist roast chicken), stews or even for baking artisan-style sourdough breads, clay bakers and dutch ovens can greatly enhance foods cooked in the oven and, in our kitchen, we rely on these pieces of cookware very heavily. Breads baked in Dutch ovens and clay bakers produce a striking crust and a wonderfully soft crumb; roasted chickens brown beautifully while cassoulets and dishes of roast meat become tender and decadent. Big Budget: Le Creuset 13-quart French Oven ($399.99) Medium Budget: Reco 4-qt. Romertopf Clay Baker ($54.95) Small Budget: Lodge Logic 2-quart Dutch Oven (39.99)
	A Baking Stone Ditch flimsy baking sheets for something more durable like a baking stone which can yield a beautiful crust to pizzas, breads, foccacia as well as baking lovely cookies like whole grain cinnamon molasses cookies. A well-seasoned baking stone has a virtually non-stick surface without the chemical dangers associated with Teflon. We purchased our baking stone used from a pizza joint that was going out of business and we love its reliability. Best of all, they can be stored in the oven itself which helps to maximize space in tiny kitchens. Big or Medium Budget: Best Manufacturing 14×16-in. Professional Baking Stone ($43.95) Small Budget: 14-inch Square Baking Stone ($29.99)

Do you have a suggestion for stocking a minimalist kitchen? What are you favorite tools and essential kitchen items. Or if you have a question for Nourished Kitchen, email me.

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For the Love of Organic Dark Chocolate

Jenny — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 05:40:43 +0000

Organic dark chocolate – sweet but not too sweet and almost lustful in its intensity. There’s no treat that quite fulfills the essence of Valentine’s Day like a good, organic dark chocolate. Serve it as it suits: in a mousse, in hot chocolate or in a beautiful bar of chocolate. Organic dark chocolate is a special treat – especially when shared with your loved one on Valentine’s Day.

Why Choose Organic Dark Chocolate

Chocolate is a potent source of antioxidants – and some research indicates that chocolate benefits the circulatory system and may offer anti-carcinogenic effects. These effects are made more potent the higher the cocoa content is; that is, the darker the chocolate, the better it is for you. Chocolate is also a rich source of minerals including magnesium, manganese, zinc, copper and iron. Milk chocolate should be avoided, if possible, as it contains powdered milk which rife with oxidized cholesterol.

Organic Dark Chocolate: A Brand-by-brand Analysis

The quality of ingredients and the integrity of manufacturers can vary from brand-to-brand. From types of sugar and whether or not a company uses soy-based emulsifiers, we examine the details of six organic dark chocolate brands, their ingredients, parent companies and their ethics surrounding social and global responsibility.

	Askinosie* Sugar: Certified Organic Evaporated Cane Sugar Organic: Uses Certified Organic Sugar. Cocoa beans are not certified Organic, but are “unofficially Organic” and grown without chemicals or pesticides, and with great honesty and connection to the farms. Consider it “beyond Organic.” Stance on GMOs: All ingredients are non-GMO Social Responsibility: Unsurpassed. Sources directly from farmers the founder has met in person, paying Fair Trade market price. Operates a profit sharing program for farms. Emulsifiers: None Unique Factor: Hand-blended, artisan-style chocolate served with unparalleled integrity from source to manufacture. Parent Company: Askinosie chocolate is founded and owned by Shawn Askinosie. Price: $7.50 – $10.50 Availability: Limited. But you may purchase Askinosie chocolate online.
	Rapunzel Sugar: Certified Organic Whole, Unrefined Evaporated Cane Juice (Rapadura) Organic: Certified Organic Sugar, Cocoa Beans, Vanilla, Cocoa Butter Stance on GMOs: All ingredients are non-GMO Social Responsibility: Fair Trade with a commitment to sustainable and organic farming and global responsibility. Emulsifiers: None Unique Factor: Classic high quality European-style chocolate at a reasonable price. Parent Company: Rapunzel is family-owned. Price: $3.59 Availability: Carried in most health food stores. You can also purchase it online.
	Alter-eco Sugar: Certified Organic Unrefined Cane Sugar Organic: Certified Organic Sugar, Cocoa, Cocoa Butter, Nuts Stance on GMOs: All ingredients are non-GMO Social Responsibility: One of the strongest Fair Trade brands on the market. Certified Fair Trade. Emulsifiers: None Unique Factor: Fair trade, organic chocolate with wide availability. Price: $4.39 Availability: Carried in most health food stores. You may also purchase Alter-eco chocolate online.
	Chocolove Sugar: Beet Sugar (non-GMO) Organic: 2 Varieties of Organic Dark Chocolate, other varieties may not be organic Stance on GMOs: All ingredients are non-GMO Social Responsibility: Supports World Cocoa Federation with policy not to purchase from firms that support or reinforce exploitative labor or child labor practices. Emulsifiers: Organic Chocolate line is free from emulsifiers, other varieties contain soy lecithin (non-GMO) Unique Factor: Charming, affordable chocolates from a Colorado company many unusual combinations of flavors. Parent Company: Chocolove. Price: $3.99 Availability: Widely available in most health food stores and even in stores like Target. You may also purchase Chocolove products online.
	Dagoba Sugar: Organic Evaporated Cane Juice Organic: Organic Sugar, Organic Cocoa Butter, Organic Cacao Beans, Organic Fruit and Nuts Stance on GMOs: All ingredients are non-GMO (Its parent company does not share this stance.) Social Responsibility: Carries Fair Trade designation on many products, but not all. (Its parent company does not share this stance.) Emulsifiers: Soy Lecithin (non-GMO) Unique Factor: Delicately flavored chocolates and unusual flavor combinations. Parent Company: Hersheys. Price: $3.45 Availability: Widely available in most health food stores. You may also purchase Dagoba chocolates online.
	Green & Blacks Sugar: Raw Cane Sugar Organic: Organic Sugar, Organic Cocoa Butter, Organic Cacao Beans, Organic Fruit and Nuts Stance on GMOs: All ingredients are non-GMO. Its parent company does not share that stance, but does offer organic alternatives that do not contain GMOs. Social Responsibility: 100% Fair Trade Certified. Emulsifiers: Soy Lecithin (non-GMO) used in most varieties, but they are working on a few lecithin-free chocolates that maintain the unique intensity of flavor Green & Blacks is known for. Unique Factor: Widely available chocolate with aspirations to become the leader in Fair Trade chocolate. Parent Company: Cadbury which is owned by Kraft. Price: $3.29 Availability**: Widely available in most health food stores and even Target. Find a store near you.

How I Choose My Organic Dark Chocolate

I am a chocolate lover. Organic chocolate and long hot baths are among my two biggest vices – and when I choose a dark chocolate, I rely on a few factors: the ingredients, whether an emulsifying agent such as soy lecithin is used as well as the ethics and social responsibility of the manufacturer.

Sugar: In my kitchen, I avoid refined sweeteners and so if I’m going to enjoy a good organic dark chocolate, I want it to count; that is, I prefer a chocolate made with whole, unrefined cane sugar which retains its mineral content. That said, any sugar is still a sugar – minerals intact or not.

Emulsifiers: I try my best to avoid chocolates with soy-based emulsifiers, preferring, instead, to enjoy a chocolate with a higher cocoa butter content as cocoa butter is rich in stearic acid – a wholesome, nourishing fat. This is my personal preference, but note that the inclusion of a higher content of cocoa butter (as opposed to an emulsifier like lecithin) results in a more dilute flavor which is why some manufacturers, such as Green & Blacks choose to use an emulsifier: it’s about flavor. My personal preference, however, ranks fat content above intensity of flavor. Note that when an emulsifying agent is used, it is quite dilute and used in very little quantity.

Social & Environmental Sustainability: And, without a doubt, I choose a good dark chocolate from a company who sources organic ingredients and from farmers that are treated equitably, paid fairly and who practice sustainable techniques – that does not mean I only look for the Fair Trade label which is an expensive designation.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

*Pictured
**Please note that Green & Blacks was generous enough to send me a few sample bars for this post; alas, my coworkers enjoyed the milk chocolate bars while I brought home a Mayan Gold dark chocolate bar to my family.

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How to Choose an Organic Raw Milk Dairy

Jenny — Wed, 06 May 2009 16:53:20 +0000

Organic Raw Milk and Dairy Products

Fresh, organic raw milk and dairy items are a treat – and a worthy treat at that. The consumption of organic raw milk and dairy products is linked to relief from asthma and eczema. Furthermore, organic raw milk is a living food replete with enzymes and beneficial bacteria that would otherwise be killed through pasteurization. Raw organic milk and dairy products like raw butter, raw cream, raw cheese and raw yogurt are rich in natural vitamins and other nutrients like conjugated linoleic acid – a known cancer fighter. So once you understand the benefits of consuming organic raw milk and dairy products, how to you go about finding an organic raw milk dairy or creamery? There’s many factors to consider prior: legality, production standards, milking procedures, herd management, bottling and distribution number among them.

How to Find Organic Raw Milk and Dairy

In some states, organic raw milk and organic raw dairy products can be purchased at the store; however, in most locations selling organic raw milk directly to the public is illegal which forces health-minded consumers and farmers to circumnavigate the laws through cow share programs. Cow share programs allow consumers to purchase a share in the farmer’s herd of dairy cows. Then, as a partial owner in the herd, the consumer is entitled to a share of whatever that herd produces: namely, organic raw milk. After all, the state can’t come after you for drinking milk from your own cow. You can find organic raw milk suppliers at your local farmers market, through the raw milk association in your state and by visiting Real Milk

Choosing an Organic Raw Milk Dairy

Once you’ve found your supplier or organic raw milk, examine their production standards, milking procedures, herd management, bottling and distribution procedures. If your organic raw milk creamery is certified or part of a self-regulated state-wide raw milk organization, your farmer should be able to supply you with documentation that they operate according to standard and accepted procedures. Please note, however, that not every state offers such a self-regulating agency and such an agency is not requisite to the operation of a high quality organic raw milk dairy. As always, the best way to ensure the quality of the milk you purchase is to visit the farm yourself. Know your farmer.

Organic Raw Milk Production Standards

The milking station should be clean and free of hay, manure, dirt and dust to prevent the breeding of flies and rodents.
The milking station should also be free of livestock when not in use except under extenuating circumstances (such as inclement weather, particularly during calving season).
The milking station should also be swept clean before and after milking.
Farmers should use sanitized stainless steel containers and sanitized silicon tubing when milking as both inhibit the growth of bacteria.
Organic raw milk should be immediately bottled into sanitized containers.
Organic raw milk should be immediately chilled to 40â° F after milking.
Teats should be cleaned prior to milking.
Cows are fed during milking and, most often, fed grain. Take care that your farmer uses non-GMO grains.
Cows should be fed exclusively or almost exclusively on fresh pasture; however, your farmer knows the nutrient composition of native grasses better than anyone else and may need to supplement those grasses with very limited quantities of other feed and natural supplements to optimize the health of the herd and the taste of the milk.
Animals should be tested for TB, brucellosis, mastitis and watched for other systemic illness. Cows who are ill need to be milked last or on separate equipment, with their milk discarded.
Cows should be, ideally, treated with holistic methods including the use of benign and homeopathic treatments. If a sick cow does require the use of antibiotics, the cow should be removed from the cow share program.
Dairy farmers should implement holistic pasture management to prevent over-grazing. Pasture should be allowed to fully recover prior to allowing the cows to graze the same area again.
Ideally, the cow’s calves should not be immediately removed from their mothers and subsequently bottle-raised as is commonly the practice even in organic dairies.
Organic raw milk should be sampled and tested monthly for bacteria and pathogens and these reports should be made available to you.
Cows should be treated humanely with full-time access to pasture, free-flowing water and shelter. Cows should be treated gently to minimize any stress.

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Devising and Revising a Grocery Budget

Jenny — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 19:36:42 +0000

The end of the month is approaching fast, and it’s time to reevaluate our budget, a few things have changed during the last month. Fortunately, they’ve changed to our benefit.

In working with a budget, it’s wise to spend as much as you can comfortably spend while purchasing the highest quality ingredients available to you. Remember, cost saving measures should come from proper kitchen management before you start to cutting costs by spending your money on inferior ingredients.

There is no one-size fits all budget. The cost of food varies across the nation. As those costs vary so much you have to consider the costs of different food in your area and work around that. For instance, here in the middle of nowhere food is generally expensive, but pastured eggs and grass-fed meats are slightly less expensive here than they are in the city. By contrast, fresh produce is considerably more expensive. So, I spend less on meats and more on produce than someone might spend if they had better access to fresh fruits and vegetables but limited access to quality meat.

Look at your budget and eliminate fixed costs–like cow shares, CSAs or buying club order minimums–first. Next, create specific budgets for those areas where your costs aren’t fixed such as fresh produce assuming you don’t have a CSA, meat and fish, milk and eggs etc. If you have a little extra in your budget at the end of the month, don’t squander it; instead, save it for those random times you need to head to the grocery store to purchase unexpected items.

Here’s Our Budget:

Fixed Costs
Cow Share	1 ½ Gallons Fresh Local Milk per Week	$60 per Month
Buying Club	Organic Bulk Grains, Legumes, Flour, Raw Cheese, Fats and Oils, Frozen Fish etc	$100 per Month
Flexible Costs
Grass-fed & Pastured Meat	Local Roasts, Stew Meat	$65 per Month
Raw Milk Cheese	Local Artisan Sheep and Cow Milk Cheese	$20 per Month
Local Pastured Eggs	1 Dozen per Week	$15 per Month
Organic Fruits & Vegetables	Local Fresh Fruits and Vegetables	$180 per Month
		Total: $440

The last trick to devising a budget is to maintain a little flexibility, some months might necessitate changing your plan a little bit. It’s always important to leave a little room for revision.

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Food Stamp Challenge: $227

Jenny — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:48:58 +0000

The Challenge

The challenge is simple, but difficult too: in October, maintain a foodstamp budget while feeding your family wholesome, nourishing and unrefined foods.

Due to loss of jobs, inadequate wages and other unfortunate situations, many, many families derive the bulk of their food budget, or even their entire food budget from governmental assistance programs. Mothers often wonder just how they can feed their families well while subsisting on supplemental nutrition assistance programs like WIC and foodstamps. Just how can you make good food work on a few hundred dollars a month?

While a challenge of this sort may seem patronizing at best, there’s a real and sincere need to illustrate just how wholesome food can be purchased and prepared on even the slimmest of budgets. So in October, I’m ditching my CSAs and farmers markets, cutting my budget to $227 for October and focusing on real food done real cheap. Besides, who doesn’t need to save a few bucks?

The Number

Settling on a final budget for the project proved difficult. The benefit allotment for foodstamp program is directly related to the USDA’s cost of food. In essence, the government assumes that nutrition assistance recipients will spend approximately 30% of their budget on food and the aim of SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) is to supplement a family’s low income until the USDA’s thrifty food budget is reached. This means that the maximum foodstamp benefit for a family of our size is $527 â€“ not too shabby. In fact, eating well on $527 a month is hardly a challenge at all.

Despite the fact that foodstamps are intended as a supplement, many recipients rely on nutrition assistance benefits exclusively. So, while a family may receive $227 from the government in nutrition assistance, they are unlikely to make up the remaining $300 of that thrifty food budget out of their own pockets. With rising healthcare costs, childcare costs, transportation costs and rent, there’s often no leeway to increase the food budget at all.

In 2008, the average individual on SNAP received $101 and the average household on SNAP received $227 in benefits each month. Undoubtedly, this number has increased since then â€“ though probably only nominally. Were our family to have only one earner making minimum wage, we’d likely receive $332 – $342 in benefits. Were our family live right at the poverty line, we’d receive $235 – $245 in benefits. We settled at $227 â€“ the average benefit in 2008 for a single household.

The Assumptions

To keep us honest and on target, let’s assume a “worst-case”:

It’s unlikely that most SNAP recipients have access to a farmers market, farm stand or CSA accepting EBT (this is quickly changing thanks to grants from the USDA) thus all shopping must be done at a EBT-accepting grocery store.
It’s unlikely that most SNAP recipients have access to a food bank served with organic, local foods.
It’s likely that many SNAP recipients are relying exclusively or close to exclusively on nutrition assistance benefits to purchase food.
It’s unlikely that most SNAP recipients have well-stocked pantry to use as a reserve well, and must build one on budget.

The Rules

The $227 budget must supply:

3 Meals a Day for a Month for Our Family of Three
2 Snacks a Day for a Month for Our Child
Only Whole, Unrefined Foods
Everything eaten during the month must be purchased that month. In other words: you can’t rely on your pantry!

Charting Progress

I’ll post each Monday through October outlining our trials, failures and successes â€“ and for those of you who would like to follow along, I’ll be posting downloadable shopping lists, menus and recipe guides.

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Good, Better, Best: Traditional Foods for Every Budget

Jenny — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 18:11:54 +0000

Let’s face it: not everyone has access to the highest quality of food at all times. Nor is pastured chicken and biodynamically grown vegetables available in every area, but we should all be working in that direction.

So here’s a simple guide. When the very best is available and within your price range: buy it. If you can’t find the best, then just shoot for the next best thing.

Red Meat & Pork

Best: Wild game or local grass-finished meat and pasture-raised pork purchased from a rancher you know.
Better: Non-local grass-finished meat and pasture-raised pork purchased through a good-quality company
Good: Organic or free-range beef and organic or natural pork.
AVOID: Conventional meat from confinement operations.
Tip: If purchasing the best quality meat stretches your budget too thin, don’t give up and purchase CAFO meats; instead, consider purchasing less expensive cuts and supplementing with highly nutrient-dense, but inexpensive organ meats. Grass-fed organ meats and bones typically sell for $2 to $4 per pound, a fraction of the cost of more expensive cuts and are extremely nutrient-dense.

Poultry & Eggs

Best: Wild birds, local pasture-raised poultry and eggs from local, pasture-raised hens purchased directly from the farmer.
Better: Pasture-raised poultry and eggs from an indirect source like a local or online grocer.
Good: Organic, omega-3 eggs and meat from “free range” chickens.
AVOID: Conventionally raised meat and eggs from battery cage industrial chicken farms.
Tip: There probably is someone locally raising chickens and selling eggs, don’t be afraid to ask around or take a trip to the country.

Fish

Best: Fish and roe from wild-caught, ocean-going fish from cold waters, plus fermented cod liver oil.
Better: Periodic use of fish and roe from wild-caught ocean-going fish, plus fermented cod liver oil.
Good: Periodic use of sustainably and ecologically farmed fish and shellfish, plus fermented cod liver oil.
AVOID: Fish from fish farming operations, excluding sustainably and ecologically farmed fish.
Tip: Use SeafoodWatch.org to determine which fish are sustainably caught/farmed and which are best avoided. You can purchase sustainable wild-caught seafoods online (click here) and fermented cod liver oil can also be purchased online (see sources).

Fruits & Vegetables

Best: Fresh locally, organically or biodynamically grown fresh fruits and vegetables.
Better: Fresh and frozen organically grown fruits and vegetables.
Good: Purchasing as much organically grown fruits and vegetables as possible while supplementing with conventionally grown fruits and vegetables with low-pesticide residue.
AVOID: Conventionally grown fruits and vegetables with high-pesticide residue. Most canned fruits and vegetables.
Tip: Check out the Environmental Working Groups guide to the pesticide levels in produce.

Dairy Products

Best: Raw whole milk, butter and cream from grass-fed cows producing milk containing A2 beta casein (see sources).
Better: Raw whole milk, butter and cream from grass-fed cows containing A1 beta casein.
Good: Vat-pasteurized, non-homogenized dairy from grass-fed cows.
AVOID: Non-organic dairy products from cows of unknown origin. Ultra high temperature pasteurized organic milk.
Tip: Check out the Environmental Working Groups guide to the pesticide levels in produce.

Fats & Oils

Best: Traditional fats including raw butter from grass-fed cows, suet & tallow from grass-fed cows, organic unrefined coconut oil, organic extra virgin olive oil, poultry fat from pastured chickens, lard from pastured pork.
Better: Butter from grass-fed cows, unrefined coconut oil, poultry fat from “free-range” chickens, extra virgin olive oil.
Good: Organic butter, refined coconut oil, olive oil.
AVOID: Canola oil, margarine, soybean oil, cottonseed oil, vegetable oils (excluding coconut oil, palm oil, cocoa butter, olive oil and flaxseed oil), shortening.
Tip: Check out this guide to which fats to use for cooking and which to leave uncooked.

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A Glossary of Real Food Terms

Jenny — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 05:44:36 +0000

Pastured hens. Heirloom varietals. Heritage pork. Certified Naturally Grown. Biodynamic. It can get confusing trying to differentiate one term from another when it comes to food and agriculture, so here’s a handy guide that should help you to answer some quick questions about exactly what means what when it comes to real food.

Farming Terms

Certified Organic / Organically Grown:

Certified Organic is a USDA term that denotes foods and products that have been grown and processed in accordance with the National Organic Program’s (NOP’s) standards. Such requirements require avoidance of synthetic inputs including but not limited to synthetic fertilizers, synthetic pesticides and food additives. Moreover, it disallows genetically modified organisms (GMOs) from being considered organic. Fields must be chemical-free for three or more years before qualifying as organic. This period is called “transitional.” Organic certification also requires record keeping, field inspection and considerable fees. Growers who sell $5,000 or less per year may call themselves “organic” and refer to their produce as “organically grown,” but they may not refer to themselves as “Certified Organic.”

Certified Naturally Grown

Certified Naturally Grown (CNG) is a grass-roots, third-party certification program that offers small-scale farmers an alternative to the hefty fees and paperwork associated with Organic Certification. Farmers who are Certified Naturally Grown grow in accordance with organic methods and quite often exceed organic methods required by the National Organic Program. Farms are inspected by neighboring farmers and inspection reports are made available to the public, and all farms are subject to random testing for pesticide residue. Certified Naturally Grown is inexpensive for small-scale farmers and provides a comforting, third-party reassurance to consumers.

All Natural / Naturally Grown

As it relates to growing practices, as opposed to animal husbandry, the terms “All Natural” and “Naturally Grown” are unregulated.

Beyond Organic

Beyond Organic is a term used by growers and ranchers to describe farming methods that not only meet the standards of the National Organic Program, but also exceed them; however, the term is not otherwise regulated.

Non-GMO / GMO-free

Non-GMO and GMO-free are terms to describe foods that are not sourced from genetically engineered or biotech crops. While most foods are GMO-free, this term is usually applied only to those foods which are customarily produced from genetically modified seed.

Genetically Modified / GE / GMO / GM

Genetically modified refers to crops whose gene structure has been altered through biotechnology. In this way plants are altered through manipulation of their genes to have traits they would not naturally have (i.e. resistance to certain pesticides). Genes from one species that exhibits a desired trait are inserted into the genetic code of another species, the resulting produce is considered genetically engineered. GM crops are permitted in conventional farming, but disallowed in organic farming.

Conventional

Conventional farming refers to farming practices considered standard in the farming industry. Customarily, this includes the use of antibiotics, hormones, synthetic pesticides, synthetic fertilizers and mono-cropping. Conventional farming can include the use of genetically modified organisms.

Local

Local refers to food that is grown, processed and sold within a specific geographic area usually based on a mileage radius or state borders.

Biodynamic

Biodynamic farming refers to a method of farming put forth by Rudolph Steiner of Waldorf and Anthroposophy fame. Bidynamic farming regards the farm holistically – as one living organism rather than as a combination of isolated crops. While biodynamic farming includes organic farming methods, it also relies on the use of special composts and field preparations as well as astronomical sowing, planting and harvesting schedules.

Dry-farmed

Dry farming techniques include the use of special tilling that reduces or eliminates the need for irrigation.

Integrated Pest Management / IPM

Integrated Pest Management is a pest control system in which a variety of techniques are used that strategically complement one another. Integrated Pest Management relies first upon prevention techniques followed by close observation and finally by intervention if necessary. Pesticides are used as a last resort with other pest management techniques being implemented first.

Heirloom

Heirloom refers to plant varietals that are a minimum of 50 years old and that have been developed by farmers for their special traits. They are most often sold through direct marketing at farmstands and farmers markets.

Transitional

Transitional refers to farms that are seeking Organic Certification which requires that fields be free of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides for a minimum of three years. These years and the produce grown during these years are refered to as transitional.

Ranching & Animal Husbandry Terms

Conventional

Conventional, in reference to meats and animal foods, means that the animals were raised according to the standard practice in the industry. This standard of practice often includes the use of feed lots, battery cages, antibiotics, hormones and unnatural diet.

Pastured / Pasture-fed / Meadow-raised

Pastured refers to omnivorous animals like poultry and hogs that are raised on meadows and pastures instead of on conventional farms. Pastured and meadow-raised animals will graze on bugs, vegetable matter and are usually supplemented with a small amount of grain. While given access to shelter, pastured and meadow-raised animals are generally unconfined and fed a natural diet.

Grass-fed / Grass-finished

Grass-fed refers to ruminant animals such as lamb, cows, bison and elk that are fed a natural diet of fresh grass during growing season and hay or grass silage during winter months. They are fed this natural diet until slaughter.

Free Range

While similar to “pastured” or “meadow-raised,” free range refers to animals that are not confined; however, this customarily means that animals are given access to the outdoors for an unspecified amount of time each day.

Heritage Breed

Heritage breeds refer to animals that have been bred over a long period of time and are well-adapted to the local environment and often resistant to disease. These animals retain historical characteristics that are absent from breeds customarily used in conventional farming.

Closed-herd

A closed herd means that all livestock are bred from the original herd with no animals being purchased and introduced. Closed herd operations offer a way to protect animals from potential pathogens introduced by purchased or leased animals.

Holistic Management

Holistic management eschews systemic use of antibiotics and hormones while encouraging prevention of disease through natural methods. Holistic management views animals, the land the graze and the farm as a whole. With emphasis on proper and sustainable grazing techniques, holistically managed herds may actually reverse desertification and improve soil ecology.

Farmers Market Terms

Certified Farmers Market

A handful of states including California, Texas and Nevada certify farmers markets. The certification process ensures that vendors at certified farmers markets actually produce what they sell and thus minimize peddling or brokering.

Producer-only Market

A producer-only farmers market is a market that disallows resell, peddling and brokering. In short, all produce and goods represented at the market are represented by the people who produce them.

Reseller / Broker / Peddler

A reseller is a vendor at a farmers market who sells product which he or she did not produce. The reseller purchases from the farmer or from a wholesaler and then sells purchased goods to consumers.

Prepared Food Terms

Artisan

Artisan refers to time-honored, traditional techniques of producing food. Artisan foods are produced by hand in very small amounts.

Farmstead

Farmstead refers to value-added products produced on the farm such as farmstead cheese or farmstead jams.

Raw

Raw refers to foods that have not been pasteurized by being heated to a minimum of 145 º for 30 minutes. Foods that are customarily pasteurized include milk and dairy products, fermented foods and almonds. Some states prohibit the sale of these raw foods directly to the public.

#2 Produce / Seconds

The term seconds refers to produce that is visually unattractive or marred in some way and not ideal for sale at regular prices. Seconds may be misshapen, slightly scarred, overripe, underripe, blemished, too large or too small. Seconds are often sold in bulk at a steep discount.

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Food Stamp Challenge Week #1: $68 Down

Jenny — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 22:44:16 +0000

On Saturday morning, my son and I got dressed, packed my bag with a calculator, Seafood Watch’s Pocket Guide and the Environmental Working Group’s Wallet Guide to the Dirty Dozen and the Cleanest Fifteen, my cell phone for last minute customer service calls and a pocket book of cash. We headed thirty miles down the road to the next town over where all the big grocery store chains are located to start shopping.

Week 1: $67.67
2 Crowns of Organic Broccoli^S: $1.98
10 lbs Conventional Potatoes^S: $2.99
5 lbs Organic Carrots: $2.99
2 Dozen Omega-3 Eggs: $5.38
2.26 lbs Steel Cut Oats: $3.50
1 Quart Stonyfield Farms Organic Plain Creamtop Yogurt^C: $2.99
Redbird Fryer Chicken^M: $3.05
3 lbs Clementines^M: $1.98
2 Heads Organic FrisÃ©e^M: $0.99
1 lb Pearl Barley^S: $0.79
1.69 lbs Yellow Onions: $1.50
3 lbs Organic, Local Jonagold Apples^S: $2.94
3 bunches Beets with Greens: $2.97
4.45 lbs Bananas^S: $2.11
1 lb Pecans^S: $3.99
1 lb Butter^S: $1.99
1 head Cabbage: $0.84
1 Frozen, Wild-caught Side of Coho Salmon^S: $4.99
1 lb Coleman’s Natural Bacon^{S, C}: $2.99
1 lb Frozen Mussels: $4.99
1 Small Jar Bear, Unfiltered, Local Honey: $2.49
Whole Wheat Flour: $1.69
1 Cantaloupe: $1.91
6 oz. Unrefined Himalayan Sea Salt^M: $0.99
Ground Black Pepper^M: $0.49
Extra Virgin Olive Oil: $3.79

It’s been ages since I shopped at a grocery store chain. For the most part, we purchase all our vegetables, fruit, meat, honey, dairy products and eggs farmer-direct through our farmers market, CSAs or other share programs. Anything I need beyond that like olive oil, sprouted flour or other pantry staples I buy from our locally owned health food store or online through real food-friendly companies listed on the resources page. Negotiating my way around the grocery store was tough and I couldn’t find many of the items I’d hoped to purchase before my little guy had had enough of the whole shopping business. So dried beans and chicken livers were out for this week, at least.

I didn’t prepare a hard and firm list either. Instead, I calculated the number of fruits and vegetables we’d need to make it rough the week. Fresh vegetables and fruits were the last place I intended to scrimp and save. We’re accustomed to eating around 10 servings or more of fruits and vegetables daily, not the paltry 5-a-day. So, I wanted to make sure we at least hit 5 servings, if not more, of fresh produce. As I added carrots and cabbage and apples to the cart, I ticked off servings until we’d met our goal. Then moved on to other foods from there.

I had to say “no” to a lot of things as well. Not necessarily because they didn’t fit the budget, but because they didn’t fit the goals of this challenge. You see conventional strawberries were on sale for $5.17 for 5 lbs – an awfully good deal. And, as much as strawberries would provide a much loved treat this week, strawberries rank among the most chemically polluted fruits available on the market. If you buy anything organic, strawberries would be one item to strongly consider. Similarly, pears were on sale this week for $0.99 / lb but conventional pears, like strawberries, shoulder a heavy load of chemicals and didn’t make our basket.

Bones were another story altogether. I’d hoped to make a nourishing beef soup this week. I’m accustomed to picking up soup bones for free or very inexpensively, but the price of conventional soup bones hovered at $4.98 a pound. While they may make it into the shopping basket eventually this month, I was already hovering too close to my $75 cut off to include them this week.

It was a time-consuming week too. I spend a lot of time on the phone grilling customer service representatives about how the companies they represent care for and feed their animals. I learned that Lucerne, the Safeway brand, sources its milk from guernsey and holstein cows who aren’t routinely fed antibiotics and who are never given growth hormones and stimulants. The cattle from Laura’s Lean Beef and the cows the contribute the milk Stonyfield Farm’s yogurts get at least some grass in their diets and are, of course, never routinely fed antibiotics or growth stimulants.

One issue that I didn’t consider prior to yesterday morning is that of palatability. I purchased Omega-3 eggs at the store on Saturday knowing that they pack greater nutrition than the standard grocery store eggs, and those extra omega-3 fatty acids are worth it when seeking a nutrient-dense diet. So, on Sunday morning, I whipped up a batch of bacon, beet greens and scrambled eggs. The flavor of the eggs was foul, to say the least. Far from the wonderful flavor of farm fresh eggs, the omega-3 eggs were fishy at best. And I’ve got to tell you fishy eggs don’t combine well with beet greens and bacon. I threw my hands up in the air and sheepishly headed back to my laptop to scratch out all references to egg in the menu for the week. What a waste! While I’ll likely keep them around throughout the month to include in baked goods where other flavors may disguise their industrial nastiness, I gave a lot of consideration to giving them to a friend, the food bank or the dumpster.

Yogurt and melon presented another striking example of palatability issues. The yogurt we usually rely on comes from our cow share and we purchase it in big ½-gallon mason jars. The flavor is unsurpassed: strikingly fresh, sweet and pleasantly tart. The yogurt I purchased from the store, however, tasted sour with an almost bitter aftertaste. No wonder folks prefer sugar and HFCS-sweetened yogurts to the plain varieties found at the store.

Next week, I’m hoping to pick up some hormone- and antibiotic-free red meat and beans, if I can find them before an inevitable meltdown occurs.

Where I Scrimped

We scrimped on organics and red meat, though I’m a big believer in including both in the diet on a regular basis (read my reasons for eating red meat).

While a 5 lb package of ground beef was on sale for a ridiculously low price of $1.50 equating to $0.30 per pound, I’m hoping to avoid the inclusion of conventional beef this month. Conventionally raised beef is littered with problems and while the store simply didn’t stock any grass-finished meat, they did stock hormone- and antibiotic-free meat at a hefty price. Part of the benefit to eating red meat is the inclusion of CLA, or conjugated linoleic acid, found in the fat of grass-fed beef. Of course, that nutritional treasure dwindles the longer the cow has been off grass and on grain. Grocery store meat, with rare exceptions, is primarly grain-fed. Moreoever, it’s heavily treated with antibiotics and hormones neither of which I want in my food or in my body. We’ll see how it all turns out as the pennies start to disappear one by one.

Organics, as you can imagine, was another challenge. We don’t, as a rule, purchase conventionally grown produce. Yet, an all-organic diet would kill our budget in an instant; moreover, many of the organic foods at the market are poor quality, limp and pallid in color. Instead, I relied on simply avoiding the dirty dozen or twelve fruits and vegetables with the highest chemical load and purchased organics when the price point worked out in our favor.

Where I Splurged

Two areas where I’m doubtlessly going to receive comments are our splurges: seafood and premade yogurt.

It may seem strange, no, it will seem strange that I spent a good chunk of our budget on wild-caught frozen salmon and frozen mussels. These foods are highly dense in important nutrients. Wild-caught salmon is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, niacin and potassium while mussels are rich in vitamin b12, riboflavin, selenium, manganese and iron. These are important nutrients and well worth the money.

I can hear you now, “Why buy yogurt when you can make it for so much less!?!” Sure, a gallon of Lucerne’s pastuerized milk was one sale for $2.49 this week. A fantastic deal given that Lucerne eschews the use of routine antibiotics and never treats their cows with hormones or growth stimulants. Here’s the challenge: every gallon of milk in the store was homogenized. Homogenization dramatically changes the nature of the fat molecule, and some researchers have posited that such a change in the fat molecule may contribute to heart diseases and other ills. What it comes down to is this: the less processing, the better.

My Best Find this Week

It’s a toss up this week: the two heads of organic frisÃ©e marked down to $0.99 and the unrefined sea salt for $0.99 both were great finds.

Budget Tip of the Week

I’m loving managers specials. Remember those 5 lbs of ground beef for $1.50 that I chose not to buy? Managers special. The $4.99 container of unrefined sea salt marked down to $0.99? Manager’s special. Same with the ground pepper, frisÃ©e lettuce and one or two other goodies.

Download the Shopping List and Meal Plan for the week.

S: Purchased on Sale – M: Manager’s Special – C: Coupon Used

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Food Stamp Challenge: Week 2

Jenny — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:39:23 +0000

This week was disheartening at best. It makes me shake my head with sorrow at our broken food system and the challenges that face poor, underprivileged and impoverished families. They are fighting an uphill battle â€“ and few are on their side despite the lip service paid by government officials and corporate spokespersons.

And, now at week 2, I’m left with startling but sturdy conclusion that some of you may call premature: No, it’s not possible to eat optimally on a food stamp budget. I know that this is not what you expected me to write, nor what you wanted to hear. Don’t get me wrong: we’ve managed a far cry better than even the Standard American Diet, and I still maintain that it is possible to eat healthfully on a food stamp budget, but this better than solution of dodging pesticides, settling for â€œnaturalâ€ meats and relying on vegetables purchased on sales and special that rot in a few days is not optimal. It seems that better than is simply not good enough.

Let’s Talk Quality

This week our cart, like last week, was full of fruits and vegetables: tomatoes, salad greens, bananas, oranges, garnet yams, acorn squash and even two pineapples bought dirt cheap on sale. Healthy, right? Wholesome, right?

Week 2: $55.44
1 lb Pink Beans: $1.19
1 lb Split Peas: $1.29
½â€gallon Whole Milk (Sale): $1.79
1 lb Butter (Sale_: $1.99
1 Frying Chicken: $4.77
2 lbs Laura’s Lean Beef (Sale): $9.98
4.5 lbs Bananas (Sale): $2.12
3.45 lbs Oranges (Sale): $3.45
2.65 lb Cabbage: $1.83
4.5 lbs Tomatoes (Sale): $3.57
1 Acorn Squash (Sale): $2.17
1 Spaghetti Squash (Sale): $2.07
2 Yams (Sale): $2.80
1 lb Raisins (Sale): $1.50
1 lb Organic Salad Mix (Sale): $4.99
2 Pineapples (Sale): $5.98
1 Jar Natural Peanut Butter: $2.10
Rolled Oats: $1.85

Yeah, those tomatoes I picked up at $0.79 / lb sure were bright red, but they sure weren’t ripened by the sun or grown in nutrient-dense soil. Lacking those two factors, they will similarly lack the micronutrients and antioxidants found in heirloom varietals allowed to ripen the way nature intended â€“ that is under the sun’s warm rays. While the oranges were on sale for $1 / lb, the flavor is acrid and half-rotten. And that cheap 10 lb bag of potatoes I purchased last week with the intention of feeding my family all month long? Many of them are rotten and those that aren’t are rock hard. Do you know how long it takes for a potato to rot? A lot longer than a week â€“ or it should.

If poorer nutrient profiles by comparison to farm fresh produce isn’t enough to concern you, consider the chemical load that these fruits and vegetables carry. Purchasing completely organic fruits and vegetables isn’t possible for many people â€“ at least at the chain grocery stores in my area. First, the variety of organic produce is limited and, secondly, the cost of purchasing organic produce exclusively would be cost prohibitive for anyone struggling on a budget of $227 per month. Never mind that even if you are fortunate enough to purchase exclusively organic produce at the grocery store, much of that produce is still grown with fertilizers and pesticides, albeit organic inputs, and without care to holistic management.

Synthetic field inputs are a serious issue, and when you eat conventionally grown fruits and vegetables your body absorbs and must filter out any residual chemicals. Your body requires nutrients to make that happen, and fruits and vegetables start losing nutrients from the moment they’re picked. In the end, were operating at a loss when eating produce from our grocery store shelves as opposed to fresh picked produce at the farmers market or, better yet, from our own gardens.

Perhaps the worst of all, high quality animal foods are near impossible to find on grocery store shelves. Grass-fed beef? Not a chance. Ask for pasture-fed poultry, and they’ll laugh you out of the store.

Sure, there’s â€œbetter thanâ€ options like Laura’s Lean Beef which is, at the very least, antibiotic- and hormone-free. And there’s Organic chicken, which is extraordinarily expensive by comparison to the regular fryers and broilers. Most stores, fortunately, carry Kerrygold butter which is sourced from cows fed on grass thus conveying the nutritional benefits of retinol, beta carotene and CLA but it is expensive. Kerrygold butter runs $9.98 / lb at my store compared to $1.99 / lb for regular butter.

The resulting problem is one of balance and one of risk. Since all of these chickens, cows and even fish are fed largely on corn and soy, as opposed to their natural diet, the composition of their fat is disrupted resulting in a very high ratio of omega-6 fatty acids to omega-3 fatty acids. And that’s bad news for the health of consumers choosing these foods either from necessity or preference. Moreover, since these animals are fed an unhealthy diet, they’re more apt to become ill â€“ putting consumers at risk for salmonella and e-coli infection.

It’s depressing. And I haven’t even touched on the challenges of grains and legumes found on grocery store shelves.

Sure, organic vegetables are better than conventional vegetables and conventional vegetables are better than none at all. Anitbiotic- and hormone-free meats are better than conventional meats, and some meat is better than none at all (though I can hear the vegans moaning about that one). But a food system that relies on â€œbetter thanâ€ choices is not good enough.

That’s why, over the next few weeks of the challenge, I’m not going to focus on bang-for-your-buck gimmicks and low-cost shopping. Sure, I’ll still post grocery lists and meal plans for download because there’s a real need for those too, but, instead, my focus will center upon the factors contributing to the dismal food situation for poor and underprivileged families.

In the end, real health comes from real food and real food comes from sustainable farmers’ fields not from the grocery store shelves.

Meal Plan, Grocery List and Other Goodies

Download this Week 2′s Shopping List, Menu and Recipes

On another Note

Did you see that Nourished Kitchen was nominated for best Green / Sustainable Food Blog? Check out the other nominees and cast your vote.

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Food Stamp Challenge: The End and $1.05 Over

Jenny — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 03:42:22 +0000

This is the last week on the food stamp challenge. In the end, our bellies are full, we maintained a tight budget – going over by only $1.05. And, while far from optimal, our meals were nourishing, satisfying, wholesome and healthy. Aside from this week’s splurge on conventional gala apples priced at only $0.49 per pound, we maintained our original principles: purchasing the highest quality unrefined foods on our minimal budget. We enjoyed a wide and varied assortment of meals this month: roasts, mussels in broth, salmon, cornish hens, beans with olive oil, plenty of mixed green salads, loads of vegetables and we did so affordably.

That’s not to say such a challenge was easy – far from it. Traveling to the store, shopping, researching brands and pesticide levels, planning out meals and menus in excruciating detail all takes enormous energy and time. Frankly, it’s exhausting. Time is as great a luxury as money.

The Compromises

This month has not been without its compromises. While we never added conventionally raised beef to our basket, we did settle for antibiotic- and hormone-free meat. We didn’t settle for canned goods as the processing reduces nutrient content, and never purchased frozen foods as they’re not as affordable as they seem. We even managed a handful of local foods including winter squash.

What We Missed The Most

In the first week to two weeks of the challenge, I found I missed the luxuries the most – raw milk artisan cheeses and fair trade chocolate. I’d grown accustomed to luxuries and forgotten that luxuries are just that – rare treats, not everyday indulgences. That initial sense of want eventually faded, and we missed more practical things: cinnamon for the oatmeal, chili powder for the beans and other seasonings that can bring a little life to the supper table. And there was simply no room to breathe in a budget this small; don’t get me wrong: our bellies were full and we enjoyed some beautiful, low-cost meals but a little bit of breathing room is a good thing. Lastly, with a budget this restrictive, there’s no opportunity to build a pantry or to take advantage of low-cost, bulk pricing.

Myths Surrounding Low-cost Cooking

The cost food varies from region to region, but, in our experience some of the low-cost standbys fulled false. Frozen foods, for example, are often heralded as affordable foods; however, when calculated on a penny-per-ounce basis, they’re often more expensive than fresh produce on sale. Neither do you have to settle for beans and grains. While they certainly help to round out the menu, beans and grain need not be the staple of a low-cost meal plan. Indeed, fruits and vegetables served as the largest volume of our diet on the affordable menu just as it does on the months when we are watching the pocket book so vigilantly.

What frustrated me the most; however, was that I often spent more money purchasing less than optimal foods at the grocery store than I spend purchasing them through alternative means. Grain-fed, antibiotic- and hormone-free meat, while better than standard conventional meats, is a far cry from its grass-fed counterpart. To add insult to injury, it’s more expensive too. I can purchase grass-fed meat for less than the cost of natural beef at the grocery store. Similarly, grass-fed lamb is considerably less expensive when purchased farmer direct than the grain-fed lamb available at the grocery store. Apples, turnips, greens and seasonal produce are far more affordable purchased farmer direct than they are when purchased at the grocery store. The problem, in our area, is that farmers markets, buying clubs and natural foods store do not accept EBT thus making these foods largely inaccessible to recipients of supplemental nutritional assistance program benefits. That is a problem that needs fixing.

Maximizing Nutrition, Minimizing Cost

In the end, while being thrifty in our purchases – focusing on sales, manager’s specials and, to a lesser degree, coupons certainly helped to maintain a low budget; however, the true saving grace was mindful use of the food in our kitchen. Using ever bit is not a novel solution to low-budget cooking, but it is an oft-forgotten one. Bones and vegetable scraps make broth. Bread crumbs season vegetables and meats. Rendered fat adds fat-soluble nutrients and flavor. Lastly, painstaking attention paid to menu planning helps to reduce waste.

A Word on Supplements

Should you need to grossly reduce your budget, be wise as to your nutrient intake. Meals tend to be repetitive and lack variety, thus minimizing the variety of micronutrients that your family can consume. Though whole food supplements can be expensive, it’d be wise to investigate a good whole food based multivitamin and add cod liver oil.

Download This Week’s Meal Plan and Recipes: Week 4

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Budget Tips

Jenny — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 17:10:47 +0000

It’s a constant theme in conversations I hear: “I can’t afford to eat organic foods.”

That’s exactly what Nourished Kitchen is here to battle. Indeed, you can afford to buy organically grown fruits and vegetables as well as humanely raised animal foods. The truth is, because of their health benefits, you can’t afford not to buy them.

Purchase high quality ingredients. Saving money should come from proper kitchen management, not from skimping on the quality of food you purchase.

Kitchen Management

Maintain an inventory of the foods in your pantry, cupboards, fridge and freezer. Evaluate the inventory monthly. This ensures that you know exactly what is available to you; it helps you to use foods before the expire and it helps to ensure that you do not purchase more than what you need. Have you ever found three open jars of peanut butter or two bottles of ketchup? Maintaining an inventory will stop that nonsense ultimately saving you money.
Plan your meal in advance. Some cooks plan their menus monthly. Others plan weekly. It matters little how often you plan your menus, but it does matter that you plan them at all. Planning meals ensures that you use all your food before it goes bad; it provides creative uses for leftovers and it forces you to plan well-rounded meals. Planning your meals in advance keeps you from last minute dinners out or take-out orders thus saving you money.
Plan your kitchen to-do list. Nourishing, traditional foods requires a lot more forethought and preparation than modern foods. Buy planning your to-do list and making sure those chores are completed, you ensure that you keep to your meal plan and you avoid last minute trips to the store or take-out joints which saves a lot of money.

Conservation in the Kitchen

Use every bit of the food you bring into your home before relegating it to the compost heap.
Save vegetable scraps like onion and garlic skins, leek tops, carrot peelings, celery leaves and mushroom stumps in a bag in your freezer. When the bag is full, make vegetable stock. This practice will save you as much as $3.69 a quart!
Save bones from roast chickens or roast beefs in a similar fashion. Use these bones to make a mineral-rich bone stock.
If you juice your fruits and vegetables, save the pulp to add to baked goods and vegetable soups.
Save leftovers from your meals and eat them for lunch, or use them in different dishes.
When you’ve exhausted its use, compost your waste.

Save on Energy Use

Try to use your oven only once or twice a week. Ovens are notoriously inefficient, so if you can bake multiple items together or reserve one baking day a week you’ll save on energy.
Eat plenty of raw foods–including animal foods. They’re rich in nutrients and enzymes. Plus, you eliminate the costs of cooking.
Make friends with your slowcooker. Using your slowcooker requires less energy than your range or oven.

Be Creative

Take up gardening. For the nominal cost of production, you’ll have access to healthy fruits and vegetables.
Volunteer at a local farm. Many farmers need people to help with planting, maintaining and harvesting their food. You’ll enjoy a few hours in the sun and fresh air and come home with free organic produce.
Volunteer at your farmers market. Farmers markets are nonprofit entities, and like all nonprofits they need volunteers. Ask if you can help with set up and break down, or see if you can man the informational booth. In appreciation of your service, many vendors will happily give you their surplus at the end of the day.
Get to know the owner of your local health food store. Chances are they have plenty of food that they throw away, and you can probably get it for free.

Shopping Tips

Buy foods in season and locally grown.
Buy foods directly from the rancher or the farmer, thus eliminating the middlemen.
Buy a pig, a 1/4 cow, a lamb from the rancher and store it in your freezer. It’s a big cost upfront, but it saves you money in the end.
Shop the farmers market at the end of the day. Many vendors will discount their produce or give it away for free so that they don’t have to lug it home.
Find a co-op or a buying club so that you can purchase your ingredients in bulk and at a lower price. This can save you several hundred dollars (or more) over the course of a year.

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Notes on the Food Stamp Challenge

Jenny — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:16:47 +0000

My recent post drew a lot of criticism and a lot of support, which is good because at least people are talking about these issues. And while I certainly don’t believe anyone should throw up their hands and resort to twinkies because food stamps and chain grocers can’t possibly cover optimal foods at this time, that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t discuss these issues and fight the good fight through nutrition education and by improving accessibility of optimal foods. That is, in part, what the challenge is all about.

Traditional foods is considerably more than what we choose to eat, it’s how we choose to prepare the foods we eat: with care and attention. It’s choosing whole, unrefined foods. Traditional foods are peasant foods, and peasant foods were strikingly varied (not all pease porridge, and neither all wild game and foraged berries); however one thing remains constant: the foods were naturally raised and naturally grown and that is something that is simply not available at chain grocers regardless of your budget.

Providing grocery lists, meal plans and recipes illustrates that you can, indeed, eat healthy and unrefined foods on a minimal budget. While not optimal, these meals are healthy and a lot healthier than the Standard American Diet whether it’s purchased on food stamps or an ampler budget. Fresh produce, even conventionally grown, is a far cry better than no fruit or vegetables at all. Meats, even those that aren’t raised on pasture, still provide protein and micronutrients. Legumes and grains, when properly prepared, still fill bellies and provide much needed nutrients such as folate, dietary fiber, magnesium and phosphorus.

Read More about the Challenge
Foodstamp Challenge: Announcement
Foodstamp Challenge: Week #1
Foodstamp Challenge: Week #2
Downloadable Menu: Week #1
Downloadable Menu: Week #2
Foodstamp Challenge: FAQ

Many folks have said we should be thankful for what we have because it fills our bellies, but that doesn’t mean we should be complacent. In a nation of wealth and plenty, we shouldn’t have to settle for beef laced with e coli, chicken contaminated by salmonella, potatoes that rot within a week of purchase or even oranges that are half-rotten before you get them home. We deserve better.

Did I expect to buy pastured poultry and sun-ripened heirloom tomatoes at my local Safeway and Kroger? Hell no!

We’ve lost touch with our food and there are no seasons at your grocery store. Bananas, apples, cabbage, berries and tomatoes are available year-round. If you think those red ripe tomatoes lurking in your produce aisle are sun-ripened in either July or October, you have another thing coming. I’d love to focus on seasonality as my family generally does, but on this challenge price is the bottom line as the concept of seasonality is largely absent from grocery stores these days.

Read More about Budget Food
Good, Better, Best: Traditional Foods for Every Budget
10 Healthy Meals under $10
10 Nutritional Powerhouses that Won’t Break the Bank

Life is about choices, priorities and exchanges. What do we give up in order to acquire something else? My family is not rich â€“ or even close. We are a single-earner household and we hover on the line at the nation’s median income and are squarely middle class. Valuing nutrient-dense foods we’ve made the choice to give up common luxuries to acquire wholesome foods. So I don’t buy into the defeatist attitude that good food is only for the rich. It’s not.

Purchase the best you can with what you’ve got, and if that means filling the grocery cart with gassed tomatoes or feedlot beef, so be it. But, don’t settle. Don’t be complacent. Ask for more because you â€“ and the people around you â€“ deserve more.

If you need help determining how to eat healthful, unrefined foods on a budget and to plan low-cost menus, please download the challenge’s meal plans and grocery lists which are available each Monday. If you’re up in arms and are ready to act, contact me because in November we’re going to start effecting orchestrated change in our communities.

Photo credit.

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Equipping the Minimalist Kitchen

A Scaled-down Knife Set

A Cutting Board

A Cast-iron Skillet

A Stock Pot

A Sauce Pan

A Mixing Bowl Set

A Couple Wooden Spoons

A Whisk

A Clay Baker or Dutch Oven

A Baking Stone

For the Love of Organic Dark Chocolate

Why Choose Organic Dark Chocolate

Organic Dark Chocolate: A Brand-by-brand Analysis

Askinosie*

Rapunzel

Alter-eco

Chocolove

Dagoba

Green & Blacks**

How I Choose My Organic Dark Chocolate

How to Choose an Organic Raw Milk Dairy

Organic Raw Milk and Dairy Products

How to Find Organic Raw Milk and Dairy

Choosing an Organic Raw Milk Dairy

Organic Raw Milk Production Standards

Devising and Revising a Grocery Budget

Food Stamp Challenge: $227

The Challenge

The Number

The Assumptions

The Rules

Charting Progress

Good, Better, Best: Traditional Foods for Every Budget

Red Meat & Pork

Poultry & Eggs

Fish

Fruits & Vegetables

Dairy Products

Fats & Oils

A Glossary of Real Food Terms

Farming Terms

Certified Organic / Organically Grown:

Certified Naturally Grown

All Natural / Naturally Grown

Beyond Organic

Non-GMO / GMO-free

Genetically Modified / GE / GMO / GM

Conventional

Local

Biodynamic

Dry-farmed

Integrated Pest Management / IPM

Heirloom

Transitional

Ranching & Animal Husbandry Terms

Conventional

Pastured / Pasture-fed / Meadow-raised

Grass-fed / Grass-finished

Free Range

Heritage Breed

Closed-herd

Holistic Management

Farmers Market Terms

Certified Farmers Market

Producer-only Market

Reseller / Broker / Peddler

Prepared Food Terms

Artisan

Farmstead

Raw

#2 Produce / Seconds

Food Stamp Challenge Week #1: $68 Down

Where I Scrimped

Where I Splurged

My Best Find this Week

Budget Tip of the Week

Food Stamp Challenge: Week 2

Let’s Talk Quality