Time sure flies when you’re eating well. It’s been 4 and a half months now since we switched to an all organic – low sugar, HFCS -free diet, and all I can say is…. food doesn’t get any better than this! Without exaggeration, this is probably one of the wisest live style changes we’ve ever made.

Of course making a dramatic change in the way you eat , prepare and shop for food isn’t exactly easy at first, and at times I didn’t think we’d be able to pull it off. The initial financial outlay was much more than I had anticipated and I wasn’t sure we’d really be able to afford it. I had no idea just how expensive certain food items, such as meat and poultry could be when you buy the organic variety. In addition, I found myself having to drive to 3 times as many stores to find all the items I needed, which in itself was time consuming and expensive.

Over time though, we’re starting to see that the extra expensive of buying organic is being gradually offset by the amount of junk that we don’t buy anymore. You’d be surprised at how much money you save by not buying potato chips, candy bars and other processed “snack” foods. (Wow…I just realized that we haven’t eaten a frozen dinner or anything that comes in a box since last spring). Anyway, the net result after 4 months, is that we’re spending appx $100 more per month on food than we used to, plus, maybe a dozen extra hours a month spent in the kitchen preparing homemade meals. The payoff though, is that we’re eating food that is much healthier and is much more nutrient rich . Probably the most noticeable difference about eating organic, and the reason we’ve stuck with it, is that things simply taste better. There are no poisons in the soil to alter the natural flavors of the food you’re eating.

I think the key in making this type of diet doable, is to plan your menus ahead of time, buy things in bulk when you can, and take advantage of coupons or other sales or offers. For example; if you like tomatoes ( as much as I do) and find them on sale, buy several pounds at a time. You can save a few for salads and then can make a huge batch of delicious homemade marinara sauce with the leftovers and freeze it. Another way to save money and time, is to grow your own herbs. Most of them you can buy pre-potted . All you have to to is water them. The last basil plant I bought, re grew leaves for 3 month. When I needed basil for a recipe, I just picked off what I needed. And how about lemons? If you’re like me, you use them in everything. Why pay a dollar each for them at an organic food store when you can pick em off a neighbor’s tree ( with permission of course…hehe). The point is, there are ways to save money. You just have to be a little creative.

In the end though, I think it all boils down to priorities. If eating healthy, tasty, non-pesticide treated food is important to you, then spending a few extra dollars for it, won’t be a problem for you. Most of us don’t think twice about investing in creature comforts that improve the quality of our lives, so why not do something nice for our bodies as well, by fueling them with clean, natural food. And if more people would buy organic, the cost at the grocery store would surely come down.
Oh…and as an added incentive, we’ve both lost about 5lbs.

Here are some the foods we’ve been eating lately.

( Soup, Salad and BBQ Chicken recipes…all organic and sugar free )

( Hamburger Organic style)

(French Country Chicken Soup)

( Anyone for Organic pumpkin pie?)

Yeah, eating organic has really been rough on us…..we’ve sacrificed tremendously 🙂

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8 thoughts on “Eating Organic, the first 4 months

  1. kerri says:

    I'm in for organic pumpkin pie! 😉
    Now I finally get to see all the things you've been cooking :D. Yum. [I also totally cracked up when I thought about you guys stealing neighbours lemons when I read your bracketed dealie. about asking for permission hehe.

    Buon appetito, Epic Steve!

    1. Stephen says:

      Hey Thank you Ms Lovely for the Green baby. I’m hoping to have a lot of Green babies:-).

      1. kerri says:

        Oh, I got another something on my phone to send you that has to do with both the subject of organic AND babies. 😉

  2. danielle10 says:

    Way to go guys. I wouldn't say that I'm as stringent as you guys are but I do eat really well (especially for a student) and especially when I'm the one cooking/buying food. When I'm busy, I use cooking as a way to unwind and take a break.

    Healthier food is much more expensive, but for me the cost is offset because I don't need to buy meat. That helps a lot. I find it's especially worth the extra dollars when I have a heavy running schedule and want to fuel my body with good healthy food.

    Anyway, good job on the lifestyle change, hope you continue to reap the benefits!

  3. kitkat07 says:

    Looks delicious, especially since I'm stuck in university dining hall purgatory for food. I significantly better on the food front when I'm at my parents place where there isn't nearly as much processed food. I do still eat stuff out of boxes but it doesn't contain scary stuff(I love Amy's organic frozen meals, really great after a long day at work!).

  4. mymusicallungs says:

    Now you're eating more like us! With the exception of the odd pizza-but even last night I had a tuna salad instead of a pizza!
    If you enjoy cooking it is such a good distraction form the lung crap. I have a stool I sit on which is perfect height for our counter tops. Makes light of not feeling strong enough to stand and chop veggies for soups etc. I love that bowl of chicken soup, I could live off it. Soup is my favourite thing (well, and pizza!)

    But we don't buy organic-I would, if a) we could afford it and b) we had a really close by farm stand-but I do grow lots of herbs and this summer did tomatoes, zucchini, squash, pumpkin, cucumbers, lettuce, spinach, chilis, bell peppers and hope to do a few more varieties next summer.

    Glad you've both embraced this so fervently. Feel good on it, pal!

  5. HeatherK says:

    If you live near a Whole Foods, most individual stores allow you to stack coupons. If you're not down with the lingo, stacking coupons means you use a store coupon and a manufacturer's coupon on the same item. This site regularly posts coupon matchups where you can use both coupons and even coordinate with what's on sale:
    http://www.frugalfunfortune.com/category/whole-fo

    I don't know the blogger but my hubby is a coupon king and he uses this and a couple other sites to help keep down our costs while keeping quality food in the house.

    1. breathinstephen says:

      Hey, thanks for the tips!

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