Organic or not Organic

So I go back and forth between organic. On one hand I want the best for my kids don't I?
I didn't eat a lot of store bought stuff when I was growing up. We had a garden where my mom canned everything and we ate that over the winter. We grew everything from potatoes, carrots, lettuce, green peppers, corn, popcorn (I remember blisters from getting the corn off the cobb that summer!), onions, tomatoes, green beans, peas, you name it. My mom made pickles, spaghetti sauce, canned the beans, etc.

Everyone gardened when I was little, or it seemed that way anyway. And since my dad didn't use sprays, it was organic, before things organic ws hip.

And my parents would buy a half of a grain fed steer that he hand picked every year. My dad would pick out the one he wanted and when it got to a certain weight, it would be divided into steaks, ground chuck, roasts, etc.

We didn't eat out alot, only on vacation really. Plus my mom cooked from scratch as much as possible. Back then, she did it to save money, as a family of six, it was expensive to eat out. So we ate homemade pizzas and pretzels.

I too love to cook and bake from scratch, more so than the average person I would guess. I try not to use or buy too many processed convenience foods.

Before I got pregnant with our 4th, I was convinced organic was the way to go. But we went through atleast a half gallon of milk at a meal and that only counted two kids as the third drinks soy milk. so it was getting to be that I was spending atleast 40 dollars a week just on milk.

I tried to buy as much organic as possible. But have you priced organic roasts at the grocery store? Wow.

So I have simply tried to feed my family as much home cooked meals as possible, with wholesome ingredients. And I will buy organic when it is on sale and the price is close to non organic.

But I think it is crazy to pay for organic convenience food. When you can make your own from your organic wheat flower and organic sucanat for so much cheaper. And really, how healthy is a chocolate chip cookie?  Over a made at home cookie from scratch?

So my question is this, do you buy organic or not organic?

This post is linked to Tasty Tuesday.

Menu plan week of February 7

What a week, I caught the stomach bug late Sunday night that my family had earlier in the week. So Monday and Tuesday was a hodge podge of what was super easy for me to make with the help of my hubby.

Aside from colds everyone is doing fine. We spent yesterday at a friends house for the afternoon and part of the Super Bowl. So lunch was grilled cheese and lunch meat sandwiches and dinner was pizza.

Here’s what the week looks like:

Breakfasts: waffles, cold cereal, homemade cinnamon rolls, spice muffins

Lunches: leftovers, lunch meat sandwiches, buttered noodles, soup

Dinners: spaghetti, spiral sliced ham with mashed potatoes and homemade rolls, leftover ham (with orange juice and brown sugar), taco soup with homemade rolls, slow-cooker roast with potatoes and carrots.

We should have some decent leftovers. So some of the ham and the very large roast I bought will be frozen for another time.

I will also be making some homemade cookies this week, probably oatmeal cookies, homemade Chex mix and I think I am going to try some Sunbutter cookies, I’ll have to see what I can come up with there.

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday.

Jungle Jims and Walmart

So this week was a little strange, the stomach bug that I was hoping would bypass me, did not. So I was sick on Sunday and Monday.  So that meant that from Wednesday through Tuesday morning, someone was sick in our house. So we ate a lot of soup and jello.

I have no photos as I completely forgot to take them! I could get everything out and retake the photos, but who wants to do that? Not me.

So here goes, Jungle Jims ( a local health food store, they have everything there) was a little pricey, considering I only bought 17 items. However I had to stock up on my daughters soy products, which is always expensive. A few of these items were even on sale!

Sunbutter $4.99
Wheat Flour $3.59
Wheat Berries $3.69 ( I have a salad recipe I have been wanting to try and couldn't find these at any other store)
Pearl Barley (for soup) $3.49
2 Valentine Frostings $1.98
bag of Navel oranges $1.88
8 pack of sparkle papertowels $3.99 (NOT my Bounty but I couldn't pass up this deal)
Tofutti Fudge pops $5.99
Tofutti Chocolate covered icecream pops $5.19
4 Tofutti soy cheese  $10.40
3 soy yogerts $3.57

Total $49.68

I went to Walmart on Thursday, before the big snow storm hit and got various items.
I needed some supplies to make a baby blanket for a friend, some milk and some convenience items.

I realized that why I love to cook from scratch, it isn't always feasible. For instance, when I was in the midst of the stomach bug, my husband was scrounging for something to feed the kids. I had no "heat and serve" food ready.

So, to remedy that, I am going to try and always have simple chicken nuggets and fries from the grocery in my freezer. That would have been a great help to my husband.

So my Walmart purchases went like this.

3 milks $6.54
2 bags of french fries $4.96
Lays chips $1.99
chicken tenders $3.99
3 items that cost $3 (for the life of me I cannot remember what that was! I think that means that I didn't need it huh?)
6 rick racks $6.84

For a total of $32.06

I am not doing that great in my quest to not spend so much money. But we will see! I am going to try and do better and stay out of the stores!

This post linked to Super Saving Saturday.

New Salad Dressing

I love salads. Always have, always will. But I am very picky on my dressings, I do not like any dressing that is not italian. I will eat creamy italian, regular italian, vinigrette, anything of the sort. But that is it, if it isn't in this family, I will not eat it. I eat atleast one salad a day usually, sometimes two.

I have found a new favorite dressing. I try not to use the store bought kind because it is loaded with unhealthy stuff, so I almost never use that at home. I usually just sprinkle some salt, pepper, olive oil and red wine vinegar on my salad and eat it that way.

This is the best dressing so far that I have found to make at home. Even my youngest daughter loves it. It is so delicious, so simple and so good for you!

1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 cloves of garlic

Mix together and serve over your salad. That is it, it is so simple and so delicous. This lasts me about 3-4 salads, depending on how big they are.

This post is linked to Tasty Tuesday and Ultimate Recipe Swap.

Pushing for Spring

Do you think I am rushing Spring?

Yes, that is a Vera Bradley purse being used to hold flowers on my front door. I received that one a few years ago for my 10 year anniversary. It was the wrapping and inside was a gift from Tiffanys! But I used it so much, it was starting to get really worn on the edges. So rather that just store it away, I decided to use it! I think it looks cute, my husband thinks it is really strange. What do you think?

Oh and for the record, it is in the 30's right now. Not the coldest, but I am really hoping spring comes early this year!

This was supposed to be a  Wordless Wednesday post but I used a couple of words, I think it still counts!

Tubes for the Little Man

Well, we went to the E-N-T doctor and have decided to go ahead with tubes. He is miserable most of the time. And is either on an antibiotic or ibuprofen most of the time as well. His surgery is in 2 weeks and this mama is nervous. He is the first one of my kids to ever need surgery. Hopefully this will give him some relief.

Please keep him in your prayers! I'll give an update on it after his surgery.

Menu Plan, Week of January 31

What a week, I am so glad it is over. I had a cold all week. On Wednesday my youngest daughter started to throw up, I was up all night with her. Only to get up Thursday and find out my son (10 months old) had thrown up during the night and went right back to sleep. It was EVERYWHERE.

Then Friday night around 8:30, my husband and oldest two daughters started with it, within a half hour of each other. So I am hoping for a week of no more sickness. We ate a lot of homemade chicken soup, crackers other bland, easy on the stomach stuff.

And yes, I did talk about vomitting in a post about food. For those moms out there, I know you don't mind.

So this week, I am hoping to get back to eating more substantial food. Here is what we have in store for this week.

Sunday: breakfast was hodgepodge as everyone woke up at varying times. Lunch was grilled cheese and dinner was lasagna with honey wheat bread.

For the week:

Breakfasts: cinnamon rolls, zucchine bread, lazy granola, Cheerios.

Lunches:  leftovers, salad, buttered noodles, sandwiches

Dinners: Roz's spaghetti, taco soup, haystacks, slowcooker BBQ chicken, pizza bake (in my new stoneware casserole dish) and leftovers

This week we only have choir and basketball practice, so not so busy. Plus, I only work 2 days this week so I am hoping to catch up on some baking for the freezer, some organizing and cleaning/decluttering.

However as I write this on Sunday evening, I am feeling really sick to my stomach. I am wondering if I am starting with what everyone else had. Well, atleast everyone else is on the mend now!

This post is linked to Menu Plan Mondays.