Food Snobbery on a Budget... How to Buy and Eat GOOD Food on a Budget

this post also appeared on the "The Green Mamas" blog

Hi, my name is Lia Jean Green bean-eating-machine Mack, and I'm a food snob.

I blame my parents for having us live in Italy for three years while I was growing up. Every Friday morning, the town we lived in held an open air market - mercato - where you could purchase anything and everything fresh.

Fresh fish from the sea, fresh artichokes picked that morning, homemade pastas that took two seconds to cook...and eat ;) Oh, and let's not forget the cheese wagon. Every Wednesday at the same exact time, a man pulling a cart of cheese wheeled down our street would sing, "formaggio... mozzarelli... provelone..."Now that's a real cheese wagon :)

So I got used to eating whole fresh foods...and fell in LOVE! There is no beating the taste of a ripe red tomato mixed with fresh basil, straight from the garden. I think that's why everything tastes so much better in Italy. Everything is fresh and local. So what if I couldn't drink the water or that the heat and electricity went off daily at 3pm because someone had to go home for a nap. Italia... I was in food heaven!!!

And then we moved back to the States - God love America - where there is a grocery store open daily on almost every corner. Only thing, most of the food available here comes in a box. Or a plastic bag. Or worse! It's not fresh... tt's not even local!

Oh, the horror!!!

Well, fast forward to 2010 (when I originally wrote this post). I'm married to super conservation man and together we are raising two amazing little greenies. I've been a stay at home mom for six years and have not one thing in my life to complain about. Nothing, that is, except my food budget. It's tight. Living on one income in a very expensive part of the country and being able to buy good whole food that is fresh, organic, and local is difficult to say the least. But it's doable. And for a while there I was doing pretty good.

For the last two years, however, I've been feeling the pinch. Food prices continue to rise, utilities are still going up, and summer is coming, which can only mean one more thing will be getting more expensive. Gas. Just in time for everyone to get out and have fun after being frozen all winter long. So nice of them...

Yet, I still want to be able to feed my family well, but wanting to buy and eat only organic, local, fresh foods can be quite costly. I know of one local mom who spent over 17K last year in food alone because they ONLY eats local, organic, fresh meats, cheeses, fruit, vegs, ect.... That's a lot of money.

Of course I could easily manage to buy all sorts of shit food (pardon my language) within my food budget. I could feed my family from the box and dollar menu and have money left over! But I'm a food snob, remember? I cannot eat that stuff. Ingredients I can't pronounce? Food that doesn't even look or taste anything like food? Packaged, frozen, processed, freeze dried disgustingness???

Oh no. Not me, baby. Not after eating REAL food. It's just not possible.

Plus, I don't want my kids eating shit - crap - either. We are what we eat. When we eat crap, we feel like crap and therefore act like crap. And I'm not interested in taking care of kids who act up all the time and get sick all the time because they are being fed crappy food.


So, having very little wiggle room in the budget, but wanting only the best (what mom doesn't?), I've learned how to get most everything we need (aka: I want) on the budget we have. It's fun being a food snob. You just have to find a way to do it when you don't have endless amounts of the green stuff lying around. Below are some of the things I do to get what I want, thus enabling me to eat really yummy good for me food all the time

I don't do all my shopping in one place.

Some things at my main grocery store are too expensive, yet elsewhere they aren't. Took me a while to scout out all the good deals, but now I know that by going to three separate stores on a rotation, I can come home with a lot more of what I want for less $.

I garden.

I grow tomatoes and herbs and carrots and potatoes and all sorts of yumminess :) By doing so, I control what goes in and on my food. The kids have their own garden plots too, and we spend a good deal of time with our beloved Mother Earth to keep it going. After the cost of seeds, what we reap is free. FREE! Best price ever :)

I go to Farmer's Markets.

And stock up. What I find for good deals, I buy bunches of and freeze what we're not eating that week. Frozen blueberries, frozen green beans, frozen anything. Tastes great when picked and stored at peek season. Nothing better than pulling out veggies in the dead of winter that you bought fresh and know where they came from. Tastes great.

I buy in bulk.

When I can, I save up and buy staples in bulk. Flour, sugar, pasta, rice... This year I'm buying 1/4th of a bison and a neighbor of ours who likes to hunt is getting us a deer. Who knows how long this supply of meat will last, especially since we only eat meat two to three times a week. (Meat is pricey) This, of course, will happen after I find an inexpensive deep freezer on Craigslist (anyone have one they don't want?)

I do without.

Yes, you heard it. We don't buy pop (soda). The kids drink juice once a day (if that) and that's it. Instead we drink water, H2O, aqua fresca...you get the picture. Same thing with junk food. Since we don't eat it, we don't buy it, thus we save big bucks. And if it's not on sale and it's not in the budget, oh well. Better luck next time, right?

I make it stretch.

I can make five meals out of one chicken. And that doesn't include the amount of chicken stock I make and use from the bones. So I might spend a little more buying an organic chicken - or A LOT more buying an organic local chicken - but I'll make that dollar stretch as much as possible. With a little ingenuity, you can think of ways to make anything stretch more than one meal.

Of course, all of this takes time, energy, and knowledge, something that most of us are hard pressed to find. But it CAN be done if you put in the work. The biggest benefit from all of this? You won't have to compromise. I don't. Just know that there will be times when you can't get the big ticket items, but that's fine. You don't have to have exactly what you want ALL the time, do you? My goal is to have good for us food only, and don't concern myself with specifics.

Everyone can be a food snob on a budget. All you have to do is learn to go with the flow, enjoy what's in season, and make the most of what you've got.

:)

20 Little Luminaries

20 Little Luminaries
by Lia Mack

In the darkest hour
In the darkest night
20 little luminaries
Fill up with light
 
20 little lives
So innocent, so sweet
20 little smiles
We wish we could greet

Although quiet as snowflakes
Glistening in the sun
40 little hands
Still hold onto the fun

That living gave them
All the love and the joy
That they enjoyed in their short time
All those 20 little girls and boys

And in the twilight
Feel their love near
As 20 little hearts
Hold you close and dear

Remembering the good times
Summer, Spring, Winter, Fall
That you gave to them wholeheartedly
Mommy and Daddy and all

And look at those 3
On the left and the right
Doing their best
To protect with all their might

On both sides of them now
Standing strong, standing tall
6 luminaries
For the adults who too did fall

Angels on Earth
To their rescue did come
To protect them and guide them
With life's wonderful love

Together they go
Together they stay
6 tall and 20 small
Toward Heaven's sweet rays

So stand close to your loved ones
On this cold winter night
3 tall, 20 small, 3 tall
Will you please light
And there they will glow
With life's fire light
As those 20 sweet little lives
Take heavenly flight

As you remember those you've loved and lost this year – 
especially the 26 lives taken away from us that unforgettable fall morning 12.14.12 –  
please light the night with your own luminary in their remembrance.

Grief and Remembrance...

A couple years ago I was watching a little boy over night while his parents went on a trip. After waking up completely fine, he unexpectedly and suddenly died. He was 2 1/2 years old. And although it's been years since - Andrew would be in Kindergarten now - the grief, the remembrance. It all is still fresh. 

When I first heard of the school shooting last Friday, it hit me hard just like everyone. So little. So innocent. So excited about their day just beginning at school! Along with everyone, I’ve been grief stricken ever since. Everyone has been hurting since the news. Even family members all the way in Australia have called to see that everyone was okay here in America. They saw it on the news. They were saddened and worried too.

Life. Death. It comes to us all. But when it does, none of us knows. So we live our lives to the fullest and hold on tight to those we love, as we never know when it will be time to say good-bye. And no matter when we have to do so, it hurts. We cry. We ask why? And it’s okay to ask why. Even more okay to not like any answers you hear…

But what do we do after the sobbing subsides and our hearts start to wonder? Wonder what more can we do to help those that are in the worst pain imaginable - those who’ve lost a child. We are there with them in their grief as much as we can be. We think of them. Pray for them. Hold them close. But what more can we do?

Last night, I felt the need to do something for those little lives lost up in Connecticut. But what? I already know I can’t go back in time to fix the unexpected. The unexplainable. The unimaginable…

I told my children last night that we’d do something as a family to help remember. And it helped them feel some control. Some relief. They’ve practiced “lock down” drills at school this week and have heard varied reports from classmates on what happened at that school in Connecticut. They’re scared and worried too. Although, I COULD NOT bribe them with anything the Monday after to keep them home. They wanted to go to school. See their friends. See their teachers. So I let them go. And cried buckets after they were inside, as I’m sure so many others were.

Nothing like this will ever make sense. Nothing we can do will ever be able to undo it. Nothing can take away the pain from the loss their families and friends feel.

But there is something that we can do. I had an idea last night and was excited to be able to do something in remembrance of those little lives and the adults who died trying to save them. But the more I thought about it, I didn’t want to keep it to myself. What if others want to do something to help too?

So I wrote a poem that I’ll post soon. I hope that by doing this – 20 Little Luminaries – it’ll help ease some of our grief and aid in the remembrance of those who were lost.

Removing Toxic People From Your Life

There is a lot to be said about how toxins have a lasting negative effect on your physical health. But what about the lasting effect toxic people have on your mental heath which, in turn, effects your physical health? Where do you draw the line? Is it selfish to remove such people from your life, or is it life saving?

What exactly a toxic person is depends on who you talk to. However the underlying result is always the same: they leave you feeling powerless, vulnerable, and depleted. Feeling this way for long periods of time can be detrimental to your well being.

People who are aggressively physical have obvious toxicity. But what about the subtle types? The ones that ravage you from the inside out?

Someone who:

• takes and never gives in return
• constantly complains
• gossips
• puts you down
• makes you feel guilty
• can only criticize

Honestly, the list can go on and on. So, now that we can pin point these toxics, what do we do with them? I've recently learned what works for me, what helps me stay stress free and toxin free. It's been a health AND life saver:

• Walk Away
  Say, for instance, you are in a room full of people, and someone starts ranting about this or that, complaining about politics or people's lifestyles, and you know - you KNOW - that no matter what you say, however eloquent, you will never change this person's mind...just walk away. You DO NOT have to be there to hear all of the negativity. Your presence is NOT necessary. Leave! Save yourself! Stand up, totally calm. Grab your children nonchalantly and leave the room. Come back in when you know enough time has passed that everyone else in the room has argued till they were blue in the face with the toxic person, to no avail, and the topic has been changed. Phew! You saved yourself from a toxic encounter!
• Take Yourself Out of the Equation
  How about this...There was a huge misunderstanding and, if it had happened with someone who was able to have a normal conversation, it would be done and over with in a calm conversation. Yet your dealing with a toxic person who DOES NOT have such skills. They are gossiping to everyone how you did this and you did that. It doesn't matter if it's false or true, take yourself out of the equation. Don't play the game. Don't counter act all the assaults. Leave. IF need be, say your bit TO the toxic person, just the facts, totally calmly, and then let it go. Chances are everyone else is just as fed up with this person as you are. They will see that it's just another one of this person's tirades and will start to follow you. They too will remove themselves from this person's path, seeing how calm and relaxed you are not being involved with this toxic person. If they don't, it's not your problem. Take care of yourself.
• Take Responsibility
  For your health! It's YOUR health. If you don't take care of yourself, who will? No one. Are you going to continue to let this person shape your life for the worse? Allow yourself to feel the effects of their negativity so much that it is effecting your health? They take and never give. Who is to blame? Them? No! They are always going to do what they do. What they do to YOU is up to YOU. No one else. If you don't want to be treated poorly, don't allow it. Do what you have to do to take control of your life. If that means no longer engaging someone in a conversation because you KNOW it's going to turn sour, don't! If you know that just by being around a certain toxic person brings you down and causes you to feel horrible for days, weeks later, then limit or restrict your contact with that person. You are in charge of your life, of you. Don't let others bring you down. You have to take care of your health so that you can take care of all the other things and people in your life you are responsible for.

So, there you have it. My quick tip list for dealing with the toxins in your environment.

There are many other ways in which you can save your sanity and your health. If you have any additional ideas and tips, please share! We can all use additional tools in our arsenal against our toxic common enemy.

Reading While Writing... "Breakfast with Buddha" by Roland Merullo

When I read, I read for enjoyment and the craft of writing. In my "Reading While Writing" blog posts, I list and discuss the lessons I feel each book contained for me. Feel free to follow along and add your own lessons learned :)

The other day, I ended up in my Aunt and Uncle's neighborhood with my children. The reason? To take pictures of my daughter on her birthday. It was a Tuesday, and around here, all parks with their pretty water views and wooded scenes are closed. Seems we ever only want to go to a park on a Tuesday.

As I was taking photos of my daughter with her yellow flowing dress and pretty tiara, I got a call on my cell phone. "Is that you?" my aunt wanted to know. "Yep, we'll be right over."

And, to our delight, my aunt was cleaning out her art room and library. Boxes and boxes of art supplies and varying titled books ready to leave the premises.

Translation? Jack pot!

My daughter, who has dearly and undeniably been nicknamed "Crafty", was in art-heaven. Along with getting to skip a day of school to enjoy her birthday doing whatever she chose (after I got the pics I wanted), got to also bring home boxes and boxes of crafty booty.

As for me, well, I got a treat myself. Five different books, all from genres I rarely, if ever, read. Why? I guess I get bored if there's no 'lesson' for life or 'love' to live through. I'm not a mystery, fantasy, law-suit, contemporary fiction lover. I'm a lover. Just love. That's all there is to me ;)

But, as the saying goes, one must venture off into unknown territory to learn all aspect of their craft.

Translation, please? Read everything.

So, I passed up the familiar fiction and found some gems, one of them being Breakfast with Buddha.

I started off reading and being bored from the start. But I didn't put it down. This was a test. A lesson I set up for myself. So read on, I did. Chapter one. Bored. Chapter two. Bored. Chapter three. Bored.

Boring, eh?

Then I hit, thankfully, chapter four. Not entirely entertaining, it started to show glimpses of chapters to come. And so on and so forth the rythym continued, picking up speed, enthusiasm, until, finally I came to chapter after chapter of wonderful reading. I couldn't put it down. Had to finish it. Gobble it up.

And gobble I did.

What a wonderful book. Full of passion and love and life lessons. Yay! A book that will be cherished and placed on my bookshelf for time to come.

And one important lesson.

Craft lesson #1: Chapter One. Chapter Two. Chapter Three. Make them interesting, useful, and not suck.

Chapter One. Chapter Two. Chapter Three. The 3 most important chapters of any book. Had I not been on a mission, I would have not pushed through any of these in Breakfast with Buddha. They were boring. They reeked of nothingness. No point to them other than for the main character (aka, the author) to hear himself think. Ugh...

IMHO, the book should have been started at Chapter four. The author tells so much about his self absorbed life - spoiler: he's a New Yorker - in the first three chapters, that I was swimming in a sea of blah blah blah uselessness. SHOW your main character's self-absorption (which IS shown throughout the book very well). Don't TELL the reader (as is done in ch1, ch2, ch3)....because the reader will get bored and stop reading (unless assigned not to).

This lesson reminds me so much of my own book. And is why I've worked and reworked and deleted and rewrote and deleted and rewrote and reworked it to, what I hope, is okay. Okay enough to no suck, be useful, relevant to the rest of the book, storyline, plot and subplots, so that no reader will be left in the blahs of boredom...and stop reading.

The rest of the book was fantastic and a great read - I'd recommend it to anyone and everyone!

:)

How to Find Your Voice in Writing...

I love writing. I love the way words can work together to make ordinary everyday things sparkle, spark, ignite. How you can say something without being exact. Or being so exact it's too much to read. And that's when feeling, emotion starts to pour from our words.

Here are some examples of my favorite writing from my novel Waiting for Paint to Dry. Everyone's writing is different. We all have our own voice. And I love that. I love my writing voice.

If you haven't found your voice yet, start writing. No rules. No critics. No barriers. Just write from the heat of the moment, let it all pour out. I found my voice shortly after reading Stephen King's "On Writing" in which he states, and I'm paraphrasing here, but it's perfect:

"This isn't Church. This is writing....Tell the truth."

Oh, and share. I love to share my writing, hence I do some freelance, this blog other blogs, song writing, poems and my novel. My baby. And I'm making it a priority this year to go big with my creativity, my voice, so hopefully soon I'll be done with this one and onto the next! ;)

In no particular order (no spoiler alert needed), here are some swatches from Waiting for Paint to Dry...
....

As the evening sun sinks behind the ocean, warm indoor lights illuminate the room and slow songs echo in from outside. Yet, party on everyone does. I try to excuse myself a handful of times to get some breathing room, grab a plate of food or two to go with my wine. Only El won’t let me out of her sight. She strong arms me, however elegantly, to meet more and more people. Soon, the introductions start to mount on the side of excessive and I start to feel like an expensive piece of jewelry she just has to show off to everyone she knows.

....

I was careful to not get any paint on the floor thanks to the left behind paint cloth, but as for myself, I’m decorated head to toe in all hues of turquoise and beige.
....

The sound of the door slamming behind me doesn’t quite hit the right note, the right amount of force, loudness, deafening roar I need to hear. I want to crash. To out run this insanity. I almost trip on the leg of a pair of jeans dangling from my arms. I take two seconds to repack, re-stuff, and then I’m off. Down the steps. Toward the beach.

Anywhere but here.