![\"How](\"http:\/\/www.homesteadersupply.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/healthy-eating.jpg\")
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Homesteaders like to\u00a0cultivate large gardens, so usually there’s ample “free” food during the warm months of the year. And most of\u00a0us\u00a0preserve at least some of our harvest by canning <\/a>or\u00a0dehydrating <\/a>our vegetables, fruits, and sometimes even meats, too. Those of us lucky enough to have root cellars or walk-in coolers<\/a>\u00a0use them to store the more hardy\u00a0types of produce, like potatoes and other root vegetables, winter squash, and cabbage. All these efforts help reduce\u00a0our grocery\u00a0bills\u00a0during the cold weather months.<\/p>\n But it’s practically impossible to squirrel away\u00a0enough food to feed our families\u00a0all winter long. So, invariably, we end up needing\u00a0to\u00a0buy food to supplement the bounty\u00a0we’ve\u00a0managed to store. Even in summer, most\u00a0of us don’t grow enough to sustain ourselves completely, so we have to buy what we can’t produce. And, yes, buying organic, whole foods at the grocery store can get very expensive. But the good news is, you\u00a0can still practice healthy eating all year long without mortgaging the homestead to pay your\u00a0grocery bill.<\/p>\n Here are 10 tips to make healthy eating\u00a0more affordable. Okay, this one seems\u00a0pretty obvious, at least at first.<\/p>\n If you’re a homesteader, you’re probably an excellent cook. But you’d be surprised how many people don’t know how to cook. Or don’t have time to cook. This is especially true for urban homesteaders who spent\u00a0long days at the office. But when\u00a0you live in the country, you can’t just pick up the phone and order a pizza. So, by necessity, homesteader’s must\u00a0learn how to cook. The sooner, the better.<\/p>\n Maybe you’re young and just starting out. Or maybe you dream of having your own homestead someday, but right now\u00a0you have a career that’s keeping you in the city until you\u00a0save up enough to buy your own slice of heaven.\u00a0And maybe that\u00a0big city apartment of yours is so tiny, you barely have enough room for\u00a0a\u00a0small\u00a0plant on your windowsill. None of those things should be barriers to\u00a0learning how to cook.\u00a0It doesn’t matter if you have to buy ALL your food at the grocery store right now because your place is too small to grow a thing. (Although that’s unlikely. You just have to get more creative. We’ll talk about that next, in\u00a0Tip #2.)<\/p>\n Learning to cook\u00a0will\u00a0save you a tremendous amount of money. You can literally make delicious meals for pennies. Not only that, but the food you make at home\u00a0from scratch is inordinately healthier than convenience foods or\u00a0take-out.\u00a0You can find a wide variety of cookbooks geared toward beginners, so don’t worry if you can barely boil water. Just pick\u00a0one you like that emphasizes\u00a0real, whole food ingredients\u00a0and start learning! YouTube is another great resource for cooks at all skill levels.<\/p>\n Some folks know how to cook, but complain that they don’t have the time. If time’s\u00a0your obstacle, maybe you just need a little\u00a0help figuring out how to get yourself better organized. Having a system is important. Try setting\u00a0aside some time every week to prep veggies and fruits so you can throw a meal together quickly.<\/p>\n Set aside an afternoon once a week to make several\u00a0big batches of food, like soups, stews, and casseroles. Refrigerate\u00a0the number of portions\u00a0you’ll need to get through the week, and\u00a0freeze the rest\u00a0for\u00a0another time. Bake a big tray of potatoes or yams, and\u00a0make a big pot of rice or some other type of\u00a0grain your family enjoys. Again, portion out the amount\u00a0you’ll use that week, and then freeze the rest for later.\u00a0Using\u00a0this kind of system frees up a lot of time during the week because most of your family’s meals are already made. All you have to do is heat and serve.<\/p>\n Oh, and here’s another tip.\u00a0If\u00a0lack of time is a problem, be sure to invest in some kitchen gadgets and appliances\u00a0that make food less work to prepare. The number one time saving device is probably a pressure cooker<\/a>, but a crock pot is a close second. Every kitchen should have at least one or the other, if not both. Every kitchen should also have a\u00a0high-quality chef’s knife to make prepping your food faster and easier. Trying to slice\u00a0veggies with a dull\u00a0knife can be a torturous experience\u00a0because it takes forever and it’s easier to cut yourself with a dull knife than\u00a0a sharp<\/a> one.\u00a0Gadgets\u00a0like a mandolin <\/a>and a\u00a0Salad Shooter<\/a>\u00a0help make quick work of slicing and shredding vegetables, fruits, cheese, and nuts.<\/p>\n Cooking from scratch doesn’t need to be a chore. And it won’t be if your kitchen is well equipped and you are well\u00a0organized and have an effective system in place.<\/p>\n The more food you can grow yourself, the less you’ll have to buy. Obviously.<\/p>\n Again, if you’re a homesteader, you already do this. Most gardeners are constantly\u00a0learning by doing. Next year, you\u00a0might want to consider growing more crops, or a wider variety. Think about\u00a0growing edible flowers, if you don’t already. Or, maybe experiment with new planting or growing techniques. Perhaps a fellow gardener suggested\u00a0a way to increase yield. Why not try it? Or,\u00a0explore other\u00a0gardening methods that are new to you, like square foot gardening,\u00a0straw bale gardening, or hydroponics.<\/p>\n When\u00a0you live in the city, growing your own food is more difficult, but not impossible. If you have a patio, container gardening is probably a good option.\u00a0Almost every apartment has at least one windowsill where you can grow herbs in pots. If you don’t even have that, then at least grow some salad sprouts<\/a> in a jar. The point is, you\u00a0can always do something<\/em>.<\/p>\n A recent trend in urban areas is to allow tenants to have\u00a0roof gardens on top of large apartment buildings. Some areas have urban gardens where\u00a0city dwellers\u00a0can lease a small plot of land\u00a0in a nearby field. More options are becoming available as urban gardening becomes more popular. Ask around and find out what’s available where you live.<\/p>\n Buying food from a\u00a0Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) organization isn’t a good option\u00a0if you grow a lot of your own fruits and veggies. You’ll already have more than you can use in the summer. And\u00a0during the cold weather months, their gardens won’t be producing\u00a0anything, either.<\/p>\n However,\u00a0if your own garden is very small, or you live in a more urban area, buying a share or two in your local CSA can be\u00a0excellent idea. The produce is local, picked fresh (typically\u00a0the same day), and it’s often organic. Usually, you have to go pick it up yourself at pre-arranged drop-off location, so that part can be inconvenient. However, overall, you can’t beat the quality for the price.<\/p>\n For more information about CSA’s in your area, check out Local Harvest<\/a>.<\/p>\n If you live near a large farmers market that carries a wide variety of foods, consider yourself lucky. As with CSA’s, the food is locally grown, often organic, and typically picked the same day. You can frequently\u00a0get great deals at these places because the vendors\u00a0are\u00a0generally open to bargaining. They’re eager to sell what they brought to market,\u00a0especially when it’s perishable. You’ll get the best deals at the end of the day, when the market is about to close. Of course, if you wait until then, the selection will probably be poor. But that doesn’t matter as much if you can be flexible. The spinach is sold out, but they do have Swiss chard. Okay, then! Close enough!<\/p>\n Farmer’s markets tend to\u00a0be more attractive to folks who don’t grow their own food. But, homesteader’s like them too because a well-stocked farmer’s market is a good place to get things you don’t grow or raise yourself, like honey or fresh nuts.<\/p>\n You can save a lot of money by shopping at a farmer’s market. Just be\u00a0careful to avoid the ones in upscale areas because they tend to be overpriced.<\/p>\n The most important thing to know about shopping for real, whole foods\u00a0at the supermarket is to avoid the inner aisles. With few exceptions, you will find the healthiest foods\u00a0around the perimeter of the store. Virtually\u00a0supermarket is designed the same way: \u00a0the produce, meat, and dairy\u00a0departments are all around the perimeter.<\/p>\n The inner aisles are where they display overly processed foods, like sugary cereals, and junk food, like chips and soda. In the inner aisles, limit your shopping to foods like coffee and tea, dried beans and legumes, rice and grains, and healthy cereals like steel-cut oats.<\/p>\n One of the biggest decisions\u00a0folks struggle with at the supermarket is whether to buy organic. As we know, organic foods are almost always more expensive. And, in today’s economy, most folks are on a tight budget.<\/p>\n Fortunately, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) has made making this decision easier. Their\u00a0Dirty Dozen<\/a>\u00a0is a list of the 12 types of fruits and veggies most likely to be contaminated with pesticides. And their\u00a0Clean 15<\/a>\u00a0is a list of the 15 foods\u00a0that are least likely to be contaminated. The general rule is, if something is on their Dirty Dozen list, buy organic. If it’s on\u00a0their\u00a0Clean 15\u00a0list,\u00a0\u00a0the conventionally grown kind is fine.\u00a0You can get EWG’s full report and their Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 lists here<\/a>.<\/p>\n When we\u00a0eat a diet that’s\u00a0high in nutrients, our bodies need less food. The less food you have to buy, the more money you can save. That’s why it’s smart\u00a0to learn\u00a0which foods have the most nutrients per calorie. You definitely want to emphasize those to get the most bang\u00a0for your buck — both literally and figuratively speaking!<\/p>\n Conversely, you’ll want to make a point of avoiding those foods that have\u00a0the least nutrients per calorie. For the most part, these are the over-processed and junk foods in the inner aisles of the grocery store. (See Tip #4, above.)<\/p>\n Although your local supermarket might be the most convenient place to shop, it’s usually not the cheapest. But if supermarkets are your only option, try to buy what’s on sale. If you live near several supermarkets, study\u00a0their weekly flyers\u00a0(they usually come in the mail) and make\u00a0out a separate grocery list for each store.<\/p>\n Some\u00a0stores, like Walmart, will give you a lower price on an item if you can show that another nearby store currently has it on sale. So\u00a0it’s not a bad idea to take your\u00a0sales flyers along when shopping at stores\u00a0that\u00a0offer this service.<\/p>\n Membership-only stores, like Costco, sometimes have\u00a0great deals, especially if you buy in bulk. But it won’t save you money to buy\u00a0something in bulk unless you can\u00a0use it up before it goes bad.\u00a0In general, though, most folks say they end up spending more money at those types of places because they always end up buying things they want, but don’t really need. So if you have difficulty\u00a0sticking to a shopping list, just avoid temptation altogether and shop\u00a0elsewhere.<\/p>\n You can sometimes find amazing deals on food in surprising\u00a0places. For example, the 99 Cents<\/a> store near me\u00a0gets a shipment of produce in every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Most people wouldn’t even think to look for produce in a dollar store, but that’s one such company\u00a0that carries it. You never know what they’re going to get in on any given day. The selection is always a little different each time. Most of the produce is just as nice as you can find in any grocery store, and some is even organic. And the best part is, nothing costs more than a dollar! You do have to be careful to watch expiration dates, however. And read labels, because some of the items, like garlic and ginger, come from China and are best avoided.<\/p>\n Ethnic and Asian markets are also good places to find inexpensive produce and meats. Foods like onions, garlic, mushrooms, and certain spices are especially easy to find in those types of markets.<\/p>\n Meat is usually the most expensive item on your grocery list, which means it’s\u00a0also where you can save the most money. This can be a bit of a challenge because, ideally, your meat should be organic. Some experts insist it should be organic, grass-fed, and free-range (or pastured). But unless you raise your own livestock, this type of meat can\u00a0be hard to find and, if you do find it, it’s very expensive.<\/p>\n Of course, many\u00a0folks choose to eschew\u00a0meat altogether and instead substitute foods like beans. This is obviously the most economical solution, and many experts\u00a0say\u00a0it’s the healthiest, too. But not everyone agrees, and most of us\u00a0aren’t ready to give up meat altogether.<\/p>\n If you need\u00a0to buy meat, stick to the cheaper cuts. Usually, these are the leaner cuts that need to be braised as opposed to grilled or roasted. Inexpensive cuts of meats will go a long way when used as an ingredient in soups and stews.<\/p>\n Another option is to eat offal, which is sometimes referred to\u00a0as “variety meats.” These are highly nutritious animal organ meats like liver, kidney, heart, bone marrow, and even blood.\u00a0If you’re unfamiliar with these foods, you can learn more about them in Sally Fallon’s Nourishing Traditions <\/a>cookbook, which has become a classic among folks who follow the way of eating recommended by the Weston A. Price Foundation<\/a>.<\/p>\n Perhaps the cheapest form of “meat” is bones, especially meaty bones. You can roast these and then slow-cook them for up to 48 hours to make delicious bone broth, which is extremely nutritious and loaded with collagen.<\/p>\n Be sure to buy your nuts and seeds raw. If they’re roasted, they won’t sprout!<\/p>\n Soaking and sprouting nuts and seeds is so easy to do, Sprouting\u00a0helps improve their nutritional profile, and also makes them easier to digest. Most nuts and seeds will sprout within a day. As soon as you see their little white tail\u00a0appear, they’re ready.<\/p>\n Sprouted nuts and seeds are actually alive! They contain certain active enzymes found in raw living foods. You can preserve sprouted nuts and seeds\u00a0by dehydrating them, but be sure to keep the temperature below\u00a0105 degrees Fahrenheit. If the dehydrator gets any warmer than that, they will die. You’ll still be able to eat them, and they will still taste delicious. But they won’t be as nutritious.<\/p>\n Algae and seaweed are among the most nutrient dense foods in the world. They are high in protein and contain micronutrients, like iodine, that are hard to find in other foods.<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n#1 Learn How to Cook<\/h1>\n
What If You\u00a0Live in the City?<\/h3>\n
What If You Can’t Even Boil Water?<\/h3>\n
What If You Know How to Cook but Can’t Find the Time?<\/h3>\n
#2 Grow Your Own Food<\/h1>\n
But What If You Live in the City?<\/h3>\n
#3 Buy Food from a CSA or a Farmer<\/h1>\n
Sometimes Buying from a Farmer Makes Sense<\/h3>\n
#4 Learn How to Shop at the Supermarket<\/h1>\n
Should You Buy Organic?<\/h3>\n
#5 Learn Which Foods Are Highest in Nutrients<\/h1>\n
#6 Find Alternative Places to Shop<\/h1>\n
#7 Buy Cheaper Cuts of Meat<\/h1>\n
#8 Sprout Your Nuts and Seeds<\/h1>\n
#9 Try\u00a0Algae and Seaweed<\/h1>\n