(Since I spent much of February on the sofa recovering from surgery and didn't do much by way of frugal living, I don't have a Ways I Saved post for you this month.) 2014 into 2015 seemed to be the year of survival. Debt payoff stalled, life stalled, even our attempt to eat a more natural diet stalled. We spent so much of our time and energy just trying to get by than anything extra seemed like a monumental undertaking. We haven't kept up with our semi-whole foods diet. With … [Read more...]
Maple Iced Tea- A Healthier Iced Tea
I use maple syrup in so many different ways. It is probably my favorite natural sugar alternative. One of the many things I make with maple syrup is iced tea. (If you're curious as to why I use so much maple syrup, check here.) Not only is it cheaper to make iced tea yourself, this version is also a healthier iced tea. I make this about every 5 days or so. It makes about 2 liters. It's prefect if you are trying to replace refined white sugar with natural sweetener options. {photo credit: … [Read more...]
DIY Homemade Chocolate Syrup
As part of my effort to make much of what we eat and use myself and as part of our healthier eating habits (you can read my latest update on that here), I have been making chocolate syrup from scratch. It's actually quite easy. I purchased a clear squeeze bottle for cheap at Walmart so I could see how much syrup is left but you could use any container you would like to store your syrup. I often only do half a recipe. {photo credit: shutterbean via photopin cc} DIY Chocolate … [Read more...]
A Year Into Our {Semi} Whole Food Journey
{source} It has been almost a year since we started our (semi) whole food journey. Basically, we are trying to focus on cutting out preservatives, dyes/colorings, and added sugar. In that year we have made some more changes. We are still buying organic bread and using a more natural peanut butter. I have in fact mastered the art of making iced tea. I use maple syrup to sweeten. Matt loves it! The changes we have made - I am buying plain yogurt and adding fruit and maple syrup to it. I … [Read more...]
Money Saving Tip: Storing Organic Bread
I stopped making bread for us as it just didn't work for my family. I have learned in the past few months that certain things just don't work to save my family money. I last talked about no longer cloth diapering but I also gave up making my own yogurt and bread. I may end up making yogurt again some day just not in this season. Even though I stopped making our bread, I still wanted to provide healthier bread for my family than the standard split top wheat loaf. We still aren't 100% on a … [Read more...]
Starting a (Semi) Whole Food Diet
At some point last week, Matt read an article about how a family solved their little boy's health issues by following a whole foods diet. And then he read an article (or maybe it was the day before that) about foods that are allowed here in the United States that are banned in other countries. We both were stuck by the articles. We don't eat a ton of junk but we aren't that careful about it either. There is definitely room for improvement. That is when I decided to change up our diet a … [Read more...]