End of Month Recap - May 2010

The end of another month.  Very busy, lots of change, lots of kitchen work...I love it.  Here's how I did with my May goals.

Cost savings:

1. Continue recording spending and sales.
I am getting much better about tracking my spending.  And I'm finding that it's getting easier and easier because I buy less and less!  There aren't too many items I have to watch for sales anymore.  Produce is seasonal, so there's no point in tracking that.  So just a few odds and ends really.  And being the engineer I am I'm actually having fun making lots of spreadsheets and tracking all kinds of things...how often I buy certain items, things like that.

2. Food budget
For this month I went with $100 for a food budget as my starting point.  This means a $100 weekly average for food.  And so far I'm almost exactly at $100...give or take a few dollars...in April and May.  That includes paying more for better food, doing the co-op, shopping more at Harvest Health, stocking my pantry with new/organic spices/sweeteners/baking items, etc.  I'm happy with this budget for now.  Any reduction is good, but I'm also not willing to skimp on good food to save a few bucks.  I'd rather cut costs somewhere else.  And I know a little cost will go down once my pantry is fully stocked with good stuff.  But produce costs will go up as the summer approaches and I'll have to buy more and preserve it.  So it all evens out.

3. Continue to calculate homemade costs.
I haven't really had time to work on this.  But I do still plan to calculate costs.  Long term it would be nice to calculate costs for every recipe I post.  Maybe someday.

4. Continue to plan meals based on sales/what we have on hand/2 class nights.
Still going strong with this.

5. Continue to make as much food as possible from scratch.
Definitely working hard on this.  Here is a list of the homemade food I made this month:

Freshly ground flour
Graham crackers
Oatmeal muffins
Peanut butter frosting
Honey whole wheat bread
Soaked/dried oats
Crispy pecans
Poptarts
Soaked orange and oat scones
Soaked granola
Sprouted black beans
Crispy walnuts
Sourdough starter
Sourdough bread
Soaked tortillas
Taco seasoning
Whey
Cream cheese
Fermented bean paste
Fermented ketchup
Fermented mango chutney
Crispy peanuts
Crispy peanut butter
Kishk granola
Yogurt smoothies
Sprouted wheat berries and sprouted wheat flour (post to come)
Punch (post to come)
6. 2nd hand shopping.
I went to a big 2nd hand sale on the 22nd and got some clothes for Rebecca.  Plus we got clothes from my sister and a friend.  Rebecca's drawers are stuffed now :)  And I only spent about $20.  Not bad.  I have gone to a couple garage sales, but I'm not actively seeking them out.  There isn't really anything we need.  I could use some clothes for myself...maybe someday :P

7. Voogt beef.
I placed our beef order.  We are getting a full side this year to split amongst 5 families.  It should be here around the 2nd week of June.  And we found out that we might be getting some pork from my FIL!  Exciting.

Food:

1. Use full fat dairy products - whole milk, yogurt, etc.
This has been a pretty easy one for me.  I'm finding that full fat dairy has so much more flavor!  So creamy.  And now knowing how good it is for you I wish I hadn't spent so many years eating everything low fat/fat free.  I was so undernourished!

2. Eat flax seed every day for omega-3s.
I do eat ground flax seeds every day.  I love the taste, and they are good for you.  But I'm still debating about how much I should keep eating.  I stopped eating flax seeds when I was pregnant with Rebecca because I heard it can be dangerous.  And didn't eat any through our whole last round of IVF.  I only recently started eating them again.  I'm still researching this since I don't want to do something that will negatively impact our IVF cycle.  There is controversy over safety of flax seed during pregnancy and its effect on estrogen (phytoestrogens) even when you're not pregnant.

3. Eat more fatty fish.
I'm hoping to make some calls this week and find a good place to buy seafood.  It's on the schedule for Friday.  We'll see what I can find.  I did at least eat canned salmon a couple times in May.  It's a start.

4. Use coconut oil, sesame oil, peanut oil, butter, EVOO or palm shortening (for cooking/baking).
I have been using only coconut oil, EVOO and butter this month.  I try not to buy anything that has any other oil as well.  And I've greatly increased my consumption of all 3 fats.  Give my body the fat it needs after all these years of starving it.  I still don't like butter on my vegetables.  But I do put plenty on things that are toasted :)  And even on some sweet breads.  Plus I use it in my cooking more.

5. Use organic cane sugar (white/brown), organic maple syrup or raw honey (for sweeteners, plain or in baking). Also try to cut back on sugar a bit and replace it with healthier food.
I have done quite well with this goal.  I actually just put my canisters of white sugar, brown sugar and white ap flour in the basement.  I never use them...and they are taking up precious counter space!  Feels good to declutter.  And good to not be eating that junk anymore.  I still eat a little more sugar than I would like.  But I have definitely cut down quite a bit from what I used to eat.  And I can tell.  I used to crave sugar all the time.  And the first couple weeks of trying to cut back were very tough.  So hard to resist.  But now I don't crave it like I did.  And I've found that sweet foods (that I ate all the time) taste really sweet to me now...sometimes sickening sweet.  This is a good trend :)

6. Use only whole wheat flour.
I have done well with this also.  And I've gone a step farther to even grind my own flour.  There really are very few times where using ap white flour is ok (a few special treats just aren't the same without it).  But I haven't come across anything this month that I wanted to make/eat that used white flour.

7. Soak grains when possible.
I now try to only eat grains that have been soaked or sprouted or are made from sourdough.  I'll keep working on converting recipes as I make them.

8. Eat mostly organic or locally grown produce...eat in season to do so.
This will be easier as the summer approaches and more fresh produce is available.  But I have been working on it throughout the month.  We've been eating lots of organic strawberries :)  Can't wait until the local strawberries are ready.  The co-op will help with this too.

General Health/Daily Living:

*Probiotic.
 I have been taking a probiotic every day for over a month now.  And I plan to continue.  I definitely think it will help heal my gut.

*Health and Beauty - use only natural/homemade products.
I think I've gotten rid of any bad stuff now.  I got rid of the last few things that had parabens...why do they have to be in so much?  I have to say I like that it has helped me simplify.  I only need one type of lotion/one type of shampoo.  I don't need 5 different scents, etc.  And I've found that I really only need a few items.  The amount of products in the shower has gone down.  Justin even got rid of a couple things.  It feels good to get the junk out and simplify.  I'll update more on this in tomorrow's goals.

*Exercise - vary it every day, do less some days.
Still sticking to this.  I now try to do something different every day.  I used to do the exact same workout every day.  Got pretty boring.  Now I listen to my body.  If I'm a bit run down I'll do less/do a lighter workout.  If I have a lot of energy/feel good I'll pick it up a little bit.  But I always limit myself.  I can't go over a certain amount.

*Farm visits.
We haven't done any farm visits yet, but I'm hoping to go to the Voogt farm soon.  And maybe I can see if the Lubbers farm (dairy) is open in June for tours.

*Long term goals.
I'm still working daily on my OCD.  And the IVF stuff is yet to come.  The one thing I have been working on this month is my miralax/citrucel.  And happy to say I've been citrucel free for 2 weeks!!  I didn't think it would happen that soon.  But I'm so glad.  The miralax will take a while yet.  I'll update more on that in my June goals.
Overall a very productive month.  Be sure to check back tomorrow when I'll explain a little more about the direction things are going and the reasoning behind some of my recent food experiments :)