Whole eating on a budget

My husband and I are on a super tight budget these days and it has forced us to cut corners from our whole foods diet.  The farmers market is out of the question, though it's not set up through the winter anyhow.

Trips to the natural market have been reduced from once a week to once a month.  So where do we get everything else? Grocery outlet.

It has really saved us a ton of money and while we never quite know what we're going to find there, they are predictable enough that we have been able to get staples there like bananas,  bread, cheese,  and bacon. We have to sacrifice quality on these items but the produce is often organic. Sometimes we can find organic eggs and dairy as well.

So our meals are simple:  smoothie and oatmeal for me in the morning, eggs and bacon for my husband, sandwiches or leftovers for lunch and a one pot meal for dinner.  Winter is the perfect time for stews anyway.  Though I miss having extras or being able to run to the natural market as soon as we run out of something, we are satisfied.

I've learned patience and thrift and still have delicious home cooked meals with whole foods. It is more cost effective to purchase whole rather than processed foods. I can get a lot of mileage out of a stewed game hen vs. a bunch of chicken tenders or lunch meat.

We try to purchase meat at the natural market when we can.  It's the only place for meat I trust and the best option for stew meat and bacon.  But as I said, on a super tight budget you can only do what you can do. And we happily make do.

White tea is so good!

 My afternoon pick me up today is a mug of Himalayan white tea from the bulk section of my local natural market. I don't know anything else about it. Other than it's Himalayan.

But the flavors of this white tea are so unique, I just had to say something about it. It's a long- lasting impresser of the tongue. It's a little nip at the end of each sip and a lasting intricate floral-type flavor that leaves you curious and wanting more. I don't care how cheesy that sounds.  That's my experience of this lovely tea. It's true that I over-steeped mine today,  so my end-nip is a bit nippier than usual.  Don't mind at all.

I don't know how much caffeine is in this one. I don't buy the idea that black tea has the most caffeine,  then green and oolong, then white with the least. I think that's an oversimplification. I wonder who decided this should be called "white" tea.  It's just as dark in my cup as some greens and oolongs, and the dry leaves aren't that silvery. Well I suppose it's just for convenience' sake.

This white tea is magical. I have never been one to desire to travel to the Himalayas but I would definitely want to see this tea farm.  And shake the hands of those who produce it.

What's it for?

Haven't posted much on here since I broke my laptop. Actually, I broke two! Darn tea habit.

In any event, just wanted to share a bit about my little low-tech project today.

I realized that I have several jars on my herbs shelf that are a bit of a mystery to me. I purchased them for a purpose long ago and now don't remember what they're for.

I thought that perhaps some of them could be of use again if only I knew how. So I'm researching the uses and pasting very low-tech labels (just index card and tape) listing the uses for each herb on its jar. Simple.