Pennywise and Pound Foolish or am I the Fool?

As I may have mentioned Mike and I are following the Dave Ramsey plan to save and prosper. Anyway, I have been looking for more ways to save and stumbled on another frugal grocery shopper who followed Dave Ramsey via ‘the web’.

It turned out, I spend three times as much on groceries per week as her. Now true I have a larger family (by 2) but still--three times as much?! I read her money saving tips and one thing stood out. Her fresh produce consisted of one item--3 yellow onions. My produce on the other consistently represents 60-70% of my entire bill. She went on to discuss buying discounted milk in bulk (she freezes it) and then any mark-down meat which seemed to almost always be ground beef--I am not sure what mark-down or discounted means but I am thinking it means about to go bad. She also mentioned she went to a health food store and bought a few items like organic whole flour (no meat, eggs, dairy or produce) but only bought items that were marked down--actually she said she only bought items that were marked down.

I told Mike about her grocery bill and rather than saying ‘we should try that’, he actually said ‘I bet she goes to bed every night feeling like crap."

Now we are not the world’s greatest eaters but I try very hard to get the best organic produce, dairy and meat (sometimes the meat is only hormone free but it is at least hormone and preservative free---the animal and animal by-products are actually my biggest ‘must’ for being organic (and humanely treated--but that’s another issue)). I honestly feel this has helped our family stay healthy. We don’t have any sort of indigestion issues--no meds or over the counter medicine are in our cabinets (except baby Motrin for when our kids might get sick with very high fevers--and that Motrin always expires half-full).

But is this worth spending three times what this frugal shopper is?

I would love to save more money but I certainly don’t want to risk my health doing it.

But am I?

Is it really better to keep your kitchen free of high fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated oils, artifical food colorings and flavors, growth hormones and animal antibiotics with a smaller bank account or is it better to eat whatever the FDA says is acceptable and have extra money in the bank?

I don’t know. I can tell you I feel well. Head aches, stomach aches, groggy feelings are pretty rare in our home---they mostly show up during a vacation or after a serious ‘out food binge’. But I can also tell you I’d like to save more money. I have talked with other shoppers who shop like me and my budget is much less. This gives me comfort....but spending three times more than this other person----geesh, I dunno know.

Blogger world--what’s your take? Is the healthy diet worth it? Will spending all this money be an asset for my body 20 years from now or will it make no difference?

The Mother of All Turkeys

Tattooed Minivan Mom is having a Thanksgiving Day recipe link.

I will gladly admit I love to cook and I will also admit I am pretty good in the kitchen. Thanksgiving is truly one of my favorite holidays simply because I get to spend hours (days really) in the kitchen planning my menu. Starting in October I try new stuffings, cranberry sauces, squash ideas, pies (!!) and my family tells me the favorites.

The one thing I don't mess is the bird. I tend to stick to this recipe adopted from Tyler Florence. I do not include the stuffing in my turkey because I have never had much luck baking stuffing in the bird (something is always off) and I also brine the turkey before.

I love this mainly because the bacon--what doesn't bacon improve?! I also think this is an easy way to prepare the 'guest of honor' for Thanksgiving but I strongly suggest you do a practice run with this recipe if you have never done a bird before. Enjoy!

Maple Roasted Turkey Covered in Bacon

Brine Mix:
-water
- 1 c salt
-peppercorns
-3/4 c sugar
-citrus peels
-dried woody herbs like rosemary

Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 (12 to 14-pound) fresh turkey, giblets, neck, and liver discarded
10 strips smoked bacon
1/2 cup real maple syrup
2 tablespoons hot water

To brine the turkey, one day before Thanksgiving, take a large gallon container and fill with water and other ingredients and stir. Add turkey and cover. Place in a cool area until the Big Day.

Carefully remove turkey and dispose of the brine mix. Wash off turkey to make sure it is clean. Dry off with paper towels and liberally sprinkle and rub entire bird including cavity with salt and fresh black pepper.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and remove the top rack of the oven.

Put the butter and sage in a mixing bowl and mash with a fork or spoon until the sage is well incorporated. Season with salt and pepper.

Using your fingers, gently lift the skin from the turkey breast and slip the remaining seasoned butter under, massaging the breast meat as you go. Truss the bird legs and tie with kitchen twine (butchers will give this to you for free). "Shingle" (think a rooftop) the bacon strips over the breast so it's totally covered. Press down on the bacon so it sticks. Place the turkey on a rack in a roasting pan and cover the turkey with foil. Bake.

In a small bowl, stir the maple syrup with 2 tablespoons of hot water to thin. Roast the turkey for 2-3 hours, basting with the maple glaze approximately every 30 minutes. You will want to baste different areas at different times so all gets the glaze. Cook until until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the meaty part of the thigh registers 170 degrees F. About 1/2 hour before you think the turkey is done, remove the foil so that it can brown. The thigh juices should run clear too (this means it is done). Let rest at least 20 minutes before carving.

How to get your kids to hate fast food

(Yes, I'm posting again today. I am thinking my last post made sense to about 3% of the world so I figure I better share something that the 97% can enjoy too, hopefully or at the very least push the other post down the page !)

My kids do not like fast food, really. I cannot even get gas by the gas station next to the Golden Arches; the fries smell makes my daughters want to vomit (and they tell me this every time!).

School even offers a Chick-Fil-A day my kids refuse to eat--now they want the meal because everyone else has one but they also want me to still pack an entire lunch (future blog topic, trust me!). 

So how did they get this way? Well, I will admit since they were very tiny embryos in the womb, I would whisper the dangers of fast food, read pages from 'Fast Food Nation' as bed time stories and watch bits of Supersize Me during nursing sessions. But I can't take all the credit. Oh no, the daddy really scared them of fast food for life.

Daddy, you see, is a fast food lover. He would eat it everyday if he was not lucky enough to have me as a wife ;) but back to the 'event'. Miley was about three years old and Sara was just born. I was discussing food with a neighbor--I do this a lot! -- and she mentioned a friend who got e.coli from a burger at a nearby fast food place. Later that day, I informed the husband he needed to stop eating fast food meat for a while because I did not want to deal with e.coli, a toddler and a newborn all at once. I will admit I had some post pardum control issues.

So anyway, the very next day, I went to get my hair done and the husband watched to girls. When he picked me up, I saw wrappers from a fast food place in the car.

"Miley had no meat, "the husband said when I saw the crumbled wrapper.

"And you?"

"Well..."

"I swear if you get sick, you can drive yourself to the ER."

"Fine."

The car was quiet.

Later that evening, I gathered up the girls for an evening walk when the husband grabbed my arm from the couch and asked me to stay.

"I feel kind of funny," he paused. "In a really bad way. I think I'm getting sick."

I sighed; brought the girls back in and proceeded to entertain while the husband disappeared in the bathroom for a few hours.

I was getting ready to put the girls down when the husband called for me.

"Lisa," he cried. "I need to go to the ER. I am feeling like I am going to die."

So we loaded up the girls and headed for the ER. During this trip, I started to ask the husband why he would feel so bad. I answered the question myself and tore into my whole anti-fast food rant (yes, I have one).

At the ER, we waited in the main lobby while the husband was ushered in back. After three hours, I got restless watching crappy TV with a whiney toddler and a very cranky newborn and we headed in the back.

There Miley saw her daddy strapped to an IV and moaning on a stretcher. 

"Food poisoning. I think it was bad mayo on the burger, "he mumbled and then leaned over and vomited everywhere. There was a man right outside the curtain with a bucket so I am guessing this had already happened a few times.

Now the good wife would have wiped her husband's brow and tell him it's OK.

Instead in my very grouchy, sleep deprived state I turned to Miley and said ,"This is what happens when you eat fast food." 

Miley's eyes grew wider than saucers. She has not touched fast food since  and because she is the oldest, the younger kids have followed her path, unlike daddy but that's a post for another time.