New Blog Name and Simple Foods

I believe a person should blog about what they are passionate about.  I am passionate about my faith, my family and being frugal.  I am a little less passionate about my pets, the chickens and homeschooling but they are up there as well.

I have several posts in the works.  For instance, does canning save you money?  Can raising chickens save you money?  Do I need to buy expensive homeschool materials?  All my answers based on my life long experience of living in Alaska.

Right now I am working on the goal of reducing my grocery costs.  I am doing this by simlifying our food choices.  We are very simple people with simple taste but if you could see in my pantry right now, it is anything but simple.  Why in the world do I have five different flours?  Two shelves full of spices?  I haven't counted but I think I have over five different sweeteners.

The answer is because I have been dieting for the past five years trying to lose weight.  In those five years I have tried at least three different diet plans that all come with their unique ingredients and all to no avail.  I ditched the diets and my budget and body are thanking me for it.

Now I am simply eating when I am hungry, I am eating only whole foods and not eating later in the evenings.  I feel fantastic and my clothes are fitting better.  Not sure about weight loss because I also ditched the scale.

Last month I spent under $400 for our food, including household items and pet food.  This is good news for us because some months I was spending almost $800.  Yikes!  It was a wake up call to quit buying expensive, processed diet foods for Trim Healthy Mama.

So what's on the simplified menu now?  Plenty of beans, eggs, smoothies, oatmeal, cakes, cookies, pizza, tacos and coffee.  All whole foods, all under $400 which is amazing for an Alaskan family.  

Stay tuned and I will give up the details!