Is Your Olive Oil the Real Deal?

Photo by m_bartusch, FreedigitalPhotos.net

One day last week I was happily surfing the net, reading about a variety of food-related topics, when I stumbled across something I found rather dismaying: this article on olive oil fraud. Not only are many brands known to be guilty of this practice (there is a list of offenders here, but it's way out of date), two of the main brands I buy are either convicted or suspect. Both of these brands clearly state on the label "100% Pure Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Cold Pressed". Apparently I'm pretty late to the party on hearing this news, as some of these articles go back a decade, but there's been a resurgence of discussion on this topic in the past year or two.

Why the big concern? Other than the fact that I don't like being duped, two of the oils that olive is often illegally diluted with are soybean and canola, both of which are genetically modified. I also found some reports that hazelnut oil is sometimes used, which is pretty alarming for people who are dealing with nut allergies! And as olive oil is one of the main oils we use, I would really like to make sure I'm getting the real thing.

What's an olive oil lover to do? I found a list by Tom Mueller (an olive oil expert) HERE which is a very good starting point for finding an affordable, authentic oil. Three of the oils that should be easiest to find in Canada are Costco's Kirkland Toscano, Whole Foods' California 365, and O-Live (the latter is supposed to be available in stores across Canada, although I don't think it's available anywhere I regularly shop - Canadian readers, if you find it, let me know where! It's supposed to be available at Winn Dixie, Shop Rite, Big Y and Krogers in the U.S.). The Corto brand is also mentioned as being available at Costco, although it may be harder to find. And, just to add to the confusion, the blog author later states he does NOT like the Whole Foods 365 in this interview! For another opinion, you can check out these ratings for the best tasting olive oils over at the Huffington Post; however most of the oils on their list seem to have been dissed elsewhere in discussions of olive oil quality ::sigh::

As a note for those of you who usually buy organic oil, it appears that even though you're paying more, the oils may not be as good a quality as the brands listed above. The "supermarket picks" post I've linked to above mentions that although the Kirkland Toscano is a good choice, the organic extra virgin olive oil is not good quality. The author also later mentions in the comments that he has found the Spectrum organic olive oil to be poor quality as well: "The Spectrum Organic EVO I've tasted has been rancid, fusty and otherwise highly defective." 

Are you getting a headache yet? I sure am! I am very far from an olive oil connoisseur, so I'm glad to have found a good expert source that can provide sound advice on this topic. I will be checking out Tom Mueller's book, Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil (yes, that's an Amazon affiliate link) for more information on this issue.

It's enough to make me wish I had a local farmer I could buy olive oil from (and if you're in an olive-oil producing region, I'm sure that's your best option!). For the rest of us, it appears to be a world of frustrating, conflicting information as to which brands are the best choices. I have not yet made up my mind which one of the "recommended" brands I'm going to try first; although the very reasonably priced Kirkland Toscano ($11.99 a litre) may finally sway me to get a Costco membership!

Do you have a particular brand of olive oil you use and know to be high quality? If so, please share it with the rest of us.

Want to know more about the specific food products I use and where I buy them? Check out my new "What's In My Pantry" board on Pinterest.  I will keep this board updated with current information on what products we use, where we're buying them, and how much we're paying. It's a work-in-progress, and you can find it HERE.

DID YOU KNOW? I now have an events page! Come find out where you can catch up with me at a signing, seminar, workshop or food demo HERE.

Love what you read here? Find out how you can help support this blog. 

Want to stay connected in between blog posts?

Click HERE to follow me on Pinterest 

Click HERE to follow me on Twitter

Click HERE to like Abundance on a Dime on Facebook and get updates and tips on living frugally

Click HERE to like Cheap Appétit on Facebook and get updates and tips on frugal eating and cooking

Weekly Menu Retrospective #103

Welcome to my weekly roundup of the past week's eats. I prefer to report what we ate in the last week, rather than what we're planning to eat in the coming week. Why? The reason is pretty simple: although I usually have a general idea of what we're going to eat in the next week or so, life often unfolds a little differently than planned, and I adjust my menu plan on a near-daily basis to accommodate leftovers and other not-possible-to-plan-ahead circumstances. I find this is the easiest way to ensure that I minimize our family's food waste. I'm also willing to admit that I'm a rather spontaneous cook, given to preparing foods that strike me as the most appealing thing to eat right here and now!

If you'd like a whole book full of inexpensive, quick and kid-approved recipes, check out my book, Cheap Appétit : The Complete Guide to Feeding Your Family for Less Than $400 a Month (While Eating Better Than You Ever Thought Possible) on Amazon (Amazon.com, Amazon.ca and Amazon UK) and Barnes and Noble.  It's gotten multiple 5 star reviews!! I've included page references to recipes that are in the book in my menu plans so you can locate them quickly. For more details about the book, go here.    

Breakfasts:
Granola (p. 92) with yogurt, Chocolate Zucchini Muffins (p. 114), "Pumpkin" Spice Oatmeal Muffins (variation of this recipe on p. 96 - I actually used pureed squash rather than pumpkin in place of the banana, it's more flavourful!)

Lunches: 
leftovers, sandwiches, pizza, scrambled eggs with toast and avocado

Dinners:

Monday: Creamy Tuna Pasta with Peas and Carrots (p. 146)

Tuesday: Black Bean Chili (meatless version; p. 160), Cornbread (p. 212)

Wednesday: Smothered Meatballs (p. 143), mashed potatoes, peas and carrots

Thursday: Spinach and Parmesan Frittata, Build a Cucumber and Bean Salad (p. 209)

Friday: Spicy Pork Pocket Sandwiches, Easy Oven Fries (p. 194)

Saturday: Chickpea and Barley Soup

Sunday: Roast chicken, Honey-Orange Roasted Root Vegetables (p. 202), No-Bake Ancient Grain Snacking Squares

In keeping with my local and organic challenge, I'd also like to note the local and/or organic items on this week's menu:

Organic: coconut (in granola), coconut oil (in granola), raisins, sunflower and pumpkin seeds (in granola), flax seeds, puffed kamut, corn, bananas, oranges, lemons, coffee (locally roasted and delivered by bike!), cornstarch, cane sugar,  mustard, tamari, cinnamon, ginger, cumin, black pepper, parsley, paprika, Fairytale tea, peppermint tea

Local: potatoes, carrots, onions, apples, zucchini (from the freezer), salsa (home-canned), ground beef (from VG Meats), honey (unpasteurized), milk, sour cream, Parmesan cheese 

Local AND organic: peanut butter, sesame seeds (used to top bread loaves), oats, milk (used to make yogurt), eggs (not "certified organic", but real free range and fed organic feed), apple cider vinegar,  popcorn, cornmeal, whole wheat flour

Want to know more about the specific food products I use and where I buy them? Check out my new "What's In My Pantry" board on Pinterest.  I will keep this board updated with current information on what products we use, where we're buying them, and how much we're paying. It's a work-in-progress, and you can find it HERE.

For more great meal ideas, check out Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com. 

DID YOU KNOW? I now have an events page! Come find out where you can catch up with me at a signing, seminar, workshop or food demo HERE.

Love what you read here? Find out how you can help support this blog. 

Want to stay connected in between blog posts?

Click HERE to follow me on Pinterest 

Click HERE to follow me on Twitter

Click HERE to like Abundance on a Dime on Facebook and get updates and tips on living frugally

Click HERE to like Cheap Appétit on Facebook and get updates and tips on frugal eating and cooking

Weekly Menu Retrospective #102

Welcome to my weekly roundup of the past week's eats. I prefer to report what we ate in the last week, rather than what we're planning to eat in the coming week. Why? The reason is pretty simple: although I usually have a general idea of what we're going to eat in the next week or so, life often unfolds a little differently than planned, and I adjust my menu plan on a near-daily basis to accommodate leftovers and other not-possible-to-plan-ahead circumstances. I find this is the easiest way to ensure that I minimize our family's food waste. I'm also willing to admit that I'm a rather spontaneous cook, given to preparing foods that strike me as the most appealing thing to eat right here and now!

If you'd like a whole book full of inexpensive, quick and kid-approved recipes, check out my book, Cheap Appétit : The Complete Guide to Feeding Your Family for Less Than $400 a Month (While Eating Better Than You Ever Thought Possible) on Amazon (Amazon.com, Amazon.ca and Amazon UK) and Barnes and Noble.  It's gotten multiple 5 star reviews!! I've included page references to recipes that are in the book in my menu plans so you can locate them quickly. For more details about the book, go here.    

Breakfasts:
Granola (p. 92) with yogurt, Carrot Raisin Bran Muffins (p. 102), Blueberry Clafouti (p. 223), yogurt cheese with pineapple and honey

Lunches: 
leftovers, sandwiches, pizza, scrambled eggs with toast and avocado

Dinners:

Monday: Chickpeas with Potatoes and Peas (p. 138)

Tuesday: Taco Platters 

Wednesday: Potato, Broccoli and Parmesan Frittata, tossed salad

Thursday: Lemon and Garlic Chicken (p. 184), Easy Oven Fries (p. 194), Creamy Cucumber Salad (p. 205)

Friday: Everything-But-the-Kitchen-Sink Lentil Soup (p. 162)

Saturday: Chicken and Red Pepper Pizza (basic Pizza in a Flash recipe on p. 133)

Sunday: Pork and Apple Stew (p. 156), Old-Fashioned Butterscotch Pudding (p. 233)

In keeping with my local and organic challenge, I'd also like to note the local and/or organic items on this week's menu:

Organic: coconut (in granola), coconut oil (in granola), raisins, sunflower and pumpkin seeds (in granola), flax seeds, spelt bran, tortilla chips, bananas, oranges, lemons, coffee (locally roasted and delivered by bike!), cornstarch, cane sugar,  mustard, tamari, cinnamon, ginger, cumin, black pepper, parsley, paprika, Fairytale tea, peppermint tea

Local: potatoes, carrots, onions, apples, cabbage, salsa (home-canned), ground beef (from VG Meats), honey (unpasteurized), milk, sour cream, Parmesan cheese 

Local AND organic: peanut butter, sesame seeds (used to top bread loaves), oats, milk (used to make yogurt), eggs (not "certified organic", but real free range and fed organic feed), apple cider vinegar,  popcorn, whole wheat flour

Want to know more about the specific food products I use and where I buy them? Check out my new "What's In My Pantry" board on Pinterest.  I will keep this board updated with current information on what products we use, where we're buying them, and how much we're paying. It's a work-in-progress, and you can find it HERE.

For more great meal ideas, check out Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com. 

DID YOU KNOW? I now have an events page! Come find out where you can catch up with me at a signing, seminar, workshop or food demo HERE.

Love what you read here? Find out how you can help support this blog. 

Want to stay connected in between blog posts?

Click HERE to follow me on Pinterest 

Click HERE to follow me on Twitter

Click HERE to like Abundance on a Dime on Facebook and get updates and tips on living frugally

Click HERE to like Cheap Appétit on Facebook and get updates and tips on frugal eating and cooking

Project: Fermentation

I think I have a commitment problem. I'm supposed to be working on The Great Room Shuffling and Reorganization Project, but I got obsessed with distracted by another activity I've been wanting to try for ages: fermenting things.(Does this Project ADD happen to anyone else, or am I the only one?)

Technically I *have* already done plenty of fermenting, as that is the process that takes place when you make yogurt and I've got that one down pat. Somehow, though, taking the step from yogurt making to lacto-fermenting fruits and vegetables was a bit of a leap for me, and I felt quite apprehensive about taking the plunge. One of my close friends happens to be quite experienced at fermenting things, so with her encouragement I finally JUST DID IT!

Lacto-fermentation is actually quite simple. You don't need any special equipment to get started, just some Mason jars, sea salt and your fruits and veggies of choice. Some recipes also call for whey, which you can easily obtain by making yogurt cheese; it's the liquid that drips out, SAVE IT! If you don't use up all your whey fermenting things, there's a list of other ways to use it here. I think the biggest thing to get over when starting to ferment fruits and vegetables is the leaving-jars-of-cut-up-produce-on-the-counter-for-days aspect; we are so conditioned to refrigerate everything in our culture!

The photo above shows my two initial fermented food experiments: a quart jar of cabbage (sauerkraut) and 2 pint jars of fermented lemons. I followed these basic instructions for fermenting the cabbage, and this recipe for the lemons. They have already spent their allotted time on the counter and have been moved to the fridge to "brew" further. I have been told the sauerkraut is usually good to start eating at this point; from what I've read, the lemons usually need a few weeks of fermenting in the fridge before they are ready to enjoy (they become much less salty tasting over time). 

Why bother to ferment foods? It's a very inexpensive way to add more probiotic bacteria to your system. There are many health benefits to increasing the amount of probiotic bacteria in your diet; they improve your gut health as well as your immune system. Probiotics have been shown to boost resistance to colds, flus and infections, and research has also shown a link between probiotic food consumption and lower levels of stress hormones and depression. For more details about the health benefits of fermented foods, check out this article.

Health benefits aside, it's just plain fun to pound a bowlful of cabbage with my meat tenderizer (actually, that just may be conferring some mental health benefits, lol). If you'd like to learn more about how to ferment foods, I recommend Sandor Katz's website, Wild Fermentation, and his book of the same name: Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods (yes, that is an Amazon affiliate link!). 

My next lacto-fermentation projects will likely be gingerale, ketchup (because my boys put it on everything!), ginger carrots and this cranberry chutney, which my fermenting-enthusiast friend Linda says is "the bomb" :)

Is anyone else out there a lacto-fermentation enthusiast? What are your favourite foods to ferment?

A NOTE FOR LOCAL READERS: IT'S HERE! My "Feeding Your Family On a Shoestring" course will be running this spring semester through the Continuing Education department at Mohawk College. There will be 4, three hour sessions and you will get to pick my brain about any ...and all aspects of feeding your family well on a small budget. We will be baking bread, making yogurt and flour tortillas, and cooking a variety of healthy, low budget dishes to add to your repertoire. I will also be sharing many tips and strategies for shopping and managing your kitchen to get the most out of your food dollars.

Course fee is $160 which includes a copy of my book, there is also an additional $25 fee for food costs. Classes start Monday April 29th, 7-10 p.m. More details on p. 52 of the spring 2013 Mohawk Continuing Ed calendar or follow this link and click on the "Creative and Visual Arts" section.

For families of four spending more than $700 a month on groceries, this course can easily pay for itself in 1-2 months!


DID YOU KNOW? I now have an events page! Come find out where you can catch up with me at a signing, seminar, workshop or food demo HERE.

Love what you read here? Find out how you can help support this blog. 

Want to stay connected in between blog posts?

Click HERE to follow me on Pinterest 

Click HERE to follow me on Twitter

Click HERE to like Abundance on a Dime on Facebook and get updates and tips on living frugally

Click HERE to like Cheap Appétit on Facebook and get updates and tips on frugal eating and cooking

Weekly Menu Retrospective #101

Welcome to my weekly roundup of the past week's eats. I prefer to report what we ate in the last week, rather than what we're planning to eat in the coming week. Why? The reason is pretty simple: although I usually have a general idea of what we're going to eat in the next week or so, life often unfolds a little differently than planned, and I adjust my menu plan on a near-daily basis to accommodate leftovers and other not-possible-to-plan-ahead circumstances. I find this is the easiest way to ensure that I minimize our family's food waste. I'm also willing to admit that I'm a rather spontaneous cook, given to preparing foods that strike me as the most appealing thing to eat right here and now!

If you'd like a whole book full of inexpensive, quick and kid-approved recipes, check out my book, Cheap Appétit : The Complete Guide to Feeding Your Family for Less Than $400 a Month (While Eating Better Than You Ever Thought Possible) on Amazon (Amazon.com, Amazon.ca and Amazon UK) and Barnes and Noble.  It's gotten multiple 5 star reviews!! I've included page references to recipes that are in the book in my menu plans so you can locate them quickly. For more details about the book, go here.    

Breakfasts:
Granola (p. 92), Orange Raisin Muffins, soaked version of Baked Oatmeal (p. 91), Blueberry Clafouti (p. 223), waffles

Lunches: 
leftovers, sandwiches, pizza, scrambled eggs with toast and avocado

Dinners:

Monday: Italian-Style Baked Pasta (p. 172), tossed salad

Tuesday: Chickpea and Vegetable Coconut Curry over brown rice (subbed chickpeas for chicken in this recipe, p. 136)

Wednesday: Lemony Chicken and Spinach Pasta (p. 150)

Thursday: Potato, Cheddar and Bacon Soup (p. 165), tossed salad

Friday: Potato and Parmesan Frittata (added leftover veggies from the fridge), fresh pineapple chunks

Saturday: Beef and Bean Enchiladas (made with my Whole Wheat and Flax Flour Tortillas, p. 217, and Taco Seasoning, p. 86)

Sunday: Barbecued pork chops with spicy rub, Skillet Millet, Colourful Cabbage Salad (p. 207)

In keeping with my local and organic challenge, I'd also like to note the local and/or organic items on this week's menu:

Organic: coconut (in granola), coconut oil (in granola), coconut milk, raisins (in granola), sunflower and pumpkin seeds (in granola), flax seeds, brown rice, romaine lettuce, bananas, oranges, lemons, coffee (locally roasted and delivered by bike!), cane sugar,  mustard, tamari, cinnamon, ginger, cumin, black pepper, parsley, paprika, Fairytale tea, peppermint tea

Local: potatoes, carrots, onions, apples, cabbage, salsa (home-canned), chicken and ground beef (from VG Meats), honey (unpasteurized), milk, sour cream, Parmesan cheese 

Local AND organic: peanut butter, sesame seeds (used to top bread loaves), oats, millet, milk (used to make yogurt), eggs (not "certified organic", but real free range and fed organic feed), apple cider vinegar,  popcorn, whole wheat flour

Want to know more about the specific food products I use and where I buy them? Check out my new "What's In My Pantry" board on Pinterest. I will keep this board updated with current information on what products we use, where we're buying them, and how much we're paying. It's a work-in-progress, and you can find it HERE.

For more great meal ideas, check out Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com. 

DID YOU KNOW? I now have an events page! Come find out where you can catch up with me at a signing, seminar, workshop or food demo HERE.

Love what you read here? Find out how you can help support this blog. 

Want to stay connected in between blog posts?

Click HERE to follow me on Pinterest 

Click HERE to follow me on Twitter

Click HERE to like Abundance on a Dime on Facebook and get updates and tips on living frugally

Click HERE to like Cheap Appétit on Facebook and get updates and tips on frugal eating and cooking

Your Friendly 24/7 Internet Repairman

There are so many ways that the internet has made life easier: money management (paying bills, budgeting, banking), staying in touch with far-flung friends (Skype and Facebook), crafts and home management (blog tutorials and guides) and reserving library materials are just a few that come to mind!

One of the things I am increasingly grateful for is what I've come to think of as my "internet repairman". My dh is a pretty handy guy, but occasionally things come up that he doesn't know how to deal with right off the top of his head. In the last year or so, there are two particular occasions where finding help on the internet saved us a significant amount of cash:

1. A holiday plumbing problem: On Christmas Day of 2011, we had a severely backed up toilet (yes, really, Christmas Day, at about 10:30 p.m. when we were all exhausted!) As this is our only toilet, it constituted somewhat of an emergency. My hubby ended up having to "pull" it (remove the toilet completely) to remove the blockage. He's done that part before, but after he got everything all put back together there was water leaking from around the shutoff valve (this is an old house, so the shutoff valve is fairly ancient). The leak was significant enough that we couldn't just leave it until normal business hours returned on December 27th. We shut off the water overnight and dealt with it the next morning. By Googling "leaky water shutoff valve" I was able to find a great article on the Family Handyman site which explained exactly how to fix this problem. It ended up being a 5 minute fix and saved us from calling a plumber on Boxing Day (I don't even want to think about how much plumbers probably charge on statutory holidays).

2. A stove that wouldn't heat up: We had noticed that our gas stove was taking longer and longer to heat up, and one day it finally ceased to heat at all. Once again, Google to the rescue! By searching "gas oven won't heat up" I easily discovered the problem was a part called, quite unsurprisingly, the igniter. Initially I figured we'd have to call in a repairman for this one, as tinkering around with gas appliances sounds a bit on the dangerous side. But I thought I might as well see what I could find on the Internet first. As it turns out, there are several helpful YouTube videos explaining how to replace the igniter in your gas stove - one of them featured a stove that was virtually identical to ours! Watching the video demonstration, it was obvious that this was a job that was well within Joe's skill set (heck, it looked easy enough that I think *I* could have done it!) Thankfully, we have a great appliance-parts store in our city, so we purchased the needed part and Joe installed it in just a few minutes, watching the YouTube video on his phone as he went along. It was a fairly expensive part (about $90), but calling in a repairman to diagnose the problem and do the installation would undoubtedly have been much more expensive!

It's not ALWAYS possible to fix things yourself, but with the amazing resources available on the internet these days, it's much more likely than you might think that you can do a needed repair without calling in an "expert".

Have you ever repaired a major appliance, or solved a plumbing, electrical, or other "technical" household problem using the wealth of resources on the internet?

DID YOU KNOW? I now have an events page! Come find out where you can catch up with me at a signing, seminar, workshop or food demo HERE.

Love what you read here? Find out how you can help support this blog. 

Want to stay connected in between blog posts?

Click HERE to follow me on Pinterest 

Click HERE to follow me on Twitter

Click HERE to like Abundance on a Dime on Facebook and get updates and tips on living frugally

Click HERE to like Cheap Appétit on Facebook and get updates and tips on frugal eating and cooking

RECIPE: Apricot-Coconut Baked Oatmeal

We eat a LOT of oats around here; they are probably my favourite grain. They are also incredibly economical; I am able to purchase locally grown organic oats for $2.66 a kilogram when I buy them in bulk!

As we're waiting out these last few weeks of cool weather before spring officially arrives, I'm in major comfort-food mode. I find these last few weeks of winter weather just about the hardest weeks of the year to get through and my body feels really "done" with the cold temperatures and lack of warm sunshine. So, I decided to play around with one of my tried-and-true winter breakfasts and come up with a new twist on it. The apricots give it a nice zing and add a hit of bright colour, providing a welcome invigorating boost to get through these winter "blahs"!

I've been playing around with soaking grains a bit (some people feel this is a beneficial process although there is heated debate about that). I made a "soaked" version of this recipe, which was tasty but a much softer texture than the non-soaked version. Directions for both versions are below.

Ingredients:

3 cups rolled oats
2 cups milk
1/4 cup honey (I like a darker honey like wildflower or buckwheat for this recipe)
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped dried apricots, soaked in boiling water for about 10 minutes to soften
1/2 cup coconut


Instructions:
For the "regular" version: Combine all ingredients and mix well. Pour into greased 9" x 13" baking dish and bake at 375F for 25 minutes or until firm.

For the "soaked" version: Combine the oats with 2 cups water and 1/4 cup yogurt. Cover and let sit overnight. In the morning, add remaining ingredients (reducing milk from 2 cups to 1/2 cup) and bake as above (it may need a few more minutes of cooking time than the unsoaked version).

I like to serve this with a drizzle of honey and a splash of milk or light cream.

Do you have a favourite way to serve oats for breakfast?

Want to know more about the specific food products I use and where I buy them? Check out my new "What's In My Pantry" board on Pinterest. I will keep this board updated with current information on what products we use, where we're buying them, and how much we're paying. It's a work-in-progress, and you can find it HERE.

DID YOU KNOW? I now have an events page! Come find out where you can catch up with me at a signing, seminar, workshop or food demo HERE.

Love what you read here? Find out how you can help support this blog. 

Want to stay connected in between blog posts?

Click HERE to follow me on Pinterest 

Click HERE to follow me on Twitter

Click HERE to like Abundance on a Dime on Facebook and get updates and tips on living frugally

Click HERE to like Cheap Appétit on Facebook and get updates and tips on frugal eating and cooking

Weekly Menu Retrospective #100

Welcome to my weekly roundup of the past week's eats. I prefer to report what we ate in the last week, rather than what we're planning to eat in the coming week. Why? The reason is pretty simple: although I usually have a general idea of what we're going to eat in the next week or so, life often unfolds a little differently than planned, and I adjust my menu plan on a near-daily basis to accommodate leftovers and other not-possible-to-plan-ahead circumstances. I find this is the easiest way to ensure that I minimize our family's food waste. I'm also willing to admit that I'm a rather spontaneous cook, given to preparing foods that strike me as the most appealing thing to eat right here and now!

If you'd like a whole book full of inexpensive, quick and kid-approved recipes, check out my book, Cheap Appétit : The Complete Guide to Feeding Your Family for Less Than $400 a Month (While Eating Better Than You Ever Thought Possible) on Amazon (Amazon.com, Amazon.ca and Amazon UK) and Barnes and Noble.  It's gotten multiple 5 star reviews!! I've included page references to recipes that are in the book in my menu plans so you can locate them quickly. For more details about the book, go here.    

Breakfasts:
Granola (p. 92), Banana Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins (variation of this recipe, p. 96), Upside-Down Apple Oven Pancake (p. 95), soaked version of Baked Oatmeal (p. 91)

Lunches: 
leftovers, sandwiches, pizza

Dinners:

Monday: Thai-Style Peanutty Pasta (p. 147)

Tuesday: Black Bean Chili (meatless version; p. 160), Cornbread (p. 212)

Wednesday: Smothered meatballs (p. 143), mashed potatoes, peas and carrots

Thursday: Cheese and bacon omelettes, Easy Oven Fries (p. 194)

Friday: Spaghetti with meat sauce (for the boys; I was out with a friend)

Saturday: Pork with Cabbage, Apples and Onions

Sunday: Roast chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, peas and carrots, Apple Crisp (p. 220)

In keeping with my local and organic challenge, I'd also like to note the local and/or organic items on this week's menu:

Organic: coconut (in granola), coconut oil (in granola), coconut milk, canola oil, raisins (in granola), sunflower and pumpkin seeds (in granola), flax seeds, pasta, corn, lemons, coffee (locally roasted and delivered by bike!), cane sugar,  mustard, tamari, cinnamon, ginger, cumin, black pepper, parsley, paprika, Fairytale tea, peppermint tea

Local: potatoes, carrots, onions, apples, cabbage, salsa (home-canned), ground beef (from VG Meats), honey (unpasteurized), milk, sour cream, Parmesan cheese 

Local AND organic: peanut butter, sesame seeds (used to top bread loaves), oats, cornmeal, milk (used to make yogurt), eggs (not "certified organic", but real free range and fed organic feed), apple cider vinegar,  popcorn, whole wheat flour

Want to know more about the specific food products I use and where I buy them? Check out my new "What's In My Pantry" board on Pinterest. I will keep this board updated with current information on what products we use, where we're buying them, and how much we're paying. It's a work-in-progress, and you can find it HERE.

For more great meal ideas, check out Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com. 

DID YOU KNOW? I now have an events page! Come find out where you can catch up with me at a signing, seminar, workshop or food demo HERE.

Love what you read here? Find out how you can help support this blog. 

Want to stay connected in between blog posts?

Click HERE to follow me on Pinterest 

Click HERE to follow me on Twitter

Click HERE to like Abundance on a Dime on Facebook and get updates and tips on living frugally

Click HERE to like Cheap Appétit on Facebook and get updates and tips on frugal eating and cooking