March Challenge--Healthy eating Menu--Week Four

Chicken and Veggie Salad with organic ranch dressing

I'm a few days behind in posting my menu plan for the week as I went out of town with my mom for a women's conference this weekend.  But here it is, complete with price break-downs:

Breakfast:

Oatmeal x3

 (My hubby amazingly decided to start eating oatmeal a few times a week!  This is HUGE for our family as the kids want to eat what Daddy eats!  I'm so excited!  He is doing it because oatmeal is cheaper, but it's also healthier too!)

1.50 cents to feed 6 people

Scrambled eggs with cheese (made with farm-fresh eggs from a local ranch)

$3 to feed 5 of us (hubby won't eat scrambled eggs)

Cereal x3

(I've been trying to do organic cereals and homemade granola as much as possible this month)

$3 per morning

Snacks

Fruit/Veggies--$10 per week (thanks to Bountiful Baskets)

Bread (organic 9-Grain) and Butter--$2.50 for 1 snack for 4 ravenous kids

Hardboiled eggs--$2.50 per dozen (1 dozen equals 1 snack for my kids)

Oatmeal/Apple muffins  Approximately $4 for 24 muffins

Cheese --50cents to $1 thanks to a $2/lb. sale on cheese

Lunches

PB&J with organic PB, organic bread, and all-fruit jam 

$3.50 for 6 people (not including side dishes like fruit/veggies from the fridge)

Leftovers x2  FREE

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

$5 for 6 people

Bean Burritos (locally grown pinto beans and homemade tortillas) 

 Approximately $3 for 6 people

Vitamin Smoothies

80 cents for 4 smoothies

Suppers

Elk roast in the crockpot, baked potatoes, brussel sprouts

(Elk meat was a gift from a friend) $4 for 6 people plus leftovers

Macaroni and Cheese, homemade, vegetables

(Pasta isn't exactly healthy, but the kids love this, so it's a compromise!)

$4 for 6 people, no leftovers

Quinoa with Chicken and Veggie Stir-Fry

$8 for 6 people plus leftovers

Whole Wheat Pizza, with homemade sauce and veggie toppings

$4-$5 thanks to a cheese sale where I got cheese at $2/lb.

Chili, cornbread, Mexican melon

$5, which includes the peppers, onions, tomatoes, melon from BB

So, my total from the listed meals and snacks is around $80.  Of course this doesn't include pantry staples like spices, oil, the milk we drink, etc. Our produce, milk, butter, cheese, flour is not  technically "organic."  I cannot afford to purchase organic because of how much it costs in our small, rural town.  But our wheat does come from a neighboring state and Wheat Montana does not use genetically modified wheat or pesticides on their crops.  Our fruits and veggies get washed thoroughly with a veggie wash and we buy milk that is from cows not treated with hormones.

Is it possible to eat non-processed foods on a tight budget?  Yes!  Is it a challenge, especially with voracious eaters like my kids?  Absolutely!  It takes lots of work, but it is well-worth the effort if you are concerned about giving your family quality, nutritious food and avoiding artificial colors, preservatives, chemicals, and sugar.  If you can obtain wild game, this will give your budget a huge boost, and provide you with organic, grass-fed meat!  The Bountiful Baskets produce co-op has enabled us to eat many more fruits and veggies.  If you can join a similar group, or get to know a local farmer and barter for fresh produce, it will help you provide your family with healthy foods for less.  I am always looking for sales/clearance deals/bulk purchasing discounts, etc.

The reason I've included only 5 lunches and dinners here is because during the weekend we didn't exactly do healthy meals.  I went to a women's retreat in a nearby town and didn't have time to make homemade frozen pizzas for my family.  So they ate some Digiornos I found for $3 on sale, and my mom and I had a mostly healthy picnic for dinner in the car on the way to the retreat (Tabouli, chicken salad sandwiches, organic pears, and Girl Scout Cookies (yum!), and then on Sunday, we ate at a Mexican restaurant for lunch, and at my parent's house for dinner to celebrate my birthday.

The conference theme color was blue.  There was a Sweet Treat Buffet at break time, complete with two cotton candy trees! 

While it's great to eat healthily most of the time, it's fun to have some treats every once in a while too!

March Challenge--Healthy Eating Menu--Week Three

I'm loving this eating challenge!  It's been fun, and I'm finding that I feel so much more satisfied on healthier foods.  In all honesty, we aren't making enormous changes in doing this challenge.  We didn't eat terribly before, so switching to more organic foods or cutting out a few processed foods like crackers/granola bars etc. for snacks hasn't been that hard.  But, I am making a more concious effort to know what we are eating, know where our food has come from, and to cut out artificial colors and dyes.  I'm realizing again how little of the food in the grocery store is actually real food! 

One thing I would NOT recommend:  kelp pancakes!  A friend and I did a green picnic in honor of St. Patrick's Day being tomorrow and I tried to dye the whole wheat pancakes I made with kelp powder since I didn't have liquid chlorophyll handy.  Though I added more honey to cover the kelp taste, they still tasted funky and only half of the 8 kids ate them.  I can't say I blame them, I didn't like them myself! 

Breakfasts:

Cereal (Arrowhead Mills Puffed Rice, Homemade Granola or Cheerios) x 5

Organic 9-Grain toasted or made into French Toast x2

Lunches:

Leftovers

Sandwiches with organic PB and raw local honey

Quesadillas made with ww tortillas and mozzarella cheese

Snacks:

Banana Crumble muffins

Fruits/Veggies from Bountiful Baskets

Bread and Butter

Popcorn (popped in a pan over the kitchen stove)

Dinners:

Quinoa and Veggies Stir-Fry

Whole Wheat Pasta with Spaghetti sauce, organic garlic bread

Chicken and Vegetable Bulgur Stew, whole wheat biscuits

Wild Rice Chicken Casserole (with wild rice my in-laws brought out last week from MN!)

Whole Wheat Pizza with Vegetable toppings and fresh green salad

Fish fillets, steamed veggies, baked potatoes

Leftovers

Next week, when I report back I will try to include a cost break-down so you can see what I spent on the meals listed above!

March Challenge--Healthy Eating Menu

Last week's granola was a hit with the family!  It was delicious, but my family went through 24+ cups of it (plus other cereal and breakfast food) in 10 days!  My family eats a LOT, which makes it difficult to feed them healthily at all times.

The hearty lentil chili was a little spicy, but delicious!  We took it to a church potluck and there was plenty leftover for a couple more meals too.  It was a hit with the gluten-free folks at the potluck and so we shared some with them.  I threw in some black beans and we ate it with cornbread and on rice for leftovers.

The chicken vegetable curry on forbidden rice was WONDERFUL!  I liked it soooo much that I had to put it on the menu again for this week's meals!

We tried to avoid processed foods, but didn't freak out when Grammy shared these delicious daffodil cupcakes with us.  We received a free package of Oreos from our local grocery store this week in celebration of Oreos 100th birthday, and we ordered Dominos when 3 of Josiah's family members decided to come stay with us on short notice for the weekend.

Today, I was excited to go to a Local Food Fair in a nearby town where farmers and ranchers sold local goods and gave info on their products!  I purchased 12# of raw, local honey and 8# of locally grown, pesticide-free beans.

Here is this week's menu plan:

Breakfasts:

Cascadian Farms Organic Granola (purchased on a good sale with coupons)

Arrowhead Mills Puffed Rice

Organic Toast with organic raspberry jam with half the amount of sugar

Snacks:

Fruits and veggies

Mozzarella cheese wedges

Puffed Rice with milk

Organic 9-grain bread and butter

Yogurt/Spinach smoothies

Lunches:

PB and honey sandwiches (Bountiful Basket organic bread)x2

Annie's Mac N' Cheese

Leftovers x3

Organic black beans in homemade whole wheat tortillas, with cheese

Suppers:

Crockpot Chicken Curry on organic brown rice

Beef steaks and steamed brocolli and roasted butter gold potatoes

Pork chop/potato casserole (scalloped potatoes) made with homemade cream of chicken soup

Whole Wheat Panckes topped with organic 100% pure maple syrup, Farm-fresh scrambled eggs

Pepper Stir-Fry on organic brown rice (using BBasket peppers up)

Elk roast (cooked in the crockpot), brussel sprouts, mashed potatoes

Leftovers

I'm thrilled to check out the sites of those who are participating with me in this challenge!  Can't wait to try some new recipes!

It's March! Time for a Challenge!

Quinoa with veggies sauteed in butter and garlic salt--a yummy lunch!

Over the last few weeks I've been interested in feeding my family more natural foods.  Part of it is the fact that we are now fortunate enough to get Bountiful Baskets, which has led to a more healthful diet and a lot more variety with our produce.  Also, it seems every day I see an article like this one circulating, causing me to think about where our food comes from.  Lastly, part of it is because one of my closest friends, Amanda, has been on an organic/healthful eating kick since August, after returning from a trip to Africa and seeing a stark contrast from the healthful foods they ate there as opposed to the overly processed foods we eat here, even though we are wealthier and have far more choices when it comes to food.


Amanda has challenged me to blog about this so that I can stay accountable.  I'll be linking to her blog as well over the course of the month as she posts new recipes.  My plan is to post my menu for the week and an update on what we ate and how things are going.  I would LOVE if you would share any tips/recipes/online sources for eating quality foods.  I can't afford to go all-out organic, and I'm not going vegetarian, but looking for food ideas that are made from quality, whole foods, preferably non-GMO and as unrefined as possible, and organic whenever possible.  This doesn't mean I won't be eating some quality chocolate or won't bend a little bit if we happen to be eating out at some point in the next month!  I don't want natural living to become an idol, which can happen easily as it's easy to get focused on yourself when you are thinking about the products you use and the things that you eat.


Do any of you want to do this challenge with me?  If so, I'd love to have you join me!  Link to your blog in the comments or leave a little note telling me what changes you would like to make in this area of your own life!

Here is my menu for the coming week.  Friday is pay day and so I usually shop on Friday or Saturday.

Breakfasts:
Homemade granola x3
Arrowhead Mills Puffed Rice x2
Whole-wheat pancakes (topped with organic PB, honey, or homemade yogurt) x1
Farm-fresh eggs purchased from a friend x1 and organic bread toast


Snacks:
Our family rule is that morning snack is fruits or veggies (thanks to BB!)  So the kids can have apples, oranges, bananas, carrots, mangoes, etc.
Afternoon snacks can be homemade bread and butter, smoothies, quesadillas, baked goodies, etc. in addition to fruits and veggies.
String cheese
Herbal vitamin smoothie (My friend Nicci taught me to make these as an alternative to whole-food vitamins and I LOVE them!  I've been doing them daily for a few weeks and I feel a HUGE difference in my stamina, attitude, overall health, etc.)
Green smoothies with yogurt, spinach, fruits


Lunches:
Black Bean and Cheese burritos on ww tortillas x2
Leftovers x3
PB & J (organic peanut butter, raw honey, organic bread) x2


Suppers:
Crockpot Chicken/Veggie Curry served over Forbidden Rice
Quinoa/Elk/Veggie casserole, homemade 9-Grain bread
Whole Wheat Pizza and salad
Tabouli (a long-time family fave!), homemade pita bread, salad
Baked Potatoes (organic), roasted veggies (whatever comes in our BBasket on Sat.), fruit salad
Hearty Lentil Chili and cornbread
Leftovers


I'm wondering if anyone knows of a brand of ww tortillas and a brand/type of cheese that is less-processed and natural?  We go through a lot of tortillas and it can be hard to keep up when I make them from scratch.  We also go through a lot of cheese and I'm wondering which cheeses are genetically modified/filled with artificial colors, etc.

Over the course of this month I'll report back on how our week went and talk about cost of food and how to get the best deals on healthy foods!

More Natural Living

I have been growing in the areas of more natural living over the last year, as was my desire. However, I doubt I will ever be one of those people who makes their own shampoo out of coconut oil and refuses to touch anything that's not organic. Costs are just too high here and many whole foods aren't even available.


Here is a list I made about a year ago regarding my natural living goals. I've highlighted in blue the ones that we've accomplished thus far! It's amazing to me how far we've come in just a year!



*Make some cloth diapers and go back to using cloth during the day. I learned to make them and even taught others to make them! We are currently stocked up until Justus is about 6 months old with disposables from his baby shower but then we will be back to cloth.



*Drink herbal/green teas in place of or in addition to a cup of hot cocoa each day. I've been drinking more water and in an effort to lose baby weight have given up my beloved hot cocoa.

*Eat more quinoa/brown rice in place of white rice. Quinoa is yummy! We've switched from using a variety of rices to now using only brown or wild rice. We love quinoa too but it recently raised in price from $3 a pound to $6 a pound so when our stash runs out I doubt we'll be buying more until it goes down.

*Drink soy milk instead of cow's milk. (Tried it for a while before I got preggo with Justus. I like it but it's expensive and there are mixed reviews on whether it's really that good for you or not.)

*Learn how to make hummus and homemade pita bread. Need to try pita bread sometime.

*Take evening primrose oil capsules to see if it helps with PMS. Haven't done this yet since I've been pregnant for most of the last year but I did buy them right before I found out I was pregnant and plan to begin taking them soon!

*Buy some eco-bulbs to conserve on electricity. King Jo said no on this since our bad wiring in our building tends to blow lightbulbs every month. When we have our own place, but it would just be a waste of money here.

*Eat more fruit in place of sweets. Did this during the summer but need to continue doing so now that baking and cooking season is upon us.



Far-fetched goals:

*Buy a juicer and make fresh juices. Didn't buy a juicer but I did start making a lot more fruit smoothies and yogurt/fruit smoothies this summer...that's a start!

*Buy most, if not all, organic produce and meats. Produce, nope! Not an option here where they have about 2 fruit options in the entire store that are organic and they are more than double the cost of regular. Thanks to my folk's we have had lots of elk, for free, which is the tastiest, most organic meat ever!

*Get my hubby and kids to like whole wheat spaghetti. Still working on this!

*Learn to make my own laundry detergent. Since I started this in Feb. I haven't stopped! I love homemade laundry detergent and it's sooooo easy. I just mix 1bar of grated ivory, 1 C. of borax, and 1 C. washing soda and use 2 T. per load. I've tried making the liquid form too but it's simpler to do the powder and works just as well!

*Learn how to make all-natural soaps. Thanks to my friend Heather's blog, I got a recipe for making your own hand soap out of castile soap and almond oil. Something I definitely want to try soon!

*Buy all our drinking water in recycled jugs instead of drinking chlorinated tap water. Instead of buying all of our water, we ended up with something even better! I got a Brita pitcher on a major clearance with a great internet coupon for $2. Since then, Walgreens has done three different months of free pitcher cartridges (and yes, they fit the Brita) so we've had delicious-tasting water for the last 6 months for only $2 total thus far!



For the future, when we have a house of our own:

*Dry my laundry outdoors, especially in the summer (but for now washer and dryer are free in our building)

*Have a large organic garden

*Use all-natural cleaners. I'm using Dr. Bronner's Sal Suds for most cleaning and vinegar in a spray bottle for the rest.

*Teach my kids to reduce, re-use, and recycle! We work on being frugal, using things up, and not wasting food, but I still have a lot to teach them in this area.

*Start a compost pile. My hippie neighbor started one for all of us to use here.


Other things I'm making an effort in:
Since reading a book on the 14 superfoods, I've started trying to incorporate more salmon, pumpkin, flax, and berries into our diet. I no longer buy Fruit Roll Ups or Fruit Snacks even if they are on a good sale (with the exception being for birthdays) and am trying to cut back my calories personally to get back in shape after baby.

Clean Veggies

I found this great new product a couple of weeks ago! I'm hoping this will help make the Dirty Dozen less dirty (see my posts on Natural Living for a recap of the produce most likely to contain pesticides). Where we live there are very few options for organic produce. Sometimes you see it, sometimes you don't. I was planning to buy organic apples last week and the store didn't have any. For that matter they didn't have anything organic in the produce section! So, I figure that using this cleansing spray is the next best thing until we can grow our own garden. This cost a little over $4 at the health food store and is all-natural. It should last a long time. Have any of you used this or something similar?

The Dirty Dozen

Also sent to me by friend Heather was a list of produce that you should always buy organic.

Quote from the Harmony Natural Food's newsletter:

According to the Environmental Working Group's analysis of data from over 43,000 tests on pesticides in conventional produce, over 90% of ingestion of pesticides in foods can be eliminated by avoiding the most contaminated foods. "Federal produce tests tell us that some fruits and vegetables are so likely to be contaminated with pesticides that you should always buy them organic. Others are so consistently clean that you can eat them with less concern, " says EWG Senior Vice President Richard Wiles.

So, what are the DIRTY DOZEN?

peaches (97% tested positive for residue)
apples (92% tested positive)
sweet bell peppers
celery
nectarines
strawberries
cherries
pears
imported grapes
spinach
lettuce
potatoes

The Consistently Clean

onions (90% tested negative)
avocados (90%)
sweet corn* (90%)
pineapples
mango
asparagus
sweet peas
kiwi
bananas
cabbage
broccoli
papaya

*may contain GMOs

Source: The Organic Consumer's Association website at www.organicconsumers.org


Anyone have any thoughts on washing fruit off well and on how pesticides in our produce affect us?

One of my Natural Living Goals Met!

I finally got some time to make a homemade Fuzzi Bunz diaper tonight! I couldn't believe how easy they are to make! If only I had known about making these a few years ago! I found some free diaper patterns and instructions online here, but I found using a disposable diaper to trace my own pattern was easiest for me. Because I didn't know what I was doing, it took and hour and a half. But once I get the hang of these I can whip these babies out in no time! First I'd like to see how they work on Baby Jer and whether or not they leak. If they work out really well, I'm going to buy a bunch more PUL (a special water-proof fabric for the outer layer) from A Cut Above Fabrics online and make more! This green piece of PUL cost $3 plus shipping and handling. All the other materials necessary for it were things I already had in my fabric or rag stash.

Because this is my first, it's definitely NOT perfect. I realized at the end that I should have put the fastener elastic further down on the diaper. Because I didn't, I had to put a couple of snaps just above the leg to help lock those side tabs down. But, the plus side of this is that I've never done snaps before but because I needed them, I was forced to learn! All you need is a hammer and they are as easy as pie to do! Now that I know how to use snaps in my sewing I can make so many more things....... Don't ya just love learning new skills?

I'll keep you all posted on how the diaper works for my "now-very-crunchy" baby! The nice thing about these homemade ones is you can tailor-make them to fit your baby's body. That's why I added elastic around the top front, for extra leakage protection. My baby has a very skinny (almost non-existant) bum, so I may need to make some adjustments on the next one depending on how this one fits.

I'm excited because one of my friends has been ordered by her doctor to use cloth diapers and she doesn't know where to start. Her son keeps getting infections down there. So, now that I know how to make these, I'll be able to help her out and save her $20 per diaper (what Fuzzi Bunz cost online!)

Update:

My diaper was a bit too small for Jer, and I wish I'd done the tabs like the instructions showed so they would stretch further and not rub on his skin. My snaps didn't snap because the diaper was too small. However, it still works okay and with a little tweaking it will definitely be usable, if not for Jer, then for my friend's smaller baby. It worked VERY WELL at containing leaks and keeping him dry, wicking the moisture away from his skin. I'm going to take the tips in the comments section and order some more PUL and get busy sewing more!

Herbal Bath Recipe

My midwife Becky gave me this amazing recipe before I had my daughter at home. She emphasized over and over how beneficial it would be for me and she even started the first pot of leaves boiling while I rested up after the birth. Other women who had delivered at home and had used herbal baths highly recommended them too. I've used it after having both babies, even though my second baby was born in the hospital and we don't have an actual bathtub in our apartment here. These herbs are especially beneficial for healing cuts/tears and the urninary tract as well as the garlic being a natural antiseptic against infection.
You may smell a bit like garlic and it may be extra work for your hubby or your mom to help you make these 2-3 times a day, but I can guarantee you that soaking for 15 minutes a couple of times a day in a hot herbal bath does wonders for your body and your mind after the rigors of natural childbirth. I healed very quickly after my daughter's birth because I started them right away just hours after giving birth. Note: This herbal soak is also a natural way to get rid of hemorroids you may have acquired during giving birth! I have yet to try it for yeast infections, but I'm sure it would help some and is worth trying before pursuing antibiotic remedies.

Herbal Bath

It’s easier to buy the leaves ahead of time and mix them together in a big bowl or gallon size Ziploc bag so you don‘t have to individually measure them every day.
2 Cups comfrey leaves
2 Cups uva ursi leaves
2 C. shepherd’s purse leaves

1. Bring large pot of water to boil. Turn off. Add ½-¾ C. of the leaf mixture and ½ C. sea salt. Also add 2-3 fresh, crushed garlic bulbs (it’s much easier to just buy a jar of fresh chopped garlic and add 2 Tablespoons). Cover pot. Let steep for at least ½ hour. (Preferably a few hours or overnight).

2. Strain water through colander, mesh strainer, or cheesecloth. Save the leaves to use with the next batch for the next pot. Pour about 5 oz. Of the herbal bath into your peri bottle (a bottle used to squirt yourself off every time you use the bathroom) and fill the remainder of the peri bottle with water. Pour the rest of the pot into the bathtub after you have plugged the tub and add 6-8 inches of hot water.

3. Soak in tub 10-15 minutes, 2-3 times a day until healed.

4. Enjoy!!!

5. Use the saved leaves from the first batch in the second batch but then on the third batch throw out all the old leaves and start fresh. Save the leaves from the third batch to add to the fourth, but start fresh on the 5th, and so on and so forth.

6. What works nicely is if you or your husband put a pot on before you go to bed (but don't leave the burner on all night!) and then it will steep all night and you can take a bath sometime in the morning. Then after you finish your morning bath, you can put a pot on immediately after and use it in the afternoon or evening for a bath.
This recipe for one batch makes approximately 10 baths (5 days worth if you do two a day) and costs approximately $10-15.

Goals for More Natural Living

Since we're talking about being crunchy, I decided to just keep rolling with this topic since it's so much fun!

It may not be New Year's yet, but it's a good time of year to evaluate my habits and set goals for 2008. Here are my crunchy goals:

Realistic:

*Make some cloth diapers and go back to using cloth during the day to save on diapers.
*Drink herbal/green teas in place of or in addition to a cup of hot cocoa each day.
*Eat more quinoa/brown rice in place of white rice. Quinoa is yummy!
*Drink soy milk instead of cow's milk.
*Learn how to make hummus and homemade pita bread.
*Take evening primrose oil capsules to see if it helps with PMS
*Buy some eco-bulbs to conserve on electricity
*Eat more fruit in place of sweets

Far-fetched goals:

*Buy a juicer and make fresh juices (however, this would imply having fruit around! It's so expensive here!)
*Buy most, if not all, organic produce and meats
*Get my hubby and kids to like whole wheat spaghetti
*Learn to make my own laundry detergent
*Learn how to make all-natural soaps
*Buy all our drinking water in recycled jugs instead of drinking chlorinated tap water

For the future, when we have a house of our own:

*Dry my laundry outdoors, especially in the summer (but for now washer and dryer are free in our building)
*Have a large organic garden
*Use all-natural cleaners
*Teach my kids to reduce, re-use, and recycle!
*Start a compost pile

Okay...maybe I should copy what Meredith said on my previous post, and go hug a tree! *LOL* I'd love to hear YOUR goals for living more naturally, either in the comments section or on your own personal blogs.

Crunchy Mama?

How crunchy are you? I have heard that term thrown around a bit online and wondered exactly what it means. I found this definition:

crunchy mama

Mother who supports homebirth, breastfeeding, baby wearing, cloth diapering, co-sleeping, gentle discipline, etc. One who questions established medical authority; tends to be vegetarian and/or prepare all-organic foods. See crunchy and hippie.

In our town, we have a different term for this kind of person. We call them NOLSIES. This is because we have the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) here and this brings lots of "crunchy" people to our town.

I found this quiz, titled, "How Crunchy are you?" Check it out here.

I got a score of 112. I'm not extremely crunchy, or super crunchy, but I'm very crunchy. I have used both disposable and cloth, and at times disposables have been the more frugal choice for us and better for our sanity. I'm in the process of trying to sew some All-in-one cloth diapers for my son for daytime use to cut costs a little bit in that area. I try my best to breastfeed for a year, but I end up needing to supplement some with formula around 9 or 10 months due to a lagging milk supply. I'm very pro home-birth and have had one, but I also recognize many don't have that option or can't do it because of complications or don't want to. I love waterbirth and highly recommend it!

We can't afford to buy very much organic food, but my goal is to get us eating more of it and I'm trying to find it cheaply or on sale so that we can eat as natural as possible. When I have a home and a garden of my own, I will definitely mimic my mom's style of growing my own organic veggies and herbs. I'm leery of doctors, but use them when we have to, I'm a delayed vaxer, and very interested in herbal/home remedies. I'm very into the fertility awareness stuff for avoiding pregnancy/trying to conceive. Co-sleeping doesn't work well for us to get any sleep (though my husband is all for it--he loves cuddling with sleeping kiddies) and neither of my kids really liked being in the sling a lot. I've recently given up cow's milk (for myself, not the kids) in favor of Soy milk. I use some regular cleaners and detergent along with using vinegar water, but I'm wanting to use more all-natural cleaners in the future and quit buying commercial cleaners altogether. We do circumcise (unlike many crunchy mamas) and we do believe it is Biblical to spank our children (whereas the more New-Age crunchy types think it's teaching a child to hit). I'm excited that we might soon get a recycling service at our apartment building. I try to bike and walk where I can instead of wasting gas in my car. We don't eat a ton of meat (because of the cost), but we definitely aren't vegetarian.

I definitely won't be giving up make-up or shaving my legs, like some crunchies! I also don't need to worry about wearing organic clothes as no one in our family has skin allergies.

Being crunchy isn't my goal in life. Following God is! Most crunchy issues are non-moral ones and up to people's preferences. Life is short so we don't need to be too uptight! We also don't need to force crunchy tendencis on others. If I tend to be a bit crunchy it's because I want my family to be as healthy as possible and be a good steward of the earth's resources! If I get overly worried about eating food contaminants I remind myself that death is inevitable and God is in charge. Even if I bought all organic and ate the most healthy diet possible, I'm still going to die someday and so will everyone else. Reaching them with the Gospel is far more important than what's on our table. If you slack off in the food area and let your kids have junk food and candy sometimes (we do), oh well! Just don't slack in the area of teaching them Biblical values!

Take the quiz and let me know how crunchy you are!

For my friends in MN: I miss Harmony Natural Foods and Luekens (organic section) so much!

Tip for Crunchy folks planning to give stuff out to trick-or-treaters: My friend Lora is giving out little 100% apple-juice boxes she got on sale instead of candy. Since I already have some Snickers around, I'll have to try this next year. She also mentioned how little boxes of raisins or dried fruit or nuts would be a great idea too! I would take it one step further by wrapping a little Bible verse or invitation to AWANAS around the juice box on a piece of pretty paper!