*After you read this post, be sure to read the second post in this series, with thoughts on how I would improve upon this budget.*
I had way too much fun writing this post.
I hinted on Facebook last week that I was working on a post detailing what I would buy if I could only spend $250 a month for our family of 5 (we currently spend $450, although that does include some household goods/toiletries, which my $250 budget doesn't).
My goal? To prove that you can still eat real, whole, nourishing foods even on a tight budget and while living in an expensive area.
A few caveats to help you explain what I've done here:
- I used Canadian prices. I realize most of you live in the US. These prices should be encouraging, because they are generally more expensive than what you would pay in most US grocery stores.
- I did this based on an average, popular grocery store chain where I live (Extra Foods/Superstore). Not a discount chain, mind you, but just an average store with decent prices.
- I didn't use all of the tricks that are usually a part of my repertoire. First, I wanted to see if I could do it with only careful planning and from-scratch cooking. No gardening, backyard chickens, food co-op, preserving, coupons, discounted/near-expiry items, shopping multiple stores for sales, etc. I didn't even use my beloved produce market's prices. I wanted this to relate to anyone.
- I didn't include any food allergies or special substitutions, but I'll address that a little bit in the next post.
- I did include eggs from a local hobby farm for $3 a dozen (these are the eggs I actually buy), as well as ground beef and beef bones from a local meat store that offers mostly grass-fed (grain-finished, but otherwise very clean meat) for reasonable prices. I considered using only grocery store meat offerings, but wanted to see if I could keep all of the meat sources (because it's at the top of the food chain) a bit cleaner and most people could find a similar source of meat locally if they were to really look/ask around.
The gist of it is, anyone could eat like this. You don't have to live on acreage, or have access to special stores, or be a master gardener or food preserver. You simply have to be willing to plan carefully, eat a bit less meat, and cook from scratch.
Image by *clairity*
My $250 Budget Grocery Shopping List
Grains
- Whole Grain Rolled Oats- 1 Kg ($2- sale x 2 = $4)
- Organic Brown Rice Pasta- 2 454g packages ($2.79 x 2= $5.58)
- Brown Basmati Rice 4.54 Kg (10 lbs) $12.99 (this would probably last two months)
- Whole Wheat Flour 22 lbs $8.78
Dairy
- Full (whipping) Cream 1 L $4.13
- Whole Organic Milk (not raw) $8.50 per gallon (x2) = $17
- Cheddar Cheese 907 g $8.99
- Mozzarella Cheese 907 g $8.99
- Regular Salted Butter 1 lb $3.29 x 4 = $13.16
- Sour Cream (full fat) 1 L $3.88
Produce
- 20 lb Russet Potatoes (local) $8.98
- 5 lb Ambrosia Apples (local) $4.98
- 5 lbs Carrots $3.48
- 1 Large Celery $1.98
- 1 Large Green Cabbage $2.34
- 1 Broccoli Bunch (3 smaller heads) $0.96 (sale)
- 2 Field Cucumbers (local greenhouse) $0.98 each = $1.96
- 10 lb Navel Oranges $5.96 (sale)
- 3 lbs Yellow Onions $2.48
- Large Bag Baby Spinach $3.48
Image by cookbookman17
Meat/Fish/Protein Sources
- Dry Kidney Beans 450 g bag $2.58
- Dry White Beans 450 g bag $2.28
- Dry Pinto Beans 450 g bag $1.88
- Dry Red Lentils 450 g $2.78
- Canned Wild Pink Salmon 213 g $2 each x 4 = $8 (sale)
- (Mostly) Grass-Fed Local Ground Beef 4 lbs x $2.50 ($10.00)
- Whole Chicken ("free from" antibiotics, hormones, etc.) 1.93 kg (4.25 lbs) $15.29
- Eggs $3 per dozen x 5 = $15
- Large Bag Local (Mostly) Grass Fed Beef Bones $5
Other Grocery
- Organic Tamari Wheat-Free Sauce (like soy sauce) 296 ml $4.99
- Natural Peanut Butter (no additives or sugar, but not organic) 750 g $5.19
- Unpasteurized (but not local/high quality) honey 1 Kg. $6.00 x 2 = $12
- Tomato Paste 13 oz. cans $1 x 2 = $2
- Diced Canned Tomato 28 oz. cans $1 x 4= $4
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil 1 L $8.99
- Raisins 750g $4.28
- Shredded Coconut 400g $3.38
- Walnut Pieces 400 g $5.78
- Bulk Flax Seed 500 g $1.20
Grand total = $237.17
I've purposefully kept the budget under $250, in order to leave room for more miscellaneous purchases like bulk spices, baking soda, yeast, apple cider vinegar, sea salt, tea, etc. Ideally, I would want to leave more like a $20-$25 buffer to do that. If I was utilizing some of the techniques that I will talk about in the next post, I could have brought this number low enough to have that kind of a buffer.
Image by victoriachan
Meals That I Would Make:
Breakfasts
Oatmeal with milk or cream and honey, homemade granola with homemade yogurt, muffins (use flax instead of eggs to stretch eggs farther, with variations like orange, apple cinnamon, or carrot raisin), pancakes with honey butter syrup, eggs with homemade toast, spinach cheese omelet, waffles with homemade orange syrup, toast with peanut butter, dutch baby pancake with apples, baked oatmeal.
*I would repeat some of these items over the course of the month.
Lunches
Salmon melt on sourdough bread, orange or apple slices, carrot/celery/cucumber slices, leftover soups or other dinner meals, spinach salad with walnuts, raisins and apples, peanut butter and honey sandwiches, baked potatoes, fried rice with eggs and veggies, hard boiled eggs.
*Again, there would be repeats.
Dinners
Chili (1/2 lb beef) x 2, pasta with tomato meat sauce (1/2 lb beef), soup once a week served with bread or biscuits- chicken rice, lentil veggie, Spud Special, bean soup, beef stew (use meat off boiled bones), spinach and salmon quiche, shepherd's pie, chicken pot pie, salmon patties with homemade fries and cooked carrots, Bierocks, lentil rice casserole with cheese on top and spinach salad, meatloaf (with added lentils and veggies to make meat stretch farther) with mashed potatoes, beans and rice, soft tacos (homemade tortillas) with bean/beef mixture, chicken and broccoli pasta casserole, veggie stir-fry with last 1/2 lb beef over rice, baked potato bar with broccoli cheese sauce, chicken stew, lentil dahl with homemade roti (Indian bread) and rice, leftover night, waffles for dinner.
*This is 24 dinners. Some of the vegetarian ones would be repeated, and there may easily be more than enough for one leftover night.
Would there be much extra? Nope. By the end of the month, I would be down to slim pickings and creative cooking. Employing more of the techniques I talk about next time would help me to purchase a greater quantity and variety of food to make the cooking a little easier.
Image by stevendpolo
Why I Chose These Foods
- The meat is very minimal due to the cost of buying somewhat higher quality meat. So, I chose to go with the cuts that were the cheapest and would stretch the farthest (whole chicken, ground beef) and then also added beef bones. Between the whole chicken carcass and the bag of beef bones, there will be plenty of broth to have some at least once or twice a week, maybe more. This is important because bone broth helps to stretch out the amount of animal protein that is consumed (it has sort of a protein-sparing effect) and also offers valuable gelatin (for digestion) and plenty of minerals. The cooked chicken meat would be chopped and frozen in bags to be added to other dishes. The beef bones would also provide beef tallow (as well as some extra meat after being boiled), which can be easily rendered after making broth and saved for cooking purposes. It's very nutritious and an extremely stable fat for high temperatures.
- I kept the egg amount as high as I could (although our family would usually go through more like 7-8 dz in a month, not 5 dz). Eggs are such an amazing source of animal protein, good fatty acids (like omega-3) if they are from free-ranging hens, as well as other vitamins. They're a nutritional powerhouse, but inexpensive in comparison to eating meat.
- The cans of wild pink salmon are very important, as they would be the only source of seafood in our diet. Fatty fish like salmon provide crucial fatty acids, include DHA and EPA (SO important for pregnant mamas and developing children). We would also gain another varied source of animal protein, as well as minerals like calcium by crushing/eating the bones (which are so soft, they're easy to crush and mix in- we never notice them and kids can easily chew them).
- The butter is not organic, but it's still a million times better than relying on any sort of vegetable oil or margarine. It's still a stable fat, even if I would prefer a cleaner source of butter. This would be one of the first things that I would seek to get from grass-fed cows, because then it would contain Vit A and D and K, which are so important. Regular butter doesn't contain these in high quantities (well, probably no K at all and little of A and D) because those cows aren't on pasture eating fresh grass.
- Olive oil is a nice all-purpose oil, and it is relatively inexpensive and readily available to anyone. But, one alternative to the butter/olive oil split I suggested is to buy a little less butter, a smaller amount of olive oil, and instead buy a jar of coconut oil with the extra money. Coconut oil is bursting with beneficial fatty acids that are very protective for the body, it has anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and anti-viral properties, and it is also stable at high temperatures.
- I went for produce that was mostly seasonal as I write this (January). So I chose root/cold storage veggies (onions, potatoes, carrots, celery, cabbage) that are cheap in the winter, particularly nutritious and that store well. Both spinach and cabbage are particularly nutrient-dense. The broccoli and cucumbers add some variety and were both on sale. Apples are fairly cheap (at least where I live) in winter because they are grown locally and store well. Oranges are imported, but they are seasonal during the winter, and are usually cheapest between Dec-Feb. They're also a nice source of vitamin C when you aren't eating tons of fresh produce.
- The large amount of whole wheat flour is intended for making all baked goods from scratch. Ideally, I would make a sourdough starter for baking sourdough bread, so that are breads were as frugal and nourishing as possible. You could also use it for homemade soaked muffins, pancakes or waffles, biscuits, tortillas, etc. It would be even more ideal to purchase wheat berries in bulk instead, so that you could grind your flour fresh. For those with a grain grinder, this is the best option and esp. if you have access to a food co-op of some sort, you can even get organic wheat berries for only a little bit more money.
- The 2 gallons of organic milk would be turned into 1 gallon of homemade yogurt and 1 gallon of homemade kefir. This re-introduces good bacteria and enzymes that are lost in the pasteurization process. Ideally, raw milk is best, but I couldn't afford to buy raw milk on a budget like this, so making kefir and yogurt with organic milk would be my best compromise solution.
What would you feed your family if you had to seriously cut back your budget? Which foods would be a priority and why?
Top image by USDAgov
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Amazing! Thank you so much for sharing. I am noticing our CSA box is supplying most of our veggies this winter, so that would be almost half our budget. We have 7, so I guess that would be about a $350 budget; I am not sure I could do it!
I know this is an “on paper” plan, but have you considered giving it a whirl?
EXCELLENT!
I’m a mother of seven and am always interested in learning more about sticking to my grocery budget. Tough for a foodie like me! :-) However, I think, because we cook from scratch and always eat at home, that our food budget is less than most families we know–even those with far fewer children. But, we can always do better, right?
What I’ve recently challenged myself to do is to start building my pantry and emergency food supply–while still sticking to my food budget. I’ve started blogging my efforts along with a friend who is on the same journey.
Your post is very inspirational!
Daja´s last [type] ..Daja’s Mid-month Progress Report
I actually only have about $250 a month for food. This is for a family of four (1 adult, and 3 kids ages 14, 8, & almost 2, all boys.)
I try to buy minimally processed foods. I also buy very little meat. I do not buy any junk food or drinks, except almond milk. I do not have any sugar in the house. But still we usually have to go to food pantry before month is up. Also my family will usually give us left overs and other things because they know money is so tight. I work 6 days a week, so can’t work anymore.
It is so frustrating because real foods cost more than processed, spinach was $7.99 a pound at store the other day. Although I wish we could have salad daily, at those prices we can’t afford even the spinach.
The worst thing is even though I cook most things from scratch, is I am not that great a cook. Last night I made a huge pot of rice and beans from scratch. It was gross. No one wanted to eat it. Also things that flavor food like spices, sauces, vinegars, and oils blow the budget.
Also my oldest has sensory issues and although he will eat lots of fruits and veggies, he doesn’t eat mixed foods.
And my youngest can not have any foods with dyes (so we don’t have them in the house.)
I will say, that we have never gone hungry. God has provided for us every day. And I know how blessed we are. But at times I am frustrated that providing real, whole foods for my boys, and myself seems such a hard job.
I hope to try some of your receipes soon. Thanks for your blog.
It is very tight.
Becky R´s last [type] ..Health Update
Very interesting. For our family, fresh produce is more important than saving money, so it wouldn’t work for us. We easily go through $65 of produce weekly. I like that you laid it all out in an easy to understand and implement format. Good job!
We have a family of 4 and our monthly budget it between $75-100 a month. That being said everything is made from scratch. The only fresh produce we eat is what is in season. The rest is canned (at home) or frozen (at home) Realistically we could probably eat for a couple of months without going to the grocery store. We have our own eggs, can get milk locally (in 2 months we will have our own milk), our freezers are stocked with beef, chicken, and rabbit raised by ourselves. In the summer our budget is cut down to almost nothing because we have so many fresh items to choose from. If I had an extra $100 a month to shop with I would be stocking up even more. I try to keep at least 20 lbs of sugar and 30 lbs of flour on hand at all times. Watch for seasonal sales and match up with coupons where available. Buy in bulk, don’t shop at the mainstream grocery stores. Even if you have to drive a little bit out of your way it is sometimes worth it.
Great article!
We have always “amazed our friends”(lol) at how small of a grocery budget we get by on for the size of our family. Our family is shrinking now, down to 4 kids and 2 parents (including 2 teen boys)… they count for 1 extra, right? I keep trying to hover the grocery budget around 200/week. I have wanted to set some stores aside to help others or for “a rainy day”… or for those prep purposes we can’t all just throw thousands of dollars at. I have been working on what I think is a reasonable list of basics and longer lasting foods. Many of the things on this list are on my list! You’ve given me renewed encouragement to try to put some things back AND be able to still get what we need for now.
We don’t like the feel of empty cupboards at the end of each week, but sometimes it happens, however “eating out the cupboards” has lead to some interesting new recipes and elicited creativity in the kitchen. …not to mention some better attitudes toward food, not as part of our entertainment, but sustenance and nutrition, and enough is enough… be thankful always.
Also… making your own detergent IS a money saver! We all have certain things in our budgets which others don’t see as important. That is where simple discernment and prioritization come in. We had 2 children in college, earlier this year, and the needs of the household changed… we have to go with the flow and regularly re-evaluate what items are priority, what can wait, what can be done a different way(cheaper), and what may need done away with.
Blessings
SO nice to read a Canadian blog. I find the budget sheets from american bloggers discouraging, because food expenses are so much higher here, and the coupons aren’t nearly as good. THANKYOU for taking the time to do this. I do make most of our food from scratch already, but am looking for ways to organize my budget and grocery list – and to save. Wishing you a healthy pregnancy! Thanks again.
~Karen
I know what you mean about finding Canadian resources. I often feel the same way. I’m glad this was helpful for you! :)
It’s funny, I’ve actually found that a lot of food is WAY cheaper in Canada than in the US. My husband and I moved to Baltimore from Ottawa in August, and we’re really struggling to make ends meet on his grad student stipend. There are some things that are definitely cheaper (milk and cheese, plus some meat), but produce and grains are more than twice what I used to pay back home. I actually brought back a whole bunch of stuff after Christmas (I checked to make sure I could cross the border with it first) because food is so expensive here.
Interesting. It must really depend on the area that you live in. When I go across the border to WA, things are much cheaper, and when I read prices from the midwest, I can’t believe how cheap things are. But I’m sure there are exceptions to this, but I’m sorry you have to live in one of those exceptions! :(
I rarely find meat that inexpensive in Dallas, TX. I’m working on finding local, sustainable sources, but I doubt that will decrease my expenses. We really struggle with our grocery spending, blowing our budget excessively every month, even though I cook almost everything from scratch. Good summary though. I’ll keep working on our extravagance!
Now you’ve got the theory… I’d like to see you do it, and factor in the actual cost of all those “homemade” foods you listed that there are not ingredients listed for.
It’s not just theory. Our family used to eat this way and I made pretty much everything, although we currently spend more than this. In my follow up post, I explain various ways that I would further cut expenses and purchase more food and more of those extra unlisted ingredients.
It would be an awesome experiment to go back and actually do this all over again and share the specifics, but with baby #4 arriving any day, I think I’m going to give myself a pass. :)
So fun to read your ideas on this, Stephanie! :) We eat a lot of these things on a regular basis… the only difference is that the amounts listed are about a 2-week supply for our family instead of 1 month. That said — I feel happy because we eat abundantly on about $500/month! :D
Tammy L´s last [type] ..Freezer meals, Costco trip, and pantry challenge (final update for January, 2012)
I tried to look through the comments, but didn’t see it answered…
my goodness, where are you finding 22 lbs of Whole Wheat for $8.78? Where I buy in bulk, it is still $1/lb (i.e. 22 lbs = $22). Do you grind your own? Otherwise, where are you finding such a deal? Thanks so much for the breakdown :)
I buy wheat berries and they are over $2 a pound. So 22 pounds would be about $45 dollars.
Becky R´s last [type] ..Health Update
Im moving in with you!! I would really like to hear more about coconut oil benefits and the water kefer I have tried to read up some on both but dont totally understand. I think the coconut oil would be good for my lupus and sjograns disease ,dryness etc as well as for the brain and heart . thanks g
GLORIA- TOTALLY OFF TOPIC – but have you been tested for LYME disease – from a tick borne illness speciality lab like Igenex ? The regular doctor tests are very innacurate. (igenex.com) Many, many autoimmune disease are misdiagnosed and a person often has lyme instead- it is seriously a silent epidemic. And if you have Lyme the best diet is a Paleo type diet- gluten (and sugar) FEEDS the lyme bacteria. Check out midwestlymefoundation.com and click on the symptom page for more info.Also coconut oil is a big part of a Paleo diet . As newly diagnosed lyme sufferers our grocery budget has skyrocketed by cutting out the “healthy whole grains” but our waistlines have markedly decreased in size so i guess its a trade off ?;)
Thanks for putting this together! My husband and I are on a tight budget and our weekly food budget is about $70. I try to cook from scratch and make meatless dishes {or dishes where meat can be stretched}. My husband has frequently said, “I had no idea vegetarian meals could be so tasty.”
Sarah Jane´s last [type] ..Saturday Stumbles {Links}
So 250 is my actual budget but I am supposed to buy household items and diapers (until I can afford some good soap for my cloth ones) and there is no way my husband will eat lentils mixed into his ground beef. He wants to have steak once in a while too. And I have to pack him a huge lunch everyday because he works a hard physical job and needs energy. So I feel like I’m scraping the barrel and my goal over this next month is to really figure out the healthiest and cheapest way to do this. At this point I started just buying Aldis milk to make my yogurt because they say there is no hormones or antibiotics given to the cows. And I have been using Arnold bread products that my mom gets from her food pantry and shares with me. It I made my list as organized as yours is I’m sure we would do better.
Hi Lori. I had t comment on your post. You have a very small budget to have to also buy diapers and household items. How many children do you have?
I was wondering if it would be cheaper to purchase the good detergent for the cloth diapers than spend the money on diapers. Even if you have to spend $15-20 on it because it would probably last longer than the disposable diapers. Good luck!
Make your own laundry soap! It is soo soo easy and safe to use on cloth diapers. There are lots of recipes on the web, and they are very inexpensive! I make a 5 gallon tub full for around $2.50. You do need to buy some of the supplies (washing soda and borax) in bulk, so perhaps going in with you mom or some friends to split the cost (total cost for all supplies for me was around $20 but I have enough supplies to make *years* worth of laundry soap and dish soap.)
I use cloth diapers and I use a homemade recipe of borax+washing soda+sunlight laundry soap (in Canada – in the US I think they recommend Fels-Naptha).
I love this! Thanks for the list and suggestions. We do already eat this way, but it’s nice to see how others do it as well. I’m always looking for fresh ideas!
Thanks for the post! I’ve pretty much already cut out most grains and snacks out of our budget now. We drink raw milk, but it’s only about $5 a gallon here, and both my kids are allergic to milk, so we don’t buy that much of it. We do water kefir too, and my kids drink A TON of it, a couple gallons a week. We spend about $450 a month on groceries, including cleaning supplies and toiletries, but we eat out virtually never.
The food choices seem way too slim for our family, though. I have two kids, and we easily go through 10-15 lbs of eggs a month and way, way, way more produce. My youngest has allergies and is doing GAPS right now (basically grain-free, dairy-free, starch-free), so I have to have lots of meat and produce because that’s like all he can have.
And I could never do a budget like this on anything like GAPS. Without the grains to make it cheaper and more filling, it would be practically impossible. When we’ve done GAPS, we’ve actually had to up our budget in order to buy extra meat and produce.
I should also say that I would definitely want to have more meat and produce than what is in this budget/meal plan. This is what I would do if I really had to cut things down and economize, but regularly our family goes through SO much more fresh produce (as well as preserved produce) than this, as well as several dozen more eggs (probably about 8 dz total) and more meat as well.
I’m glad to see you addressed this. I was nodding at your menu but then realizing that we go through a 5lb bag of organic apples every 2 days (I have 4 kids under 6). We prob spend $200 just on produce every month. Or more. That’s why we’re planting a huge garden this year!
Great job, Steph. :-) Makes me super thankful for what we’ve been blessed with. As I said on FB, ours is about $20-25 US per week right now, and that’s heavily supplemented with produce we’ve traded for, backyard eggs, and raw milk from our own goats. I sat down and went thru our budget after reading this (and as my husband is looking at a loss of employment), and for our family of 5, soon to be 6, the cheapest we would be able to do is $175 per month, and that’s still moderately relying on all the bulk stores I have now (ie: no initial outlay of money). We would actually be cutting out all meat but 2 whole pastured chickens per month, 2 lbs of grassfed beef, and 4 cans of wild salmon. Lots of nutrient-rich stock, but not much meat – soup bones are $3-4 cheaper than meat per pound.
Meg @ Cracking An Egg´s last [type] ..New for the Season: A Very Berry Hibiscus herbal blend
Wow. Can I just applaud you please!?? So many others would have given up, said “I can’t do it!” and turned to more processed sources and government aid. (Not to say that it’s bad to use government aid or a food bank) I would ask if there is a program like WIC in your area that makes staple foods like dried beans, milk, juice etc. available. It wouldn’t be ideal, but it might help stretch and you could make yogurt & ice cream (a treat!) from the milk, and use the juice to flavor kefir & sweeten things in baking… the beans would come in handiest, I think. Anyway, just a thought! And seriously, good job!!
Christina´s last [type] ..Couponing & The Big Picture
Thanks, Christina. We actually have done government aid before (Food Stamps) while my husband was in school. It makes it even more difficult later on, to know that we could get “free food” simply by asking for it. But other than the quantity of meat, our diet hasn’t really changed much by not using food stamps. I personally think it’s God’s way of showing us greater blessing, by not relying on anything other than what He has given (well, at least that’s what I tell myself. ;-) )
Meg @ Cracking An Egg´s last [type] ..New for the Season: A Very Berry Hibiscus herbal blend
Nice post Stephanie and seem pretty consistent with how we eat though no canned salmon. It’s on the list for next time we go shopping though!
I am glad you did this, it was incredibly helpful. My husband recently lost his job and so our grocery budget is inconsistent, and actually about $200/month with the four of us, give or take (mostly take). I read your actual budget the other day and was greatly discourage (what am I going to feed my children! *panic*). But this encourages me to take charge, and maybe make a trip out of town to a trader joes…our local, small whole food store is outrageously expensive and allows me to buy only a couple of staples.
I am also curious to see what your children snack on during the day. I feel a large portion of our grocery bill goes to snacks for the kiddos. Any suggestions???
P.S. I love your blog! I am so excited when I see a new post in my inbox :) Keep up the amazing work!
I am so excited I found your blog!!! I love, love, love it!! It’s so exciting to find other bloggers that have such similer lifestyles to ours. Keep on blogging, girl…you rock!
Thanks, Danielle, and welcome! :)
I’m curious what your kids snack on during the day. We go through about 5 lbs of apples a week and that’s when I limit my two kids. There are other things on your list I don’t buy, but what do you do when your kids have the munchies? We supplement with lots of fruit and veggies, but what does this meal plan include?
Creative2xmom´s last [type] ..Meal Planning 101: Matching it up with the Calendar
We also are Christians who refrain from pork/seafood and while i see some surprise in the comments- it is a common theme- afterall if God says they were not made for our consumption why insist on it!!
I appreciated this post- we are trying to tighten our food budget as well and i’m often looking for healthy ways to do so. We are lucky to have a lot of wild meat this year – but am still looking to cut corners in order to finance things like virgin coconut oil at $30/jar and other supplements we’re trying to take.
One thing i’m doing is water kefir rather than milk- it is costing me virtually nothing (a bit of brown sugar/raw organic cane sugar and spring water that i buy in bulk and a couple lemons a month) and I’m convinced it has the same benefits as milk kefir.
Thanks for the post- it is greatly appreciated!
Thank you for this post! We’re looking at a likely drastic cut in income in the next year, and I’ve been worried sick that we won’t be able to eat as well. This has put my fears to rest! We’ve always had a “budget” that I knew was high (ridiculously so, for eating mostly at home) so the idea of being on a “do or die” budget seemed super stressful. I’m thinking a test run is in order. :) Thank you!
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