Organic Holiday Savings!

By November 19, 2011 Money No Comments

As the holidays approach, I find myself spending a lot less time writing and a lot more time balancing regular life with a crazy holiday schedule. Also, I’ve been thinking a lot about saving money where I can I so that I have a little extra for those special treats and gifts we associate with the holidays. Here are some of the tips we’re using this holiday.

1. Plan ahead and shop with a list.
First of all, planning means less “emergency” trips to the grocery store. Plus, you’ll be less likely to grab impulse items as you’re coasting through the store.

2. Make it from scratch now and freeze it.
This works for a number of things, from poultry stock (chicken stock) to cookie dough and even pie crust (keeps frozen up to a month).

3. Plan some simple, healthy and inexpensive dinners that will allow you to spend more at the holiday.
We are making a lot of bean soups right now. Our kids really like them and we can include a lot of veggies to boost their little immune systems. We use our homemade chicken stock as a base and go from there. Soups can also be frozen and thawed for a quick meal with corn bread or a crusty loaf of sourdough.

4. Take advantage of good warehouse or bulk deals.
While we shop local whenever possible, we also take advantage of bulk buying clubs like Costco to stay within our budget. This is how we can be an organic family in a big city where access to affordable, local and organic products are not always so easy to find.

This week’s great buy was dairy products from Costco. We make it a point to try to go organic on dairy products like butter, cream (for Robert’s coffee), and eggs. Here’s a great example of warehouse savings. This week, I bought 64 oz of organic whipping cream for $2.99! That’s 1/2 gallon of cream. We’re all set for pie.

Compare that to the Land o’ Lakes non-organic canned whipped cream selling just down the aisle – 3/14 oz cans for $8.89. I’m not sure how to fairly compare these because one is already whipped but if you just do a oz to oz comparison, I saved about $10 on whipping cream alone.

Isn’t it amazing to know that for some items, you could actually buy organic for less than you’d spend on conventional?  It’s not too late! Get out that list and shop smart this season. Costco also carries organic veggies like spinach, lettuce and carrots as well as frozen organic veggies like corn and green beans.

Last year, I showed you how to make your own homemade whipping cream.  It’s super easy and takes just a few minutes. The video is kind of funny because we decided to do it on my husband’s droid – and we didn’t have a way to edit it at home to take out the noise. Hope you get a kick out of it – but most of all, I hope you give making homemade whipped cream a try.

We had trouble uploading the video this morning but you can watch it over at my old blog.

Once you learn to whip it, you will never go back!!
Bwahahahaha!!!

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