food budget and frugal links

I originally wanted to post weekly about frugal/simple living/conscious living, something I am striving to balance. Problem is, each post I made (there were 3 of them) ended up being very, VERY long. I then realized that the topic is a blog of it's own that I should not start at the moment. So I just want to share a few links and thought.

The main area I'm working on is our grocery spending. Our budget is quite snug, but that it a trade off I'm happy to work with so that I may stay at home and home school our children, plus at some point my sweet husband will get his next promotion:)

We spend a lot on groceries. We live in a high cost area, we are mainly vegetarian and eat mostly organic. Organic coffee is in the picture too. Not cheap. I have been trying on and off for years to lower our grocery bill... "trying"...but now we have hit a little tighter spot and "trying" is not an option, doing is. So far this month has gone very well. These are the main things that have helped-

-Meal planning dinners

-Grocery shopping once a week

-weekly farmers market, right now prices are good...

-cooking bread, tortillas, baked goods, sweets from scratch

-eating a little less

-using dry goods (beans, grains) to bulk up meals (like add brown rice to our eggs and veggies)
-cut back on coffee, more tea

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This weeks dinners-

-homemade pizza and salad

-crock pot chili and cornbread

-root bake

-wheat pasta with pesto, mushrooms, greens

-Polenta eggplant bake (in crock pot)

-bean tacos (homemade tortillas, salsa, avo)

-left overs

It does help that we have a big freezer stock of tomatoes from this summers garden:)

Another world I am trying to get into is coupons. I've never really used them, but am starting to get it.... I have read a lot on Money Saving Mom's blog all about stacking coupons and taking advantage of rewards cards, etc. I love her blog, she post a lot, but I generally don't use 'mainstream' type products and don't eat most food from regular grocery stores, but I still have found some good stuff on her site. She often links to giveaways and free samples.

Alices Kitchen has some good post about eating organic for less and frugal eats that are still healthy.

The Grocery Cart Challenge is a great site, she feeds her family off $60 a week. Her family of 6!!!! She feeds her family pretty good and links menus and recipes, she cooks a lot, they eat some produce and I haven't seen Top Raman on the menu, so it is quite impressive!

For some 'health food' brand coupons, this site has some good ones. Also, a lot of HF companies give coupons on there sites.

Also, for general frugal living topics, I enjoy visiting Mothering's frugal board.

OK, that's enough for now, it is getting long...

*blessings*