A Day in the Life of a Busy Kitchen
- I have a confession to make ... my kitchen in normally, everyday, mostly in a state of disarray of one kind or another. Stuff on the counters, stuff in the sink, floor needs sweeping or mopping, or the dishwasher to be loaded or unloaded. Sound familiar? If you cook at all I'm sure you can totally identify! But, you might say, The Granny Plan step number three says it's important to clean as you go. And I do. So, what's going on here? An Active Kitchen is Always in a State of Becoming the Next Meal Take a look at these three stunning kitchens and what do you notice? Zero cleanup, zero meal prep ... all is perfect! Of course we all know these are model kitchens, but I still think it has an effect on us that we see oh so many of these picture perfect kitchens on TV shows, in advertisements, online, on cooking shows, and on and on ad nauseum. On cooking shows all is clean, ingredients are pre-measured and in cute little bowls and totally ready to cook. But, in your own home there are dishes from the last meal in the sink, a full dishwasher… READ MORE
Most Recent Posts
Making the Most of Granny’s Free Meal Plan
Last week I released my first meal plan as a free download for anyone signing up for my mailing list. The meal plan has a page devoted to getting started with the plan but that is necessarily brief, so I wanted to share a few more thoughts with everyone on how best to work the […]
Three Spice Snickerdoodles
This funny sounding cookie is believed to have originated in New England in the 1800’s. So not only did your grandma likely eat these cookies, but your great-great-great grandma may have had them too! Supposedly the older recipes used cream of tartar and to make the cookies rise, while the newer recipes just use baking […]
Two Meat Crockpot Chili
This set-it-and-forget-it crockpot meal is sure to please the guys in particular this fall. But then who doesn’t enjoy a hot steaming bowl of comforting chili on a cool night! In a nutshell all you do here is brown the meat on the stove, add the remaining ingredients and pour into your slow cooker. Then […]
Crockpot Baked Apples
Nothing says fall than the smell of apples and cinnamon. It makes the entire house smell warm and comforting. These ‘baked’ apples are simple, throw it all in the crock pot and have a fresh warm dessert ready at dinnertime. Served with vanilla ice cream, it’s like apple pie with out the crust. This recipe […]
Saving Money Cooking from Scratch
Real Food at Walmart – The Dairy Section
The Walmart dairy section on first glance looks like it’s got it’s act together, organic wise. After all they have a lot of organic labels here, Horizon being the most prominent one. Horizon’s parent company Dean Foods has a strong partnership with Walmart. Thus they are stocked in a big way. All isn’t peachy-keen though in […]
Real Food at Walmart – Can it be done?
Imagine if you will that you live in rural America. There is no Trader Joe’s, no Whole Foods, no Sprouts, no local health food store to buy from. Instead once a week or so you drive 30 minutes to 2 hours to the nearest grocery store to you. And that grocery store is Walmart. Could […]
Real Food at Walmart – Fats and Oils
My trip to Walmart this week was a little tougher than last week foray into the world of Walmart produce. Healthy fats are a much tougher nut to crack in any grocery store and Walmart is no exception. I did find several good choices though! Importance of Healthy Fats My regular readers know how I feel about […]
Real Food Economics 101: Eating on $6.25 a Day
I’ve had a few questions come up about the details of what we were eating to get by on $6.25 a day. A few seemed skeptical that this figure is correct. I thought that today, we could go over it in some detail. Now, mind you, I’m mining my memory to recall the details of what our meals were like, since the figure is based on the previous years food expenses. I am quite sure the figure is correct though. I keep very careful records :-).
Straight Talk
Is Everything ‘Organic’ Real Food?
What jumps out at you when you first arrive at Costco? There’s the crowds, the TVs at the entrance, and the pallets of mostly processed junk food near the door. There’s all the clothes and the books, the luggage and appliances. It’d be very easy to get the impression that there’s no real food to […]
Real Food at Walmart – Fruits and Vegetables
What is the first thing people think of when they decide to start eating healthy? Getting more fruits and vegetables into their daily diet of course! I thought we’d start here for that reason … Also, fruits and veggies at Walmart are pretty easy as long as we are okay with compromise on the issue […]
Feel Bad About Eating White Rice?
I’m here to tell ‘ya that you can feel good about eating white rice again! I’ve never cared much for brown rice and I bet you feel much the same. I’ve had maybe one or two good plates of brown rice in a lifetime. Most brown rice in the US is rancid long before it gets to you. That’s why it generally tastes rather bitter not nutty as it should if it were fresh.
Real Food Economics 101: The Real Food Lifestyle Costs Less
Last week in “Strategies to Reduce Real Food Costs” we looked at a number of different ways to bring the cost of food down for your family. Two weeks ago we examined real world real food budgets and compared them with the average food budget. We found that real food budgets are the same or smaller than the USDA average food budget making real food eating amongst the most economical ways to eat.
Contentment and the Zen of Granny
My Grandma wasn’t a zen master. My memories of her though are of a strong will, a peaceful presence and a cheerful attitude. She was wonderful and totally unique. Like many of her generation she had been thru some hard times and had many sorrows. Yet she remained cheerful and unfailingly considerate and polite. I […]
Why it’s OK to Eat Dessert
I don’t know about you but I used to feel HUGELY guilty about having dessert! It wasn’t about calories, back when I was young I didn’t need to lose any weight. It just felt wrong, so wrong! All those empty calories filling me up when I should be eating something healthy like raw carrots or […]
Wholesome Ingredients
Whole Grains Have a Sketchy Past
To most everyone in the western world whole grains are always better for you than refined grains. To all it’s really clear, black-and-white. The only real argument that exists concerning grains is over whether or not we should be eating them at all. Some say they are allergenic to pretty much everyone. Some say they […]
What You Should Know About Beans
Over the past few weeks I’ve been talking a lot about how to save money on your real food bill. There can hardly be a better place to start when considering ways to fit real food nutrition into your budget than the humble bean. Inexpensive Nourishing Food Legumes have been a staple of the diet of […]
Eat More Eggs – Easy to Make Affordable Nutrition
There is nothing more down-home delicious than a breakfast of eggs. Just picture it: Think of Granny’s house in the fifties. Imagine it’s early in the morning and the kids are not up yet. But Granny is and she’s getting breakfast ready. Is it cold cereal? Is it granola? Is it even yogurt or a […]
Grassfed Beef is Best
Practically everyone eats beef, except vegetarians :-). Most of us have very little idea of how that beef was raised. What I’ve found researching this post is that there is even more confusion than I expected. Keep clearly in mind though that cows are fed and brought to slaughter very differently now than they were […]
Pirate Christian Radio