Eating Healthy on a Budget — Denmark Cottage | Lifestyle Blog | Recipes | Travel | Beauty Over 40 | Home Decor (2024)

Now before I get started… let me preface this Blog post by saying that I believe there are extremes in everything and you can literally make yourself crazy trying to eat “completely clean”.
If you are just starting out making better choices with your foods, then I would suggest changing one thing you do daily first.

For me it was my coffee creamer… the list of preservatives in my everyday creamer was so long and I couldn’t pronounce half of it. Now I use half and half with Aldi’s Pure Maple syrup to sweeten it.

I personally do not eat all Organic products since pesticide Free food isn’t always available and can be very expensive where I live.

But here are a couple places I shop that I’ve found them at an affordable price.

I’m an avid Shopper of Aldi due to the fact that they have the best prices on Organic products and produce that I have found thus far. I always say they should pay me in gift cards since I do so much Free advertising… Hint … Hint…

Simply Nature is their Brand of Organic or Non- GMO products. The Extra Bold Organic Coffee is our Favorite KCup and you can’t beat that price for how delicious it is!

One thing you may not be aware of is the big difference between Organic and Non-GMO.
This Post on The Food Babe Blog explains what each of these terms mean and how important it is to know the difference.

I also highly recommend reading her book “Feeding You Lies” , it was very eye opening and I appreciate that she references a lot of her studies.

This large container of Spring Mix is such a great buy and I use it for the majority of my salads.

I plan on eventually doing a separate post on the blog with a grocery list of all the products I purchase from Aldi and how I use them.

Just remember, if you do not see this USDA Organic Seal on the package, then it isn’t truly Organic. I have actually found produce that says it’s Organic but when I looked closer, there wasn’t a seal on the package to prove it.

One key thing to remember…just because a product is Organic doesn’t mean it’s good for you… Check the ingredients as well.
I had the hardest time finding an organic Coconut milk and Turkey that didn’t have Carrageenan in it

Over the past year or so I have switched to baking with Organic All Purpose Unbleached Flour.

HERE is a great article as to the difference between Bleached and Unbleached Flour.
This type of flour can tend to be hard to find (at least where I live), and can also be a bit pricey. Thankfully I found it for almost half the price online at Walmart.

Cooking Light wrote an article on the difference using Unbleached Versus bleached Flour in baked goods HERE.

I have included the links below for most of the products I’ve mentioned that I’m unable to find Locally or at least at a reasonable price.

Not only have I changed the Foods I eat, but also the products I use around our house.
You can find my inexpensive Homemade Cleaners In This Post.

If Aldi doesn’t carry some of the products I use, then I just order them online once a month from Walmart.
It’s Super convenient and they offer Free Shipping, and the products typically get here within two days.

Arrowhead Mills Organic Enriched Unbleached White Flour

Great Value Organic Granulated Cane Sugar

Lakanto Monk Fruit Sweetener

So obviously home grown food is best and also much cheaper, so Todd and I are working on becoming more self sufficient with our gardening this year. I also have plans to learn canning so that I know exactly what goes on and in our food.

These are our collards we ate weekly at dinner for at least six months last year…. HERE is how I cook them.

I also make as much of our food from scratch as I can so there are fewer preservatives. I’m not always able to do this depending on the week and work schedule, so I find if I plan ahead, I make better food choices.

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