Adrienne

February 7, 2006

Hello,

Congrats! You taking control of your health is to be

commended. I started 2 years ago, however I REALLY have been

working at eating healthy for the past 5 months and have been doing

great! I am on 1 income with 2 children whom I homeschool, so money

is tight as well. I will tell you what I have done to help and to

be able to do the best I can on little income. Like you I want to

eat organic as much as possible. In my area it is really hard to

buy everything organic and I assume it is that way everywhere. If

you can plant a garden, even if it is a small one, do so when the

weather permits. You can grow your own organics and that will help

tremendously. In the meantime, I buy organic milk and use it

sparingly. Only in my cereal in the mornings and only a little bit

to moisten. This actually saves me money. I use to be a milk-a-

holic and drink 2 gallons a week, now I only use 1/2 gallon of

organic and that is with 2 growing girls. I eat mainly veg.

and when I can't buy them organic because of money or because they

are not available, I clean them really, really well. I know what

I must have organic and what I can " tolerate " if it's not. For

example, any meat, dairy, eggs, poultry should be organic if

possible. Other things are not AS important so you don't have to

fret too bad if you have to buy regular. Just clean well. I have

to have my cottage cheese (organic) with flax seed oil. I Have to

have my cereal organic, milk, green tea and sugar all organic as

well. These I will not compromise. I have to have my reverse

osmosis water, will not compromise. However, my fruits and veggies,

salmon and bread I do not have to have organic. NOW the salmon must

be wild alaskan so as to not be toxic. The bread must not have high

fructose corn syrup, sugar or regular corn syrup. I will not buy

anything with msg or hydrogenated oils. I do buy organic extra

virgin olive oil and will not compromise on that, however I do not

have to buy it often as one bottle with last a month and I think I

spend 12 dollars on it. But, I use EVERYTHING VERY SPARINGLY!

I use organic coconut oil on my skin...no other moisturizer...I also

use it on my hair instead of v05 hot oil. 8.99 and I have had it 2

months and still more than half full. I use baking soda for

toothpaste until I can buy organic or natural toothpaste and then I

will, but if I run out before I have the money I just go back to

plain old baking soda and I do not have any cavitities and have

never had any. I buy ovaltine for a treat instead of any other

instant choc drink. It isn't totally good for you but it is

healthier than any other I have found. I do not drink soda any

longer or eat choc. I use to be a choc-o-holic. I invested in

parsley and I put it in everything. Turmeric is another very

important part of my diet. I buy organic black strap molasses and

organic apple cider vinegar for my body balance. This is also very

important to me to be organic, but again it isn't an every week or 2

week purchase...it is about every other month on the molasses

(because I do alot of cooking with it too) and about every 4 months

on the vinegar. I can also share some recipes for natural laundry

detergent that will save you $$. I save around 150 dollars a year.

I invested in a juicer for drinks so I don't give in and hit my

hubby's stash of pop. He works for pepsi and brings home free

pop. The occassional sweets that I eat now have to be organic

cookies or poptarts. Some times natural chips but not very often

because I am not a chip person. I eat alot of bananas for treats.

Because they are sweet and filling it takes care of my sweet tooth

and the munchies. To be honest with the changes I have made,

including the supplements I take and the essential oils I buy, I

only spend around 300 dollars for a family of 4 to eat a month.

Make sure you clip coupons AND and on some organic websites you can

print coupons. Also if you invest in the total nutitrition you

don't have to worry about alot of additional supplements because it

has all you need in a day along with eating right. I do not eat red

meat either so kudos to you. I eat organic chicken 1 a week, salmon

2x a week, lots of salads,sweet potatoes, broccoli, cottage

cheese...I treat myself and eat pizza with turmeric and parsley on

it..on Fridays. With a salad of course.

Figure out the most important foods that you want to be organic.

Start out slow, then add, this way you don't get bogged down

thinking it costs too much. REad up on organic foods, find out what

is the most important products to you that must be organic or

natural. Read about high fructose corn syrup and oils and

sugars...make your decision on foods based on the ingredients if

they ARE NOT organic. After a while it is second nature to you and

it flows alot easier. Stick with it you can do it. I did! Best of

luck to ya. I hope this helps and I didn't ramble to much.

Sharon in Indiana

March 3, 2006

We had a nice flock of ducks about 8 years ago, but when the females started nesting, they all got picked off, even the babys.

After that, all was quiet for years, until this past summer when all heck broke loose.

I was telling Bob, that we need to get our meat birds for the year, as well as some layers, so we'll have to really be vigilent about getting back there before sundown.

PS- regarding your id- do you ride a horse or an iron horse?

Debra

-

ladyasiderider

herbal remedies

Thursday, March 02, 2006 10:01 AM

Herbal Remedies - Re: Bob at Sandy Loop

Racoons DO take chickens. They are great climbers and will climbright up a wall or post and take a chicken. We've caught them redhanded before. They LOVE chicken.:-) They really like cat and dog foodalso but always go for our chickens. Often they will just start eatinginto the chicken's side without even killing the chicken or will justnaw on it's head for a while. It's awful coming into the barn afterhearing chicken screams to find a poor chicken in that condition stillalive. Got to lock up your coop VERY well!Adrienne