Saving Money on Organic and Antibiotic/Hormone Free Meat

We have another guest post from mama Lindsay who is a natural at saving money while buying and consuming only natural/ organic foods! We met her at one of our workshops and had to have her on the blog to share all of her tips and tricks with you! You can check out her first post about green bean delivery and how she saves so much money through them. Don’t forget they are offering our readers 50% off their first order!!!

“When my family decided to switch to only natural/ organic foods we drastically changed our diet without changing our budget! I must say that organic and antibiotic/hormone free meat is the most expensive item that we buy.

I know some families (mainly husbands ) have to have meat on their plate at every meal. For this I recommend showing them the movie Food Inc! Each family is very different and what works for my family may not work for yours. I am very passionate about feeding my family the best foods possible that are as close to their natural form as possible! Because of this we have made changes to our diet to fit into our budget!

For a family of 4 we are not huge meat eaters and that has been a blessing for us. My average monthly food budget is $250.00. Some months I might spend $300.00 and other months I might only spend $100.00 on produce!

Here are the tips I use for saving on meat:
* I buy meat only when it is on sale. I have noticed that the prices at the farmer’s markets will even vary week to week. I will not pay more than $3.00 per pound for any red meat and more than $ 8.00 for a whole chicken. When I find a sale I stock up!
* We have taken meat out of our diet 3-4 nights a week! There are tons of other protein options that cost pennies on the dollar of what meat does! Beans and legumes are a great source of protein and can be bought in bulk by the pound.
* Dried beans are the cheapest to buy. I cook my beans in the crock pot! For every 1 cup ofwashed beans add 4 cups of water. Set on high for 3-4 hours, or set on low and cook over night! You don’t even have to soak them first! I normally make 4 cups of beans at a time! Once they are cooked, I rinse them and divide them into freezer bags in 15 oz portions (can size)!!
*When serving meat I serve perfect portions. 3 oz of meat is one serving. Typically 1 chicken breast will serve two adults! Many times I will serve meat as a side dish and not the main dish.
*One whole chicken is about 5 meals for my family of 4. I typically cook two chickens in my roaster oven and then portion them out to freeze. Each chicken breast is one meal, chicken thighs are a meal, and chicken legs are the meal. I also pull all extra meat from the bones and save for soup. I make chicken stock from the carcass to be used with the left over pulled meat for some type of soup.
*When making tacos or most recipes using 1 pound of ground beef I substitute black beans (or any type of beans) for ½ a pound. Taco meat gets ½ pound ground beef and ½ pound black beans!
*Turkeys are also wonderful options. I can normally get about 20 meals out of a turkey when serving perfect portions!
* A few times a year I find great deals on roasts (beef or pork!) Roasts also make 4-5 meals for us.

I have been asked many times how I can feed my family of 4 a natural/organic diet for only $250.00 a
month. Everyone normally follows me until I explain how we buy and eat meat. It only takes 30 daysto make something a habit! I normally encourage anyone who asks me about my budget to try it for 30days. After 30 days you will know what changes you need to make to fit your families needs!”

I LOVE all these tips and that she also incorporates healthy food portions into their meals which in turn helps their budget! THANKS Lindsay!!