It's Like Christmas Every Two Weeks Around Here

Hooray!  Today was a Timber Creek Farms delivery day.  If you live in Indiana, Illinois or Wisconsin, you are likely in an area where your family can experience the fun that we do with a produce delivery from Timber Creek Farms.

Really, I could go on and on, but why don't you just take a peak at what we received in our boxes today:

Oh, phooey, I forgot to add these because we grabbed them for a soccer game snack:

 

And a tomato and two apples were gone before I snapped the picture .... but you get the idea, right?  

This is the box called the Farmer's Market Box and typically it is automatically delivered to my door every other Thursday.  The part that makes it like Christmas is that we never know exactly what we are going to get.  For example, this week included fennel, bok choy and green mustard.  Typically these particular vegetables wouldn't make my shopping list, but when included in my fruit and veggie box, I have the opportunity to educate myself about an item and figure out what to do with it.  YUM!

The kids always gravitate towards the fruit box, of course.  Every delivery there is something different for them to enjoy.  As they unloaded the box, a couple of my grapefruit loving kids were chatting away about how they could not wait for breakfast tomorrow morning.  

And guess what? With the delivery fee the Farmer's Market Box is less than $55.  What a deal for organic produce I didn't have to drive to the store for!  

Typically I will receive my boxes and then plan out some meals to make the best use of all these great whole foods.  These boxes become the base of our dinners for the next several days and snacks become a no-brainer.

I have used Timber Creek Farms for many years and have come to appreciate their efficient service and excellent produce.  Give it a try and eliminate some of your grocery trip while being assured that you are getting whole food that has not been engineered or contaminated.  

There are many different types of boxes you can order depending on your family size and preferences.  Visit Timber Creek Farms at tcforganics.net, call them at 630-553-1119 or email valerie@tcforganics.net.  Tell them Erin Taylor sent you and let me know how you like your box if you decide to give it a try.

A Label You Should Know

Have you taken the time to research the GMO issue yet?  If so, and if you're like me, you may be tempted to stick your head in the sand and forget the whole thing.  I agree, is seems overwhelming.  But WAIT... just take this thing one step at a time and I promise, you will get there.

Until you are knowledgeable about all of the GMO ingredients out there, and until you become adept at what to look for, it is quite likely that your grocery cart will be loaded with less than ideal food sources.  If an item you are purchasing is USDA organic, GMO ingredients will not be used in the product.  That is one way to avoid supporting GMO crops.

Another way is to look for this label on products that you purchase:

In fact, for a wealth of information on GMOs, the nongmoproject.org website is a wonderful place to start!  You can even look up your favorite food items and see if they are verified non-GMO.  For example, a quick browse through the verified products shows that Hodgson Mill, a brand I have used often in baking, has many products verified to be GMO-free and more of their products in the process of verification.  I like feeling confident that I am feeding my family foods that have not been tampered with genetically.  This might not be so difficult after all!

A Spoonful of Sugar

In July of 2012, the USDA deregulated genetically engineered sugar beets.  If you read my last post, and especially if you took the time to do a bit of research on GMOs, you know that this news does not bode well for the average consumer.

However, this blog is intended to help "average consumers" like me take charge of where grocery dollars are spent.  One simple way to avoid GMOs is to use an organic source of sugar in baking and canning.

One of the stores that has helped our family turn our pantry into a GMO-free zone is Costco.  Check out this 10 pound bag that commonly lands in my cart on Costco shopping days:

For just over $10 I buy this big bag of evaporated cane juice and use it in place of the refined sugar that used to be dumped into my baking.  As a family we are striving to cut down our sugar intake in general.  For the occasions that we want to use some sugar, even though this bag is more expensive than the refined and bleached alternative, it is completely worth it to us!

In the past two years I have taken up canning as a useful hobby. This year I stepped it up by being sure to use only organic ingredients in my preserves.  Last week when I scored some organic peaches, this organic sugar came in handy for some delicious peach butter.

It has been satisfying to be able to label my homemade concoctions "organic" because I have put trust in each ingredient I have added to the pot.

Finally, for baking, this sugar is absolutely delicious.  We made organic cupcakes for my daughter's birthday using this sugar and they were amazing!  More recently, I added this sugar to zucchini bread.  It was just delightful!

Your super simple tip for the day?  Head to Costco and get a membership!  Then dump your white refined sugar and grab this bag for your sugar needs.  Any of your trusted baking recipes will be fabulous using this organic sugar in place of refined sugar.  It is just one small step you can make toward an edifying pantry!

Where To Buy Good Snacks To Have on Hand

I would love to have some type of completely homemade snack for my children every afternoon.  In fact, I hope to soon add a page where I can share homemade snack options (your ideas are quite welcome!).  However, like most dear readers who may choose to check out this blog, I live a busy life.  I've got four kids, I home school, I've started an at-home business, we are active in church, we've got soccer and horse-riding and AWANA and baseball and piano and... you get it, right?

So what do you do when you don't have homemade on hand but you don't want to compromise on junk from the gas station on the way to whatever-it-is-you-have-going-that-day?  I've found that having a basket of packaged snack options in our pantry has been very helpful.

Maybe one of the biggest surprises in my quest for organic eating has been the boxed and pre-packaged organic options at... BIG LOTS.  Yes, you read that right.  The first time I got a text from my friend and GMO-free eating mentor (truly, she should be writing this blog), raving about her Big Lots finds, I was a bit skeptical.  Upon checking it out myself, I have found it to be a little treasure trove.  Plus, I nearly always get the bonus of the friendly cashier commenting on all the healthy food I'm buying.  It's like a little pat on the back as I check out.

At the same time, while I do worry about them selling out of our beloved granola bars if I tell too many people about the Big Lots secret, I want them to continue to carry these items.  Maybe there will be such a rush on organic food that they will create a separate department for these items.  This would be helpful because right now it is a bit of a hunt up and down the aisles to find the good stuff.

On my last trip to Big Lots I stocked up on Nature's Path Organic granola bars and oatmeal packs.  At about $2.50 a box they are a great buy.  At other grocery stores I have seen this brand sell for double the price.  The kids have easily adapted to this brand over the big name brands with more questionable ingredients.  Nature's Path has a lot of flavor varieties which makes it fun, too.

Of course that is not all I found, but that's a start.  Have you been organic food shopping at Big Lots?  What did you find?