When my husband and I were first married, we both ate breakfast out most days. Cory would pick up a slice of breakfast pizza and a large fountain pop on his way to work at the gas station, and I would skip breakfast or eat at work or nursing school. Cory would often feel hungry by midmorning and eat a candy bar. Both of our eating habits have changed significantly, and Cory and I are both convinced that for us, eating clean foods have actually saved us a lot money. Today I am going to start with explaining how we are saving money at breakfast. I hope to be sharing many other ideas on how you can afford organic food too.

Did you know that eggs were once considered one of the best foods a person could eat? In order to get healthy babies, many cultures would make sure a pregnant or lactating mom was given plenty of eggs each day. At times long voyages under harsh conditions were endured to collect eggs. I even heard of grandmas taking on this responsibility. They would do whatever it took to ensure these women were getting the nutrients they needed for themselves and their babies.

Eggs produced by hens on pasture (eating plants) have been found to contain 10 times more omega-3s (think heart health), 3 to 6 times more vitamin D (these hens are soaking up the sun), 217 times more folate (critical in preventing neural tube defects and so much more!), and more vitamin E, A, and beta carotene (incredibly important for good health).  When you choose nutrient dense foods, those vitamins in a bottle don’t seem so important. When we get our nutrients from food, we don’t have to worry that we are getting too much of one vitamin/mineral that can cause toxicity or deficiency in another like we do with supplements.

Most people are aware of the health benefits of olive oil, but many Americans don’t realize that there are a lot of fake olive oils on the market. Studies have suggested that olive oil is high in antioxidants, has strong anti-inflammatory properties, has been shown to help with blood sugar control, is antibacterial, and may help to prevent cancer. Olive oil has been a great substitute for vegetable oils when it comes to dressings, salads, and low heat cooking on our farm.

My husband and I have always known that we could significantly improve our egg production if we would feed highly processed organic layer feed to our laying hens. There are several reasons we want to avoid this feed. A few of these are that the cost is significantly higher, there are always synthetic vitamins added, it doesn’t produce flavorful eggs, I can’t find a local source, and it’s not as natural (just look at the color).

In the last couple years, I have seen a lot of excitement over the idea of making butter by shaking cream in a jar until it turns to butter. While that will produce butter and might be fun for the first few minutes, I would probably only do it once (if I even finished the first time). Let’s be real, that would be a lot of work and take a lot of time! I’m so thankful for modern technology that allows us to put good quality food on the table without so much physical labor and time. While I love physical work, I also enjoy accomplishing a lot of tasks in a day, and I that’s why I love making butter with my Bosch mixer. It’s quick and easy.

Did you know there is a significant increase in the risk of bacteria invading eggs when they are washed? You would think the opposite would be true. People have asked me how our eggs that we sell are so clean when we don’t wash them with water, and I thought I would explain our routine and what we have learned about producing safe eggs.