Mondays

Lately I have been just sick at the rising cost of groceries to feed our family. I don't buy organic unless it's as cheap as conventional, but we do try to eat a "whole foods" diet. I would love to garden, but there's not much you can grow at 9200 feet and with the extremely short growing season. (even tomorrow, May 12, we're supposed to get a 6-12 inches of snow) I also want to get some chickens eventually, but that will have to wait.

Our most expensive foods are the five gallons of raw milk we buy from a local farm and the meat and eggs we buy locally - grassfed beef and completely free-range chickens - but I think they're definitely worth it for our long-term health. I also love supporting local farmers.

In an effort to lower the cost to feed our family, I asked my wonderful husband if it would be okay to have black beans and brown rice every Monday, and then have leftover beans and rice Tuesday as well but wrap it up in a now-homemade tortilla and bake it. He was all for it, thankfully, and it's one of my kids' favorite meals.

There's not much else as cheap as black beans and rice for dinner, especially when you buy it in huge bags. I bought a 25-pound bag of black beans for $25.00 and a 25-pound bag of long-grain brown rice for $24.00.

To feed our family of eight two dinners, we use about three cups of black beans and three cups of rice. That's one CHEAP meal, and also easy when all you have to do is throw the beans in the crockpot first thing in the morning. It would be even cheaper if Jimmy didn't request that I throw a few pieces of bacon in it! :) My kids have some Iowa in them and don't mind bland food.