As you may already know if you’ve been hanging (reading?) around here for a while, my family has been on a real food journey for about the last 8 months or so. We are not perfect at it, and we are making small changes and taking baby steps (and sometimes even bigger steps backward) as we go, but overall we have made some fairly significant changes in the way our family eats.
We try to eat whole foods as often as possible. I cook from scratch as much as I can. We try to avoid processed and packaged food, or “food-like” items as Michael Pollan would say, and specifically try to avoid certain ingredients in our food choices. All this while adding another mouth to feed, now that Brenden eats as much or more than Kaelyn, and trying to stay on a tight grocery budget.
It’s not always easy, and we definitely struggle at times in different areas, and it’s especially hard to look at the price tags of the ideal foods I really want to buy and know that I should buy, and the compromise foods that are still better than the “food-like” foods, but not quite as good as the ideal foods. Usually the compromise foods win, because that is the place we are in right now with our food budget.
Enter Real Food on a Real Budget. This e-book (a paperback version is available too) by Stephanie Langford of Keeper of the Home is 280 pages full of tips, tricks, wisdom, and just real-life, practical advice from someone who eats real food on a real budget every day. I am hoping that by implementing the ideas and strategies that Stephanie presents in this book that we will be able to start buying more of our ideal foods, without having to increase our food budget.
From the Introduction: “My main goal is to encourage, inspire, equip and challenge you as to how you can make your family’s diet look the way that you believe it should be, without compromising due to budgetary constraints.” ~Real Food on a Real Budget
It’s exactly what I have been looking for, and exactly what I need to answer the question that has been on my mind since beginning our real food journey – can we really afford to eat this way?
The most encouraging thing about this book is that Stephanie’s answer is a resounding, Yes! She speaks with such encouragement and understanding of the challenge that it is to eat well on a budget, yet she absolutely believes that it is possible for us to achieve.
Now that you’ve heard how great it is, I’m guessing you would you like to have your very own copy, so, I’m giving away a copy of the e-book Real Food on a Real Budget to one lucky reader this week!
Here’s how the giveaway will work:
To Enter, please leave a comment telling me something that you would like to learn about or gain from reading this book about eating real food on a realistic budget.
And, if you would like to win extra entries you can do one or more, or all, of the following, leaving a separate comment for each one.
1. Mandatory entry – leave a comment telling me what you would like to learn from this book.
2. Subscribe to Live Renewed or sign up to receive posts in your email, or let me know if you are already a subscriber.
3. Follow Live Renewed on Twitter, AND tweet this: I’m entered to win Real Food on a Real Budget from @LiveRenewed http://bit.ly/cRvoOe
4. Visit Keeper of the Home and subscribe to Stephanie’s blog.
5. Follow Keeper of the Home on Twitter
So, that is a total of 5 entries if you do all of the above. Again, please leave a separate comment for each one so that you make sure you get each of your extra enries.
This giveaway will run through Friday, July 30th at 11:59pm, EDT. I will choose a winner using random.org and the winner will be announced on Monday, August 2nd. THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!
And be sure to check back because I’m giving away another great real food e-book next week!
*Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Keeper of the Home and will receive a small commission for books purchased through the links on the page. Thanks for supporting Live Renewed!
I would love to learn how to buy real meat from farmers, on a real budget. Hormone free/pesticide free/grass fed meat seems to be very costly where I live.
Currently subscribe to Keeper of the Home via My Yahoo feeder
Currently subscribe to Live Renewed via My Yahoo reader
Sounds like a great book Emily! With three growing boys and a little girl who is really eating now – I would love some great strategies to stay healthy and on budget!
I love your new look!
I am looking for a way to be able to buy quality, whole food without any increase in our food budget.
I subscribe to Live Renewed! Thank you!
I already subscribe to Keeper of the Home via my email.
I would like to learn the basics of budgeting without sacrificing the quality of food we eat. Particularly meats and produce.
I already subscribe to Live Renewed 🙂
And I already subscribe to Keeper of the Home via email.
I would like to know what to avoid, the different names that these ingredients are listed as- for example msg. And the why behind avoiding them.
I subscribe to Live renewed. 🙂
I’m already a subscriber to Keeper of the Home.
I would love to learn how to buy real/whole/quality foods on a budget. Our food budget has increased dramatically from our switch to real foods and while I recognize that the value is in our health and well being – if I could spend more wisely that would be an added bonus!
I am a subscriber to Live Renewed!
I am also a subscriber to Keeper of the Home!
Hi Emily! I have been eyeballing this e-book since it’s release! I would love to learn tips and tricks to save money and tighten our food budget while still buying organic produce. Thanks for doing this giveaway!
I would like to learn how to prioritize which real foods to buy first since my budget — and my available time for cooking from scratch — doesn’t let me go hard core right now.
I am already a subscriber to Live Renewed.
I am already a subscriber to Keeper of the Home.
I subscribe to your blog via RSS
I subscrived to Keeper of the Home via RSS!
I am already a subscriber; and I would love to learn some tips for grocery shopping organically while saving money; also some good meal recipes as well
I’d love to learn how in the world you could possibly buy real food and have a “real” budget, just as the title says. Seems unattainable to me.
I cook most of our meals from scratch and I am always looking for ways to save money. This looks like a great book.
I just subscribed to Live Renewed emails
I just followed keeper of the home! Add another entry for me?
I just became a subscriber. Another entry?
I would like to learn how to get the best quality produce for the least amount of money.
I follow Keeper of the Home on Twitter – @GirlstoGrow
I would like to learn how to make more things from scratch.
I would love the book for the support. It’s exactly the lifestyle I want but I don’t know anyone IRL that eats like this so I second guess myself.
Stacy
New subscriber
I need to learn how to put inexpensive food together to make meals! (Yummy ones at that! 🙂
I would like to learn more about making things myself versus buying. Also, I haven’t ventured into soaking or sprouting yet.
New subscriber
I already subscribe to Keeper of the Home
I just subscribed!
What I’d like to learn is how to stick with the budget and “realness” without spending a lot of time in the kitchen–because I have a full-time job, my time at home is pretty tight, so I wind up using a lot of canned and frozen ingredients, but I need more info on which of these are “real” and which ought to be avoided.
This book sounds very appealing! I would like to know where to buy ‘whole’ foods in large quantities…I always find that anything ‘organic’ etc. always seems to be packaged in small amounts (eg: flour, sugar etc.) Also like to learn more about probiotics. Thanks!
I subscribe to Keeper of the Home via RSS!
I already subscribe to Live Renewed. Great blog:)
I would like to learn how to budget better while eating healthier. We currently eat whole foods and mostly organic but I fear that we will not be able to keep it up because of the cost. I think this book would be a great read 🙂
I already subscribe to live renewed 🙂
I already subscribe to keeper of the home 🙂
I would like to learn how to say money while cooking one item foods because of our crazy number of food allergies!
I already subscribe to Live Renewed!
I’d like to know what organic/locally grown foods I need to focus on.
I would like to learn about sources of inexpensive meat.
I am a subscriber to Stephanie’s blog! It’s one of my favorites.
I subscribed to your blog and am looking forward to exploring more!
I would love to learn to stretch our budget a little more…and I get bored planning meals. We have a few I know are healthy and don’t cost too much, but I’d like some new ideas! Thanks!
I simply want to use this as a starting place to renew our commitment to eat healthy and to find a way to afford this goal.
I subscribed to Live Renewed via Yahoo. Can’t wait to explore some more.
I already subscribe to Keeper of the Home.
I would like to learn how to feed my children healthier, fun meals on a tight budget.
YAY!!! I won! How do I get in touch with you? I hope I didn’t miss your email or it went to my spam folder