Welcome!

To say that I have an interest in health & nutrition may be a bit of an understatement. I've been reading books about health & nutrition since I was a teenager. For fun. :) I also LOVE good food. Beyond the books (as well as because of them), our personal experiences have helped me (the mom) discover some things about how the quality & type of foods we eat affect our health. We've tried a lot of different foods, a lot of different ideologies, and a lot of personal experimentation & listening to our bodies regarding nutrition & our own personal health (and believe me - we have issues!) What am I getting at here? We know how to eat what our bodies need nutritionally. We know how to get more information & more opinions, and we know how to change & experiment if/when something doesn't seem quite right. That is all straightforward enough.

I like to educate. I want people to be healthy & happy, and I love to share what I've learned if it might help someone else. I thrive on it. It's my passion. So, what's my point?

Eating for our health doesn't always come up with the same price tag as eating for the budget's sake.

I can't tell you how many times I've read articles promising to help me - or my friend, neighbor, mom, etc. - eat real/healthy/organic/(or-whatever-else-they-want-to-call-it) food "on a budget" or "How to save money on such-and-such healthy diet," only to realize that everyone has different ideas of what constitutes living or eating "on a budget." I can't tell you how many people I've talked with about health & nutrition only to have them say that eating healthy is too expensive.

During the last several years, I've been in a variety of financial/budget situations. I've been able at times to buy every single food item, vitamin, probiotic, exotic superfood powder, green drink powder, fresh juice, etc. that I ever wanted. At other times, I have had to rely on help from resources like the local food bank. Most of the time, I've been somewhere in between.

I know what it is to feel great and want to tell everyone how amazing this or that food/diet/supplement/rare-exotic-superpower-extract is and what it can do for their health. I also know how frustrating it can be to be told that I'm not eating healthy enough and that I should just cut out all the extravagant luxuries that I MUST be spending my money on. Never mind the fact that I don't HAVE an i-anything or a TV bill to cut out. Never mind the fact that I already make food from scratch, buy in bulk, grow a garden, and all the other things that are supposedly the remedy for my false sense that eating healthy is too expensive...

Here's the kicker - what started the fire for this blog: I don't like to complain; I like to fix things. I like to make things better. I live with a determination to make the world a better place. That's why I'm here.

I intend to change lives for the better with this blog. If I don't change EVERYONE'S life for the better, that's pretty normal. But if I can share something that makes someone's life happier, easier, healthier, tastier, more fun...well, you get the point.

Welcome!