we have something similar here in TX http://fiestamart.com/ I love shopping for veggies there because they carry variety AND organic AND good prices.

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"...with men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26

: )

A store like that just makes me happy : )

And, yes, the prices can be MUCH lower than the regular grocery if you shop carefully!

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http://stuffedveggies.blogspot.com/

We love Fiesta! Haven't been there in awhile, though, been meaning to make a trip there soon.

We went to the local Saturday market for the first time and there was no fruit, just veggies, but we got some of the veggies to make a stir fry. It didn't seem like they were that much more expensive than in the store and it was nice to support local farmers. I was thinking that in the future, we might try getting food for a few meals a month from there and getting things like honey, jam, etc. from there when we can. But we definitely can't do all organic. I've tried a couple times before and we starved because we could barely buy anything.

I do think organic only is like a religion to some people and it's hurtful that they think those of us who do our best, but can't afford organic only, don't care about our family/kids and that we don't have their best interests in mind. I don't buy Twinkies and doughnuts for my kid's snacks, but I also can't do all natural organic, either. We are in between and I do the best I can to give them healthy food most of the time. I am aware some of the crackers and other snacks they have, have lots of artificial ingredients in them, but what do you do when you have kids who are always hungry and you don't want to give the super cheap pure sugar junk, but also can't afford expensive 1-3 ingredient all natural organic stuff, either? If organic fruit is on sale or affordable, I buy it, but if the fruit I buy is not organic, I wash it off the best I can and my conscience is clean. I am disturbed when people equate organic with Godliness and they spout it like it's the Gospel. Maybe organic is best for you, but thank God eating organic is not a requirement to get into heaven, like some people seem to believe!

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Mom to Christian (13), Saphira (10), Xavier (5), and Adrian (2).

Can't possibly evaluate where he is going in the article, from the first few paragraphs.

I rarely catch him on tv, but did see an ad for his program and tuned in yesterday.

I'm not a fan, but was very impressed by the 1st half of his program yesterday, as it was all about cholesterol & fats & how we NEED both & how bad cholesterol drugs are for people. The docs on the program said straight out that they take all their patients off those rx's immediately! It was a GREAT piece but missed the very beginning. Being that his show is very popular, I can only imagine the controversy this will stir up!

The docs went into why the statins were bad for folks but the phone rang & I missed it all, but did hear them say, that they have been known to cause diabetes & even cancer!

I think statins are evil and I won't touch them! They made my Mom very ill - caused Kidney failure IMO, because she had that muscle-pain-damage reaction, which then sends damaged muscle proteins thru the kidneys.

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http://stuffedveggies.blogspot.com/

I've heard its better to buy local/nonorganic than it is to buy organic shipped in.
Fresher & more nutrients is the premise.

I certainly understand what having a frugal amount of the budget for food. We live on just over $25K for 3 of us for the year and we've been trying to help our daughter, son in law and grandbaby out on top of that, as son in law's hours have been drastically reduced. I make everything or grow everything I possibly can from scratch to stretch the food budget. I guess after being educated on what is on the non-organic fruits and veggies, I just try to make healthier choices. Sometimes the organic is on sale, and if I have to purchase veggies or fruit at the store I only shop the sales.

Having been a recipient of food bank food at times, the quality of their food is a joke, for most of them, heavily laden with sugary items. A few years ago when my hubby was unable to work, I was offered 3 cakes, 2 pies, and other packaged foods that had sugar listed as the first ingredient. I graciously turned them down on their "kind" offer of sugar. LOL

Last week, I was pleasantly surprised to see the food bank I took my dd to acutally had fresh fruit and veggies as many simply don't even carry any fresh foods. I understand many local farmers donate their food at the end of the growing season, so if that's the case, it's a good source.

If you have to purchase non-organic, make sure you wash it off really good. I use this homemade wash to get rid of pesticides, dirt or bug remnants.

http://www.livingonadime.com/fruit-vegetable-wash/


Here's a list if anyone is interested on what dozen food items to avoid if they cannot purchase them organic:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/eco-nomics/ ... d-veggies/

I hope this has been informative and certainly do not wish to make anyone feel badly if they are not in a positioin to purchase organic fruits and veggies.

"Having been a recipient of food bank food at times, the quality of their food is a joke, for most of them, heavily laden with sugary items. A few years ago when my hubby was unable to work, I was offered 3 cakes, 2 pies, and other packaged foods that had sugar listed as the first ingredient. I graciously turned them down on their "kind" offer of sugar. LOL"

I'm not sure that's such a bad thing. Many times, when families are in desperate circumstances they psychologically NEED something tasty, luxurious, and, well, not so healthy. Just like any other kids, their kids run to the bag of groceries to see if there's anything "good" in there - and they don't mean some nice, healthy blackeye peas when they say "good" ; )

Several years ago, I made some food *I* would have liked for our local homeless ministry - and donated some fresh fruit for breakfast. The director very graciously told me that my type donations were not what people wanted or would eat (some of it was actually untouched). They wanted pizza, hotdogs, hamburgers, cookies, pop-tarts & capn crunch for breakfast. Similarly, in our food pantry, people get to pick a bag of whatever they want - and the junk food always goes first. I actually have gone out of my way to donate the type of things the recipients ask for and take - it's not my preference in food - but I'm not the one eating it.

If I ever notice the health food flying off the shelves, I'll switch : )

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http://stuffedveggies.blogspot.com/

My blood pressure and cholesterol are both through the roof. It's taken two meds to bring down my bp and they put me on Crestor for cholesterol. I took it for a few months but I began to feel like my esophagus was closing in and my foods weren't going all the way down. I stopped it but need to do *something* about it. What are some natural remedies?

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“The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.”
― Mother Teresa