Hi reader,
I found bacon marked down a while ago at my local store for an incredible deal - 1 ½ pounds for $1.29!!
Buying marked down meats is one of the ways we save on meat at the store, and while this bacon wasn't nitrate-free, it was marked down so low that I'd be crazy not to buy it.
And since we don't eat bacon that often anyway, buying the absolute best quality isn't high on my priority list. (On the other hand, we eat chicken multiple times a week, so I am committed to buying organic chicken, usually through ButcherBox.)
I shared this awesome bacon find on Instagram (come follow me, if you aren't already!) and a follower left me this comment:
You would really eat that?? Do you know how many toxins are in that commercial meat??
To which I replied:
I would, because our grocery budget isn't big enough for 100% "best" of anything. We simply do the best we can with what we have.
I'm sure the comment wasn't meant to make me feel bad, but here's the thing.
I started my blog because of comments like that.
Ten (plus) years ago my husband asked if we could eat carrots and at the time I was just beginning to learn what it meant to eat real food.
I found several blogs that taught about real food, but few of them mentioned a budget and NONE of them did it with grace. Every single one of them made me feel bad because I couldn't afford grass-fed or organic or anything like that. There was only so much money in the account and I had to make it work. There was no other way around it.
That's why I started Don't Waste the Crumbs. I needed a resource that balanced real food goals with real life budgets. I needed practical tips - ones that I could implement with two kids under the age of 4 and actually see results before the end of the month. I figured if I needed this, then someone else might too.
My mantra has always been, "Do the best you can with what you have" and it's a conscious effort to not compare what you're doing with what someone else is.
Maybe you can afford pastured bacon every week. Maybe your goal is one pack of nitrate free bacon a month that you stretch via sautéed Brussels sprouts.
Or maybe you never EVER buy bacon because even commercial bacon - on sale - is too expensive... but you have $2 left in the grocery budget and when you saw this marked down $1.29 bacon, you decided to skip your splurge of a tall Starbucks coffee so you could surprise your bacon-loving husband for his birthday.
Wherever you might be in this journey, remember this is just that – a journey. There will be seasons of plenty, and seasons of shortage. There are hard decisions to make and you might have to say no to one thing in order to say yes to another.
I want you to be encouraged, reader. You are doing a wonderful job!
PS: Making healthier choices doesn't have to be hard! Coming back in January 2025 is our annual Real Food Reboot! The 10-Day Clean Eating Challenge to get you on track in the New Year!
More details are coming soon or you can beat the crowd and join now >> Click here to join Real Food Reboot!
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Simple course teaching EVERYTHING you need to master meal planning, without the stuff that doesn't really matter (i.e. Pinterest boards) so you can easily decide what's for dinner and be done with it in just 15 minutes.
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Read More Here | | | | | | | | | | | | These bread rolls are light, fluffy, and delicious – perfect for Thanksgiving (or all year round!)! Follow this easy dinner rolls recipe for sweet yeast rolls that are just as tasty as store-bought. Great with my Thanksgiving dinner menu.
Read More Here | | | | |
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