Shopping on a Budget......

Doesn't have to break your bank. Eating healthy doesn't have to be expensive. It may look it from the prices on the shelf, but if you practice quality over quantity, you will win the game. I have a system of shopping that ensures my family eats "junk-free" and we rarely get sick anymore. 

Yes, we eat very healthy foods. Mostly organic. Mostly. I make some decisions when buying food like; additives in packaged foods, organic fruits and veggies vs. regular, items labeled "all-natural," and my strategy for navigating the store. All of this goes into each and every shopping trip!

The envelope pictured above is my monthly grocery receipts totalled up for feeding 6 mouths in June. For part of the month we had 7 mouths to feed, because my step-daughter flew in June 20th. We did not eat processed foods, frozen foods, junk foods, or anything out of a can except organic beans for chili. 

Some people complain it's too expensive to feed a large family healthy foods. 

I agree. It is! But there are tricks that can take that pain away..........

Shop The Perimeter of the Store

If you think about it, all of the fresh healthy foods are located on the perimeter walls of the store. The grocer cannot afford spoilage, so there is less fresh healthy foods than unhealthy processed foods. It's all about the money, not your health. If you think about the aisles, they have the most product. Products that don't move as fast, so they are packed with unhealthy additives (preservatives) to give them shelf-life. To protect the grocer from losing money. Some of them have a shelf-life of a year or more. Then you take them home and they can sit on your shelf uneaten for a year. That's where they should probably stay.

Can you read and tell me every single word on this label? Can you tell me what it is exactly? Yes, I know that most additives are "safe for food consumption," or "food grade." Okay, so they say it's safe, but does your body recognize it as food? Nope. Even if additives are "plant-based," or "food grade," they're empty. They can also trigger things like; immune system alarms (this is foreign, fight it!), allergic responses (msg reactions), or digestive difficulties. So, these should be chosen as little as possible, if at all. 

I only go up and down the aisles of the store for staples. Real food staples. Flour, salt, spices, etc. I try to avoid packaged and processed foods as much as possible. If I do submit to the corporate labels, I choose organic and spend the extra money. Most of what I make 98-99% is from scratch cooking!

So, What Are We Supposed To Eat?

Anything you want really. Everything in the frozen section, canned section, and the packaged section can be made fresh at home from scratch with a little work. When we still ate meat, I even made fresh organic "hamburger helper." Just take grass fed beef, some egg noodles and make a brown gravy with flour and milk. No msg, no oogly-googly-blah-blah triphosphates, low sodium, and real food! 

We are vegetarian now and I have recreated many dishes without meat. Tofu stir fry, spaghetti with protein pasta and textured vegetable protein, black bean burgers, black bean enchiladas, you name it. It can be done. Grab up any cookbook and just substitute where it is needed. 

Fresh is Best and If You Can't Read It Don't Eat It!

Saving Money $$$

That month I spent under $500 on groceries, I shopped the perimeter of the store. I bought mostly organic. Mostly, because I have learned a trick:

If it has a peel, buy regular. If you eat the peel, buy organic. Remember, this does not count GMO products. GMO's will always be GMO's inside and out. Things like; edamame, tomatoes, broccolini, etc. Buy organic peel or no peel. You just have to do your research and make good decisions about the food you buy. We are lucky that our stores here have a "farmers market" stand in the produce section. They accept fresh, local grown organic foods and sell them at regular store prices. Bonus!!!

You will find that when you get rid of packaged, processed canned foods, and put your money into organic veggies and products, your grocery bill actually goes down! You aren't loading your cart with pricey, mac and cheese, canned dinners, and sugary drinks!

Try it, once or twice. It really does work. Get out your grama's cookbook and go back to the way life used to be. They spent almost no money on groceries, except for staples. They grew a lot of what they ate. Studies show there were less cases of; heart disease, cancer, and diabetes prior to the industrial revolution. Why? There wasn't processed food! Think about that for a minute........

Live healthy! 

 @originalworks