I know none of us wants to think about this till Jan 2nd, lol. But, I keep hearing that eating healthy is too expensive? I do not agree with this position. Thoughts?
Areas with more access to fresh foods is going to be cheaper.
Supply and demand plays a big part in price.
Then you have to figure in actually getting to the places that have the fresh food.
As for cost, with coupons and such, a person can get prepackaged, or frozen meals for pennies on the dollar.
Sometimes free.
I agree that knowing how and what to cook is important and can make for easier, healthy meals.
But if I've got $20 and 4 mouths to feed for the week, I'm getting a lot of pasta and the cheapest ground meat I can find.
Another reason why I get so pissed when I see the videos of perfectly good produce thrown in dumpsters instead of donating, or just marking the price down.
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A flock of flirting flamingos is pure, passionate, pink pandemonium-a frenetic flamingle-mangle-a discordant discotheque of delirious dancing, flamboyant feathers, and flamingo lingo.
If you cut out the pre-packaged foods. (I've never used Hamburger Helper, for example.)
And, the junk foods. Chips, cookies, sodas, etc.
You have more to spend, on the healthy stuff.
It helps to know what fresh fruits and veggies are in season, and will be cheap.
Frozen and canned veggies and fruits, can always be an option. Especially, when they are on sale.
If you shop at the same grocery store on a regular basis, you will find a pattern to their sales. And you can stock up on certain things, then. (I think a lot of them go on a six week cycle.)
I'm not much for clipping coupons. Or running to three or four different stores.
Since we do 99% of our grocery shopping at Kroger, they send me coupons in the mail, for the things we use the most.
And, we earn the fuel points. (And, Paul's employee discount.)
In our neck of the woods, it just makes sense to watch the pattern. And stock up on certain things, when we can.
I find buying meats at places like Costco or BJ's you get much better meat and at much lower prices. We try to stock up on fresh meat when we go and then I portion them out and freeze them.
Another tip I follow is to base my meals around a vegetable. Start with fresh veggies first because they will go bad. I'll see a bunch of leeks in the store and make a meal from them. Or a bunch of bell peppers and figure out what to make where I will use them as my main. Not only am I incorporating more veggies in my diet, I use them up so they don't go bad and are wasted. Then I add another veggie as a side, too. And you can save money by avoiding organic. The markup on organic is ridiculous.
I don't coupon or run from store to store either. But I don't stick to the same store week after week either. I will alternate. And if there is a rewards membership at a store, I always put my phone number in. I save a lot on gas that way. using the rewards I earn.
And you have to consider how many you are feeding, and when you will be able to get back to a store.
A typical week when for me when the kids were in school.
Breakfast Monday to Thursday
Eggs, cooked to order because there is less waste
Oatmeal
Toast
And some kind of fruit
On Friday I did cinnamon rolls.
I slept all day so no lunch, but if the kids were out for break or something I made a soup, sometimes canned, sometimes not.
They got a half sandwich with it.
Dinner was usually simple.
A meat, 2 veggies.
I fed 6 to 9 people for about $2 a day.
But I was brought up cooking and growing my own food.
I agree, there is too much junk bought by some.
But I really do not begrudge a tired, working parent for heating up a bag of processed chicken nuggets and tator tots now and then and calling it dinner.
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A flock of flirting flamingos is pure, passionate, pink pandemonium-a frenetic flamingle-mangle-a discordant discotheque of delirious dancing, flamboyant feathers, and flamingo lingo.
And you have to consider how many you are feeding, and when you will be able to get back to a store.
A typical week when for me when the kids were in school.
Breakfast Monday to Thursday
Eggs, cooked to order because there is less waste
Oatmeal
Toast
And some kind of fruit
On Friday I did cinnamon rolls.
I slept all day so no lunch, but if the kids were out for break or something I made a soup, sometimes canned, sometimes not.
They got a half sandwich with it.
Dinner was usually simple.
A meat, 2 veggies.
I fed 6 to 9 people for about $2 a day.
But I was brought up cooking and growing my own food.
I agree, there is too much junk bought by some.
But I really do not begrudge a tired, working parent for heating up a bag of processed chicken nuggets and tator tots now and then and calling it dinner.
Sounds like you worked hard and did a great job with that! Keeping it simple is a big help i think.
It is nice that food is more on the radar in this country. That's a good thing. And, nice that you can pick up more healthful options on now on the go.
I just made 5 dozen roll out cookies, my morning project. Perhaps not the healthiest of foods but made from scratch and using Cane sugar. LL you listening? You drilled that one into my head.
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Sometimes you're the windshield, and sometimes you're the bug.
I know none of us wants to think about this till Jan 2nd, lol. But, I keep hearing that eating healthy is too expensive? I do not agree with this position. Thoughts?
Think of all the money you save not buying junk.
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LawyerLady
I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you.
I just made 5 dozen roll out cookies, my morning project. Perhaps not the healthiest of foods but made from scratch and using Cane sugar. LL you listening? You drilled that one into my head.
Good girl!!!
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LawyerLady
I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you.
I was a diet Coke ADDICT. I haven't had one since September. I'm in a size 8 pants, clothes I haven't worn in years now fit. I'm on a special supplement. Doctor approved. BP is WAY down.
But I let myself have more soda than I should this last year.
Getting that back under control.
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A flock of flirting flamingos is pure, passionate, pink pandemonium-a frenetic flamingle-mangle-a discordant discotheque of delirious dancing, flamboyant feathers, and flamingo lingo.
I drink soda. Full sugar, full caffeine, regular soda. And I'm not going to quit. I have cut down greatly, but I have no intention of cutting it out completely. It's a treat, my goal is 1-2 a week.
I'm easing us into a fully diabetic diet for the whole family.
I'm shrinking portion sizes, too.
No one has complained yet, so hopefully they are not noticing.
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A flock of flirting flamingos is pure, passionate, pink pandemonium-a frenetic flamingle-mangle-a discordant discotheque of delirious dancing, flamboyant feathers, and flamingo lingo.
I drink soda. Full sugar, full caffeine, regular soda. And I'm not going to quit. I have cut down greatly, but I have no intention of cutting it out completely. It's a treat, my goal is 1-2 a week.
My suggestion would be to switch to a soda that uses cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. I cut out soda completely after a coke a day habit when we went non-gmo. Now I allow myself 1-2 Mexican cokes a week.
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LawyerLady
I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you.