Last night after the babe had been put to bed and my husband and I were relaxing on the couch we started talking about our eating habits. Stephen is scheduled to begin doing "healthy eating" tours at Whole Foods in the coming weeks and he said that the amount that he has learned about food from his job really convicts him. We have, admittedly, made a number of trips to Aldi this winter/early spring to cut down on our food budget. We still get most of our produce from Whole Foods, but we were getting some of our staples from Aldi. The unfortunate thing about those cheaper foods is that they are EXTREMELY high in sugars (unnatural ones) and preservatives. If I am diligent about sticking to my budget, with our 25% discount at WF, I can actually get a comparable amount of food for the same amount as I would spend @ Aldi or a standard supermarket. And the advantage is health. (I haven't been sick w/ a cold or flu for 2 years!!) I end up buying way less boxed and canned goods when I shop at WF and they don't sell my indulgent hash browns--which is GOOD for me! I think the conclusion that we came to is that the real difference in cost-savings and waste is: MEAL PLANNING. I make much better use of my fresh foods if I come up w/ a tentative meal schedule for the week. And hey, ultimately, we will eat a lot of rice and beans and burritos and spaghetti b/c of our limited budget.
Here's a few ways that we've saved this winter:
1.) Buying dried beans v. canned (cook them w/ some garlic in the crock pot)
2.) Bake more! a loaf of Banana bread, some corn bread...these things are better snacks than chips!
3.) Avoiding buying too many fake meat products (I like them more than Steve and they're expensive...but still not as expensive as real meat--yuck!); there are wonderful non-fake-meat protein options: quinoa, lentils, felafel, tofu, beans, sprouted beans on salad, pesto, etc.
4.) No soda
5.) Meal planning
6.) Shopping only every 2 wks.
7.) Getting 1/2 off bread from BreadWorks (local bakery; and buying a lot and freezing it)
8.) Making our own babyfood (baked veggies pureed in the blender--Caitlin loves them!)
9.) Buying bulk rice, soy sauce and olive oil (from wholesalers in the Strip District)
10.) Less eating out (easier to do now that we have a baby ;))
I do enjoy being in the kitchen. Someday we will have a kitchen space that is more ideal, but until then I work with what I've got.
Mange Bien!
I'm contemplating becoming a vegetarian again and wonder what that will look like for our family.
ReplyDeleteWe have a pressure cooker to cook beans and love it.
This is a great list!
Our list is similar(minus the babyfood); also, we like to make a double batch of homemade hummus to keep in the fridge- a filling snack with bread. This year I'm hoping to do more preserving, especially things like pickles, beets, beans, and definitely more applesauce! Our frozen basil (toss leaves with olive oil then freeze in a ziplock bag with the air pushed out), green beans, pureed tomatoes, and corn from last year's harvest helped us cook through the winter without buying heaps of canned goods.
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