And just like that; I am back from a month-long hiatus of penning blog posts on this little space of the internet. I am also now a mama of three; having welcomed our newborn son, Miles, into the world just three weeks ago today! It has been overwhelmingly sweet, exciting, exhausting and gruelling all at once. The pendulum of emotions has been swinging to the the very far sides of the spectrum- and I suspect I am still running on heightened adrenaline up to this point.
Mr. Miles is as sweet as pie and there will be plenty of lifestyle posts coming your way- but for now… let’s talk about our weekly grocery shop and finding ways to buy more and spend less. Isn’t that like, the ultimate goal for us all? And if we can accomplish that without reducing the quality of what we’re actually buying week over week; now that’s called: winning!
First things first; you NEED to make a list. This is the beginning of all good things. Without one; you’re no better than a sugar-crazed kid in a candy store filling a cart with whatever catches your eye. Better yet; if you go to the grocery store hungry, I guarantee you’ll come back with a whole bunch of things you wouldn’t have purchased otherwise.
But back to my above point, there will be things you will pick up because you need them on the daily; we’ll refer to these as: grocery essentials. For example, my forever staples include:
- pasture-raised eggs
- jasmine rice and brown rice
- organic canned chickpeas
- tomatoes
- cucumbers
- avocado
- feta cheese
- coffee
- raw honey
- lean ground beef
- organic chicken
- rye or quinoa bread
- lactose free milk (for Ethan)
- organic milk (for Grace)
- almond or macadamia milk (for yours truly)
- coconut oil
- grass-fed butter
- etc etc.
These are things we consume “on the daily” think of them as your “bread and butter” AKA: things you can’t go without.
Let’s move to the second category: extra recipe items you will need (outside those staples) once you decide on 2-3 recipes you’ll make that week. For example, if you’re making my Feta Spinach and Turkey burgers; you’ll add lean ground turkey meat and kale to the above list. Or, if you’re making my Mexican Quinoa Casserole you’ll likely have to buy quinoa, cilantro, canned tomatoes, canned beans and corn. Or buy more of the avocados to make the cilantro avocado mousse that acts as the creamy casserole topper.
Finally, there’s the third category of goodies where the real cost-savings occur: unexpected finds AKA: things you didn’t expect to buy- but have a sweet sale sticker and so, you’ll intuitively stock up on them. For example; when you find a large bag of organic kale on sale at Whole Foods for $2.99 when you buy 2; I typically buy 6 bags and freeze the rest. Frozen kale is amazing in your smoothies, inside egg muffins or omelettes, beef and vegetable stews, chili con carne, bone broth soup, etc. I find greens (kale, spinach, arugula, romaine, etc ) are often among the most expensive of buys; so sale means: stock up! Bonus: they freeze well! I portion them out into ziplock bags which I then reuse and recycle several times.
There’s also ways to know what’s on sale before you even hit the grocery store pavement; have you heard of the app called “Flipp-Weekly Shopping“? Well, it proves to get best bang for your buck by pinpointing weekly Flyers and Deals. Trust me, you can’t possibly get the entirety of your grocery shop from one store. I usually hit 2-3 different stores at different times a week to get the best deals. Sadly, a one shop fits all approach (while efficient) is not always cost-effective. And, if time is truly of the essence; some of the best and major grocery stores now offer a super convenient order online and pick-up-in-store service or a home delivery service option. Shopping made easy for everyone who’s got little, to no time.
I also want to talk about organic foods; because let’s face it- not all of us can afford to buy “organic everything”. Did you know that some fruits and veggies are far less likely to have pesticides or pesticide residue and so you can buy them in their conventional form and give your budget some nice little room?
Here are some of the foods you don’t need to buy organic:
- avocados! (major score on this one!) 🙂
- eggplant
- cabbage
- broccoli
- cantaloupe
- papaya
- oranges
- onion
- pineapples
Here are some of the foods you should always try and buy organic:
- spinach
- kale
- strawberries
- raspberries
- blueberries
- apples
- peaches
- grapes
- tomatoes
- cucumbers
In the summer; I save a ton of money by growing my own romaine lettuce, tomatoes, green beans and cucumbers. They grow pretty fast and I typically plant them by early May and start seeing them out by early or mid-June.
Want to save a penny on berries or apples? Hit up your local farmers market or go apple-picking and make it a family thing; we come back with 2 big bags every year which we use all throughout the Fall on seasonal pies, warm oatmeal, applesauce (when they start to go bad) or just for every day munching. PSA: applesauce is also an awesome egg substitute if you’re trying to bake without them or do some vegan baking.
Looking for more affordable dairy-free alternatives to cheese and milk?
- Look for silken tofu-based products; tofu ricotta and cream cheese are pretty good!
- DIY, like this awesome Cashew Cream Cheese recipe on the bloggity blog!
Hope you found this little write-up helpful and I’d love it if you leave a comment so I can expand more on anything you’d like to learn more about.
Happy Cooking!
x
By: Aleyda | The Dish On Healthy
