So, Does “Clean Eating” Cost More?

So… this turned out to be a long post.  There are several sections here.  Feel free to read it all or scroll down to what interests you:

1.  Whole30 Update

2.  Discussion on Clean Eating and Cost

3.  A Meal Idea

Ahhhh… Saturday.  It’s a rare kind of Saturday here at the Confessions house.  First of all… we really don’t have anywhere specific to be today!  (Well, the hubby has a quick work activity that he has to do this morning… but I don’t have anywhere specific to be!)  It feels great to be IN TOWN and to have a Saturday morning to enjoy my coffee and breakfast while blogging!

Whole30 Update:

It is hard to believe that I am on Day 21!  Only 9 days to go until my Whole30 is technically over.  I imagined that this would be the hardest thing I have ever done, as far as eating goes, but it has actually been so much easier than I thought!  One cool thing that has happened is something in my 2 crisper drawers.  (Side note: way back when, I used to keep BEER in the crisper!  Ha!)  Anyway, each week, when I make my regular grocery runs, I always buy lots of veggies with the intentions of eating all of them all week.  However, I always would end up throwing out so much each week because I would forget about it or decide not to eat it.  What a waste!  But since starting the Whole30, I have been cleaning out the veggie drawers every week!

I have now been off of my joint supplement for 3 weeks and my knees feel great!  I have drastically cut back on the Motrin!  I am also sleeping better than I can remember in years.  Seriously, my head hits the pillow and I am DEEP sleeping until the alarm or a 4-year old climbs over me in the morning.  (This  morning, it was the latter.)  I used to wake up throughout the night and many mornings I would not feel rested.  But I feel rested every single morning!

I am not having any severe cravings anymore.  Occasionally, I will crave something for a minute if I see it on TV or if it is in my face.  Like last night, I made mac n cheese for my husband and kiddo when I made dinner, and as I was stirring it, I kind of wanted to put a spoonful in my mouth.  But I resisted.  And as soon as it was out of my sight, it was forgotten.

I’d like to change the focus now to a topic that I wondered about before starting Whole30:

Does Clean Eating Cost More?

(gratuitous Sadie picture)

I think the answer is yes and no.  There are several factors that come into play, like whether you are buying organic foods and meats, where you are shopping, and how you are shopping.

Organic: Sometimes organic food costs a good bit more than the regular counterparts.  However, I am going to show you a meal idea that was VERY affordable for me, and almost the whole meal was completely organic.  You can use this list to help you decide what you really need to purchase organically.

Where you are shopping: This week I did most of our shopping at Earth Fare, which I don’t normally do.  Now, keep in mind that we had some meats in the fridge, so I didn’t have to buy as much protein.  But I was able to get a cart full of groceries, plus 3 proteins (chicken thighs, ground chicken, and grass-fed beef) for about $50.  My cart included lots of veggies, almond butter, and some water and Kombucha.  I consider a $50 grocery trip pretty great!  I also love going to Trader Joe’s.  They offer a lot of organic items for way less than a traditional grocery store would.  Most of my shopping is done at Harris Teeter, which I would say is a more high-end grocery store featuring really great deals.  I also like hitting our local farmer’s market when I can.  I can get a whole grocery cart of locally-grown produce for less than $20.  (I have joined a CSA for June and July, so I am really looking forward to getting my produce that way very soon!)

Earth Fare Find:  This week I discovered “tubes” of organic ground chicken and pork in the freezer section at Earth Fare for about $5 each!  I never knew these were there, but I love using ground chicken (especially organic) for breakfast or for chilis and soups!

How you shop: When I say “how you shop,” I mean whether or not you gravitate towards the deals.  I tend to form my meals around what is on sale or special.  That is how I put together the meal you’ll see below.  When frozen veggies are on sale, I stock up.  Even though these aren’t usually organic, they’re usually free of preservatives.

A Note About Coupons: Unfortunately, if you are a “coupon-er,” it is going to be difficult to eat this way.  There just aren’t a lot of coupons for meats and produce.  Sad, but true.  As a former coupon-er, it is sometimes hard for me to pass up a great deal.  But I have had to remind myself—just because it’s cheap doesn’t mean I have to eat it.  Many of the items that regularly feature coupons are, unfortunately, full of preservatives and chemicals.  It’s sad but true.  Read your labels.  It was eye-opening to me, too.  Want a shocker?  Read the ingredients on your coffee creamer.  Or your mayo.

I was lucky this week and a friend at work who raises chickens brought me 2 dozen farm-fresh eggs for $1 a dozen.  That’s cheaper than any grocery store and way fresher!  Win!

So, how about a meal idea?

 

Chicken and Bok Choy Skillet Meal

This meal comes together quickly!  The key is to chop your ingredients while the chicken is browning.  I also think some coconut aminos would be a good addition to this dish, but I was out.   Total cooking time is only about 10-15 minutes, and that includes prep time! I paired mine with sauteed mushrooms on the side.

Ingredients:

-one pound of organic ground chicken (found in the freezer section at Earth Fare for $5)

-one whole head of organic Bok Choy, chopped (about $3)

-one quare of frozen ginger (maybe $0.10-0.20?)

-organic green onions (clipped from my kitchen windowsill—free!)

-about 15 organic baby carrots (maybe about $0.50?)

-one to two TBSP of EVOO  (probably about $0.20 or less)

Preparation:

Brown the chicken in a saute pan in EVOO.  When chicken is fully cooked, add bok choy, ginger, onions, and carrots.  Cook on medium heat until Bok Choy is wilted and carrots are tender.  Serve hot.  (Serves about 3 people—2 if you want seconds.  He he.)

Total cost for the meal: $9.00 

I ate half for dinner on Thursday and took the rest for lunch on Thursday.  Now, in my opinion, that is pretty affordable—especially for an organic meal!

Question for YOU: Do you think “clean eating” costs more?  What tips do you have on how to save money on groceries on either a Paleo or “Clean” diet?

Apps for Techies and Leftovers Reinvented!

Today was a hard day, friends.  Since December 13, I have been sleeping in until 8:00 or later.  It’s been nice.  Sleep, get up, drink coffee, catch up on the DVR episodes… but today it was back to reality!  Yes, school started back again and it was hard to drag myself out of bed at 5:45 a.m.  Did any of you start back to work today after a holiday vacation?  How was your day?

One thing that kept me going was knowing that I had leftovers and a way to reinvent them tonight, PLUS a free afternoon/evening to do whatever I wanted!

I have two apps to tell you about today that I think are awesome.  If you are currently exercising or trying to lose weight, I thought these might be helpful to you!

Now, I am an iPhone user, after many years of owning a Blackberry.  As a BB user, I would always get frustrated when the cool apps weren’t available to me.  So I am going to apologize in advance to any of you who can’t access these apps.  I don’t know if they are available on the Android or Blackberry (or other) Markets.  These are definitely available to you iPhone users, though!

1. iMapMyFITNESS

I am absolutely loving this app!  This is great to have if you are a runner or a walker.  My favorite thing is the “record workout” feature.  When I go out for a walk, I tell it to record my workout.  It finds my location via GPS and then tracks my walk.  I can see a map of the streets and it records my route, how fast I am going, how much time has elapsed, and more!

At the end, you can view a summary of your workout and save it for another time.  This is helpful when you are walking different routes in your neighborhood and you get home and you think, “Wonder how far I went?”

By the way, it also allows you to pause and resume a workout.  Today, I walked about 1 1/4 miles, and then needed to make a stop at the grocery store.  I paused my workout when I entered the store and resumed it when I left!

It was a little awkward to walk with this bag, but it was a great afternoon for a walk/run!

2.  Weight Watchers Bar Code Scanner

This is for any of you out there who are WW members.  If you are a paying member of WW (pay for monthly pass, online membership, or e-tools) then you can download this app and use it for free.  You can scan the bar codes of the foods you have at home (or while you are grocery shopping).  Within seconds, you get the product information with the points values! 

Plus, everything you scan is saved in your history, so if you need to record that food option more than once, you’ve got it!  Almost everything in my pantry (with the exception of private brands—such as Harris Teeter brands) was in the database!  So cool and convenient!

Now, on to the leftovers. (If you are just joining me, I am participating in Eat-In Month during January, so you’ll be seeing a lot more cooking and cost-effective meals this month!)

You may remember my pork shoulder roast from yesterday that I slow-cooked all day.  Well, seeing as how we are only a family of 3, we didn’t finish all of it yesterday!  But… I have found that we (i.e. the husband) are not great at eating our leftovers.  So I started thinking about a way to reinvent the leftover pork into a new meal.  Suddenly, it came to me: barbecue on rolls! 

The only problem?  We had no BBQ sauce in the house.  I started wondering… I bet it wouldn’t be difficult to make my own BBQ Sauce.  After a little searching, I came across this recipe on www.allrecipes.com.  It had great reviews, and we had almost all the ingredients on hand, so I gave it a whirl.

The verdict?  Delicious!  Hubby and I both agree completely that this was better than any store-bought sauce we could have bought!  I threw the leftover pork+sauce in the crock pot, turned it to HIGH, and in just a few hours, we had sweet and tangy BBQ Pork!

We served it up on hot dog buns.  Somehow we always have extra because Sadie always opts to have hers sans bun, so this was an easy way to use up the buns and not spend extra money.

I ate mine open-faced with peas and leftover collards.  :)

YUM!  If you’ve never made your own BBQ Sauce, you should give this one a try!

I like to think about cost effectiveness.  This pork roast cost $9 (on sale—score!).  We still have leftovers, so I figure there were 3 meals from that meat.  That’s $3 a meal.  The steamed peas were under $1 (also on sale) and the BBQ Sauce cost about $0.75 for the amount I made.  The buns and collards were leftover, so I count them as free.  That’s a meal for a family of 3 for under $5.  Sweet!

If you want to read more about how I grocery shop, click here to view my post on how to spend less on groceries.

Happy New Year: Chili, Tomato-Mozzarella Mini-Skewers, and Champagne!

Welcome to 2011!  Did you know today is 1-1-11?  How cool!

How did you ring in the new year?  We spent time with friends.  We started with a quick dinner with Kati, Lucas, and Eric.  Katie made  some delish chili. 

I brought these yummy tomato-mozzarella mini-skewers. 

More on these in a minute.

We all had a quick toast together before hitting the village.  Baxter Village, that is.

We had a blast and only spent $11!  How great is that?

Now, on to those mini-skewers:

I first got the ideas for these from Liv Life, another blog I read.  I decided that I wanted to do a twist on her original.  The only problem was… I couldn’t find fresh basil at any of the grocery stores yesterday.  What’s up with that?  I guess I really do need to have my own herb garden.  If I’d had time, I would have headed to Charlotte and hit up the Fresh Market, but I just didn’t have time yesterday.  In hindsight, maybe I should have tried Earth Fare.  So, I had no choice… I had to use dried.  :(  Fresh would have been SO much better.

I halved grape tomatoes and used Perlini Mozzarella.  I just used regular toothpicks to make the mini-skewers.  I slid on 1/2 of the tomato, then a mozzarella “pearl”, and then the other half of the tomato.  When all the skewers were make, I drizzled olive oil and balasmic vinegar over all the skewers, and sprinkled them with salt, pepper, and dried basil. 

 

 

They actually ended up being really tasty… but I will definitely use fresh basil next time (assuming I can find it!)

Finally, Ryan and I have decided to join my friend Diana and other bloggers for “Eat-In Month.” 

We’re going to try and hang in there for the entire month.  Eat in month means that we will prepare all our meals at home (or ourselves) for January.  That includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  This will help us eat healthier and save money.  We will have ONE pass.  So we’ll have to be selective about when we decide to use that.

If you’d like to learn more about Eat-In Month, click here to visit Diana’s blog, “The Chic Life,” and read all about it.

Well, it just isn't a cooking week around here...

I've had high hopes for cooking this week and having a recipe to post, but it just isn't working out.  I have this poor spaghetti squash sitting on my counter, patiently waiting... maybe tomorrow!

This morning I was back at work and Ryan took his turn staying with The Incredible Pooping Machine Sadie today.  (By the way, she is feeling much better, and things are "moving again.")  Thanks to all of you for the well wishes!

I am officially addicted to Pomegranates.  Yesterday, I got a shipment from POM Wonderful!  They sent me all kinds of goodies for my POM Wonderful dinner party.  I have been experimenting and practicing cutting them.  I am trying to do it without making it look like a huge mess.  It's getting easier.  I have been eating the arils by themselves and as a garnish, just to get used to the texture.

This morning, I had yogurt, topped with some bran cereal and pomegranate arils.  (Most people would say, "Bran!  Bleh!"  But I really like it.)  YUM.  This would have been better with vanilla yogurt instead of strawberry, but I grabbed the wrong one.

For lunch, I tried to make the most colorful plate possible.  Doesn't it make you more cheerful when your meal is colorful?  Notice the pomegranate arils?  Today was baked potato day at school, which I LOVE.  I added just a little cheddar (low fat) and sour cream (light).  Just enough to taste.  Today, the potato also came with some ham, which I wouldn't have chosen, but was actually really good together.

And tonight I taught Zumba, so Ryan took care of dinner.  Wish I could say it was homemade, but it was one of those freezer-to-oven lasagnas.  Which are actually VERY good.  And very convenient when you are in a pinch.  (This one was super cheap because it was part of Bi-Lo's meal deal that they do.  I love a good deal.)

If you don't already do this, start reading the ads for your grocery store.  Many of them have a "meal deal" where you purchase one item and then get several other items free.  I bought this lasagna and got a 2-liter of Coke, breadsticks, and ice cream free.  The only down side to this is that you then have ice cream in the freezer tempting you. 

Happy Friday Eve, everyone!  The weekend is almost here!!!

How to Spend Less on Groceries!

So, today I had to do some grocery shopping.  This used to be a mindless task for me.  I sometimes made a list, and sometimes I went with NO list, wandering around the store and purchasing whatever looked good to me at the time.  Times, they have a-changed in the Bridges Household.  About a year ago, I started keeping track of my grocery receipts and found that, for our family of 3, I was sometimes spending as much (or sometimes MORE than) $500 a month on groceries.  And we went out to eat a few times a week, too!  Many of you with children know that they are EXPENSIVE.  Worth every penny, but once you have a day care expense of $600-$800 a month, you have to start finding ways to save.  Plus, as a part of all the school budget cuts, my husband's job was cut and he took a job that cost him about 1/3 of his salary.  That hurt.  And then came the furloughs... you heard me mention those yesterday.  But... things happen, and you have to find a way to deal. 


That's why I use the Southern Savers website.


This website is couponing and grocery deals for dummies.  Jenny, the creator, has all kinds of tutorials to help you get started and understand how couponing works.  Click here to find some of her video tutorials.


Now, I am still not able to go and buy a cart of groceries for $5.  But Southern Savers has helped me to DRASTICALLY cut our grocery bill.  How drastic?  I cut it in HALF.  I went from spending an average of $100 a week to $50 a week.  I will tell you that a shopping trip takes a lot more time and effort than it used to, but to me, it's worth it.


First, I have to menu-plan.  Today, this involved me checking the freezer to see what we actually had and thinking about what dinners could be created with those ingredients.  (This is the obvious part of the game plan.  We all do this, right?) 

As you can see, there is a serious organization problem going on here! 
Does anyone else's freezer look like this?

For example, today I pulled out a top-round roast, potatoes, onions, and celery.  Well, that's easy.  Add some carrots and you've got crock pot beef stew.  So carrots went on my list.  And lucky for me, they are on sale this week!


Then, I hit up the Southern Savers site to see what the grocery deals are that week. 

I shop at either Bi-Lo or Harris Teeter, depending on who has the best deals for that particular week.  For me, Bi-Lo won this week.  Now, the Southern Savers site has this great feature where Jenny lists all the items that are on sale AND the coupon match-ups.  She also has check-boxes so you can check off everything you want and then print your personalized list.  You can even add your own items to the list. 

Then, I go and find my coupons that I can use.  This week, I have several that will help bring down the total.  I clip and check my list before heading out. 

Then, we hit the stores.  Now, I am taking a chance today, because grocery stores change their deals on Wednesdays.  Today is Monday, so there's a chance that they may be out of some of the things on my list.  But I've got my little shopping helper with me, and we're enjoying some Mommy-Sadie time today.

So... how did I do? 

I usually aim to try and get my savings to equal what I spent.  I came pretty close today.  I saved $36 and spent $38.  I am pretty happy if I come in at under $50 a week. 

Basically, this has changed the way I shop.  I used to start with a menu and then shop for the ingredients, and whatever they cost was what I paid.  Now I plan our menus based on what is on sale or what I bought previously on sale.  It seems so simple... I don't know why it never occurred to me before!

So... how do you shop for groceries?  Do you coupon?  Leave me a comment with your ideas, thoughts, insights...

Gifts In My Inbox

It is 9 p.m. and I am just now getting home.  Awfully late, but it was a fun day.  Zumba, dinner with the girls, FREE food at Earth Fare...

When I got to work, I realized I forgot my knee brace for Zumba... oops.  With all the knee trouble I have had lately, I thought I might be headed for disaster.  But after taking a week off, I thoght maybe it would be ok. 

After work I taught my Zumba class at school.  Then when it was done, I thought, the knee is feeling ok... maybeI will hit Zumba with Katie at the Y.  Definitely worth it!  Hopefully I am not speaking too soon, but I can till walk and my knee seems normal-sized...

Zipped over to Weight Watchers, thinking, I might be heading for disaster.  (Are you seeing a pattern here?)  I have not tracked my food and points all week.  I have tried not to eat like a maniac, but I have definitely been a little slack.  Plus-- I didn't work out all week.  BUT... I stepped on the scale... and LOST .4 pounds!  Now, .4 sounds like nothing, but if you have ever been on a weight-loss journey, then you know that ANY loss counts as a LOSS!

I celebrated by meeting my friends Angie and Mandy at Moe's.  I made healthy choices, except for the chips.  I just can't turn down the chips and salsa.  I have been known to sneak in a bag of Baked! Tostitos, but this time I was unprepared.  My "Close Talker in a Bowl" was fantastic.  Lettuce, grilled chicken, black beans, pico de gallo, black olives, cucumbers, pickled jalapenos, and cilantro.  You don't even need dressing!

Moe's Close Talker in a Bowl

Today I got a nice little surprise in my email inbox: 2 new Earth Fare coupons!  So I had to make one more stop before heading home.  I love going to Earth Fare.  Every time I go I find something new and fun!  Tonight I only spent $10, but I walked out with:

1.  Fresh low fat cheese ravioli
2.  Baked Cheese Curls (like Cheetos but healthier)
3.  Buffalo chicken rollers (chicken breasts flattened and rolled up with lots of goodies inside)
4.  Spinach and feta chicken rollers
5.  Bananas

Healthy Cheetos

Buffalo Chicken Rollers and Spinach Feta Rollers

I would say that's pretty good-- 2-3 dinners for this weekend already prepared?  A crunchy, cheesy snack?  Bananas?  For under $10?  Um, let me think... Yes please!  I will let you know how the rollers taste later this weekend!

I also read that they have new (FREE) cooking classes starting again soon.  I heart you, Earth Fare!

I am going to say to everyone reading (all 5 of you): if you have not gone to the Earth Fare website and signed up for their email list, do it RIGHT NOW.  They send out 2-3 awesome coupons a week and everything is always delicious!

So... tomorrow is Friday...  yippee!!!  Happy Friday, everyone!

A Little Money-Saving Tip

A few days ago I was reading a blog called Inexpensive Eating by Scott Duncan.  He was wrote a post called "Curse of the Black Thumb: Rosemary Focaccia Bread."  This made me laugh because I also have sort-of a black thumb when it comes to herbs.  I'd really like to grow my own herbs.  I have even tried.  I have tried parsley, rosemary, basil, and others-- and nothing really lasts.  This summer I planted basil in the kitchen.  I thought, surely I can do this.  I watered it.  I checked the soil to make sure I wasn't overwatering.  I put it in the window to get sunlight.  I sang to it and gave it motivational speeches.  A week later, it went into the garbage, looking like I had fed it battery acid.  So I've been sticking with dried herbs since then. 

So the other day, I had to buy a bunch of green onions for a recipe.  As I was standing in the produce section, I remembered this money-saving tip from last year's "The Next Food Network Star."  Melissa, who ended up winning, gave this tip.  She said that when you buy green onions, you can stick them in a glass with water and they will just root and keep on growing.  At the time, I thought, "I should try that."  But then I forgot and never did it.  So a year later, as I was standing in the grocery store, I thought, "I should REALLY try that." 

I came home, made my recipe, and put the onions back in the fridge.  Forgot all about rooting them in a jar.  Three days later, I remembered.  I remember thinking, "Surely this won't work NOW, after they've been in the fridge... but heck, let's try it."  And I stuck them in one of these tall beer glasses that has never been used for beer because Ryan doesn't like it. 

After a day, it started looking pretty dried out.  After 3 days, it looked dead.  I thought, "I should throw that away."  But then I got busy doing something else and forgot about it.  A day or two later, suddenly, new bright green shoots were growing from this plant.  And the next day, more green, and then more.  Here is the plant today:

How crazy is that?  So maybe I can grow something after all!  And now I have green onions anytime I need them!

It just goes to show you that we have to keep trying.  A lot of times we try something once, fail miserably, and don't ever try again.  I've done that many times.  But sometimes if we just try one more time, we can surprise ourselves.

Who knew all that inspiration could come from onions?