how we afford to shop at whole foods

happy new year! i hope you all had a wonderful bit of rest and rejuvination, with lots of love, treats and coziness! are you making resolutions this year? i still need to sit down and come up with my 2012 action plan! yes, i am totally that nerd that just typed that.

someone recently left this question in my comment section: “how do you manage to eat all your veggies/fruits, etc. organic w/o breaking the bank? any tips would be greatly appreciated.” this was practically begging for me to climb up on a soapbox and talk about how/what we eat and how we afford it. and there’s no better time of year to commit to a new way of doing things, so here goes my friends!

- we don’t buy dairy or meat, and only occasionaly buy a little white fish. i whole heartedly believe this is better for our health,our waistlines, the environment and most definitely for our bank accounts. (please read the china study if you’re interested in learning more about the effects of these foods on our health, or eating animals to understand the environmental ramifications of meat/dairy/seafood consumption, or skinny bitch if you want motivation/information about your appearance and diet.

-we don’t buy a lot of pre-made foods including cereal, crackers, snacks, meals or anything for that matter! hello savings, nice to meet you! you’ll find when you shop primarily in the veggie section of the store, you’ll be saving more than enough to make up for buying organic instead of pesticide grown. *we do buy a few packaged things, lou does enjoy his grapenuts!

-we buy lots of  brown rice, beans, and other grains in bulk. you would be amazed at how cheap (and healthy/delicious) brown rice from the bulk section is! 

- we waste not: ruca and eleanor eat almost any vegetable that’s nearing the end and hasn’t been scarfed by me and lou. *if you feed your dog table scraps, please PLEASE do your research! there are many things they can’t have, including onions, pineapple, raisins, chocolate, etc. 

- the thing i want you to know, that i believe is more important that anything above, is that we are incredibly happy with the way we eat!  we love food and tasty things just as much as the next person and we make sure that we cook/eat things that make our mouths happy!

someday i’ll tell you about how i used to eat another way entirely, and how it landed me in the hospital. until then, eat your veggies and make sure they’re organic!