The Art of Bargain Shopping & Cooking Healthy on a Tight Budget
Winco Foods 24 hours of savings! Winco saves my life right now. Seriously people. It would be easy to write a blog espousing the joys of whole foods cooking with lots of fresh seasonal organic produce specialty spices, gourmet artisan cheeses, and $30/bottle extra virgin olive oil. However, this is not my reality. Right now I am really really broke. So faced with this dilemma, many would say it is impossible to eat a healthy whole foods diet. I am reminded this is how Miss Jolie Ann's Kitchen Garden Blog began 2 years ago. It all began when I was on food stamps and my journey as a foodie & vegetarian attempting to continue eating a healthy whole foods diet. So, here I am again. I work full-time, however, in this recession I am underemployed and struggling.
And I can prove it is possible to eat simply on a tight budget and also have it be delicious, nutritious, healthy & filling. This is where Winco Foods comes in. Winco is full of deals. You have to bypass the 10 for $1 ramen, Mac-n-Cheese, koolaid, soda pop, and potato chips on the way. Their bulk bins are full of very inexpensive whole foods. Their produce may not be organic but it's a good deal for bargain shoppers.
Normally my weekly grocery budget is about $80. That is about $30 on fresh organic produce from either the Farmer's Market or Limbo. Then about $50 at Trader Joe's on other stuff. For the next couple of months I have to cut my weekly food budget in half. I'll probably also have to supplement from the local food bank.
On last night's trip to Winco Foods I spent a total of $32.37 for everything I needed this week and this is what I got:
2 lb bag of carrots
5 braeburn apples
2 yellow onions
2 heads of broccoli
7 bananas
7 kiwis
5lb bag of potatoes
1 head of lettuce
1 bag frozen blueberries
.10lbs bulk organic short grain brown rice
1.25lb bulk brown lentils
.09oz bulk nutritional yeast
10 green tea bags
2 boxes of organic unsweetened soymilk
2 cans of vegetarian refried beans
18 pack corn tortillas
1 package tofu
1 package cheddar cheese
1 dozen eggs
1 loaf bread
1 bottle of shampoo
4 cans wet cat food
2.5lbs bulk dry cat food
1 bag cat litter
I will add this to some items I have at home: olive oil, spices, steel cut oats, tangerines, soy/whey protein powder, almonds, raisins, cornmeal, brown rice flour, miso.
And, this is the meals I will have for this week:
Fruit smoothies
Fried Spiced Tofu with home fries & steamed broccoli
Egg salad sandwiches
Lentil Vegetable Soup with brown rice
Bean & Cheese Quesadillas with Salad
Gluten Free Cornmeal Muffins
Steel cut oats with fruit & nuts
All those meals plus food & litter for my cats...NOT BAD FOR $32.37!!! So, in summary friends on a limited budget your only choices are not eating fast food, and over-processed high sodium low nutrition packaged foods. With a little creativity and willingness to persevere you too can eat healthy on a TIGHT budget!
In Health,
Miss Jolie Ann
And I can prove it is possible to eat simply on a tight budget and also have it be delicious, nutritious, healthy & filling. This is where Winco Foods comes in. Winco is full of deals. You have to bypass the 10 for $1 ramen, Mac-n-Cheese, koolaid, soda pop, and potato chips on the way. Their bulk bins are full of very inexpensive whole foods. Their produce may not be organic but it's a good deal for bargain shoppers.
Normally my weekly grocery budget is about $80. That is about $30 on fresh organic produce from either the Farmer's Market or Limbo. Then about $50 at Trader Joe's on other stuff. For the next couple of months I have to cut my weekly food budget in half. I'll probably also have to supplement from the local food bank.
On last night's trip to Winco Foods I spent a total of $32.37 for everything I needed this week and this is what I got:
2 lb bag of carrots
5 braeburn apples
2 yellow onions
2 heads of broccoli
7 bananas
7 kiwis
5lb bag of potatoes
1 head of lettuce
1 bag frozen blueberries
.10lbs bulk organic short grain brown rice
1.25lb bulk brown lentils
.09oz bulk nutritional yeast
10 green tea bags
2 boxes of organic unsweetened soymilk
2 cans of vegetarian refried beans
18 pack corn tortillas
1 package tofu
1 package cheddar cheese
1 dozen eggs
1 loaf bread
1 bottle of shampoo
4 cans wet cat food
2.5lbs bulk dry cat food
1 bag cat litter
I will add this to some items I have at home: olive oil, spices, steel cut oats, tangerines, soy/whey protein powder, almonds, raisins, cornmeal, brown rice flour, miso.
And, this is the meals I will have for this week:
Fruit smoothies
Fried Spiced Tofu with home fries & steamed broccoli
Egg salad sandwiches
Lentil Vegetable Soup with brown rice
Bean & Cheese Quesadillas with Salad
Gluten Free Cornmeal Muffins
Steel cut oats with fruit & nuts
All those meals plus food & litter for my cats...NOT BAD FOR $32.37!!! So, in summary friends on a limited budget your only choices are not eating fast food, and over-processed high sodium low nutrition packaged foods. With a little creativity and willingness to persevere you too can eat healthy on a TIGHT budget!
In Health,
Miss Jolie Ann
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