So, I have been really having this strong desire to eat ultra healthy. I have been devouring (punn intended) recipes for food and whatnot.
With my budget, my explorations into cooking are a bit more restricted, as I don't want to make something that tastes horrible, and it ends up being thrown out or (more likely), spoiling in the fridge.
So, my food adventurism is a bit tamed at the moment. I have been reading a lot online about a certain way of eating that I SOOOOOO want to do, but dang it, there is no money in the budget for it. Ugh.
I thank people for their recommendations about the pasta. I really want to avoid pasta and bread, but it looks like I am going to have to eat these things if I want to stay within budget AND be full. Ugh.
I now understand why celebrities can stay so slim....if I had enough money to have freshly prepared salads and whatnot, I would be sooooo much healthier!!!
I also would love to attend one of those healthy retreat places, where you have a jump start on eating healthier.
Wanting to be Green....
October 16th, 2009 at 03:58 pm
October 16th, 2009 at 04:24 pm 1255710268
From reading your posts I get the feeling you are settling for the cheap crap because it's cheap, while longing for the pretty much unattainable diet of the stars (extremely expensive and meant to stay unnaturally thin).
Luckily, there is this whole big thing called middle ground. We aren't health nuts at all, but stay thin by just home cooking simple meals.
I am always confused by the "eating healthy is expensive" mindset. But in the end, it all depends on how you define healthy. For us, when we needed to cut back financially, my spouse started home cooking all our meals. Though he is naturally very thin, he lost about 10 pounds in a year. (I was pregnant, but I have found it easier to maintain my weight since switching to more home cooked meals). Interestingly, whenever I notice my weight creep up, I find us spending more on food (usually eating out). I notice a direct correlation between the 2, any more. I concluded I can eat the same things at home, for much cheaper, and be much more healthy overall. We tend to avoid restaurants, and ready-made meals.
Anyway, at least start with the middle ground. I guess the other thing is you aren't going to make the leap from one extreme to the other, overnight. If that's your goal, slowly work towards it. In the meantime, realize that some pasta, beans and grabbing some produce on sale, will go a long way. We do have the advantage of buying in bulk, but you can always cook bigger portions and freeze some for later, and see the same cost benefits.
Not sure how helpful this link is (she's a bit of a gourmet cook - but she has some good tips):
http://www.poorgirleatswell.com/
October 16th, 2009 at 04:40 pm 1255711237
Chances are if you could buy all the fancy salads you wanted, you'd get sick of them pretty fast and end up ordering some pizzas! That's generally what happens when people try to go to extremes, unless they have huge amounts of self-discipline.
October 16th, 2009 at 05:04 pm 1255712658
Now here is a weirder suggestion. Are you aware of the sweet potato vines that are so popular in large pots such as businesses often put near their front doors. These days there are two popular types: one has purplish heart shaped leaves, the other has line green heart shaped leaves. Well those vines really do make sweet potatoes. If you could offer to clean up some people's planters, there should be sweet potatoes just under the soil! You could charge a couple of bucks per pot to clean them up and perhaps get them ready for a fall or winter display, and you could take the sweet potatoes. I, too, try to eat pretty low carb and low glycemic index. I can handle sweet potatoes fairly well, as I know from testing blood glucose (I'm diabetic.) Sweet potatoes haves lots of vitamin A.
Likewise, if you know anyone who is putting out squash and pumpkin just for Halloween/fall decoration, ask them if you can have them when finished. A lot of people do not even eat those vegetables and will just throw them away when the holiday passes.
October 16th, 2009 at 05:38 pm 1255714699
October 16th, 2009 at 07:24 pm 1255721068
What I was trying to say is that the diet I would want to eat (primarily lots of lean protein and lots of veggies), is a bit more expensive in some ways, than a diet that has a higher amount of rice and pasta and beans. I am also cooking for two people, so the protein amount is the portion that costs the most on average, and I am not sure my boyfriend would be okay with eating salad stuff for most dinners.
I will make an honest effort to see if I can up the vegetable intake and see how my budget is.
I will say that some of the things I want to cook require certain spices and sauces, and I find those things to be a bit outside of my budget.
October 16th, 2009 at 07:28 pm 1255721311
October 17th, 2009 at 12:26 am 1255739195
October 18th, 2009 at 04:43 am 1255841026