6 Ways to Eat Healthy on a Budget!

Eating healthy can be expensive! Whether you eat local, organic, or just try to shop smart, oftentimes we're in a rush and don't have time to shop around. But you don't have to sacrifice your health to save a few dollars. If you have a little extra time, here are some tips on saving big!

1) Shop store circulars. You know...the weekly ads that arrive in your mailbox, that more often than not get thrown away with the junk. If you have extra time, and don't mind getting your groceries at more than one store, shop the ads! Flip through and mark the items that are on sale at each store. Perhaps you pick up your produce at one store, and your meat at another. Sometimes it can mean saving big bucks! Sprouts has weekly specials that come out each Wednesday, and if you shop Wednesday, you're lucky! Wednesday are promoted as 'Double Ad Wednesdays' since the weeks deals overlap...twice the bargains!

2) Coupons! You don't have to devote as much time as an extreme couponer to save some dough. Most every grocery store and market has coupons on their website. Simply select the coupons you want, and print. Some stores, like Smiths, even let you select the coupons you're going to use and digitally add them to your store rewards card. No wasted paper, ink and no messing with scissors. Just simply select and swipe. Couldn't be easier! On the same note, visit the website of your favorite product, and you just might find a manufacturer's coupon.

Sprouts: http://sprouts.com/coupons
Whole Foods: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/coupons
Smiths: http://kroger.softcoin.com/programs/kroger/digital_coupons/?campaign=DigitalCoupons&banner=Smiths
Target: http://coupons.target.com/grocery-coupons
Albertsons: http://www.albertsons.com/our-stores-2/online-coupons/
Walmart: http://coupons.walmart.com/


3) Speaking of rewards cards...GET ONE! It's silly not to. They're free, and you can save dollars on certain items. It adds up! Not to mention, stores like Smiths even give you discounts on gasoline with every dollar you spend using your rewards card.

4) Shop outside the traditional grocery store. Visit your local community coop, farmers market, or participate in a CSA. Coops purchase quality products based on their participants' requests and then sell for a discounted price based on the bulk quantity they buy in. Farmers markets are a great place to buy local, support the community, and you have the ability to bargain on goods. When you join a CSA, you're supporting a local farm for a season. You have the ability to volunteer on the land, and your share of the farm changes each week/month/season based on what's growing.

5) Buy in bulk! I recently discovered that Costco, yes Costco, has an amazing selection of organic products. Everything from fresh produce (which you can freeze if the quantity is too large), to grains like quinoa, to marinara sauce to meats to peanut butter to coffee. Every store is different, and you have to do a bit of searching, but who doesn't love cruising the aisles at Costco? Especially on a sample day! Am I right, or am I right? Feel free to reference other warehouse stores as well.

6) Grow your own! For the amount of food they produce, plants are cheap. And if you have the time and patience, seeds are even cheaper. Plant your own food garden - whether you have a large yard, or just enough room for an urban garden on your apartment balcony. Imagine the excitement of plucking your own orange off your beautiful orange tree, or picking your own peppers from the ground. Pretty rewarding, and definitely a dollar saver. Plus, you know there are no pesticides and chemicals touching your home-grown produce.

Any other ideas? How do you save money and eat healthy?

*Now You Know, Now You Grow

Ingredient Labels

When you're in the grocery store on your weekly run, what's the first thing you look at on a product package? I mean, don't get me wrong, I spend most of my time lately shopping the perimeter of the store, where packages are in less abundance (and non-existent in the produce department!); but when I stumble upon a package, my eyes head straight for... the ingredient list. 

The ingredient list?! Yes. Why the ingredient list, you ask? Well, it's simple. My thing is eating whole food. Clean food. Food that comes from the Earth. That grows in your garden. Not food that's processed in a factory. I say that with a bit of guilt because sometimes, I "fall off the wagon." Hey, we all do, we're human. And the purpose of my blog is to help those who are new to whole foods, new to being conscious of what they're putting into their bodies. Conscious of what they're purchasing at their local grocery store.

That's why the example I'm about to share (for the newbies, and let's face it, all of us!) is that of a packaged food. Chips! Even on my whole food regimen, I snack on occasion. There are still a few 'packaged' items I'll pick up in the store, and munch in small quantities. One of my favorite brands of chips is: Food Should Taste Good. Ingredient label is clean, their Original chips only have three ingredients! This is what you should look for when purchasing a packaged product. I like to look for products with less than ten ingredients; ingredients that are whole, and that I can identify. 

I was at the community pool with my family this weekend. They brought along a few bags of chips, and I was hungry! I scrutinized each label, before deciding whether or not I would indulge. Granted, they all had more calories, fat and sodium than I care to mention, I settled upon the second bag of chips. You'll see why:

The first bag contains:
a) Far too many ingredients.
b) The most glaringly obvious being monosodium glutamate (aka MSG) which I had a little run-in with previously, and therefore avoid like the plague.
c) Ingredients that I can't identify, aka food additives (e.g. disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate).
d) Artifical color (e.g. yellow 6, yellow 5 and red 40). Red 40 is the most used food dye in the U.S., and has been linked to behavioral problems in children, and compounds in red 40 have been linked to cancer.

The second bag contains:
a) Three ingredients: sweet potatoes, sunflower oil and sea salt. I don't know about you, but I can identify each of those.
b) All ingredients that I can pronounce and that come from the Earth (although sunflower oil undergoes a process from sunflower to oil).

Yes...calories, fat, carbohydrates, sodium and sugar are all important to monitor, depending what type of diet or healthy eating plan you're following. It's different for everyone. However, if you know you're starting with whole food, you're one step ahead.

If you're going to purchase packaged food at the grocery store, stick with what you know. Back to the basics, in a packaged way. ;)

Now you know, now you grow.

Time To Go Organic

As the terms 'organic' and 'natural,' and the associated behaviors become more and more mainstream, perhaps you've considered taking the plunge. Or maybe just dipping your toes in. But where do you start? What do you buy? And what exactly does 'organic' mean? 

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulates and provides guidelines for companies producing 'organic' goods to follow. I put 'organic' in quotes because the term has become so widely used, it's lost its true meaning. However, the USDA helps ensure the products you purchase fall within certain standards.

Look for this seal, when you're
purchasing organic products.

The good news is if you're ready to go organic, it's relatively easy to begin. If you're interested in taking charge of your health, and being conscious of what you're putting in your body, the first step is incorporating more fruit and vegetables into your diet.  However, we keep hearing how our country's produce supply is treated with multiple chemicals, including pesticides (what you spray on insects to kill them), fertilizer and even kerosene (an incendiary agent used to start a fire). Some produce is exposed to more chemicals than others, so if you're looking to go organic, where do you begin?  

My purchases from a recent grocery shopping trip. Organic strawberries,
blueberries, spinach, sweet potatoes and kale. Bananas, lemons, limes and brussel sprouts are not organic.

If you're on a budget (and who's not?) or this is your first time going organic, here's a tip: any fruit or vegetable where you'll be eating the skin or the outside, you should buy ORGANIC. Makes sense, right? Apples are one of the first that come to mind, and one of the most notorious for chemical/pesticide exposure. You pick up an apple at the supermarket, quickly run it under some water, and take a big, juicy bite. This is what you may be exposing yourself to: (top 50 pesticides used on California apples in 2009).  Yikes!

So, apples are an obvious fruit to purchase organic, and they come in just as many varieties organic as they do non. What else? Berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries) - super antioxidants, super fruit to buy organic. Peaches, plums, nectarines, and grapes. On the veggie side, celery, potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, spinach and lettuce.

Start there. If you love your decision to go organic, if you think the strawberries are that much more juicy and flavor-packed, then move beyond this recommendation.  Here's a fabulous list from the Environmental Working Group (EWG) that lists the "Dirty Dozen" (fruits and vegetables containing the most pesticides) and the "Clean 15" (those that test with fewer pesticide residue).

Dirty Dozen:
1) Apples
2) Celery
3) Strawberries
4) Peaches
5) Spinach
6) Nectarines - imported
7) Grapes - imported
8) Sweet bell peppers
9) Potatoes
10) Blueberries - domestic
11) Lettuce
12) Kale/collard greens

Clean 15:1) Onions
2) Sweet corn
3) Pineapples
4) Avocado
5) Asparagus
6) Sweet peas
7) Mangoes
8) Eggplant
9) Cantaloupe - domestic
10) Kiwi
11) Cabbage
12) Watermelon
13) Sweet potatoes
14) Grapefruit
15) Mushrooms

Drop a comment below if you've recently decided to go organic, and tell me how you've made the change.

*Now you know, now you grow*

Now You Know, Now You Grow: The Intro

Hi there. Welcome to Now You Know, Now You Grow. This blog will follow my journey into a healthier lifestyle. I’ve been pretty conscious of health my whole life. I knew what I should be eating, how much I should be exercising, how many hours a night I should be sleeping; whether I chose to follow any of it was another story. Everyone has an eye-opening experience at some time or another. Mine was at a Chinese restaurant.

My adventure into healthy eating began one fine day while I was eating lunch, and had a reaction to something in my food. The reaction involved a head crushing feeling, numbness in my face, hands and arms, etc. Safe to say, it scared me. And when I get scared, I hit the Internet. I learned that many of the additives in our food, whether for flavor, color or function, are dangerous and don’t belong there. Some are even neurotoxins that can affect our nerves and brain cells. Why are they in our food? Because they’re cheap and fast. Think about it, when there’s big demand for an item, whether food or drink or even a child’s toy; manufacturers look for the cheapest and quickest way to make the item, keep it on the shelves, and keep sales consistent.

It’s astonishing the amount of artificial flavorings, additives, and straight up chemicals that are in the foods we eat. Let’s take ice cream, a childhood - and let’s not kid ourselves, adult - favorite. If you were to make ice cream at home, what would you put in it? Milk - check. Cream - check. Eggs - check. Sugar - check. And then a flavor…say vanilla or cocoa for chocolate, coffee beans or chocolate chips. Simple enough. Have you looked at the ingredient list on the carton of your favorite store bought ice cream? One brand has 12 ingredients in their chocolate ice cream. Ingredients that you can’t pronounce let alone identify their source.

It’s time to go back to basics. Time to be conscious. You’re conscious of the type of gas you put in your car, you’re conscious of the brand of clothing you prefer to wear, but you’re not conscious of what you’re putting in your body. Wake up. Open your eyes. Take responsibility. Eat clean. Eat what grows. 

Follow my journey....better yet, join me.  I hope to inspire you.

Now You Know, Now You Grow.