Savvy Food Shopping

Because of where we happen to live, food is more expensive here than in other parts of the U.S. Therefore, good planning is necessary to eat simply and well. Fruits, vegetables, meat, poultry, and whole grain products are staples at our house. I wish we could afford to buy everything organic, but that isn't possible for us right now. However, we always make sure to buy organic coffee, because conventional coffee is heavily sprayed with pesticides that end up in your morning cuppa in concentrated form.

We have found that it's possible to eat well on the cheap by poring over the sales flyers for the grocery stores in our area and buying mainly the sale items at each store. We rarely buy canned or frozen goods, with the exception of frozen vegetables, because I usually cook everything from scratch. Hearty homemade soups are regular fare at our house during the winter months, which are few here in southern Arizona. These are easy to make and the per serving cost is minimal because I use a lot of inexpensive vegetables such as carrots, celery, and potatoes, and sometimes a little bit of meat or a whole chicken if it's on sale. During the warmer months, we typically subside on lighter fare such as large salads accented with pieces of barbequed meat or poultry, and vegetarian stir fries. An assortment of fruits is almost always on our counter, but these sweet treats seem to go fast even though there are only two of us. And, of course, icy fruit pops are de rigeur when the temperature climbs to over 100 degrees and stays there all summer.

I wait for sales to stock up on more expensive items like herbs and spices, or else buy them in bulk at the health food store. I buy other items in bulk there too, such as quinoa, buckwheat, fresh shelled nuts, and coffee. One of my favorite beverages is green tea, which I drink all throughout the day...hot in winter and cold in summer. After trying several brands, I've settled on one of the least expensive ones because I've found that flavor of Kroger's generic green tea rivals that of the pricier brands. So I buy a box of 48 tea bags every couple of weeks for approximately $3.29. This is about half the price of Celestial Seasonings brand, which has only half the number of tea bags per box. Besides, the Kroger brand produces a darker, more flavorful tea reminiscent of Bancha, which I much prefer to certain other light, grassy-tasting brands.

All in all, we have greatly reduced our food budget by shopping the sales and sticking to generic brands whenever possible. Buying items in bulk at the health food store works out to be much cheaper than buying the same items in a package. As tempting as it may be, I've found that it's not worth it to scrimp by buying items that may have been heavily sprayed with pesticides, such as the aforementioned coffee and various Chilean fruits. Buying locally grown produce in season is important to us. Not only does it save money, but this type of food is more in tune with the earth's cycles and has been proven to be more nutritious. While shopping this way takes more time and planning, we can ensure that we are always getting the highest quality food for our money. And high quality food is extremely important for overall health and well being.