When we last left off I was ranting about hating Whole Foods and complaining about my kid interrupting my cooking time. So here is where the last month has taken me...
BUDGET?
Did I stay on budget during the month of March? Yes!! I actually saved money. Keeping exact track of my receipts got a little tricky at the end of the month. As a sidebar, my husband (who is an accountant, remember?) built us a budget that downloads transactions from our bank account and then it auto sorts itself into categories (it's a smart spreadsheet). My problem is the stores that have it all. When I go to Target or Costco for instance, I frequently buy things that are not grocery related, but they get put into the grocery category, making it look like I went over budget, I didn't! The injustice of it all. Leave me a comment if you have a good solution for this problem.
Where am I shopping?
After drinking my hate-orade and turning my nose up at Whole Foods on my last post, I had some lovely people leave some comments on Facebook. They have been around the block with this organic thing and had some tips. In regards to my complaint that Whole Foods mixed its organic and non-organic produce together, she suggested that I try Vitamin Cottage. Vitamin Cottage's produce section is exclusively organic, and priced affordably. I resisted at first because the location is slightly out of my way. But only out of my way because all the stores I go to are five minutes from my house. I think this is where people on Twitter put a hash tag and say #firstworldproblems. I don't really get Twitter. But sure, there you go. First world problem, driving more that five minutes to the store.
Vitamin Cottage rocks. For several reasons. First, it's a well organized store and it's really small. Love that. Their prices are pretty comparable so far to what I have seen other places (if not cheaper). I started feeding my almost 7 month old daughter solids about 4 weeks ago and I am only feeding her organic produce. I got the Baby Brezza baby food maker-thingy as a gift and have been making her food myself. I actually really love making her food. Ummm, and I eat it sometimes because it's yummy! I knew that if I really wanted to pursue feeding her organic food, I needed to make it myself to stay on budget. I really don't feel like a slave to the kitchen either. I make really big batches and freeze the food in ice cube trays. It lasts for quite awhile. I wasn't able to breastfeed her as long as I would have liked. I think part of my sense of satisfaction comes from being able to take an active role in what she eats again. Makes me all warm and fuzzy. No idea why. By the way, the baby food maker is great, but I think the same thing can be accomplished with a food processor. It's really not hard to do.
So to sum up Vitamin Cottage, I am buying my produce there, also occasionally at Sprouts, Target, Safeway, or King Soopers. I found some organic cheese and yogurt that was on sale, too. I went to Target last week directly after going to VC and it was $3 more there for the same yogurt (the big ones). I try to do pantry items at Walmart/Target.
What have I been cooking/buying?
I started out thinking that I would only buy things on the Dirty Dozen list, but I really dove in after the first week. I bought things like butter, eggs (uhhh organic eggs taste weird to me, by the way), lots of produce, and meat here and there. The sticker shock is a little painful on organic meats/poultry. I bought a two pack of whole organic chickens from Costco. My husband loved it! He said the chicken tasted so much better. I boiled the leftover chicken bones/chicken for soup the next day and it made one awesome broth. I have never had my base come out such a pretty color and flavor before. I can't remember how much I paid for the chickens but I want to say it was around $20. The other chicken is still in the freezer. I figure if I can get two meals out of one chicken it's about $5 a meal for my protein. Not too bad when I break it down that way.
I came across this pin on Pinterest a couple days ago. I was trying really hard to get inspired to try new recipes again. I got a little burned out trying to cook masterpieces every night. This slow cooker recipe seemed like just the right lead in. I made this for dinner tonight and I was IN LOVE. There are so many recipes of this type floating around, I generally disregard them. This one was to die for. I also love this chick's blog. Anyone who can lose 135lbs and eat good food is high on my list of people to emulate. I made everything ahead of time (prepped the lettuce, cheese, green onions). Once the baby was in bed all I had to do was shred the chicken and I was in business. I picked up one pound of organic chicken thighs at King Soopers today for $6. Chicken thighs work really well in slow cooker recipes from my experience because the fat has time to dissolve out, and it makes it much tastier.
Anyway. I have about a months worth of blog postings floating around in my head. I will stop throwing up information. More next time! Please leave me a comment on Facebook or here on the blog if you have any tips/tricks for me! I love all the advice!
Oh, and here is some interesting info:
Oh, and here is some interesting info:
