So....as I have said, I have champagne taste and beer money :) I love four basic things in life. I love to write, I love learning how to cook, I love to eat and I love to eat well. One thing I do not love is going to the local grocery store with a recipe in my hand looking for some type of exotic food like passion fruit, not finding it and then having to scramble around to find a substitute. (This royally sucks) Another loathsome activity is walking around the meat section or the seafood section of my local supermarket and noticing that the items in the case do not look that appetizing...they don't look bad...just not "that" good. This could be my uppity taste in food and my high brow opinion of good food quality but I usually leave my local supermarket a little disappointed.
This was my blue period. Picture this, a young eager, enthusiastic woman off to the food store with reusable bags, Vera Bradley purse, and a smile only to find a place that did not match my bright attitude about food. Every week I would trudge to go food shopping and dread the experience. So redundant, so boring..............
and then I discovered Whole Foods.
(Now I still go to my local food store from time to time but my main food shopping is now done at Whole Foods :)
Whole Foods is a wonderful store that has all the good stuff, good fish, good meat, great variety of groceries from exotic to the ordinary. I fell in love! Even their beer selection is awesome!!! (which keeps Mr. Wallace happy) I love food shopping now and look forward to my weekly Whole Foods visits.
Now, you may ask..."if you have no money, girl, what are you doing shopping at Whole Foods"??? The answer to this question is simple. I know that Whole Foods is jokingly referred to as "Whole Paycheck" but I have gotten around this with my savvy intellect and now I have not resulted in bank robbery, or pawning precious jewelry (costume or not my stuff is all precious to me). I have found a way to shop for my groceries at Whole Foods and spend $130 maximum a week, which, anyone could easily spend at any local grocery store. It is sad but true....food is flipping expensive and eating well is ridiculously expensive!!! I have a few rules for shopping and these can work anywhere but I absolutely love what I buy at my grocery store choice. I love how I feel after I eat their food, I love the selection, I love the friendly, knowledgeable staff, and I love that the seafood market does not smell fishy which is a good sign :) My shopping rules are simple :)
1. Go to the store with a list. Having a list with you keeps you organized and helps you refrain from just dumping things in the cart because they look interesting. After I finish shopping for what I need, I then have a clear head while shopping for a few luxurious extras. If I start to get too luxurious, I walk up to the checkout line. Since I have what I need already, I can afford to leave now without embarrassing myself looking for lint filled change at the bottom of my Vera trying to scrape up money for a larger than life grocery bill.
2. I plan my meals ahead of time for the week. I know that I will make spaghetti and red sauce and meatballs one day and another day I want to have beef stew. I know what my meats for the week are and I buy enough for a meal, not enough for leftovers. I have found that when I plan for leftovers, they rarely get eaten and I end up wasting more money on tossed food. Budgeting by planning my meals always saves me money.
3. I LOVE chicken, not only for its taste but also for the price. There are so many meat choices at whole foods and they are all tasty but I cannot always buy the really tasty meats because it would blow my budget but that doesn't get me down. Never underestimate the power of chicken. You can buy a whole chicken (I like the free range or the kosher chickens) and cut it in half yourself at home. You can then use one half for a chicken soup which you can make the stock on your own by boiling the chicken, and then you can use the other half for chicken pot pie, or a delicious, exotic, and surprisingly inexpensive curried chicken dinner. It's great for people who are on a budget but want to eat a good, wholesome meal at home. Also, chicken thighs are SUPER tasty but no one really talks about the thighs. I always hear so much about chicken breasts but the thigh is just as good and, in my opinion, even better!! I use thighs for curried chicken, chicken fricassee, roasted garlic clove chicken and many other chicken delights. :) I would love to be able to cook duck like a french chef at home but my budget doesn't allow for me to do that but I have found recipes online that substitute duck with chicken! Now I can have my bourgeois meal at home! Chicken = yummy, affordable dinner
4. Try one cool, new thing every time I go. It could just be a new fruit that I haven't had but I try to get new things to keep cooking fun and interesting. I bring that new item home and say okay now what the heck can I do with this, and that's when google and my mom's library of cookbooks become my buddies :)
Certain things I know I have to buy at Whole foods are:
1. Milk (preferably in a glass bottle which you bring back to Whole Foods to recycle and get a money ticket that you use for your groceries. It's only a couple of dollars but a couple of bucks is something)
2. Butter (the one with the highest butterfat content that I can afford, cooking with the good stuff makes my food taste better)
3. Eggs
4. Beef (I buy lots of ground beef but you can always experiment with other really yummy cuts they offer. Ask the butcher about how much to buy according to how many people you are feeding and what you are making)
5. Fish
6. Fruit (remember in season is the most affordable way to go)
7. Veggies
8. Bread (if I don't feel like making my own)
9. Chicken (After seeing lots of documentaries on how large corporate chain farms treat their chickens, I have decided to eat only truly organic, free range, local as I can get chicken. Chicken is my main meat in the kitchen because it is the most affordable and I want to make sure that I buy the best I can afford since I consume so much of it)
Sometimes I get my fruit and veggies from local farms during the spring and summer. Most people forget that there are farms that sell really great stuff but I like to keep my shopping local in order to help local businesses and because it is very convenient and affordable. Shopping local allows me to stay in tune with what is in season which is usually the most inexpensive choice.
And that's how a girl can shop at Whole Foods, eat well, and not break the bank. The best way to save money as a young couple is eating at home! Learning how to cook is so much fun, even when you make mistakes. The best is having fun in the kitchen with people you love and then eating what you have made together. So, open up a bottle of wine, or beer (again, whole foods has an AWESOME selection of beer) and expand your curious minds with culinary experimentation. Curiousity never hurt anyone, except the cat. Where are Merlin and Cleo anyway......
xoxo,
Mrs. Wallace
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