Does anyone eat "clean" on a budget?

[nic98omo]

GMOs are something I am concerned about. I'm sure some are getting by me. I do try to avoid all corn products and some squash.

Check out http://www.nongmoproject.org/ for verified non-GMO projects. They are the only third party verifier helping you find foods that avoid GMOs.

 

[pocomom]

This is simply not true at all. TONS of healthy nutritious stuff have nutrition labels. Quickly looking through my pantry rice, pastas, dried beans and lentil, nuts, dried fruits ect. all have nutrition lables and they are nothing but healthy. I have a huge bag of organic greens in my fridge with a nutrition label, same with my organic baby carrots that my kids snack on and my frozen fruit that I blend in smoothies.

As far as eating "clean" on a budget try Costco if you don't mind buying in bulk. I get a lot of things there for a great price. I store nuts, grains and flours in my freezer to make them last longer. I also buy produce there. We are family of 5 on a plant based diet so we go through it quickly. It definitely takes more time and money to eat this way as throwing a frozen pizza in the oven with a loaf of garlic bread would be far easier and cheaper then the meals I cook. Taste and quality do not compare. Tonight on the menu is homemade minestrone, bruchetta and a salad. Dinner will be done in under an hour (chopping the veggies takes time) and be much better for my family then the alternative.

Ok, I said it was a rule in our house, as in when the kids grab a package of cookies or chips at the store, versus a piece of fruit. Non-Label beats label. Of course we have bagged beans etc. And in general our non-bagged stuff comes direct off the farm or from our garden, where the nutrition level IS higher then the bagged counterparts.
Not really different then our house rule of trying to shop the perimeter of the store. Sure you can find healthy stuff in the aisles and fat and hormone full cheese on the perimeter, but in general the kids know that staying on the outside they are getting things better for their bodies.

 

[princesspwrhr]

With warmer weather finally on it's way it's definately going to be easier to eat "clean" on a budget. Look around for a good farmers market. Talk to the farmers. There are two or three around here that truck in food from distributors and set up like a farmers market. In my area we should not be seeing bananas sold as "locally grown." You'll also get better prices on locally grown versus regionally grown, but markets that include regional items will have a longer run and a bigger variety of items.

See if you have any "Pick your own" farms near you. Strawberries will be available soon fol.lowed by blueberries, corn, peaches, apples & squash. (in most areas) Not only is it great fun, but you know exactly where your food comes from.

Check out your local grocery stores and see if they buy from any local farmers. Harris Teeter is often too expensive in general for my Trader Joes budget, but during the growing season they buy from local farmers so if I need something between market days, I'll head there first. Fresh Market does the same if I remember correctly, and I *think* Kroger does too, but the nearest Kroger is too far to make it convenient.

Freeze things that you don't think you're going to use all of. Sometimes things happen and that half bushel of peppers you bought doesn't end up getting all eaten. Slice the peppers and freeze them. They're not good for snacking anymore, but they're still great in stir fry, soup, chili etc. That will save your budget by providing stock and by not throwing out food you already paid for.

I doa good part of my shopping at Whole Foods. While it's not exactlya budget grocery stoer, they do offer a few items that are fairly inexpensive. In one sense, I don't research every item completely, but I do read labels.

I avoid many extra sweeteners, transfats, almost all corn syrup.

I also shop at farmer's markets. Funny thing is, I notice that WF carries some of the FM goods- so I know when I'm buying thsoe items I'm getting something local and I know the farmer - even if it's not a FM day.

Another trick I use to keep food on a budget is that I shop across several grocery stores.

Another big tip is to see if you have any ethnic markets around. I have several to choose from. Some are tiny and don't offemuch that's great. Several however offer lovely organic, exotic greens at REALLY great prices. Like WF carries bok choy about 70% of the time- but only one variety. By shopping at local Asian marekts, I discovered there's a large variety of veggies that are all what I would call bok choy they all have names...but not so much in English. There's also a number of fresh winter veggies - often kind of a winter 'lettuce.' Not what we woudl call lettuce, but a slightly sturdier veggie. You have to be alittle brave sometimes, but many are really delicious. A common way to prepare them is to saute them with a little oil, maybe garlic, maybe fresh ginger root, maybe soy sauce, and most certainly somehing called mirin (look for one without added sugar). The best oil to get a an Asian taste is sesame oil. I mix regualr sesame oil and a few rops of toasted sesmae oil. The flavor is pretty potent. I also basically use the same forlula tomake my own 'fried rice'- but mine has far more eggs/veggies and less oil than anything from a retaurant. (Use a mild oil and basmati or jasmine rice for another take). Be sure to use COLD leftover rice! Add the rice last, it just has to heat.

Ethnic markets are also geat places to find a huge assortment of noodles, rice, tea. The difference in tea prices is simply astounding! Ten Ren is a great tea brand.

Ethnic markets and some ethnic sections of chain type stores are also great places to get treats without the chemical fake sugar crap they're allowed to use in US foods. While we try to avoid a lot of sugar, definitely HFCS, corn syrup etc, every now and then a sweet treat that I didn't have to make from scratch is nice. The ethnic treats are more often than not using sugar or cane sugar instead of weird fake ingredients. You still have to read the (hopefully translated) ingredients tho.

Ethnic cuisine is also a good way to get new ideas for food and recipes.

 

[ellone]

GMOs are something I am concerned about. I'm sure some are getting by me. I do try to avoid all corn products and some squash.

Soy is another one to avoid as well as sugar (which is actually GMO sugar beets). Cane sugar is fine.

And then there's hidden corn such as ascorbic acid - yep it's derived from corn.

 

[minnienmickey]

Check out http://www.nongmoproject.org/ for verified non-GMO projects. They are the only third party verifier helping you find foods that avoid GMOs.

I will definitely check that one out!

Soy is another one to avoid as well as sugar (which is actually GMO sugar beets). Cane sugar is fine.

And then there's hidden corn such as ascorbic acid - yep it's derived from corn.

Yep, I've gotten hooked on raw cane sugar. I had no idea about ascorbic acid.

 

[minnienmickey]

Ok. I tried to post a picture of a label on my oil. Did not work.

 

[jedijill]

I shop at Kroger, Sprouts, Natural Grocers (in Denver), and Costco. I'm moving more and more to a Paleo diet and find these are my standbys. I will start hitting the Farmer's Market here locally in late May/early June.

Jill in CO

 

[bluehen]

Soy is another one to avoid as well as sugar (which is actually GMO sugar beets). Cane sugar is fine.

And then there's hidden corn such as ascorbic acid - yep it's derived from corn.

You do realize that ascorbic acid is vitamin c. Also there is no vitamin c in corn.

 

[sugarnspicex4]

Over the past 5 months, I've been trying to wean my family off of many of the things already mentioned: high fructose corn syrup, GMO's, pesticide-laden produce, and artificial sweeteners and colors. I had already been reading labels for years to avoid MSG due to my husband's sensitivities to it. We haven't given up sugar (although I replaced our beet sugar for cane). I was already cooking dinners mostly from scratch, so the biggest changes for us has been in our choices for breakfast and lunch. I shop Costco (can't beat their prices on organic lunchbox items), HEB and Trader Joe's when I can.

One area I found to cut costs is to avoid the "dirty dozen" fruits & vegetables, opting to buy those things organic and buy everything else conventionally grown. We also grow some vegetables in our backyard garden.

Groceries cost more now, for sure, probably $150-$200 more per month for us to eat this way. But some things are more important than money. I lost my dad to cancer and had a wake-up call myself last year when I had to have a large uterine fibroid removed. I could do a lot better in some areas (regular exercise, for one) but trying to "eat clean" is a start.

 

[pocomom]

You do realize that ascorbic acid is vitamin c. Also there is no vitamin c in corn.

A quick google search will show you a ton of stuff now made from gmo corn. http://www.cornallergens.com/list/corn-allergen-list.php
Ascorbic acid is just one of them. Gv't subsidies make corn super cheap so they are making it into everything!

 

[pocomom]

Vanilla extract can be made with vanilla beans and quality vodka, actually a lot of extracts can be made at home for less

If you are doing it to avoid the over exposure to corn products, that may not be a solution unless you research carefully, a lot of vodka is made from corn now.

 

[JessB320]

If you are doing it to avoid the over exposure to corn products, that may not be a solution unless you research carefully, a lot of vodka is made from corn now.

Nope not why lol

 

[ellone]

You do realize that ascorbic acid is vitamin c. Also there is no vitamin c in corn.

About 99% of all C vitamin products on the market today are not natural vitamin C. Instead, they are synthetically made ascorbic acid - or variations such as calcium ascorbate, magnesium ascorbate or potassium ascorbate. Like many other vitamins sold today, this synthetic product has things missing from it. Despite marketing claims, these laboratory-produced powders like ascorbic acid are NOT natural C vitamin complexes - and far from it. They are chemically synthesized molecules manufactured in a test tube and are often made from genetically modified corn sugar.

 

[goodeats]

Eating "clean" has lots of different definitions. For us we eat mostly fruit, veggies, nuts, and eggs/meat. We eat cheese and other dairy in limited amounts. Grains are limited as well and we try to stick with organic to avoid GMOs.

I do pretty well only shopping at TJs and Costco and our local produce market. Costco has organic chicken, beef, and eggs at decent prices. We love their bagged walnuts/almonds. The huge amounts of produce are great for smoothie making. We budget $700/mo for our family of 4, and generally stay under.

 

[2bearsmom]

It's hard to stay on budget and eat clean but we do what we can. The majority of the budget goes to grass fed beef, pork and chicken, eggs from only pastured hens, raw honey and raw milk, non farm raised salmon. I wont buy eggs that say vegetarian fed or cage free, they may be cage free but hundreds are still packed into small barns and never see the light of day or grass and they aren't vegetarian! There is such a difference in an egg from a truly free range hen. The meat is totally different too.
I sometimes make yogurt and strain it for the whey which I'll use in smoothies. I like Trader Joes, Sam's CLub and Costco for produce. The snacks I try not buy things with HFCS or MSG, it's hard though as even the Annies brand of bunny cracker snacks (similar to Goldfish) have annatto coloring which can cause problems in some kids. Just because the box says organic or natural doesn't mean much to me, if it's in a box it isn't necessarily from nature and that healthy anyway. MSG is in so many things and isn't even labeled MSG in most, there are so many other names for it. Most Vitamin C supplements are now made from GMO Corn. I've replaced corn starch with arrowroot powder.

 

[minnienmickey]

It's hard to stay on budget and eat clean but we do what we can. The majority of the budget goes to grass fed beef, pork and chicken, eggs from only pastured hens, raw honey and raw milk, non farm raised salmon. I wont buy eggs that say vegetarian fed or cage free, they may be cage free but hundreds are still packed into small barns and never see the light of day or grass and they aren't vegetarian! There is such a difference in an egg from a truly free range hen. The meat is totally different too.
I sometimes make yogurt and strain it for the whey which I'll use in smoothies. I like Trader Joes, Sam's CLub and Costco for produce. The snacks I try not buy things with HFCS or MSG, it's hard though as even the Annies brand of bunny cracker snacks (similar to Goldfish) have annatto coloring which can cause problems in some kids. Just because the box says organic or natural doesn't mean much to me, if it's in a box it isn't necessarily from nature and that healthy anyway. MSG is in so many things and isn't even labeled MSG in most, there are so many other names for it. Most Vitamin C supplements are now made from GMO Corn. I've replaced corn starch with arrowroot powder.

I was wondering what to replace corn starch with!

 

[sweetcreams]

Do you have a CSA near you? I have a work share at my local CSA and get a free family share for the year ($700 worth of produce) and I just work the farm 3 hours a week. IDK if this is just my state or not, but apparently there's a new certification for farms...instead of Certified Organic it's called Certified Naturally Grown. The growing practices are the same as Certified Organic, but the farmer doesn't have to pay the outrageous price or go through the outrageous paperwork through the USDA. No synthetic herbicides, pesticides, fertilizers, antibiotics, hormones, or genetically modified organisms.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I tried a CSA one year, and while it was great in many ways...we also found ourselves with way too much of many things, and not enough of the things we like. I had never heard of 'rainbow chard' before the CSA....We sure had our fill! Week after week I came up with all sorts of creative ways to prepare it, until I couldn't take any more. Meanwhile, since we had all those nice, fresh veggies on hand, I missed out on some of my favorites. My mission is to really buy produce we both will readily eat, and are nutrient packed. Fresh berries are a good example. When I buy a quart, they are gone in minutes. Same thing with good grape tomatos. When the right foods are around, we make better choices, and it's painless.

Another option I have been doing for years is 'pick your own' farms. Some are only slightly less $ than grocery store prices, while others are a real bargain. The fruits they sell are just a completely different kind of quality from the industrial kind sold in grocery stores. Also, since we picked them, we are more motivated to eat what we've picked.

 

[cheer25mom]

About 99% of all C vitamin products on the market today are not natural vitamin C. Instead, they are synthetically made ascorbic acid - or variations such as calcium ascorbate, magnesium ascorbate or potassium ascorbate. Like many other vitamins sold today, this synthetic product has things missing from it. Despite marketing claims, these laboratory-produced powders like ascorbic acid are NOT natural C vitamin complexes - and far from it. They are chemically synthesized molecules manufactured in a test tube and are often made from genetically modified corn sugar.

If you look at the actual chemistry, this makes absolutely NO sense. Asorbic acid is a very simple molecule, and can only be asorbic acid if it is exactly 6 carbon atoms 8 hydrogen atoms and 6 oxygen atoms linked together in a specific manner. No other modification gives you asorbic acid and it cannot be missing any of these atoms and still be asorbic acid.

The asorbic acid made in a lab is chemically identical to that found in citrus. The only potential difference could be in the isotope ratios of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen but that would not make a bichemical difference in how the body processes it. There are compounds found in vitamin C from natural sources that are not found in lab created asorbic acids, but they are essentailly impurities that are not removed in processing and are carried over from the fruit. They may be beneficial, but they are not part of the actual asorbic acid. Asorbic acid that is lab created contains only, or very close to only asorbic acid molecues. The missing compounds are not actually vitamin C at all, but other compounds found in the fruits.

I do agree about genetically modified produce. The sugars starches, protien ect are complex molecules that are being modified from thier natural versions, and those modfications are not good for us. They can be modified and still perform their basic intended function becuase they are so complex in structure, but that is also why modifcations to there structure that do not effect thier basic function can have unintended consequences. It is not a good idea to mess with their natural order and consuming as much as possible that is as nature intended is certianly a good idea.

I don't think however that many people really understand what "genetically modified" means and how it relates to compounds such as asorbic acid. Asorbic acid from genetically modified corn sugar does not contain any of the modified genetic material, only the carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms that came from nature to make that sugar. Its stucture cannot be altered adn allow it to retain its identity so it is exactly the same as asorbic acid from any other source. It is not the same as a vitamin C supplement from a citris fruit, but that is not due to any differences in the vitamin itself, but due to what the vitamin is complexed with and what impurities are carried with it.


The problem with GMO food is that modifying these genes changes WHICH molecules cells are manufacturing, and in what quantities. The modified organisms contain fewer nutrients becuase their modified genetic code told them to focus one creating more starch to bulk up the product and increase yield rather than producing the vitamins that our bodies need. In some cases the modified genetic code also modifies the structure of the sugars, strarches, protiens, and fats the cells produce to increase yeild and or calorie content. It is all about business and selling more product at a better profit margin.

 

[minnienmickey]

Wow! Thank you for your well thought out response. I want to say first of all I am not a chemist no an expert in the subject. From what I have read on Wikipedia, take the information however you like it, industrial ascorbic acid is made using the Reichstein process which uses glucose (could be from corn sugars) to produce the product. Details on the process are here: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichstein_process#section_1 maybe further understanding of this process will provide the answers we are looking for.

If you look at the actual chemistry, this makes absolutely NO sense. Asorbic acid is a very simple molecule, and can only be asorbic acid if it is exactly 6 carbon atoms 8 hydrogen atoms and 6 oxygen atoms linked together in a specific manner. No other modification gives you asorbic acid and it cannot be missing any of these atoms and still be asorbic acid.

The asorbic acid made in a lab is chemically identical to that found in citrus. The only potential difference could be in the isotope ratios of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen but that would not make a bichemical difference in how the body processes it. There are compounds found in vitamin C from natural sources that are not found in lab created asorbic acids, but they are essentailly impurities that are not removed in processing and are carried over from the fruit. They may be beneficial, but they are not part of the actual asorbic acid. Asorbic acid that is lab created contains only, or very close to only asorbic acid molecues. The missing compounds are not actually vitamin C at all, but other compounds found in the fruits.

I do agree about genetically modified produce. The sugars starches, protien ect are complex molecules that are being modified from thier natural versions, and those modfications are not good for us. They can be modified and still perform their basic intended function becuase they are so complex in structure, but that is also why modifcations to there structure that do not effect thier basic function can have unintended consequences. It is not a good idea to mess with their natural order and consuming as much as possible that is as nature intended is certianly a good idea.

I don't think however that many people really understand what "genetically modified" means and how it relates to compounds such as asorbic acid. Asorbic acid from genetically modified corn sugar does not contain any of the modified genetic material, only the carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms that came from nature to make that sugar. Its stucture cannot be altered adn allow it to retain its identity so it is exactly the same as asorbic acid from any other source. It is not the same as a vitamin C supplement from a citris fruit, but that is not due to any differences in the vitamin itself, but due to what the vitamin is complexed with and what impurities are carried with it.

The problem with GMO food is that modifying these genes changes WHICH molecules cells are manufacturing, and in what quantities. The modified organisms contain fewer nutrients becuase their modified genetic code told them to focus one creating more starch to bulk up the product and increase yield rather than producing the vitamins that our bodies need. In some cases the modified genetic code also modifies the structure of the sugars, strarches, protiens, and fats the cells produce to increase yeild and or calorie content. It is all about business and selling more product at a better profit margin.