A Case for Brown Bagging

I was recently contacted by Allison at Creditscore.net about a graphic she was working on about the benefits of brown bagging lunch. Apparently she saw my post on "Healthy Eating on a Budget"  and thought it would be up my alley!

I do love a good infograph- and anything to do with food!

I did comment to Allison that I feel like the information provided must have been nation wide- because I know the cost of food in Massachusetts is much higher than this!

Either way - planning and bringing food from home is pretty much guaranteed to save money, and often times calories!

I did do a presentation on healthy lunches at Harvard Business School though and was definitely shot down by them regarding bringing a lunch because business Lunches are so in grained in their culture. In those cases, making smarter decisions while eating out, or possibly even trying to change the culture a bit could be helpful (I am probably asking too much there.)

What are your thoughts? Do you usually bring your lunch or buy it out?
What is your favorite thing to bring? I usually just do left overs from dinner- But I am always surprised how much I love sandwiches when I do make them!

(I will admit I am excited for a staff lunch from Anna's Taqueria or the Upper Crust this Friday!)

Happy lunch packing :)

Healthy Eating on a Budget

Its a tough economy right now, and food prices are on the rise. I personally, have been a full time student for the past 20 years, and now after finishing my full time, unpaid dietetic internship, and being about to graduate and have all of my school loans kick in,  am particularly feeling the stress of a tight budget. 


Nonetheless, there is no escuse to not eat healthy! there are plenty of ways to fit healthy eating into any budget. Here are a few tips-- please leave your own tip ideas in the comment section! 

• Have a shopping list. Only buy what is on the list. You can save money by planning your recipes ahead of time, and therefore only buying what you’ll need. Also, if you make your list ahead of time and stick to it, you are more likely to make smart choices.

• Check out the weekly flier for your grocery store, which will feature weekly sales. Plan recipes based on sales. Most grocery stores feature these fliers online as well, so no need to get the newspaper. 

• Stock up. When a product that you use frequently is on sale for a good deal, buy extra.  This works best for shelf stable and canned goods, or frozen foods if you have the space. You can also cooking and/ or freeze fresh items for later use.  

• Buy the Store Brand or Generic Brand these products are nearly identical to the Brand Name products, but significantly cheaper.

• Buy in season fruits and vegetables.  Produce that is in season is much cheaper, fresher, and nutrient dense, than out of season produce that has been shipped and stored. I love epicurious map of seasonal foods

• Check out the “Discounted for quick sale” sections. These generally include produce and bakery items that are about to expire or are slightly damaged. If you have a use for them, buy them! You can get a plethora of fruit for a fraction of the cost, for still decent fruit, just be sure to eat it up fast. For vegetables you can always cook them right away to prevent them from getting any worse. Check out the bounty I found in the discount section.  This section also usually has dented cans and out of season- seasonal items.  Beware of dented cans due to food safety.  

• Farmers Markets. Check out your local farmers market. The food there is often a lot cheaper than the grocery store, and fresher, and locally grown so you are supporting local agriculture. 

• Buy in “bulk”.  Pay attention to the unit price. Sometimes you can get a much better deal buy purchasing a larger quantity. Check out the unit price and purchase based on that. Of course, also consider if you will be able to use or store the item. You will not be saving money by wasting food. Note the “bulk” some grocery stores have what they often call “bulk” bins, where you can purchases as much of an item by the pound as you want, such as rice, grains, dried beans and dried fruits. These items that are not branded or packaged are frequently quite a steal , and you are completely in control of how much you purchase. These are also a great way to try new things without committing to purchasing a lot of it. 

• Purchase less processed foods.  The more processed the food, the more expensive it is.  Set aside some time to do some prep work, such as peeling and cutting carrots rather than purchasing baby carrots. Of course, again consider if you will actually use this product if you have to prepare it. In some cases convenience is worth the extra expense.

• Don’t buy beverages. (Except maybe a milk/ soy/ almond/ rice milk) Unless you live in an area where your drinking water has been deemed unsafe, do not waste your money purchasing bottled water, or other drinks.  Soda is empty calories, and Fruit juices are ok sometimes, however, you get more fiber, phytonutrients and fulfillment from whole fruits and vegetables. Also, beware that Bishenol A (BPA) and other toxins are found in most plastic bottles and cans. (More on that to come). 

• Try dried milk.  Milk was the exception of the beverages, Nonfat and low fat milk are very important in maintaining bone and heart health (and water just doesn’t taste as good in cereal.) If you reconstitute dried milk, it works out to be even cheaper. Try to purchase Skim or 1% milks. Also, be sure to pay attention to expiration dates and watch for spoilage for both fresh and dried milk.

• Use canned and frozen too! Compare the price of canned and frozen fruits and vegetables to that of fresh. Often times they are much cheaper, and are convenient as they do not perish as quickly. For canned foods, choose no salt added or low sodium options if possible, or canned in juice or water, rather than syrup or oil. For frozen fruits and vegetables, avoid ones that contain sauces or added sugar. The nutrients in the canned in frozen foods are often just as high, and sometimes higher than fresh foods. Again beware of BPA and other toxins in canned products, and don't use dented cans. See this list for canned foods without BPA. 

• Cook in bulk. Save yourself money AND time by doing batch cooking, and storing or freezing left overs for later.

• Grow it yourself! Buying seeds, or seedlings and growing what you can can save a lot of money. It is also very rewarding to see that your hard work and tending can 'create' food. If nothing else, try growing herbs on your window sill. Fresh herbs are pricey in the grocery store, but they are easy- peasy to grow and maintain. I've had one basil plant growing on my window for over a year (there were two until I had to break in through my window...), and I have chives growing like wildfire! 

Eating Healthy for the Busy Person

"If you need something done, give it to a busy person!"

Ah… how true it is. It does seem the more we have to do, the more we get done.

Of course, it's also easy to let certain things go when you are really busy, such as going to the gym and eating healthy.

So here's the key:

Plan

Prep

Do!

My professor always complains that people say they are either organized, or they are not. She states, "Organized people are organized because they take the time out of their day to get organized," which, in the end, saves time!

So:

- plan what kind of meals you want to make for the week.

- make a shopping list

- go to the grocery store

- at some point soon after going to the grocery store- take the time to prep any of the healthy food that requires effort that might later deter you from eating it.

If you set out to chop/ peel/ prep a bunch of stuff at once it takes much less time than going through the process each time you want to eat something. Plus, think of the time and energy you'll save on washing the knives, vegetable peeler, and cutting board.

I personally go through this process not only because I am busy, but because Jordan is lazy, and I know he will not bother to use vegetables if they are not ready to be used.

Last week at the grocery store I bought a 5 pound bag of carrots for $1.99! but of course, whole carrots require a bit more effort than baby carrots, so I took the time after I went shopping to peel and cut them up.

Along with a bag of green peppers, I cut up a few into strips to be used for whatever my heart desired at the moment. They can always be chopped smaller later on if desired.

It also seems we are more likely to go through fruit in our house if it is cut up and mixed together (in this case, apples, bananas, plums and nectarines are all pretty easy to eat anyway, but I do enjoy the variety. It works even better if there is something that required cutting up such as a melon.

Then finally- once I am all done prepping I stick it all in the fridge in tupperware for easy access and quick meal making throughout the week :)

My boyfriend's bento

Jordan is the antagonist in my plot to encourage healthy eating. No matter how many little tid bits I give him, or healthy-yet delicious foods I attempt to expose him to, he still insists he must eat the fattening foods he loves because he will not give up "flavor"

I have tried introducing him to new flavors, and incorporating his beloved flavors in a healthier fashion, yet, he still makes dietary decisions to make any dietitian/ health conscience individual cringe.

I have always said the main reason I want children is so I can feed them - which probably isn't the true main reason, but I do enjoy feeding people/ preparing them food, and getting them to eat healthy. So, I am using Jordan as my 'practice child' and I prepare his lunch for work most days.

I love Lunch in a Box blog about a mothers journey of preparing speedy-adorable bentos for her son, so I got inspired and bought a bento box. - as the baker I used to work for used to say "If it looks good on the plate, it tastes good going into the mouth."

So here is one sample of Jordan's Bento box:

* turkey sandwich: whole wheat bread, turkey, lettuce, cucumber, sauteed onion and pepper.

* carrots with hummus

* a cut up plum and nectarine

* reduced fat wheat thins with thinly slices cheddar cheese

* unsalted, dry roasted peanuts

* and a granola bar.

Sure, it's only one meal, but I am making healthy changes to that boy- one meal at a time :) And as per usual-- encouraging frugality, since we're saving money by packing lunched rather than going out and buying them every day.

Tightening the belt buckle

This past week I have been completely freaking out about everything I have to do, and even moreso, about money.

Right now, I am technically doing ok moneywise… I have some savings, and an adequate amount to pay for bills/rent/loans/food etc. etc…. unfortunately- the key word is NOW!

I am doing a lot of forward thinking right now (which is good and bad.)

Next year I will be doing my internship and grad school full time. It is HIGHLY inadvisable to work during... which means, right now I basically need to save up enough money for living expenses and tuition for the next year.

Unfortunately a lot of expenses are nonnegotiable e.i, I do not think my landlord is going to suddenly come down on my rent, and now that I legit have to be commuting a lot more, I have to resign myself that paying for gas is inevitable.

three of the only "expenses" I can really control, are food, going out and shopping. Shopping: I technically do not NEED to go shopping at all... other than for some household items like toilet paper, tooth paste, etc. In regards to going out, I am already relatively frugal, and most of my friends are too (clubs with covers? psht, overrated) so that makes it a little easier... however, based on my mental health, I refuse to become a hermit, so I will be budgeting in some 'going out money'

Finally there is food. I am really good at not spending money EXCEPT when it comes to food (girls gotta eat, you know!) I rarely go out to eat, but I can do some serious damage at the grocery store.

I believe I have mentioned in the past, I have a slight obsession with Mint.com-- which is basically a budgeting website.... based on this website I have concluded that I spend about $230 on food (including groceries, restaurants and alcohol) a month (excluding what I pay for with cash,.... which is very rare.)

Since I am constantly talking about the topic of 'Eating Healthy on a Budget' I am going to put myself on a budget and test my own capabilities! I started doing this a bit throughout January-- but for the sake of officially keeping track I am going to start February 1st.

Since I usually spend $230 a month,

(Here's the summary of the last year...)

I am going to attempt to cut that in half and go down to $115. We shall see how this goes....

(You can imagine there is another $100 there. C'mon! If I had $115 to photograph, I wouldn't be in this situation!)

since I am not completely starting from scratch it is not 100% fair. I do have some food on hand. and throughout January, thus far, I have spent $200 on food, which I don't think was THAT bad considering the fact that throughout the month of December I seem to have let myself get down to the bare bones. At the end of the month I'll do a sum up of everything I am starting with.

Also, I have the issue that the $115 is supposed to just be for me. Which, generally I do only shop for myself, however, with two- four other people "living" in my house, it doesn't always work out that way.

On the other hand, I also have the benefit/ problem in this experiment that Jordan likes to go out to eat etc rather frequently, in which case, he pays, since if it were up to me, I'd just cook. I am going to inform him of my plans, and perhaps he'll get on board, otherwise I'll just consider anytime we go out and he pays null, considering how much of my food, etc. he eats/uses. (Perhaps we'll consider it his 'rent').

Planning ahead!

One of my tips for eating healthy on a budget is to plan ahead!

After the past few days of disorganization and lateness I definitely had the motivation to pack myself a lunch for work. Packing my breakfast and lunch ahead of time generally causes me to eat healthier and spend less money, so overall positive!

I work at Mass General from 7:30 am - 6 pm so the food I bring tends to span me from breakfast to afternoon snack.

Today I brought:

A grapefruit, which I pre-peeled, because inevitably whenever I attempt to peel a citrus fruit at my desk it never really ends well.



a salad including: baby spinach, romaine lettuce, whole wheat spaghetti, two whole carrots, some frozen corn and snap peas, pumpkin seeds, and raisins.



and some multigrain cheerios and a banana.




In my locker at work I also keep a stash of Healthy choice soup, some plain oatmeal, sometimes some granola bars, and of course A LOT of tea bags, for those times (aka every day I work) where I am not actually hungry but want to put something in my mouth.

If you are trying to eat healthier, or tighten the wallet, I definitely recommend buying your own groceries and prepping ahead of time. You are more likely to make wiser, healthier choices, and pay a fraction of what you would at a restaurant or work cafeteria!

Tropical Foods

For my "Computers in Nutrition Education" Class I had to design a website based on some nutrition topic. Mine was on, "Eating Healthy on a Budget" (Feel free to check out my website... keep in mind it was built completely from scratch and this was my first building of anything.... )

Whenever I talked about my website project to J. His response was always, "How to eat healthy on a budget? Shop at Tropical Foods!" Some of the lowest priced groceries in Boston, and lots of tropical produce, spices and odd cuts of meat that you cannot find anywhere else in Boston.

After listening to him constantly chattering on and on about Tropical Foods, his Family's business, the other day after walking to the Animal Rescue League, to do my birdie research, I decided to walk to nearby Roxbury to check out this grocery store for myself.

I felt like a bit of a creeper taking pictures in the grocery store,... I got a couple weird looks from the employees and other costumers, but I got a few!

Their produce section was quite something, they had all of the normal - produce: apples, bananas, lettuce, and whatnot, as well as tons of more ethnic foods, such as ripe and green plantains, a very large variety of yams/ yucas/ other unknown root vegetables like these:



And of course, they had my favorite section of any grocery store: the discount produce section! One of the items in the discount section was this guy:


I have no idea what it is, nor could I find a description of it anywhere,.... but it was on clearance!

They also had the most amazing array of spices, marinades, oils and hot sauces I have ever seen.



Of course a long with their healthy produce, they also sell a variety of unhealthy treats, such as some delicious (??) pork rinds:


Their meat selection was very extensive and scary (to me...) They even sell conch meat, which apparently is very popular (it honestly just reminds me of Lord of the Flies.)

I was especially excited to hear an advertisement over the interc0m for Pizza Wine while I was in the store! Too funny...

J. was very excited that I actually ventured out to Tropical Foods. Apparently most of his friends are too scared to travel out to Roxbury (It really wasn't all that scary.) As a sign of his appreciation for my business, I received my very own Tropical Foods sweatshirt!




So if you are trying to eat healthy on a budget, or looking for some specific ethnic foods, check out Tropical Foods in Roxbury!