Cheap AND Healthy is not a fantasy...

I always say that it costs more to have less things in your food. Organic stuff is more expensive than highly processed foods. That's pretty sad. Our society wants us to be healthy and thin and beautiful, but they want us to be all of that on a diet of Krispy Kreme and McDonalds (don't forget to wash it all down with an extra large Coke!).

I know we're in a recession, and I know organic stuff is pricey, but that's not an excuse to eat unhealthily (is that even a word??? You know what I mean dammit lol) All I'm trying to say is that you can eat healthy and not break the bank.

I have an example of how I did that today, or I should say how I am doing it, since I am eating as I type this. I already told you guys about my random chicken craving. Well, we bought a whole chicken, already cut, cooked, seasoned and baked for $6. That same evening, we also bought a bag of coleslaw. Now I am not a big mayo fan so I tend to shy away from coleslaw. But this was the bag in the salad section, and all it is is cabbage and carrots shredded up. We got that for 79 cents. I took some of the coleslaw and put it in a plastic container, popped it in the microwave for about 2 minutes to steam it. So I have baked chicken with a side of cabbage for under $7. What's even better is that the chicken lasted for 3 days. So really it is possible to spend about 7 bucks and eat for 3 days. I think that's pretty affordable.

Another thing...make sure to see what sales your local grocery store has going on. And don't be discouraged if you can't do all of your shopping at one store. Meghan and I go to 3 stores: our neighborhood, hole in the wall store (Piggly Wiggly) Kroger, and Wal Mart. We go to Pig Wig for produce, because we know when they first bring it in and it's always priced just right. We go to Kroger for pretty much everything else. We only go to Wal Mart for toiletries, and we might get food items if their price is lower than Kroger's.

Another thing that helps save money is portion control. When I make dinner, I usually eat while keeping in mind that I want to have food left over to take to work the next day.

I'll end on this not: DON'T UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF H2O!!! I was starving earlier, but I wasn't in a place to eat so I just drank water. It really did help. I'm not saying it took my hunger away completely, but it took the edge off. Did you know that most people are chronically dehydrated, so they confuse thirst with hunger? I will devote anther post to water later.

Eat right, live right.