We should be eating better in the department of variety, less chemicals and artificial hormones, and more fruit and veggies. And oh, less Chick-fil-A kids meals. Leave my wine out of this, I can buy organic.
We used to be total vegetarians. Yeah. Miso soup. Kombu. Wheat germ on our 2 year old’s cereal. Made my own yogurt, bread and grew my own sprouts. Live food, baby, live.
Then you know what happened? I got pregnant with number three. And all I wanted for 5 days straight, and got, dammit, was a Wendy’s cheeseburger and fries. With a chocolate frosty, thankyouveryMUCH. That was tell tell, I tell you. And 6 years later? We’re average. Well, above. But not great. I watch the sugar. Very few sodas for the kids. I encourage water. We have a platter of raw cut veggies nearly every night. Of course, it’s always just carrots, cukes, and cherry ‘maters, but that’s better than Cheetos. And we are occasionally suckers to pizza delivery. It’s just soooo easy. Does it count if you order veggies on it?
So this is what I did. Forewent my weekly Aldi trip, where I get scadoodles of groceries for about $125, and went to Whole Foods, where I got 3 items for $897.37. OK, not really. But let me just share.
Whole Foods - 4.5 bags, packed moderately with groceries
items like: organic frozen edamame, sea salt pita chips, chick peas, organic cheddar puffs, oranges, grapefruit (which are gooood!), a persimmon (I’ve never had one, I don’t recommend), organic yogurt, parsnips (Private 2 loves them), veggie egg rolls, Boca chicken patties, avocado, flax oil, and wheat germ. Some tea, and turkey sausage.
Total? $172.19 OhMyGOSH.
At Aldi, weekly, I get more bags than I can fit in the cart, filled to the brim with foods, for about $125. Frozen chicken breasts, low fat beef, and yogurt. Crackers. Nuts. Canned stuff. Rice, and pasta. Paper goods (chaps your butt, but it’s cheap - and I am starting to feel bad, even my children are complaining). But they come with the hormones, and chemicals. Sure, eggs are .79 a dozen, but what the heck are they feeding those birds? We get lesser fat things, but they’re all with sugar, and trans fats, and hoodly boodly, and all that. We can eat for that money for a week or more, but what are we eating?
Blue’s favorite apple cinammon oatmeal from Aldi:
whole grained rolled oats, sugar, dehydrated apples treated with stuff I can’t pronounce, salt, cinnaomon, guar gum, some B vitamins I’ve never heard of, and pryidoxine hydrochloride.
Blue’s fav apple cinnamon oatmeal from Whole Foods:
whole grain rolled oats, germ of the wheat, dehydrated apples, succanat, concentrated apple juice, and, and, and…NOTHING ELSE.
So what do I want to give my 5 year old 3 packets of every morning of his life, and sometimes for lunch and dinner? I think that’s obvious. But the price? Aldi - $1.29, Whole Foods - $3.79. And when you go through at least 2 boxes a week, it begins to add up.
Milk from Aldi? $2.69. From Horizon Organic at Whole Foods? $4.29. We go through 3 gallons a week. The list goes on and on and on. Why should we be forced to choose budget over health? It’s ridiculous. If I want to feed my family coupon purchased Hamburger Helper and 30% fat ground beef 5 nights a week, we’d spend about $30. But fresh produce? Organic? Natural? Get a loan, baby. And go ahead and win Let’s Make a Deal if you want to purchase eco-friendly house products.
I’m just ticked. And I’m just saying I am. It shouldn’t be that you must be wealthy to feed your family well. Maybe there’s room in the budget if I buy less wine….Naaaaaaaaaa.
