In The Kitchen: Where and How to Shop

I love how much time have been able to spend in the kitchen lately! I have mentioned this before, but being able to take extra time planning meals and cooking has become a new routine in this season that I have come to love so much. Eating healthy and knowing what I an consuming has always been a big part of my life, but now more than ever I feel like it’s a passion of mine that has really developed with more time to practice it! On the blog, I have started a new series called In The Kitchen, and over the last few weeks I have talked about adding new purpose to your cooking routine and have given some practical tips on ways to maximize the life of your fresh groceries. This week I thought it would be helpful to talk about where I shop for my groceries and a few tips on how to shop – Things that I think can so often be overlooked in the day to day of a week spent at home or the craziness and potential fear of grocery environments lately. WHERE TO SHOPOne of my very favorite things about this time has been the discovery of our local farm. While Jase and I are so lucky to have one close enough for us to go to, the idea of shopping local and supporting small businesses has been a value instilled in me during this time that I will not leave behind! While many of us may have the first thought that shopping small comes at a greater expense, many things like produce, especially fruit and veggies, can actually be cheaper or often on sale and at a better quality, ultimately lasting you longer than your nearby chain grocer. Shopping small or local is also a great way to cut out on the stress of the grocery store during this time! When you relieve yourself of the many negative emotions that can so often be identified with a stop at the store, this activity can actually become a cherished part of your routine. I know for me, I love showing up to my local spot and taking time to see what fresh picks are available – wandering up and down the rows (while practicing safe distancing, of course) and taking it all in! This care that I have developed in my routine for where I shop and what I buy has caused me to have even greater care and excitement in what I prepare. I cook based on my inspiration from the ingredients purchased. It has been a game-changer for me!Another great place to shop, that isn't so small, can be Whole Foods. While this was often considered not within budget for many families, the new deals and offers that have been extended to Amazon Prime Members (which so many of us are!) makes it practical once again. It’s also a great option for those pantry items that can be more expensive at your local spot. Things like nut butters, canned goods, healthy snacks and treats, or alternative milks are actually similarly priced (or on sale / specially priced) to your opposing chain grocer and oftentimes made with more quality or organic ingredients! Such a win.HOW TO SHOPNow that the stress has been relieved from dreaded trips to the grocery store, the need for a detailed list of things to get in and get out as fast as possible has also gone out the window. While I have my routine items I always get – protein options, potatoes, pastured eggs, leafy greens, and nuts – I also make room in my trip to look at what’s freshly available and think of meals I can create using what’s right in front of me! A great way to start doing this is to shop for more universal items that can be created or added to anything. Items like sweet or regular potatoes can be chopped into quarters for a tray of roasted veggies with broccoli, zucchini, onion, and asparagus – or cut vertically and baked into fries! Proteins like pastured chicken or ground grass-fed beef can be added on top of fresh greens and healthy grains with roasted veggies to make into a warm bowl or served on top of a crisp salad. Your pantry items like noodles, canned foods, or nuts can be cooked or chopped and mixed into any meal to add a different texture or a more filling variety. And fresh herbs and spices can take any meal to the next level!There are just so many options, but the goal when first starting is to shop for a variety of versatile fresh foods that can work together and then let your creativity work as you go throughout your week! A FEW OF MY GROCERY STAPLES 

• Pastured eggs
• Organic almond butter
• Organic raw nuts for making home-made nut milk
• Organic spring onions
• Organic coconut oil
• Olive oil
• Raw butter
• Siete tortillas and chips
• Siete hot sauce
• Organic dinosaur kale
• Organic lettuces
• Organic red peppers
• Organic green beans
• Organic garlic
• Organic white rice
• Organic potatoes - purple, red, sweet
• Organic tomatoes
• Sauerkraut
• Organic fresh spices - cilantro, basil, dill, mint, oregano, sage (we grow these in our garden but are a must!)
• Organic beets

Where are you shopping in this season, and what healthy recipes are you making in your kitchen? I'd love to hear from you! Follow along with my kitchen routine here on the blog or at my Instagram where I often post meals I'm making or grocery items I'm grabbing. xo

Piggy Bank Friendly: Saving Money at Whole Foods

An important re-blog: I came across a game changing article recently. The biggest excuse and real life concern I hear in regards to buying organic food is the high costs. So, realistically, how can we eat toxin-free diet when we have to abide by a grocery budget?This is where Danny Seo comes into play. He is an environmental lifestyle expert, who appears frequently on The Today Show. His cool resume: he has created an organic mattress line with Simmons Natural Care, a beauty and skincare line called Wholearth by Danny Seo, and has written a lineup of Simply Green books about gift-giving and party-planning. Oh, and his latest must-read, Upcycling, "features hundreds of innovative, easy and eco-friendly craft projects that turn useless stuff into beautiful new things."See his tips below on saving money at Whole Foods. This equation should no longer be an issue: organic food + grocery budget = an impossibility.Tip #1: Yes, Whole Foods takes coupons. One of the biggest misconceptions about Whole Foods is that because they operate differently than big box supermarkets, they must not take coupons. Wrong. Granted, finding coupons in your Sunday circular for probiotic raw coconut juice or ylang ylang oil is not going to happen, but mainstream organic brands like Kashi and Silk soy milk do advertise. And here's the kicker: Whole Foods itself has downloadable coupons right on their own website. That's about $40 off right there.Tip #2: Can't find a coupon? Ask for it. When you can't find coupons for your favorite products, the simplest thing is to play into the whole social media "trend" all of these consumer brands seem to be obsessed about. Make a list of your Top 10 Always Buy items at Whole Foods. Now spend a minute hitting the LIKE button for all of them on Facebook. Periodically, brands like Morningstar Farms and Honest Tea release money saving coupons to their Facebook fans.Or, tweet that you love a specific product and can't live without it. I found this delicious Siggi Icelandic yogurt and tweeted about it. They wrote right back saying they wanted to send coupons for some free yogurt. And even emailing a company directly and just outright asking for coupons surprisingly works pretty well, too. The folks at Method cleaning products like their fans so much they reward them with coupons for nice emails.Tip #3: Join Recyclebank.com; it's free. Recyclebank.com is an online community that rewards eco-behavior with huge money saving coupons. Sign up for free and learn really helpful tips on going a little bit more green at home, at work and with your family. Each time you pledge to do something, your account is rewarded with points. Then you can shop with those points under "Rewards" for really good deals on things like $2 off any Kashi product, $2 off any two packages of Earthbound Farm organic salad mixes, $1 off Dagoba chocolates, $1 off any (2) Stonyfield Oikos organic greek yogurt and $2 off any Kiss my Face product $5 or more. These aren't rinky dink fifty cent off deals, but actual full dollar increments. The average Recyclebank members saves about $133 off their supermarket bill each year. And, again, it's free. The more you learn, the more points you earn, and the more you save. More than 2 million people so far are on the Recyclebank bandwagon.Tip #4: Pay it Forward. My policy is even if I have a coupon for something, I don't buy it if I don't really use it. Lots of time I'll just leave the coupons on top of the products in Whole Foods so someone who does use it can save. So, if some strange woman leaves behind, say, twenty $2 off Boca Burger coupons at your market and you hoard them all for yourself, pay it forward next time by leaving a stack of Cascadian Farm organic cereal coupons in the breakfast food aisle the following week. Together, we can help each other save.Danny Seo
: Official Site;  Daily Danny: Official BlogSource and Photo