Super Sunday!!

For today, Part Two of the "Food" segment from 

Anna Johnson's

Savvy Chic

Yesterday, I shared Anna's take on how to entertain with food.

 Since Sunday is often the day we plan our menu's for the week, and do our shopping, I though this would be a good time to share her tips for saving money and incorporating more whole foods into our diets.

Or, as she puts it:

"Miserly Meal Planning"

"The healthiest way to shop for food in a supermarket is to stick to the perimeter.  Analyze the outside aisles of most supermarkets and you will see this is where fresh produce, essential condiments, and animal protein are displayed.  Most of the other foods (in the center aisles) are sugary/salty/fatty filler.  Cookies. Chips. Salsa. Sugary cereals. Popcorn. Culinary landfill!  When out shopping get all your whole foods first, then see what you have left over for "treats."  I buy a lot of frozen fruit to have handy for smoothies and use what we don't drink to make popsicles.  I freeze yogurt and tell my son it's ice cream and buy pizza bases rather than whole pizzas so I can get better use of the veggies in the crisper and the last of a small block of cheddar.

Cutting out snacks from weekly shopping and replacing them

with raw nuts or the fixings of your own muesli bars or homemade dips

saves you calories and dollars.  The same goes for soda and candy.

Half the time we scarf down snacks when we're just thirsty, so gulp a full glass of water before you chomp.  Or, alternatively, plan ahead for your hunger and designate a section of your fridge for healthy snacks like yogurt, individual muesli topped parfaits, or pre chopped celery and cucumber slices with almond butter.

EASY TIPS TO EAT MORE WHOLE FOOD

*Learn to make salads from less perishable materials such as slaw cabbage, apples, nuts, boiled eggs, and oranges.  Iceberg lettuce keeps best but spicy dark greens pack more antioxidants.  Buy a fancy lettuce on the day you know you'll use it.  Or, if you waste a lettuce a week, stop buying it all together and use baby spinach leaves as a salad base instead--they keep longer and taste excellent with sesame and Asian-style salad dressings.

*Soak carrots that have gone droopy in a bowl of cold water in the fridge overnight.  They'll be firm and fresh in the morning.

* Use frozen peas and corn to fill out pasta sauces and savory pies, which make a great backup resource for the end of the week when fresh produce runs out.

*Always have an unsweetened pie crust in the freezer for a veggie pie, a quiche, or a sweet fruit pie.  It just looks special but is so simple to defrost one bought from a health food store or quality market.

*Do a bi-weekly scan of your pantry and make use of the canned and jarred foods (beans/soups/ curries) and grains for at least two meals in your week.

*Clip coupons, watch weekly specials, and when you go shopping do take a calculator and a firm list.  If you are tough on the total, you can reward yourself with more costly items that build your pantry or break a taste rut.

*Hand small kids healthy snacks (to win their silence!) when they shop with you so they don't pressure you into buying cereal decorated with super-heros or impulse purchases like candy at the cash register.

~
Okay.  So I am going to assume that the doritos I had for lunch, and chocolate chip cookies I had for dinner yesterday did NOT meet the requirements for this "eat more whole foods" thing.
Good thing a new week is starting.  
I seem to rely on that a lot don't I?  The "reset" button that Monday brings.
Until then....let's enjoy Sunday!
(Because the Super Bowl is today, and we all know that no one is thinking about "eating whole foods" but rather "eating FUN foods!")

Have a great day!