Tag Archives: Shopping

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Create Your Best Thanksgiving Menu Yet

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Healthy Thanksgiving Recipe MenuIt’s finally here! Although Thanksgiving is rolling in a little later this year, if you’re like me, it still found a way to sneak right up. It’s pretty easy to cook the same foods that you’ve been cooking for the last 20 years. Even though you keep thinking that one of these year’s you’ll lighten up your Thanksgiving meal, time gets away and looking up new recipes just gets pushed off until next year… again! So, to make it a little easier, we’ve pulled together our list of favorite sites to find lighter versions of your favorite Thanksgiving classics.

It’s important to remember that the key to a healthy Thanksgiving plate is still portion control. Although adding lighter, healthier ingredients to your foods is a great addition to a healthy diet, portion control is still very important. TIP: Fill your plate with your favorite fruits and vegetables. Then, fill in the holes with those other foods that you wait all year to enjoy. And, remember, don’t be too hard on yourself. Enjoy your favorite Thanksgiving foods on Thanksgiving. Just remember to get back to your healthy daily eating habits quickly after the holiday!

Mayo Clinic: As a trusted professional in health and medicine, the Mayo Clinic is a great place to turn when looking for health information. They have incorporated some great healthy Thanksgiving recipes in to their site. Sorted by dish, they are easy to search and find.

Simply Organic: Offering a full line of organic seasonings, Simply Organic has created a website chocked full of healthy renditions on many holiday classics. Plus, you can bank on the fact that the recipes will be full of flavor!

Eating Well: There motto is “Where good food meets good health” and they aren’t kidding! These guys have put together a great resource for healthy cooking with recipes, menus and news. Thanksgiving is no exception… you’ll find some great recipes. Including a healthy spin on one of my favorites, green bean casserole.

Readers Digest: We’ve been turning to Readers Digest for everything, including the best holiday recipes for years. Now, you can get healthy recipe ideas from them too! If you’re looking for a side dish, this is the place to go!

EatRight.org: Of course the dietitians over at the Academy have great resources for every holiday, event, age and topic. They’ve also put together a little shopping guide for Thanksgiving. It’s not a lot. But, it’s got a few tips for shopping with a healthy Thanksgiving meal in mind.

Pinterest: Of course, every recipe imaginable can be found on the new super recipe book… Pinterest. I’m a huge fan of this Healthy Thanksgiving board by Brittany Mullins though. If I had the time, I would try EVERY single one of these recipes. Maybe if we split it up, we can cook through this board together!

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What’s Your Least Favorite Part of Grocery Shopping?

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What do you dread most about going to the grocery store? Okay, besides trying to fight your way through the bakery section resisting all of the cakes, crème puffs and chocolate filled goodies! For me, it’s staying on budget. No matter how hard I try, sometimes it just doesn’t seem possible to stay on budget and feed my family foods that I know are wholesome and healthy. I’ve turned to coupon clipping at times. But, as Sweet Brown would say, “Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That!”

So, is it possible to raise a healthy family while sticking to a strict budget? The answer is Yes! But how? The first step is to set a budget. Using our new “Budget Friendly Shopping” (link) handout, you can use US National Averages and our budget calculating tool to identify the budget that best fits your family. This tool provides calculations for families of all sizes with children at any age. Using this tool, you can create a budget that is the best fit for your family.

After you know your budget, the next step is to plan your meals. Whether you plan by the week or month, creating a meal plan and sticking to it will help you stay on budget. As you create your meal plan, there are two things that we think are most important to remember. First, remember to include foods from each food group in every meal. The second is to remember appropriate serving sizes. Many times, extreme food costs are a result of preparing and consuming too much food.

Now that you have your meal plan complete, it’s time to make a grocery list and head to the grocery store. Remember to buy off brand whenever you can and try to purchase foods that are on sale while you are at the store.  If you’re familiar with grocery prices, try to estimate your grocery bill before you get to the checkout to make sure you’re staying on track. If you’ve not paid close attention to prices in the past, spend a few weeks learning about your new meal plan and budget to learn what foods you can include and which ‘pricier’ foods you may want to hold back on.

So, we’ve shared how to calculate your budget and how to create a meal plan. Do you still need more motivation to check out our new Budget Friendly Shopping handout? This should throw you over the top! We’ve also included a 1 week meal plan for a family of 4 for less than $170.

How do you feed your family on a budget? We love hearing from you, our readers. So, please share with everyone the tips that you find most effective for feeding your family healthy foods on a budget! You can share your thoughts here on the blog, on Facebook or on Twitter!

Budget Brochure Handout

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Six Picks: The Top 6 Things You Need to Know About Budget Shopping

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  1. Check out the real cost. Examine the label that tells you the cost per ounce. Sometimes, you’ll find the bigger box may not always be the best deal for you. Compare between brands as well for maximum savings.
  2. Shop in season.  Whenever fruits or vegetables are out of season, their prices skyrocket, due to their having to be transported from farther away. Buy items when they’re in season to bring variety to your seasonal eating habits, and to bring relief to your wallet.
  3. Store brands are the best brands for cost. Since the store’s brands are usually significantly cheaper, and often just as tasty, they’re often the best purchase you can make when deciding to save money.
  4. Keep an eye on those coupons. If you look closely at most coupons, you’ll notice that they’re almost always for the national brands, and even with the coupon, it’s sometimes still cheaper to buy the store brand. Make sure to examine each coupon closely to see where you can really save money.
  5. Find a substitute for meats to get your protein. By buying canned beans as an occasional substitute for meats, you can save a significant part of your food budget. Meat is usually one of the highest costs in a food budget, and beans often are higher in their nutrition value.
  6. Make your own snacks. The most expensive items are usually the snacks. Try making your own for a change. A healthy trail mix, large batch pudding separated into reusable containers, things like these aren’t hard to make, nor are they expensive. Shop smart, not hard.

For more helpful shopping tips, check out our website at http://www.ncescatalog.com