So I did my Weekly shopping today and am trying something different with my diet. It has been a goal of mine to eat healthier and so last night I picked out a weeks worth of healthy meals and made my shopping list. The big issue was that my weekly bill ended up being $30 higher then normal. But I felt good about what I bought Half my cart was produce. So my question for you all is do you have any big tips for saving when shoping for produce?

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Kimberly Proud Mommy to Bethany Rose April 2006

I feel your pain about the grocery being higher. We don't eat meat hardly ever and I want my kids to be eating lots of fruit and veggies instead of mac and cheese, kwim? So I am always looking for produce that they like. For veggies I do use a lot of frozen stuff as a staple item.

I also don't usually buy my fresh produce in the regular grocery store. We don't have a farmers market nearby, but we do have an awesome meat market which carries lots of produce at half the grocery store proces. So i go there. Also, but only what you can eat before it will spoil. Sometimes I get overzealous and my eyes are bigger than my stomach, you know? I end up buying more than we can eat. Finally buy what is in season. Right now I can get strawberries relatively cheap, so that's what's in my fridge.

I have started a container garden for squash and tomatoes, but I have a black thuimb so I'm not counting on it just yet.

For veggies I buy primarily frozen (except for the lettuce, cukes, tomatoes).

For fruits, I do buy 1/2 frozen (for smoothies and stuff). The other fruit I usually try to buy only in season.

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Check out my weight loss journey ~ sparkpeople.com/mypage.asp?id=MAMAOF3KIDDIES

Buying in season -- buying from farmer's markets -- gardening yourself -- getting to know area farmers -- canning and freezing all that is left over.

I get BEAUTIFUL corn, for free usually, I know the man that raises it and he let's us go out in his field to get the stuff that he doesn't sell. Trust me it is beautiful stuff!

I've already started to plant a few things in my garden. Well actually, I've only planted the spinach and it's covered -- hopefully I'll see that in a week or two. I need to plant the potatoes.

We buy a lot of frozen fruits as well and make smoothies. I can easily sneak health stuff in there that they normally won't eat. Except my DD4 won't have a smoothies unless she sees me put a small scoop of ice cream in hers.

i got the magic bullet for christmas and we LOVE it!!

It definitly costs more to eat healthy, but worth it.

I have to confess, I eat pretty healthy but I do let the kids have some cheaper stuff (raaman noodles) to keep prices down. I also buy my fruit at Aldi's and put the kids on fruit rotation so none of the fresh produce goes bad. They know the routine. Eat the berries first. Then the bananas and pineapple. Then the pears should be ripe. THen grapes. Then you can eat the oranges and apples. This way we throw away very little produce. We only get the above things when they are OK priced at Aldi's. Not all of them do we get every week, but often. Then to fill in we do frozen berries, frozen peaches, canned pears & peaches and applesauce.

I don't do a lot of salads in the winter. Not unless there is an in store special. Last week I had a Fresh Express coupon for $1.00 off & found a bag for $1.26 so I got it for only $.26. It was a nice treat. Other than that we do a lot of frozen veggies. You can get them really cheap if you stockpile when they go on sale.

But overall, I do agree that in the winter it can be more expensive to eat healthy. And we eat less healthy in the winter. But summer is coming!!! Summer is coming.

We do alot of frozen veggies in the big bags from Sams. No sugar added can fruits and apples, oranges, bananas and in season fruits are the norm around here. I buy cheap hamburger, but rinse it to make sure all the extra grease is out of it after browning. We are doing the best we can to eat healthy. I refuse to pay an arm and a leg for it though!

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~Happiness is a large family~

Veggies - buy frozen especially on sale and stock up

Fruit - buy what is in season and on sale. Last week strawberries normally $3.99 for 1 lb package were on sale 3 for $5. I went at the beginning of the sale week and the last day to pick some up.

I buy mostly fresh, organic fruits and veggies.

For the veggies, I buy in season when it's on sale for a really good price. I stock up, chop up and then freeze them.

For fruits like apples, peaches, pears, etc. that don't freeze well, I buy only in season on sale for a really good price. If I have the time I will make apple, pear, peach sauce, etc. and then freeze that. For berries and grapes, i will freeze them.

I do buy a few bags of organic frozen fruits at Costco a few times a year.

I also stock up on Simply Orange, Simply Lemon, and Simply Apple juice when it's on sale and either deep freeze or store it in my garage if I know I will use in the next week or so.

I also stock up and deep freeze my beef and chicken (hormone and antibiotic free) when they go on sale for less than $2 a lb. I am talking 40 lbs of each when they are sale that low.

I also stock up on organic canned veggies when they go on sale.

It definitely is more expensive up front to eat healthy. But think of all the future dollars you will save by not having to go to the doctors as often for heart conditions and other ailments since you spent your time eating well.

And you are also saving money long term by buy healthy because now you are filling your basket up with whole foods and not as much packaged stuff which pound for pound generally costs more than whole foods in the long run :D.

Sandra

My tip is to try to make more meatless meals to help with the budget. I make eggs (scrambled, burritos, hard boil and add to salad), pancakes or waffles, homemade pizza and meatless pasta.

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