Being "sold" the wrong idea of healthy foods.

[disneysteve]

As far as produce, the best combination of fresh/healthy/cheap you can do is to buy (or grow, if you can) only in-season produce, at its cheapest price of the season

You're also then not contributing to out of season fruits & vegetables being shipped cross-country

This isn't as easy or as true as you may think.

I live in New Jersey, the "Garden State". There are farms within 3 miles of my house. HOWEVER, in the heart of strawberry season, it is cheaper (and often tastier) for me to buy Driscoll strawberries from California than for me to buy the locally grown ones. It is even cheaper to buy the California berries than to go to a pick-your-own place where I do all of the work myself. Makes no sense. And sorry but given the choice, I'm buying the cheaper ones. They are also tasty and last longer than the local ones.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Nika, I just received form my health insurance company a chipper, upbeat little pamphlet. "Open for healthy coupons!" it says.

The coupons are for breakfast cereal flakes, Chobani yogurt tubes, Lean Cuisine, No-Yolks noodles, low fat cottage cheese, olive oil, Dried fruit and nuts, Coffee-mate, and Truvia sweetener.

What do you think?

[disneysteve]

Nika, I just received form my health insurance company a chipper, upbeat little pamphlet. "Open for healthy coupons!" it says.

The coupons are for breakfast cereal flakes, Chobani yogurt tubes, Lean Cuisine, No-Yolks noodles, low fat cottage cheese, olive oil, Dried fruit and nuts, Coffee-mate, and Truvia sweetener.

What do you think?

I think all of those things are healthier than what the average American is eating on a daily basis.

That said, I have a problem with a health insurance company getting into the business of promoting particular branded products.

[Nika]

I made this super protein packed dinner last night.
Baked chicken that was marinated overnight in buttermilk with paprika and other spices, black quinoa and lentils cooked in fresh whey liquid left from yesterday's ricotta making(for even extra protein). For taste, I sautéed some onions, garlic, serrano, tomato and added some basil tomato sauce, then mixed in cooked lentils and quinoa(healthier than rice). Fresh mint on top.
Over 30 grams of protein in one meal.

I also just went through my phone and posted some examples or typical meals I cook at home: One Middle Class New Yorker blog
This is what I think is reasonably healthy and acceptable for every day meals.
And DisneySteve, as you can see, not too exotic. No white truffles or anything .

[cschin4]

How come there isn't a "Like" button! Yum.

[disneysteve]

Looks great Nika. I'm coming to your house for dinner. I love quinoa. Love lentils too. And that stuff is cheap which is even better.

[scfr]

What exactly is local and in season in NYC right now?

http://www.wintersunfarms.com/

[EarlyRetirementJoy]

This all makes me a bit crazy . . .

It is fine to spend a small fortune on 'healthy' groceries if that is a personal choice, but let's not fool ourselves that it is a necessity.

I spend $85 a week, food only, for two adults. We rarely buy meat, building our diet instead around produce, grains, beans and nuts. Some dairy, primarily plain non fat yogurt and cheese. I cook almost everything from scratch, meaning we rarely buy processed foods.

We run marathons, we bike centuries, we have low blood pressure, great cholesterol readings, resting heart rates that qualify us as 'athletic,' low weight profiles, low BMI. We are, in essence very healthy.

It is not necessary to spend a fortune to eat healthily, but I do think it takes time, and that is increasingly the luxury many Americans don't have.

I'll leave you my menu for last night, so you can see what a 'typical' $85 a week meal looks like for us:

Whole wheat tortillas filled with black beans, sauteed onions and green peppers, salsa, non fat sour cream, fresh avocado and some brown rice. Romaine lettuce salad loaded with fresh vegetables. Homemade apple crisp.

I live in California where we are currently paying the following for produce at Sprouts, which has stores all over the west, including Texas and Oklahoma.

Green peppers & cucumbers: .48 ea
Onions, potatoes & green cabbage: .48 lb
Apples, pears, green and yellow squash: .88 lb
Avocado: .68 lb
Romaine: .88 bunch

[disneysteve]

It is fine to spend a small fortune on 'healthy' groceries if that is a personal choice, but let's not fool ourselves that it is a necessity.

Exactly.

It is not necessary to spend a fortune to eat healthily, but I do think it takes time, and that is increasingly the luxury many Americans don't have.

That's not quite true. Time is a "luxury" that many Americans THINK they don't have while they spend 3 hours a day on the internet or watching shows on their DVR or wasting time any number of other ways. I hear it at my office every day - the chatter about what everyone watched last night and they list 3 or 4 different shows. Well no wonder you never get anything done if you're spending that much time every day watching TV.

Green peppers & cucumbers: .48 ea
Onions, potatoes & green cabbage: .48 lb

This always baffles me. How do some stores decide that certain produce items should be sold by the pound but others should be sold by the item? Why is a cucumber fundamentally different than a potato? Why should a small cucumber cost the same as a large one while a small potato is cheaper than a large one?
I almost got fooled by this the other day. I was buying cauliflower. The sign said the price and I assumed it was the per pound price so I was looking for the smallest one. When I looked at the sign to get the code, I realized it wasn't per pound, it was per item, so I put back the small one and picked out the biggest one I could find.

[EarlyRetirementJoy]

That's not quite true. Time is a "luxury" that many Americans THINK they don't have while they spend 3 hours a day on the internet or watching shows on their DVR or wasting time any number of other ways. I hear it at my office every day - the chatter about what everyone watched last night and they list 3 or 4 different shows. Well no wonder you never get anything done if you're spending that much time every day watching TV.

Disney Steve,

I was trying to give the benefit of the doubt to those that may have long commutes, or other things going on in their lives that would lend themselves to being exhausted and living somewhat on the edge. Otherwise, your point is absolutely well taken.

Regarding 'random' produce prices: I haven't a clue, but at those prices I'll still take them!

[hamchan]

I haven't had time to watch TV in weeks. I do get online, on my phone while I am riding the bus or train, laying in bed at night unable to sleep, sitting at work waiting for clients. When I am at home I spend it trying to make a dent in the cleaning, and resting as much as I can. My job is extremely physically demanding, and I only get 1-2 days off per month. At least once a week I will work 5-6 hours at one job and then go directly to the second job and work 5-6 more. Many days I do not get home until almost midnight. I still cook from scratch on the nights I get home earlier, and do something in the crock pot once a week, which usually lasts us a few days. I wish I didn't have to. As my husband's health deteriorates I am spending more and more time physically caring for him as well, and picking up the slack with chores be used to do. Every day I wake up and feel like I spent the previous day walking up and down hills for 15 miles with a backpack on. Hard to believe I used to do that for fun. I feel invisible. My health is starting to suffer. My blood tests are starting to come back with problems I never used to have. I sometimes get severe pain that nobody can explain.

[J.Apple902]

Yup. I find that eating a diet of fresh natural fruits vegetables and grains is definitely more expense than a processed diet. Just consider that in most American cities you can get a double cheeseburger for $1. Compare that to the price of 1 apple or 1 any vegetable. Wow compare the calories too. 900 vs 150. Numbers here are meaningless. The point is that not only do most people have no understanding that these foods are unhealthy, they definitely know they taste great and are the best possible buy on a limited budget. The meat and chicken, bean and corn industries are all subsidized by tax payer money. High fructose corn syrup is subsidized by tax payer money. The sugar industry is also subsidized by tax payer money, along with oil, finance, etc etc etc lol.

[disneysteve]

Yup. I find that eating a diet of fresh natural fruits vegetables and grains is definitely more expense than a processed diet. Just consider that in most American cities you can get a double cheeseburger for $1. Compare that to the price of 1 apple or 1 any vegetable.

I disagree. That $1 burger off the value menu wouldn't fill me for an hour. It's all empty calories, so I wouldn't just be spending $1. I'd probably be getting 2 burgers and fries and a drink and maybe a dessert so now you're talking about $5 or more. That's what you need to be comparing.

At home, I can make a very healthy and very filling meal for half that price but have something packed with nutrition that will keep me satisfied for hours, give me energy, and help keep me healthy.

It is far cheaper to eat healthy than to subsist on crap.

[HappySaver]

You're comparing apples and orange: the cost of eating healthy at home versus crap from a restaurant/take-out place.

If you shop in a grocery store and buy healthy "around the edge of the store" fresh food, it's generally more expensive than buying processed foods from the center aisles.

If you eat healthy in a restaurant (hard to do), you're generally going to be be in higher end place and the cost will be more than fast food.

[disneysteve]

If you shop in a grocery store and buy healthy "around the edge of the store" fresh food, it's generally more expensive than buying processed foods from the center aisles.

I still disagree. I buy a lot of fresh produce so I'm very familiar with the prices. Pound for pound, the healthy stuff is cheaper than the processed stuff. Plus as I said, it is more filling and nutritious so you don't need as much of it to be satisfied. When I look at the unit prices on a lot of the processed junk I'm amazed that anyone buys it. It isn't unusual to see stuff with a per pound price of $10 or more.