"I don't know".

This is very important. The most educated people are able to say "I don't know" or "I didn't know that".  

People who are afraid they won't look smart tend to have an answer for everything.

"The man would commit fewer mistakes if he knew exactly what he did not know"- P. Syrus

Whole Foods in $30- Trip 5

Taco night! Again, I had the staples so just needed a few items.

Also making a huge pitcher of ginger, mint, cucumber, and lemon water.

Total= $15.80

Whole Foods in about $30- Trip 3

I'm making vegetarian matzo ball soup, and a big salad to last for lunches Monday- Friday.

My salad base is usually a bag of romaine hearts, one bunch kale, one head purple cabbage, sliced almonds and pumpkin seeds.  If I have room in my budget, I'll add: organic peppers, avocado, grape tomatoes, chickpeas, purple onion.  I always go for the rainbow.

I also bought 5 lbs potatoes for loaded potato night and rosemary roasted potatoes one night along with the salad.  I love to put pumpkin seeds and sliced almonds in my salads,my hey are so nutritious and add a nice crunch.  Hummus was on sale so I got these two huge tubs for $2.50 each.  The carrots are organic and the entire bunch was 80 cents.

Whole Foods Teip #3 totaled $36.30

Whole Foods in about $30- Staples to keep on hand

If you read my first post about keeping my Whole Foods shopping trips all around $30, this is the post to show you all the items I keep around as staples.  I try to buy these when they are on sale and stock up.  We built a little pantry in a nook of our kitchen just to be "The Staple Pantry"-- see pic below.  By keeping these things stocked (3-4 of each item) you save money by getting the lowest price (wait til it is on sale-- sales usually run every 2 months', so get 2 months' worth if you have the space) and you also don't ever have to do a full shop.  You shouldn't have to shop for staples more than 6-8 times a year maximum.

Baking shelf:
Flour
Yeast
Organic Cane Sugar (non-organic contains animal product)
Waffle mix
Organic Brown sugar (non-organic contains animal product)
Chocolate chips

Dry goods shelf:
Chickpeas- dried
Brown rice (poured into mason jar for better storage)
Kasha
Refried Black Beans
Black beans
Lentils- dried
Boullion cubes (Rapunzel brand, no salt)

Other:
Pasta
Oats
Jam/Preserves
Peanut butter
Taco shells

Whole Foods in about $30- Trip 2

This trip was for a few more snack items for lunches and to make Vegan Stuffed Peppers (which came out amazing).  We also baked pumpkin muffins.

Again, I had my staples already in hand (beans, corn, flour, cane sugar)...but did need to buy most of the ingredients.

Whole Foods Trip # 2 totaled $33.15

Whole Foods in about $30- Trip 1

So... I shop at Whole Foods almost daily. Why? Because I can walk there from home, I love the friendly faces, and I like my ingredients super fresh. I like to think of my local Whole Foods as my nearby European outdoor market and I shop for my fresh ingredients for dinner each day.  Is this more time consuming than one big shop every week? I don't know, but I certainly enjoy it more and find I waste MUCH less food.

I have found a lot of my shopping trips come to about $30.  Some days I may spend only $7!

I decided to start documenting my shops, because I feel I get a good deal for the price of organic, fresh, natural items. (I include toiletries in these shops).  It is important to me to "pay the farmer, not the doctor" so cheaper isn't usually better in my opinion.

I will also mention what I plan to do with the groceries, but because I keep a lot of staples around, I usually never have to shop for every ingredient.

Here is my blog post about staples to keep on hand-- buy them when Whole Foods have sales.  Disclaimer- I'm in Florida, but my best friends live in Brooklyn and Los Angeles and the prices seem to be the same for the most part.  Other disclaimer- our family is vegetarian... I have no idea about shopping for meat or fish. (And that saves a lot!)

So... First shop... This was kind of a lunch shop.  I send 3 people off with packed lunches (one day a week it is 4 people).  They all love and ask for Luna bars for treats (they are very filling, too) but I don't like to spend more than $1 per bar. These were all on sale.  I also will make that pizza for my toddler,s lunch and then might send a cold piece with the kids the next day in tin foil.  That pizza was $3.99.  I send the 365 (Whole foods brand) burritos with my husband for lunch. They are $1.69.

Tonight I'm making a huge crock of Mexican Dip for dinner.  Refried black beans, Greek yogurt, avocado, tomatoes, purple onion... And we eat it with tortilla chips.  We are always stuffed by the time dinner is over! Sounds like an appetizer but it makes a great easy Friday night meal.  Also... I needed deodorant.  ;) I like natural deodorant, and WF usually has the best bargains.

Whole Foods Trip #1 totaled $35.87

Book Club pays off!

My oldest daughter and I were invited to a book club.

The book club is based on the book Her Next Chapter.  From the website for the book:

 Her Next Chapter shows mothers how to form mother-daughter book clubs that provide a vehicle for teaching media literacy to girls so that they learn to think critically about their lives as females.Our book is about more than issues—it is about solutions! It outlines precisely how mothers can work both together and individually to build girls’ confidence and lessen the negative impact of media on self-image. Mothers and other important adults in the lives of girls will learn to identify and understand eight of the biggest challenges facing girls and women in the US and around the world, and how to use carefully chosen female-centric books, movies, videos and activities as side doors into crucial conversations about growing up female.

So, we talked about Hannah in the book and how she is told math isn't for girls and there's no need for her to continue studying it--even though she is a math prodigy.  It was an awesome night and I am so happy to be part of the club.

But--here is the first payoff:

2 weeks later, we were visiting family a few hours away.  My 2 year old son was drinking out of a pink Minnie Mouse cup.  His 7 yr old cousins asked me, "Why is he drinking out of a girl cup?"  I said, "Well, it's just a cup, it's for anyone who is thristy."  And my husband, ever the feminist said, "It's not a girl's cup-- it's for anyone who likes Minnie Mouse."  To which the hostess replied, "Well, it's pink and girly--it's a girl's cup."  And we let it fizzle.

But on the way home, I turned to my 8 year old daughter and asked her, "Based on what we talk about at book club... I mean.. what do you think of what Aunt X said about the Minnie Mouse cup?"

She got a twinkle in her eye, puffed up, and said, "Well, I think Aunt X was making a gender stereotype!"

SCORE.