Soap Box

Fancy "Health Food" Stores

I know we all love and want to shop in a heavenly cornucopia.  Purchasing foods with beautiful labels and perfect lighting give us the impression that we will be whole.  Don't look at the price, your body needs to be healthy and its worth it.

Health is important.  I agree, but the only part of shopping at stores like this that's WHOLE is the HOLE in your wallet.

I received an email from my Uncle Joe  that had something very interesting in it.  It was an advertisement that led me to believe that I could save money and still shop "Whole".

Looks good right?  Save $46 dollars!  That's AWESOME!  Then I started thinking, "how much would I have to spend to 'SAVE' $46 dollars?".  Our grocery bill last week, with people in town visiting, was $37 total!

Then I saw the $4 dollar per serving recipes and got excited!  What a great idea!  Maybe we could do those recipes once we are off the Dollar Meal challenge.  So, I decided to do the math.  $4 serving x 3 meals per day x 4 people in my family x 30 days a month = $1,440!!!!!  This is their "DEAL"?  What am I supposed to spend if I'm not trying to be thrifty?

Let's be smart about our choices.  Patch up the hole in your wallet and be truly whole by saving that expense and using it to relieve stress in your life.  American's get sick and age more quickly from stress.  I don't know about you, but running out of money is stressful and saving money is not stressful.

Be conscious of what you spend per meal.  I know this challenge is unrealistic for everyone.  It's hard enough to do it for a month.  Look at the numbers below and just think about it.

Organic or not Organic?... That IS the question.
We had a good friend who was very quick to rebut... "Well, your challenge is not 'ORGANIC', is it?"  I immediately started defending myself... "Last night's dinner was Foster Farms chicken and the spinach was..."  Blah, blah, blah.
After he left, I started thinking.  Our families have enjoyed many a meal together at quite a few fine establishments that are clearly NOT organic (CPK, Cheesecake, IHop).  So, I know for a fact that eating solely organic is not a life or death matter for our friend, nor is it for the majority of Americans.  For those that need to eat solely RAW and/ or organic for health reasons, well then, this isn't the challenge for you.
However, let's be real people.  Eat well.  Eat affordable/cheap!  Don't worry if the food you eat is ALL organic.  We are so blessed to have the abundance that we do.  Let's be responsible with it.  If the financial part of eating organic brings stress and heartache, than  is eating organic really benefiting your health?