Eating well on a budget!

Surprisingly (not really), the wheat/dairy free experiment was not successful. No excuses. Just wasn't the best week for the experiment. I will be continuously experimenting with this topic though. I have faith in myself that soon I will be able to go two whole weeks.
Back on the new topic though, one of the biggest complaints people have about eating healthy is that is costs too much! Talk about excuses! Eating well and staying within a budget is completely feasible and it comes down to making the right choices! There are several blogs out there chronicling the journeys of those following a budget while making nutritionally sound choices (here's an example: http://www.fiftybucksaweek.com/ )
In the summer, it's easier to adhere to a budget and still stock up on fresh produce and fruit. Local farmer's markets are popping up everywhere. I know here is Denver, I have 2 really good choices on Saturdays (Cherry Creek and the Boulder market) and 2 on Sundays (City Park and S. Pearl Street). My other secret is becoming a part of a community gardening plot. In Denver, you can contact the Denver Urban Gardens (http://www.dug.org/). The plots in the city are hard to get, waiting lists can be up to 100 people long, but there are gardens all over and I know some further out don't fill up. I was not able to score my own plot this summer, but I did approach my Nutritional Therapy teacher to see if she needed assistance with her plot and she was more than happy to share with me. Now I have a plethora of zucchini, cucumbers, basil, arugula, various squash and hopefully potatoes! We also had some chard and beets earlier. Fruit doesn't grow well in Colorado though. However, if you eat seasonally, you can find great Palisade peaches for very reasonable prices (last year they got down to &0.69/lb at Vitamin Cottage) and once apple season hits, you can eat 2 apples a day for less than $1.00!
But what if you don't have access to a garden plot, or a farmer's market? Look around you! Do some research! Find some local farmers, research a CSA (community supported agriculture) or find a small plot with some sun and throw some lettuce seeds in the ground! Just kidding. Shop around. Read your store fliers. Then do a cost comparison. You can get a bag of salad mix for $2.99 or you can get two heads of lettuce for $1.99. Two heads of lettuce will take you further than that bag of mix. Invest in a salad spinner and the lettuce leaves will keep a little longer! I get 5 salads out of one head of lettuce! Try and buy your produce fresh and then look for cheaper sources of protein: beans (buy some dried ones and put a little planning into your menu so you soak them before you need them), cans of tuna fish, hard boiled eggs, tofu. Fresh food is more nutritionally dense than processed and canned stuff. If you have to steer away from fresh, buy frozen first. The beauty of eating fresh natural foods is that you will feel more satisfied then you do eating the processed foods. Think about the last time you bought a bag of potato chips...did you feel like you could plow through the whole thing in one sitting (and then maybe you did?!). Now think about the last time you had a potato. I bet you felt more satisfied with the one potato. Comparing the cost, that one potato probably cost $0.25 and the bag of chips was at least $1.50 and now it's gone! That is NOT a good investment.
Sticking to a budget involves planning and really thinking about your choices. Buy what you can in bulk- things like beans, flour, rice, pasta store for a while and they will provide you with more meals than a can of beans or a box of instant rice. Eating seasonally and locally also helps cut down costs of fresh vegetables and fruits! It means not eating strawberries from Mexico in December though!