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Does it cost more to eat healthy?
Editor's Note: Tahoeticker welcomes its new health & fitness columnist Amber Finch. Finch, Truckee resident, mountain biker and dietary guru — will write a regular column taking a holistic look at ...what else... your health, fitness and lifestyle. Click here for her previous column.
In this economic crisis, we are all a little more aware where the money goes.
There seems to be this preconceived notion that eating healthfully costs more, but actually with the right tactic the monthly food bill should lessen when you eat well. Making healthier choices causes the grocery bill to go down, because of redirected spending.
Calculate the money spent on restaurants, fast food, vending machines and even supplements/vitamins and redirect this on healthier, more fiber filling foods. Maybe a pound of organic grapes seems too expensive at $2.50, yet you can spend $2.50 on a bag of Doritos.
...Cut out eating bacon for breakfast, and you can afford berries on your oatmeal.
In other words, we need to think about how much nutrition we’re getting for our money. Who would fill their gas tank with Koolaid? in the same way, we need to fill our tanks with the correct fuel.
The goal isn’t just to fill the tank with anything, but with fuel that makes it run better.
Comparing disease rates to various populations, the poorer the nation, the less degenerative conditions (disease and weight problems that are related to malnutrition).
These people eat a diet consisting mostly of plant foods, fruits, veggies, legumes, nuts and seeds, and usually consume little if any processed and refined foods. Wealthy populations can afford “luxuries”- like steaks, fast food and packaged foods.
...Degenerative diseases are higher in the areas where people are spending more on foods that worse for you.
We should definitely take a look and learn from this, by consuming more foods that are nutrient-rich, and fiber-filling, rather than spending on empty calories
Some great steps to take in this direction would be first to cut back on those packaged foods, do most of your shopping in the perimeter of the store.
It’s good to plan ahead and make a list, and have some ideas of meals that you can prepare for the week.
I always stock up on goods that I know can be used in a variety of meals, like beans, whole wheat grains, brown rice, bags of frozen veggies/ fruits and canned vegetables. Drink water instead of buying sugary drinks and sodas. Another great way to save money is to buy in bulk.
For example, a pound of oats is $1.19 compared to the prepackaged ½ lb for $2.50. Beans, grains, these can all be bought cheaper by the pound. A great place that offers a huge selection of bulk bins is Winco.
Costco is a great place to buy big family size bags of frozen vegetables, fruit, salad greens, vegetables and canned beans and they also carry a variety of free range and organic meats at a reasonable price.
Trader Joe's offers great healthy snacking alternatives such as trails mixes, dried fruit, cereals, breads, and “sweet and salty” replacements that can even trick the kids, and compared to a normal grocery store I have found Trader Joe's to offer very competitive prices.
I do encourage a low consumption of meat diet, (10 percent or less of daily calories). By consuming smaller portions of animal foods less often, you can afford to improve the quality of animal foods you are buying, and this is another example of redirected spending.
Quick example: $1.99 lb, serve 8 ounces to 4 family members, results in $3.98 per week, average $15.92 per month.
Organic costs twice as much — $3.98 lb, but consume it every other week and portions are 4 ounces instead of 8, cost per month is $7.98.
Even though the food is organic and more expensive, you will be spending wiser and be protecting the family from unneeded antibiotics, steroids and hormones and have money left to spend on other more nutritious fuel!
Rethinking and redirecting our spending will not only help save money, but get more bang for the buck!
...And there will be money left to spend on a fun night out.
International Quinoa Salad
1 1/2 - 2 cups water
1 cup quinoa, well rinsed
1 clove garlic minced
1 red bell pepper chopped
1 small cucumber chopped
1 cup corn
2 medium tomatoes chopped
1/2 cup chopped green onion (I like using red onion)
1 1/2 cups garbanzo beans (if using canned, drain and rinse well)
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup lime juice
1 avocado diced
salt to taste
Bring water to boil over high heat. Turn down to low and add quinoa. Cook about 20 minutes or until tender. Remove lid and fluff with fork and let cool. While quinoa is cooking, combine all other ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Mix in cooled quinoa with vegetables, and mix lightly. If there is no time to cool, mix in the quinoa while it's still warm. This makes a nice warm salad as well.
First Friday at Brickelltown is back... just in time for fall
9/02/10, 8:18 am, By Alanna Hughes
- 4 p.m. Friday in Brickelltown
- Bring your cruiser bike (cheaper/better peeps than Burning Man)
Ski Porn season kicks off at Squaw Sept. 18 with Standard premiere
8/31/10, 9:22 pm, By S. Cowley
- North Shore-based snowboard heavies preimere 'The Storming' Saturday, Sept. 18
- Monster'll be there too...
Sorry Burning Man - it's all about the Ski Loft Tent Sale
8/30/10, 7:52 pm, Staff Report
- 8 a.m. Friday
- Bring all your pennies... (what's left of 'em)
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Basin Bargain Basement - The bargain of bargains
8/29/10, 8:59 pm, By A. Pridgen
- $105k for starter condo in KB
- Yes, we toured a similar unit in '06 for more than $300k ...actually, maybe it WAS this unit
Bomber pre-season ski sales from local manufacturers
8/25/10, 7:50 am, Staff Report
- From Praxis Powderboards to Moment Rubys ...to a surprise entry
- It's time to buy local... buy new
Skiing is no more
8/22/10, 11:47 am, Staff Report
- RIP Skiing Magazine
- ...Are you next, SKI?
Date set for 7th annual Downtown Truckee Wine Walk And Shop
8/22/10, 9:25 am, Switchback PR
- Filling up that fall calendar yet?!
- Well, here's where to start
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Squaw to host SATELite Festival in September
8/22/10, 7:28 am, By A. Richmond
- New outdoor(ish) event pronounced 'satellite' ...not 'Sate-lite' like we orig. thought
- ...Not 100 percent sure what it is — but ncludes wine, so we'll be there
Tahoe Mountain Sports gets you warm for Ski Loft tent sale
8/20/10, 6:44 pm, By Lis Korb
- First come tent sales... then ski porn premiers
- Then (gulp) snow... are you ready?!
Legendary Incline bear featured in WSJ
8/18/10, 8:31 pm, Staff Report
- Free BUBBA
- That's right - It's our fault... not the bear's... but is that what the Journal thinks?!
Trail Building Backcountry Camps
8/17/10, 8:49 pm, TRTA
- Get on those trails
- ...and get your build on Saturday and Sunday (and again Labor Day weekend)
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Win an iPad from IVGID
8/15/10, 7:03 pm, Staff Report
- Golf, ski, beach, compute
- repeat
Squaw creates new top marketing position... sale rumors spark again
8/10/10, 8:18 pm, Staff Report
- Wait, Squaw CREATED a position...
- Ok, something's definitely going down... (25-year industry vet Scott Clarkson tapped as VP of Marketing and Sales)
Jim's trip ...halfway... round The Rim
8/07/10, 1:16 pm, By. A. Pridgen
- Hammerel raises triple his goal amt. to benefit the TRT
- ...and tears up his knee
Volunteer trail-building workdays with the Tahoe Rim Trail Association
8/05/10, 7:45 am, TRTA
- You heard about Jim Hammerel's mission to speed-traverse the TRT
- Now you can pitch in too
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Goodbye Norm
8/03/10, 8:08 pm, By A. Pridgen
- The Godfather of Incline, Norm Rosenberg, passes - he was 92
- Incline's left-leaning champion leaves legacy ...starting with the library
Test drive a Tesla... before it's too late
8/01/10, 9:30 pm, By A. Pridgen
- Tesla, the Palo Alto-based electric car company has gone through more than $300 million VC $
- ...but still hasn't tapped into Uncle Sam's reserves for the Model S - go check it out at the Hyatt
Sugar Bowl dining room and Belt Room Bar open for business
7/30/10, 10:22 am, By John Monson
- Good grub, great views
- And nothing beats Belt Room post PCT
Ultimate Frisbee - ultimate course
7/27/10, 8:56 pm, By A. Richmond
- Squaw opens disc golf course
- Signature hole (no. 4) has 1080' downhill... wow
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Squaw's MTB park open for first time since '03
7/23/10, 7:22 pm, By Amelia Richmond
- 2k feet of single-track
- 'K, we're in
Remembering Kenny Guinn
7/22/10, 10:08 pm, Staff Report
- The man who created the Milennium Scholarship and SNPLMA passed away Thursday
- Guinn, who oversaw Nevada during its most prosperous years, was 73
Lokal boy makes good - former PlumpJack star Edge shines in Sonoma
7/20/10, 6:23 pm, By A. Pridgen
- Rick Edge takes saucy edge down to downtown Sonoma
- Lokal is the (new) place to be and PlumpJack alum makes it so
Tahoe skier visits were estimated to be up 17 percent last winter
7/19/10, 8:40 am, Staff Report
- Numbers of skiers on the hill increased - but overall spending stayed modest
- Cheap passes the plan again for 2010-'11
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Cushing steps down from Squaw post ...rumors of sale sparked
7/13/10, 6:06 pm, Staff Report
- Former Intrawest exec takes over
- ...Rumor mill turning overtime: is Cushing family getting ready to bounce?
TRPA's Asian clam bake
7/11/10, 9:19 pm, By Jeff Cowen
- $1.4 million effort to eradicate invasive species from the lake...
- And it involves (no joke) laying a rubber mat on the lake's floor... hi-tech
Kids' zip line at Squaw ...Boo ya
7/08/10, 5:12 pm, By A. Richmond
- KT zip line
- What about for the grown-ups?!
Just like that ...red flags are up
7/06/10, 6:22 pm, Staff Report
- Three-year anniversary of Angora looms ever-present
- Thunderstorms Wednesday/Thursday portend danger
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Nevada County approves PR firm's contract the same week it OKs budget cuts
6/30/10, 9:19 pm, Staff Report
- Wait a minute - you're saying Tahoe will spend more than a million dollars this year on, sloganeering...
- Meantime, budget cuts include child care, welfare-to-work and MediCal programs ...nice
Truckee's Lautner drops a PCT hiking book
6/28/10, 8:55 pm, Staff Report
- 32 eco-friendly trips on the Sierra stretch of the PCT ...with GPS coordinates
- Two thumbs up - pick it up...
Lake Tahoe Based Russian-American Partnership turns 20
6/24/10, 11:27 am, By TBI
- Tahoe-Baikal Institute celebrates two decades of watershed protection and cultural exchange
- Political and economic ups and downs notwithstanding
Tour de Nez photo gallery
6/22/10, 8:20 pm
- The weekend that was from Reno to Northstar
- And lots of Nash
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Rebuild the Rim Trail every summer Saturday
6/11/10, 9:07 pm, TRTA
- Start summer right by giving your most precious gift
- ...Your time
TRPA tries to clarify
6/01/10, 8:30 pm, By Dennis Oliver
- So, what, if anything, does this have to do with Boulder Bay?!
- ...More importantly how 'bout that casino (strip club?) corridor...
Opinion ...TRPA ensures Tahoe times they area a-changin'
5/22/10, 8:35 pm, By Ann Nichols
- Density to increase under proposed TRPA regional plan
- But, will they build it (or will they come?)
TAUs on the table from TRPA
5/14/10, 10:08 pm, Staff Report
- If you don't understand the headline
- ...Go the the May 26 meeting and you'll see puh-lenty
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Cal Neva now in TRPA doghouse
5/09/10, 6:49 pm, Staff Report
- TRPA will handle foreclosed property with kid gloves over more than a decade of flunking its eco report card
- Time to blow everything up but the casino floor, Sinatra Showroom, the lakefront cabins and the Indian Room
Celebrate National Trails Day with the Tahoe Rim Trail
5/06/10, 5:33 pm, TRTA
- Build a trail
- ...Get a free lunch
Save Martis Valley - one click at a time
5/04/10, 7:13 pm, By Renee Deinken
- Well, it's not like Martis Valley is in any danger of getting developed by broke-ass East/West
- ...But still good to preserve; Check out the new site
LTVA spends almost a mil. on slogan ending in preposition
5/02/10, 8:21 pm, By A. Pridgen
- That's right, your new slogan to lure Affliction-wearing d-bags to Stateline's new strip club
- ...'Get your vacation on' (ohh noo). Inside: Our five (free) slogan suggestions ...Holla
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Cost of doing nothing too high for Tahoe
4/29/10, 8:22 pm, By Joanne Marchetta
- If you can make it through TRPA director's tome...
- We'll have resident feedback for you Friday
No downhill slide for Diamond Peak
4/09/10, 7:00 am, Staff Report
- While others founder
- ...DP in the black and breaking ground on new $4 million admin/ticket/locker/child ski center building
Foreclosed Cal Neva casino goes dark ...for good
3/24/10, 10:32 pm, By A. Pridgen
- One year after 'no-sale' at a foreclosure auction and interim management team shuts down Nevada's most legendary casino
- ...Sad, sad day... Casino doors to shut March 31 - rest of Basin gaming on life support
And yes ...the KB roundabouts were originally scheduled to be complete this summer
1/27/10, 9:35 pm, Staff Report
- Tahoe Regional Planning Agency board votes unanimously (again) to approve three-lane/roundabouts in KB
- ...Yes, you've heard that (here) before
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